METHOD, CALL PROCESSING SYSTEM AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR CONVEYING AN AUDIO STREAM TO A SOURCE DEVICE DURING AN OUTGOING CALL

• US 20110164739A1
• Filed: 12/31/2010
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: BCE Incorporated
• Original Assignee: BCE Incorporated
• Inventors: Arsenault, Jonathan Allan, Wolf, Eric John, Liu, Gao Feng, CLARK, David William, Murray, Sean MacLean
• Application Number:
  US12/983,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20110164739A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/142.04
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42017 Customized ring-back tones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1225 Details of core network interconnection arrangements

Abstract

The present invention discloses numerous implementations for conveying an audio element to a source device initiating an outgoing call while a user of the source device is waiting for a user of a destination device to answer the call. A call processing system receives a call request message from the source device, determines an audio element from a plurality of audio elements to convey to the source device and initiates conveyance of the audio element to the source device in response to receiving the call request message. The system then causes establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices and terminates conveyance of the audio element to the source device prior to or substantially simultaneous with the establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices. In various implementations, the source device may be implemented within the PSTN and/or an IP network. The audio element may comprise an audio file, an audio stream, scheduling information or other audio content. A subscriber associated with the source device may pre-configure the selection of the audio element to be conveyed in replace of the traditional ring tone. A communication device may also implement a method to convey an audio element to a user of the communication device during establishment of an outgoing call.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a call processing system for controlling an outgoing call initiated by a source device to a destination device, the method comprising:

receiving a call request message from the source device, the call request message comprising identifiers of the source and destination devices for the outgoing call;

determining a source of an audio stream to convey to the source device;

initiating conveyance of the audio stream from the source of the audio stream to the source device in response to receiving the call request message from the source device;

causing establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices; and

terminating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device prior to or substantially simultaneous with the establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining a source of an audio stream comprises receiving a selection of an audio stream from a user associated with the source device prior to the outgoing call.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the receiving a selection of an audio stream from a user associated with the source device comprises offering a plurality of potential audio streams to the user associated with the source device and receiving selection information from the user associated with the source device, the selection information comprising an indication of at least one of the plurality of potential audio streams.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the determining a source of an audio stream further comprises determining a location within a data network in which the audio stream within the selection from the user of the source device is broadcast.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises locating an audio stream source on a data network that broadcasts the audio stream;

and wherein the initiating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device comprises transmitting a request to the audio stream source to transmit the audio stream over a media connection between the audio stream source and the source device.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises selecting an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon a random algorithm.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises selecting an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon a predetermined order.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises selecting an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon temporal information.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an audio stream is based at least partially upon the identifier of the source device.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises selecting a plurality of audio streams based upon the identifier of the source device and selecting an audio stream to convey to the source device from the plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon one of a random algorithm, a predetermined order and temporal information.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein the determining an audio stream is further based at least partially upon the identifier of the destination device.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the determining an audio stream to convey to the source device comprises selecting a plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon the identifier of the source device and selecting an audio stream to convey to the source device from the plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon the destination identifier.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the audio stream comprises at least one of a radio broadcast, an audio portion of a television broadcast, a playlist of songs, a service announcement broadcast, a set of one or more advertisement messages and a reading of information.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving a call request message from the source device comprises receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message that has been converted from a Signaling System 7 (SS7) message by a signaling converter that previously received the SS7 message from a Service Switching Point (SSP) associated with the source device.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the SS7 message comprises a Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) message initiated by an Off Hook Delay trigger on the SSP.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving a call request message from the source device comprises receiving a SIP message from the source device.

17. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining a time period to convey the audio stream;

and wherein the terminating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device is in response to the time period expiring.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the causing establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices comprises causing initiation of a media connection with the destination device, detecting acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call and causing establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices in response to the acceptance from the destination device.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the terminating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device is in response to detecting the acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call.

20. A method according to claim 18 further comprising determining a minimum time period to convey the audio stream;

and wherein the causing initiation of a media connection with the destination device is in response to the minimum time period expiring.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the terminating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device is in response to detecting the acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call.

22. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining a media element to convey to a display within the source device;

and initiating conveyance of the media element to the display within the source device in response to receiving the call request message.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein the media element comprises at least one of a video element, an image element and a text element.

