CALL SERVER SELECTION

• US 20080151869A1
• Filed: 12/22/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Sylvain, Dany
• Granted Patent: US 8,792,625 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2066 Call type detection of indication, e.g. voice or fax, mobile of fixed, PSTN or IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0006 where voice calls cross both networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/128 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1285 Details of finding and selecting a gateway for a particular call

Abstract

In a click-to-call communication environment, the present invention is employed to select an appropriate call server to use when establishing a call between two endpoints. A computing terminal provides a request to initiate a call between the two endpoints. The request is passed to a service node directly or through any number of intermediate nodes, such as a web server. The request may identify a source and a destination for the call. The service node will select a call server to use for establishing the call between the two endpoints based on the destination for the call, and send instructions to the call server to initiate the call. In response, the call server will initiate the call between the two endpoints.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request to establish a call between a first endpoint associated with source information and a second endpoint;

identifying a select call server for establishing the call based on destination information associated with the second endpoint; and

sending to the select call server instructions to establish the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the select call server is identified from a plurality of call servers.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the select call server comprises identifying a plurality of capable call servers and selecting one of the plurality of capable call servers, wherein each of the plurality of capable call servers is capable of establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the select call server is selected to facilitate load balancing among the plurality of capable call servers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the select call server comprises:

selecting a first call server;

obtaining a status of the first call server; and

determining whether to use the first call server as the select call server based on the status of the first call server.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein when the first call server is not used as the select call server based on the status of the first call server, the method further comprises:

selecting a second call server;

obtaining a status of the second call server; and

determining whether to use the second call server as the select call server based on the status of the second call server.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the request identifies a general destination address, which is associated with a plurality of specific destination addresses, and the method further comprises selecting a specific destination address from the plurality of destination addresses based on the source information, wherein the select call server is identified based on the specific destination address and the instructions provide the specific destination address to use when establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the source information comprises at least a portion of a source address associated with the first endpoint.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least a portion of the source address is a prefix associated with a directory number.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein selecting the specific destination address from the plurality of destination addresses is further based on context information that identifies a defined context for the call.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the request identifies a general destination address, which is associated with a plurality of specific destination addresses, and the method further comprises selecting a specific destination address from the plurality of destination addresses based on context information that identifies a defined context for the call, wherein the select call server is identified based on the specific destination address and the instructions provide the specific destination address to use when establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the source information comprises a first address for the first endpoint and the destination information comprises a second address associated with the second endpoint.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first address and the second address comprise at least one of the group consisting of a directory number and a uniform resource identifier.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is or is based on an initial request from a computing terminal to initiate the call, wherein the computing terminal is separate from the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the initial request is a browser request from a browser running on the computing terminal.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is received from a web server.

17. A service node comprising:

at least one communication interface; and

a control system associated with the at least one communication interface and adapted to;

receive a request to establish a call between a first endpoint associated with source information and a second endpoint associated with destination information;

identify a select call server to employ for establishing the call based on the destination information; and

send to the select call server instructions to establish the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

18. The service node of claim 17 wherein the select call server is identified from a plurality of call servers.

19. The service node of claim 17 wherein to identify the select call server, the control system is further adapted to identify a plurality of capable call servers and select one of the plurality of capable call servers, wherein each of the plurality of capable call servers is capable of establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

20. The service node of claim 19 wherein the select call server is selected to facilitate load balancing among the plurality of capable call servers.

21. The service node of claim 17 wherein to identify the select call server, the control system is further adapted to:

select a first call server;

obtain a status of the first call server; and

determine whether to use the first call server as the select call server based on the status of the first call server.

22. The service node of claim 21 wherein when the first call server is not used as the select call server based on the status of the first call server, the control system is further adapted to:

select a second call server;

obtain a status of the second call server; and

determine whether to use the second call server as the select call server based on the status of the second call server.

23. The service node of claim 17 wherein the request identifies a general destination address, which is associated with a plurality of specific destination addresses, and the control system is further adapted to select a specific destination address from the plurality of destination addresses based on the source information, wherein the select call server is identified based on the specific destination address and the instructions provide the specific destination address to use when establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

24. The service node of claim 23 wherein the source information comprises at least a portion of a source address associated with the first endpoint.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the at least a portion of the source address is a prefix associated with a directory number.

26. The service node of claim 23 wherein the specific destination address is selected from the plurality of destination addresses based on context information that identifies a defined context for the call.

27. The service node of claim 17 wherein the request identifies a general destination address, which is associated with a plurality of specific destination addresses and the control system is further adapted to select a specific destination address from the plurality of destination addresses based on context information that identifies a defined context for the call, wherein the select call server is identified based on the specific destination address and the instructions provide the specific destination address to use when establishing the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

28. The service node of claim 17 wherein the source information comprises a first address for the first endpoint and the destination information comprises a second address associated with the second endpoint.

29. The service node of claim 28 wherein the first address and the second address comprise at least one of the group consisting of a directory number and a uniform resource identifier.

30. The service node of claim 17 wherein the request is or is based on an initial request from a computing terminal to initiate the call, wherein the computing terminal is separate from the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

31. The service node of claim 30 wherein the initial request is a browser request from a browser running on the computing terminal.

32. The service node of claim 17 wherein the request is received from a web server.

33. A network comprising:

means for receiving a request to establish a call between a first endpoint associated with source information and a second endpoint;

means for identifying a select call server for establishing the call based on destination information associated with the second endpoint; and

means for sending to the select call server instructions to establish the call between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.