Dropped call continuation

• US 20040235509A1
• Filed: 05/21/2003
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Ordille, Joann J., Evans, Elliott, Klein, Robert M., Urroz, Hector, Burritt, David R., Sethi, Ravi
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,145 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/519
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/04 Recording calls , or communications in printed, perforated or other permanent form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1091 Fixed mobile conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2088 Call or conference reconnect, e.g. resulting from isdn terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0164 Billing record, e.g. Call Data Record [CDR], Toll Ticket[TT], Automatic Message Accounting [AMA], Call Line Identifier [CLI], details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2026 Wireless network, e.g. GSM, PCS, TACS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42195 Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment

Abstract

A switching system adjunct (120) monitors a call between a calling and a called party and reestablishes the call when one of the parties has been or is being dropped. The reestablishment may be effected to a same or a different phone number of the dropped party, and may be effected via the same or a different medium (e.g., wired or wireless). The call record of the original call is merged into the call record of the reestablished call, thus preserving the context of entities involved in the call that exists at the time that the party is dropped.

Claims

1. A method of reestablishing a dropped portion of an existing communication comprising:

detecting that a calling party is dropped from a communication existing between the calling party and a called party;

in response, determining an address of the calling party;

reestablishing the communication to the calling party at the determined address; and

associating contents of a call record of the existing communication with the reestablished communication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the existing communication exists between the calling party at a first call address and the called party;

determining an address comprises

determining a second call address of the calling party other than the first call address; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

reestablishing the communication to the calling party at the second call address.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the first call address is an address for wireless communications-connections of the calling party; and

the second call address is an address for wired communications-connections of the calling party.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein:

detecting that a calling party is dropped comprises

determining that a wireless connection of the existing communication to the called party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

establishing a wired connection of the existing communication to the called party.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the reestablishing is initiated by the calling party.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein:

the communication is a voice call; and

the reestablishing is effected via a data connection from the calling party.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

associating comprises

combining a call record of the existing communication with a call record of the reestablished communication into a new call record of the reestablished communication.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:

detecting that a calling party is dropped comprises

determining that a connection of the existing communication to the calling party either has been dropped or is being dropped.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

either the calling party or the called party comprises equipment that automatically interacts with another of the calling party and the called party;

the call record of the existing communication comprises a context of the equipment at a point in time when the calling party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

automatically restoring the context of the equipment.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein:

the context of the equipment comprises

a position of the other party in a call queue of the equipment.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the existing communication comprises one of a wired and a wireless connection to the calling party, and

the reestablished communication comprises another of the wired and the wireless connection to the calling party.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the called party comprises a customer contact center,

the call record of the existing communication comprises an indication of a position of the calling party in a contact queue of the customer contact center at a point in time when the calling party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

automatically reestablishing the position of the calling party in the contact queue.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein:

reestablishing the communication comprises

announcing to the called party that the calling party has been dropped;

giving the called party a choice of reestablishing the communication either to the calling party or to a third party;

in response to the called party selecting to reestablish the communication to the calling party, reestablishing the communication to the calling party; and

in response to the called party selecting to reestablish the communication to the third party, establishing the communication to the third party.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein:

the third party comprises a messaging system mailbox.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the called party comprises

a conference of a plurality of parties.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising the initial steps of:

one of the parties contacting a monitoring entity; and

the one of the parties having the existing communication established to the one of the parties through the monitoring entity, in response to the contacting;

wherein

the monitoring entity monitors the existing communication to detect that the calling party is dropped.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the calling party signaling, via a user communications instrument of the calling party that is connected to the existing communication, that the calling party is dropping from the call;

wherein

detecting comprises

detecting the signaling.

32. An apparatus for performing the method of one of claims 1-31.

33. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of one of claims 1-31.

18. A method of reestablishing a dropped portion of an existing communication comprising:

detecting that a called party is dropped from a communication existing between a calling party and the called party at a first call address;

in response, determining a second call address of the called party other than the first call address;

reestablishing the communication to the called party at the second call address; and

associating contents of a call record of the existing communication with the reestablished communication.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the first call address is an address for wireless communication-connections of the called party; and

the second call address is an address for wired communication-connections of the called party.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein:

detecting that a called party is dropped comprises

determining that a wireless portion of the existing communication to the called party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

establishing a wired connection of the existing communication to the called party.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the reestablishing is initiated by the called party.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein:

the communication is a voice call; and

the reestablishing is effected via a data connection from the calling party.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein:

associating comprises

combining a call record of the existing communication with a call record of the reestablished communication into a new call record of the reestablished communication.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein:

detecting that a called party is dropped comprises

determining that a connection of the existing communication to the called party either has been dropped or is being dropped.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein:

either the calling party or the called party comprises equipment that automatically interacts with another of the calling party and the called party;

the call record of the existing communication comprises a context of the equipment at a point in time when the called party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

automatically restoring the context of the equipment.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein:

the context of the equipment comprises

a position of the other-party in a contact queue of the equipment.

27. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the existing communication comprises one of a wired and a wireless connection to the called party; and

the reestablished communication comprises another of the wired and a wireless connection to the called party.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the called party comprises a customer contact center;

the call record of the existing communication comprises an indication of a position of the calling party in a context queue of the customer contact center at a point in time when the called party is dropped; and

reestablishing the communication comprises

automatically reestablishing the position of the calling party in the contact queue.