24. A call processing system for controlling an outgoing call initiated by a source device to a destination device, the system comprising:

a processing entity operable to receive a call request message from the source device, the call request message comprising identifiers of the source and destination devices for the outgoing call;

to determine a source of an audio stream to convey to the source device; and

to initiate conveyance of the audio stream from the source of the audio stream to the source device in response to receiving the call request message from the source device; and

a network interface operable to cause establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices; and

wherein the processing entity is further operable to terminate conveyance of the audio stream to the source device prior to or substantially simultaneous with the establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices.

25. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to determine a source of an audio stream, the processing entity is operable to receive a selection of an audio stream from a user associated with the source device prior to the outgoing call.

26. A call processing system according to claim 25, wherein, to receive a selection of an audio stream from a user associated with the source device, the processing entity is operable to offer a plurality of potential audio streams to the user associated with the source device and to receive selection information from the user associated with the source device, the selection information comprising an indication of at least one of the plurality of potential audio streams.

27. A call processing system according to claim 25, wherein, to determine a source of an audio stream, the processing entity is further operable to determine a location within a data network in which the audio stream within the selection from the user of the source device is broadcast.

28. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to locate an audio stream source on a data network that broadcasts the audio stream;

and wherein, to initiate conveyance of the audio stream to the source device, the processing entity is operable to transmit a request to the audio stream source to transmit the audio stream over a media connection between the audio stream source and the source device.

29. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to select an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon a random algorithm.

30. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to select an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon a predetermined order.

31. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to select an audio stream from a plurality of audio streams based upon temporal information.

32. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the processing entity is operable to determine an audio stream based at least partially upon the identifier of the source device.

33. A call processing system according to claim 32, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to select a plurality of audio streams based upon the identifier of the source device and to select an audio stream to convey to the source device from the plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon one of a random algorithm, a predetermined order and temporal information.

34. A call processing system according to claim 32, wherein the processing entity is operable to determine an audio stream further based at least partially upon the identifier of the destination device.

35. A call processing system according to claim 34, wherein, to determine an audio stream to convey to the source device, the processing entity is operable to select a plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon the identifier of the source device and to select an audio stream to convey to the source device from the plurality of audio streams based at least partially upon the destination identifier.

36. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the audio stream comprises at least one of a radio broadcast, an audio portion of a television broadcast, a playlist of songs, a service announcement broadcast, a set of one or more advertisement messages and a reading of information.

37. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the call request message comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message that has been converted from a Signaling System 7 (SS7) message by a signaling converter that previously received the SS7 message from a Service Switching Point (SSP) associated with the source device.

38. A call processing system according to claim 37, wherein the SS7 message comprises a Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) message initiated by an Off Hook Delay trigger on the SSP.

39. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the call request message comprises a SIP message from the source device.

40. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the processing entity is further operable to determine a time period to convey the audio stream;

and wherein the processing entity is operable to terminate conveyance of the audio stream to the source device in response to the time period expiring.

41. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein, to cause establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices, the processing entity is operable to cause initiation of a media connection with the destination device, to detect acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call and to cause establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices in response to the acceptance from the destination device.

42. A call processing system according to claim 41, wherein the processing entity is operable to terminate conveyance of the audio stream to the source device in response to detecting the acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call.

43. A call processing system according to claim 41, wherein the processing entity is further operable to determine a minimum time period to convey the audio stream;

and wherein the processing entity is operable to cause initiation of a media connection with the destination device in response to the minimum time period expiring.

44. A call processing system according to claim 43, wherein processing entity is operable to terminate conveyance of the audio stream to the source device in response to detecting the acceptance from the destination device of the outgoing call.

45. A call processing system according to claim 24, wherein the processing entity is further operable to determine a media element to convey to a display within the source device and to initiate conveyance of the media element to the display within the source device in response to receiving the call request message.

46. A call processing system according to claim 45, wherein the media element comprises at least one of a video element, an image element and a text element.

47. Computer-readable media containing a program element executable by a call processing system to perform a method for controlling an outgoing call initiated by a source device to a destination device, the computer-readable media comprising:

first program code for receiving a call request message from the source device, the call request message comprising identifiers of the source and destination devices for the outgoing call;

second program code for determining a source of an audio stream to convey to the source device;

third program code for initiating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device in response to receiving the call request message from the source device;

fourth program code for causing establishment of a media connection between the source and destination devices; and

fifth program code for terminating conveyance of the audio stream to the source device prior to or substantially simultaneous with the establishment of the media connection between the source and destination devices.