Call Invites

• US 20130336308A1
• Filed: 10/18/2012
• Published: 12/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Laasik, Marek, Velenko, Mihails, Zolotarjov, Sergei, Olivier, Carl Stefke
• Granted Patent: US 9,871,930 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0057 Services where the data services network provides a telephone service in addition or as an alternative, e.g. for backup purposes, to the telephone service provided by the telephone services network

Abstract

A network node, computer program product and method establishing a call between a caller and a callee over a network. Multiple versions of a call invite are sent for establishing the call between a caller client of the caller and one or more callee clients implemented at one or more callee terminals of the callee. The multiple versions of the call invite are sent over a plurality of different delivery mechanisms. One of the delivery mechanisms comprises a push notification on a push channel.

Claims

1. A network node arranged to participate in establishment of a call between a caller and a callee over a network, the network node comprising:

transmitter apparatus arranged to send multiple versions of a call invite for establishing the call between a caller client of the caller and one or more callee clients implemented at one or more callee terminals of the callee, the transceiver apparatus being arranged to send said multiple versions of the call invite over a plurality of different delivery mechanisms,

wherein one of the delivery mechanisms comprises a push notification on a push channel.

2. The network node of claim 1, wherein the multiple versions of the call invite are all to be sent to one callee client implemented at one callee terminal.

3. The network node of claim 1, wherein the multiple versions of the call invite are to be sent to respective different callee clients implemented at different callee terminals.

4. The network node of claim 1, wherein a first one of the delivery mechanisms comprises an operating system based push notification on an operating system based push channel, and wherein a second one of the delivery mechanisms comprises an application layer push notification on an application layer push channel.

5. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node is a caller terminal at which the caller client is implemented, and wherein one of the delivery mechanisms comprises a peer to peer message on a peer to peer connection through the network.

6. The network node of any of claim 1, wherein the network node is a controller network element, and wherein the transmitter apparatus is transceiver apparatus which is arranged to receive the call invite from a caller terminal at which the caller client is implemented, the controller network element comprising processing apparatus arranged to generate said multiple versions of the call invite based on the received call invite.

7. The network node of claim 6, wherein the controller network element further comprises:

a missed call register configured to store information relating to missed calls for the callee, wherein if none of the versions of the call invite are answered, the missed call register is updated to store information relating to the call as a missed call for the callee.

8. The network node of claim 7, wherein the controller network element is configured to receive a missed call query from one of the callee clients, and in response send information stored in the missed call register relating to missed calls for the callee to the one of the callee clients.

9. The network node of claim 8, wherein the controller network element is further configured to send a message to the one or more callee clients to update a missed call badge which is to be output in a user interface of the callee client, said missed call badge indicating the number of missed calls for the callee for which information is stored in the missed call register.

10. The network node claim 9, wherein if any of the versions of the call invite are answered, the missed call register is prevented from being updated to store details of the call as a missed call for the callee.

11. The network node of claim 1, wherein each of the multiple versions of the call invite includes an identifier of the call invite.

12. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node is configured to cancel any outstanding versions of the call invite after a predetermined timeout time.

13. A computer program product comprising code embodied on a tangible computer-readable storage medium and configured so as when executed on a network node of a network to perform operations comprising:

sending multiple versions of a call invite for establishing a call between a caller client of a caller and one or more callee clients implemented at one or more callee terminals of a callee, the code being configured so as when executed on the network node to send said multiple versions of the call invite over a plurality of different delivery mechanisms,

wherein one of the delivery mechanisms comprises a push notification on a push channel.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the multiple versions of the call invite are all to be sent to one callee client implemented at one callee terminal.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the multiple versions of the call invite are to be sent to respective different callee clients implemented at different callee terminals.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the network node is a caller terminal, and wherein the code is configured so as when executed on the caller terminal to implement the caller client, and wherein one of the delivery mechanisms comprises a peer to peer message on a peer to peer connection through the network.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the network node is a controller network element, and wherein the code is configured so as when executed on the controller network element to perform operations of:

receiving the call invite from a caller terminal at which the caller client is implemented; and

generating said multiple versions of the call invite based on the received call invite.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the delivery mechanisms comprise at least two of:

(i) an operating system based push notification on an operating system based push channel,

(ii) an application layer push notification on an application layer push channel, and

(iii) a peer to peer message on a peer to peer connection through the network.

19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the code is configured so as when executed on the network node to cancel any outstanding versions of the call invite either:

(i) when one of the versions of the call invite is answered, or (ii) after a predetermined timeout time.

20. A method of establishing a call between a caller and a callee over a network, the method comprising:

sending multiple versions of a call invite for establishing a call between a caller client of the caller and one or more callee clients implemented at one or more callee terminals of the callee, said multiple versions of the call invite being sent over a plurality of different delivery mechanisms,

wherein the delivery mechanisms comprise at least two of;

(i) an operating system based push notification on an operating system based push channel,

(ii) an application layer push notification on an application layer push channel, and

(iii) a peer to peer message on a peer to peer connection through the network.