29. The method of claim 18 wherein:

reestablishing the communication comprises

announcing to the calling party that the called party has been dropped;

giving the calling party a choice of reestablishing the communication either to the called party or to a third party;

in response to the calling party selecting to reestablish the communication to the called party, reestablishing the communication to the called party; and

in response to the calling party selecting to reestablish the communication to the third party, establishing the communication to the third party.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein:

the third party comprises a messaging system mailbox of the called party.

31. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the calling party comprises

a conference of a plurality of parties.

34. An apparatus for reestablishing a dropped portion of an existing communication comprising:

a detector of a calling party being dropped from a communication existing between the calling party and a called party;

a determinator of an address of the calling party, responsive to detection of the calling party being dropped;

a reestablisher of the communication to the calling party at the address of the calling party; and

an associator of contents of a call record of the existing communication with the reestablished communication.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the existing communication exists between the calling party at a first call address and the called party;

the determinator determines a second call address of the calling party other than the first call address; and

the reestablisher reestablishes the communication to the calling party at the second call address.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein:

the first call address is an address for wireless communications-connections of the calling party; and

the second call address is an address for wired communications-connections of the calling party.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein:

the detector detects that a wireless connection of the existing communication to the called party is dropped; and

the reestablisher establishes a wired connection of the existing communication to the called party.

38. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the reestablisher is invoked by the calling party.

39. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the associator combines a call record of the existing communication with a call record of the reestablished communication into a new call record of the reestablished communication.

40. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the detector detects that a connection of the existing communication to the calling party either has been dropped or is being dropped.

41. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

either the calling party or the called party comprises equipment that automatically interacts with another of the calling party and the called party;

the call record of the existing communication comprises a context of the equipment at a point in time when the calling party is dropped; and

the reestablisher automatically restores the context of the equipment.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein:

the context of the equipment comprises

a position of the other party in a call queue of the equipment.

43. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the existing communication comprises one of a wired and a wireless connection to the calling party, and

the reestablisher establishes another of the wired and the wireless connection to the calling party.

44. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the called party comprises a customer contact center,

the call record of the existing communication comprises an indication of a position of the calling party in a contact queue of the customer contact center at a point in time when the calling party is dropped; and

the reestablisher automatically reestablishes the position of the calling party in the contact queue.

45. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the reestablisher comprises

an interactor with the called party that announces to the called party that the calling party has been dropped and gives the called party a choice of reestablishing the communication either to the calling party or to a third party; and

a connection maker that reestablishes the communication to the calling party in response to the called party selecting to reestablish the communication to the calling party, and that establishes the communication to the third party in response to the called party selecting to reestablish the communication to the third party.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein:

the third party comprises a messaging system mailbox of the calling party.

47. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the called party comprises

a conference of a plurality of parties.

48. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein:

the reestablisher establishes the existing communication to the one of the parties in response to being contacted by one of the parties; and

the detector monitors the existing communication to detect that the calling party is dropped.

49. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising:

the detector comprises

a detector of the calling party signaling, via a user communications instrument of the calling party that is connected to the existing communication, that the calling party is dropping from the call.

50. An apparatus for reestablishing a dropped portion of an existing communication comprising:

a detector of a called party being dropped from a communication existing between a calling party and the called party at a first call address;

a determinator of a second call address of the called party other than the first call address, responsive to detection of the-called party being dropped;

a reestablisher of the communication to the called party at the second call address; and

an associator of contents of a call record of the existing communication with the reestablished communication.

51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the first call address is an address for wireless communication-connections of the called party; and

the second call address is an address for wired communication-connections of the called party.

52. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the detector detects that a wireless portion of the existing communication to the called party is dropped; and

the reestablisher establishes a wired connection of the existing communication to the called party.

53. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the reestablisher is invoked by the called party.

54. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the associator combines a call record of the existing communication with a call record of the reestablished communication into a new call record of the reestablished communication.

55. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the detector detects that a connection of the existing communication to the called party either has been dropped or is being dropped.

56. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

either the calling party or the called party comprises equipment that automatically interacts with another of the calling party and the called party;

the call record of the existing communication comprises a context of the equipment at a point in time when the called party is dropped; and

the reestablisher automatically restores the context of the equipment.

57. The apparatus of claim 56 wherein:

the context of the equipment comprises

a position of the other party in a contact queue of the equipment.

58. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the existing communication comprises one of a wired and a wireless connection to the called party; and

the reestablisher establishes another of the wired and a wireless connection to the called party.

59. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the called party comprises a customer contact center;

the call record of the existing communication comprises an indication of a position of the calling party in a context queue of the customer contact center at a point in time when the called party is dropped; and

the reestablisher automatically reestablishes the position of the calling party in the contact queue.

60. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the reestablisher comprises

an interactor with the calling party that announces to the calling party that the called party has been dropped and gives the calling party a choice of reestablishing the communication either to the called party or to a third party; and

a connection maker that reestablishes the communication to the called party in response to the calling party selecting to reestablish the communication to the called party, and that establishes the communication to the third party in response to the calling party selecting to reestablish the communication to the third party.

61. The apparatus of claim 60 wherein:

the third party comprises a messaging system mailbox of the called party.

62. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein:

the calling party comprises

a conference of a plurality of parties.