Method and apparatus for providing web service access to telephony functionality

• US 20040246947A1
• Filed: 09/04/2003
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Wong, Johnny
• Granted Patent: US 7,480,286 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1205 where the types of switching equipement comprises PSTN/ISDN equipment and switching equipment of networks other than PSTN/ISDN, e.g. Internet Protocol networks

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates web service access to telephony functionality. During operation, the system receives a request at a web service to access the telephony functionality using a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network. In response, the system selects an interface to the VOIP network, routes the telephony functionality to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and accesses the telephony functionality.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate web service access to telephony functionality, comprising:

receiving a request at a web service to access the telephony functionality through a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network;

selecting an interface to the VOIP network;

routing the telephony functionality to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) through the interface; and

accessing the telephony functionality on the PSTN over the VOIP network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the VOIP network includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the interface to the VOIP network includes a SIP servlet.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the SIP servlet is a member of a SIP servlet container.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the SIP servlet is registered with a remote method invocation (RMI) registry.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the interface to the VOIP network involves accessing the RMI registry to select the SIP servlet.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the SIP network is coupled to an H323 network, wherein the H323 network facilitates audiovisual communication on local area networks.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request at the web service to access the telephony functionality involves receiving the request from a web server on behalf of a user of a web browser.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method to facilitate web service access to telephony functionality, the method comprising:

receiving a request at a web service to access the telephony functionality through a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network;

selecting an interface to the VOIP network;

routing the telephony functionality to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) through the interface; and

accessing the telephony functionality on the PSTN over the VOIP network.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the VOIP network includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) network.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the interface to the VOIP network includes a SIP servlet.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the SIP servlet is a member of a SIP servlet container.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the SIP servlet is registered with a remote method invocation (RMI) registry.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein selecting the interface to the VOIP network involves accessing the RMI registry to select the SIP servlet.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the SIP network is coupled to an H323 network, wherein the H323 network facilitates audiovisual communication on local area networks.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein receiving the request at the web service to access the telephony functionality involves receiving the request from a web server on behalf of a user of a web browser.

17. An apparatus to facilitate web service access to telephony functionality, comprising:

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a request at a web service to access the telephony functionality using a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) network;

a selecting mechanism configured to select an interface to the VOIP network;

a routing mechanism configured to route the telephony functionality to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) through the interface; and

an accessing mechanism configured to access the telephony functionality on the PSTN over the VOIP network.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the VOIP network includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) network.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the interface to the VOIP network includes a SIP servlet.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the SIP servlet is a member of a SIP servlet container

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the SIP servlet is registered with a remote method invocation (RMI) registry.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein selecting the interface to the VOIP network involves accessing the RMI registry to select the SIP servlet.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the SIP network is coupled to an H323 network, wherein the H323 network facilitates audiovisual communication on local area networks.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein receiving the request at the web service to access the telephony functionality involves receiving the request from a web server on behalf of a user of a web browser.