DYNAMIC COMMUNICATION LINE ASSIGNMENT

• US 20140064153A1
• Filed: 08/02/2013
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Shoo 533 Limited
• Original Assignee: Shoo 533 Limited
• Inventors: Merino Gonzalez, Jose Luis, Sanchez Calvo, Pablo Alberto
• Application Number:
  US13/957,597
• Publication Number:
  US 20140064153A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/259
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42272 whereby the subscriber registers to the terminals for personalised service provision
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/543 Call deflection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services

Abstract

A system that enables a calling party to communicate with a called party over a communications network comprises: (a) a web page storage device that is operable to send, over the internet, (i) web pages to a calling party device, the web pages including a data entry screen into which a user enters a required telephone number or VoIP user name with which communication is sought and (ii) a call-in number; (b) a conversion device that is operable to receive over the internet, from the calling party device, the telephone number or VoIP user name and can cause the altering of call forwarding settings at a switch, such that a call from the calling party device to a call-in number will be automatically forwarded to a device associated with the telephone number or VoIP user name; (c) a dynamic line assignment module that can dynamically assign the call-in number.

Claims

1. A system that enables a calling party to communicate with a called party over a communications network, the system comprising:

(a) a web page storage device that is operable to send, over the internet, (i) web pages to a calling party device, the web pages including a data entry screen into which a user enters a required telephone number or VoIP user name with which communication is sought and (ii) a call-in number;

(b) a conversion device that is operable to receive over the internet, from the calling party device, the telephone number or VoIP user name and can cause the altering of call forwarding settings at a switch, such that a call from the calling party device to a call-in number will be automatically forwarded to a device associated with the telephone number or VoIP user name;

(c) a dynamic line assignment module that can dynamically assign the call-in number.

2. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device (i) converts an instruction from the calling party device to dial a specific telephone number or VoIP user name to instructions that the switch can understand and act upon in order to set up call forwarding and (ii) dynamically assigns and sets up a call-in number for the calling party device to dial.

3. The system of claim 1 in which the calling party does not have a fixed, permanently assigned call-in number, but instead, the call-in number is temporarily assigned each time a calling-party makes a call.

4. The system of claim 1 in which the call-in number is selected from a large group of possible call-in numbers and the dynamic line assignment module then locates a free, unused switch call-in number whenever it needs to assign a number to a calling party.

5. The system of claim 1 in which the dynamic line assignment module can access the status of all call-in numbers and determine which are free and hence available for use.

6. The system of claim 1 in which call-in numbers are stored in a FIFO (first-in-first-out) to facilitate retrieval of free numbers.

7. The system of claim 1 in which after a fixed or programmable time period, the call forward function is removed from a call-in number so that it becomes free for re-use by the next calling party.

8. The system of claim 1 in which the calling party device communicates over the interne with the conversion device that (i) receives the telephone number or VoIP user name and (ii) sends instructions to the switch to alter the call forwarding settings.

9. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device can convert the protocols and instructions sent from the calling party device to a form that the switch can correctly use.

10. The system of claim 1 in which the web pages of the web page storage device enable the calling party device to send instructions to the conversion device and the conversion device to the calling party to initiate communications with the called party.

11. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device can handle data to and from the calling party device and can also handle data to and from the switch.

12. The system of claim 1 in which the switch hosts the user account of the calling party, the call forwarding settings are those of that user account and in which the switch uses the instructions from the conversion device to alter the calling party'"'"'s user account.

13. The system of claim 1 in which an ISP hosts the user account of the calling party and the conversion device can access each user account controlled by the ISP, the switch is part of an ISP infrastructure that controls the calling party'"'"'s user account and the conversion device is part of an ISP infrastructure that controls the calling party'"'"'s user account.

14. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device resides in a secure internet server and includes the web pages storage device and the dynamic line assignment module.

15. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device can identify and authenticate a calling party and reject a communications request from a calling party that is not recognized or authorized to use the conversion device.

16. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device can interface with another conversion device to set up a chain of conversion devices in order to link the calling party to the called party.

17. The system of claim 1 in which the calling party device is a mobile telephone capable of accessing the internet and in which the mobile telephone includes a browser but is not directly capable of dialing a VoIP user name.

18. The system of claim 1 in which the conversion device

(a) extracts the telephone number or VoiP user name sent by the calling party device and converts the associated command into a language the switch understands

(b) sets-up a call forwarding of a dynamically assigned call-in phone number of the switch to such specific telephone number or VoiP user name associated with a specific ISP user account;

(c) then converts the dynamically assigned call-in phone number, which has been call forwarded to the telephone number or VoiP user name, into a command to dial that call-in phone number, in a form that the calling party device web browser understands;

(d) sends that command to dial that call-in phone number to the calling party device in the form of a specific web page with that command embedded in it, so that the calling party only has to click on a web page link to cause the calling party device to automatically dial the call-in phone number, which is embedded in the command associated with the web page link.

19. The system of claim 18 in which the command to dial the call-in phone number has the form:

wtai;

//wp/mc;

CallInNumber.

20. A method of enabling a calling party to communicate with a called party over a communications network, the method comprising:

(a) sending, over the internet, web pages to a calling party device, the web pages including a data entry screen into which a user enters contact details of a party with which communication is sought;

(b) receiving over the internet, from the calling party device, the contact details;

(c) dynamically assigning a call-in number to the calling party.

(d) altering call forwarding settings at a switch, such that a call from the calling party device to an assigned call-in number will be automatically forwarded to a device associated with the to be called party.