ESTABLISHMENT OF CONNECTIONS OVER A COMMUNICATION NETWORK TO A PARTICIPANT OF A MEETING WITHOUT SAID PARTICIPANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER BEING KNOWN

• US 20100034369A1
• Filed: 10/25/2007
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Unify GmbH & Co. KG (Atos SE)
• Inventors: Lederer, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,131,051 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/218.10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4935 Connection initiated by DAS system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0024 Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services arrangements which combine a telephonic equipment and a computer H04M7/0012

Abstract

The present application relates to a method and a communication system with which participants of a scheduled meeting, in particular a business meeting or conference, can be reached by a telephone caller without the caller needing to know the telephone number of the participants. Conventionally, the caller who does not have available the corresponding number must obtain said number by calling a telephone switchboard or by searching in an electronic address book. This disadvantage is overcome by the subject matter of the application by the fact that a connection to a meeting participant, preferably the organizer of the meeting, is established using only the telephone number of the caller. For this purpose, the caller is identified by the caller'"'"'s telephone number, and thereafter an address book is examined to determine whether the caller is a participant in a meeting. If yes, the organizer of the meeting or the organizer'"'"'s telephone number is obtained, and the connection to the telephone number thus obtained is forwarded on.

Claims

1. Method for automatic establishment of a connection to a participant in a scheduled meeting via at least one communications network, comprising:

saving identity assignments from terminal devices of a communications network to terminal device-specific personal information and from this to appointment-specific information and identity about participants of a meeting,

establishing a connection to the communications network by a terminal device with a specified identity, in which the specified identity of the terminal device is determined,

determining the identity of a participant in the meeting, using the determined identity of the terminal device and the saved information, said participant having access to a participant terminal device, and

forwarding the connection from the terminal device to the participant terminal device in the meeting.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein if the participant found is not available within a specified time frame or if the participant is found to have a voicemail function, an alternative identity for the participant is determined via a request to the telephone book or the identity of a second participant in the meeting is determined using the saved information, and the connection is forwarded with the identity found by the terminal device to the terminal device of the second participant.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the specified identity of the terminal device represented by a member of the group consisting of a telephone number the contact information of a time-oriented wireless communications network, a time-slot oriented wired communications network, a packet-oriented wireless communications network, and a packet-oriented wired communications network, with the identification of the terminal device being determined as part of the signaling of the connection using the communications network, and the identification of the terminal device of the participant or the second participant in the meeting using the saved information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device-specific personal information is determined from the identity of the terminal device using electronic address or telephone books.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the appointment-specific information and identity of participants in a meeting are determined from terminal device-specific personal information using an electronic appointment calendar.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein an organizer of the meeting is determined as a participant in the meeting.

7. A communications system for automatic establishment of a connection to a participant in a scheduled meeting via at least one communications network, comprising:

at least one member of the group consisting of an address book and a telephone book to save an assignment of the identity of terminal devices of a communications network to terminal device-specific personal information;

a calendar module to save an assignment of terminal device-specific personal information to an appointment-specific information and identity about participants in a meeting;

a virtual terminal device located within the communications network to establish a connection from a terminal device to the virtual terminal device; and

an application communicating with the communications network to find a participant in the meeting using the identity of the terminal device determined in the communications network the address or telephone book, and the calendar module, and to form a forwarding message with the identity of the terminal device of the participant in the meeting found and to forward to the communications network, with the connection being forwarded, using the communications network, from the terminal device to the terminal device of the participant found.

8. The communications system of claim 7, wherein the application, the address or telephone book, and the calendar module are configured such that, if the participant found is not available within a specified time period, or if the participant found is found to have a voice mail function, then at least one of another identity of the participant or the identity of another participant in the meeting is determined and, using the communications network, the connection is forwarded from the terminal device to the terminal device of the other participant found.

9. The communications of claim 7, wherein system the specified identity and the identity of the terminal devices is represented by at least one of a telephone number and contact information of a communications network selected from the group consisting of a timeslot-oriented wireless communications network, a packet-oriented wireless communications network, a timeslot-oriented wired communications network, and a packet-oriented wired communications network.

10. The communications system of claim 7, wherein the calendar module is configured such that the organizer of the meeting is found as a participant in the meeting.