Communication system tracking arrangement
First Claim
1. A station tracking control arrangement for use in a communication system having a plurality of stations having communication capability among each other over communication links, said arrangement comprisingmeans for determining the busy-idle status of each said station,means controlled from a first station for temporarily establishing in association with said first station a selected other station as a target station,means separate from said communication links for providing a first indication at said first station when said target station is busy, andmeans separate from said communication links for providing a second indication at said first station when said target station is idle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system call tracking arrangement is disclosed which allows a telephone station user to selectively determine the busy-idle status of any other telephone station served by the same system, without utilizing the communication links between the stations. In operation, the inquiring station has the capability of selecting a target station and for receiving a continuous visual indication of the busy-idle status of the selected target station. In one embodiment, it is possible to selectively enable the tracking feature so that an audible signal is provided at the inquiring station when the target station makes a busy-idle status transition.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A station tracking control arrangement for use in a communication system having a plurality of stations having communication capability among each other over communication links, said arrangement comprising
means for determining the busy-idle status of each said station, means controlled from a first station for temporarily establishing in association with said first station a selected other station as a target station, means separate from said communication links for providing a first indication at said first station when said target station is busy, and means separate from said communication links for providing a second indication at said first station when said target station is idle.
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7. In a communication system where any one of a number of telephone stations may selectively communicate with any other one of said telephone stations or with system facilities over communication paths established between a calling and called one of said stations or system facilities, the improvement comprising
means at a calling one of said stations for selecting a called station or facility to which a call is to be directed, means responsive to a selection at said calling station for establishing a communication connection to said selected called station or facility, means for storing the busy-idle status of said called station or called facility, means for providing visual signals to said calling station, means for receiving special signals from said calling station, means responsive to receipt of one of said special signals from said calling station followed by selection at said calling station of a called one of said stations or facilities for inhibiting the establishment of said communication connection to said called station or facility, means concurrently enabled with said inhibiting means for examining the stored busy-idle status of said called station or facility, and means for enabling said visual signals at said calling station when said stored status of said called station or facility is determined busy.
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15. In a communication system having a plurality of stations and system facilities, each station having a plurality of buttons and where each station may establish a calling connection to any other station or system facility by operation of one of said buttons and by selectively providing the called number identification of a called facility and where each said button has associated therewith at least one visual indicating device, the improvement comprising,
a memory means for storing the busy-idle statuses of said system facilities in said memory, means for enabling said visual indicating device of a specific one of said buttons at a calling station, means for recognizing special dialing signals from said calling station, means responsive to recognition of a particular one of said special dialing signals from said calling station followed by receipt of a called facility identification number from said calling station for inhibiting the establishment of said calling connection to said facility, and means concurrently enabled with said inhibiting means for examining the stored busy-idle status of said called facility and for enabling said visual indicating device of said specific one of said buttons at said calling station when said stored status of said called facility is determined busy.
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19. A method of tracking a called station in a communication system having a plurality of such stations each having communication paths therebetween, said method comprising the steps of
determining the busy-idle status of each said station, temporarily establishing, under control from a first station, an association between said first station and a selected other station as a target station, providing, separate from said communication paths, a first indication at said first station when said target station is busy, and providing, separate from said communication paths, a second indication at said first station when said target station is idle.
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20. In a communication system where any one of a number of telephone stations may selectively communicate with any other one of said telephone stations or with system facilities over communication paths established between a calling and called one of said stations or system facilities, the improved method comprising the steps of
selecting at a calling one of said stations a called station or facility to which a call is to be directed, establishing in response to a selection at said calling station a communication connection to said selected called station or facility, storing the busy-idle status of said called station or called facility, providing special signals to said calling station, receiving special signals from said calling station, inhibiting in response to receipt of one of said special signals from said calling station followed by selection at said calling station of a called one of said stations or facilities, the establishment of said communication connection to said called station or facility, examining, concurrently with the enabling of said last step, the stored busy-idle status of said called station or facility, and enabling said special signals at said calling station when said stored status of said called station or facility is determined busy.
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22. In a communication system having a plurality of stations and system facilities, each station having a plurality of buttons and where each station may establish a calling connection to any other station or system facility by operation of one of said buttons and by selectively providing the called number identification of a said called facility, the improved method comprising the steps of
storing the busy-idle statuses of said stations and system facilities in a memory, recognizing special dialing signals from said calling station, inhibiting the establishment of said calling connection to a called station or facility in response to recognition of a particular one of said special dialing signals from said calling station followed by receipt of a called station or facility identification number from said calling station, examining, concurrently with the enabling of said inhibiting step, the stored busy-idle status of said called station or facility, and enabling a visual indication at said calling station when said stored status of said called station or facility is determined busy.
Specification