Paging system that allows caller/subscriber interconnection
First Claim
1. A telecommunications system capable of receiving telephone calls for meet-me page subscribers and telephone calls for non-meet-me page subscribers from a publicly switched telephone network, wherein the subscribers are provided with portable page receivers, comprising:
- a paging system including a first processing circuit connected to the publicly switched telephone network for receiving telephone calls to the non-meet-me page subscribers, which, in response to the telephone calls, generates page requests;
a second processing circuit connected to said first processing circuit for receiving said page requests, which, in response to said page requests, forms one of pages or page messages according to a time of the day at which the page requests are received and selectively forwards said one of pages or page messages to one of a plurality of terminal devices;
a meet-me unit connected to the publicly switched telephone network for receiving telephone calls to the meet-me page subscribers and for receiving telephone calls from the meet me page subscribers, wherein said meet-me unit is capable of distinguishing between calls to the meet-me page subscribers and calls from the meet-me page subscribers and in response to an incoming call for a specific meet-me page subscriber, generates a meet-me page request and parks the incoming call, said meet-me unit including means for generating a ring signal to a caller for a predefined time interval while said incoming call is parked, so that a caller is at least initially unaware that a meet-me page request has been generated and wherein said meet-me unit is further connected to said paging systems second processing circuit for forwarding said meet-me page request thereto; and
call connection circuitry integral with said meet-me unit for determining from which meet-me page subscriber that said meet-me page subscriber call has been received, determining if said parked call is for the calling meet-me page subscriber; and
, if said parked call is for the calling meet-me page subscriber, establishing a single link between said parked call and the call from the meet-me page subscriber, said caller being connected in communication with the calling meet-me page subscriber without being informed that the calling meet-me page subscriber has been paged if the signal link is established within said predefined time interval.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A telecommunications system that performs page-connect paging is disclosed. The telecommunications system of this invention includes a paging system (28) that is designed to receive calls from page-connect paging system subscribers. Once such a call is received, the system (28) parks the call on hold while sending a page to the subscriber. The subscriber can then call the paging terminal (28) to automatically be connected with the calling party. The system further includes a cordless telephone-2 system (26) wherein each of the system subscribers is further provided with a portable handset (26) from which he can access the publicly switched telephone network. Subscribers with the handset, upon receiving a page-connect page, can automatically dial the paging terminal (28) to be connected to their calling parties. Thus, the telecommunications system of this invention provides a convenient means of providing subscribers with portable telephone service that allows them to both make outgoing calls and receive incoming calls.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A telecommunications system capable of receiving telephone calls for meet-me page subscribers and telephone calls for non-meet-me page subscribers from a publicly switched telephone network, wherein the subscribers are provided with portable page receivers, comprising:
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a paging system including a first processing circuit connected to the publicly switched telephone network for receiving telephone calls to the non-meet-me page subscribers, which, in response to the telephone calls, generates page requests;
a second processing circuit connected to said first processing circuit for receiving said page requests, which, in response to said page requests, forms one of pages or page messages according to a time of the day at which the page requests are received and selectively forwards said one of pages or page messages to one of a plurality of terminal devices;a meet-me unit connected to the publicly switched telephone network for receiving telephone calls to the meet-me page subscribers and for receiving telephone calls from the meet me page subscribers, wherein said meet-me unit is capable of distinguishing between calls to the meet-me page subscribers and calls from the meet-me page subscribers and in response to an incoming call for a specific meet-me page subscriber, generates a meet-me page request and parks the incoming call, said meet-me unit including means for generating a ring signal to a caller for a predefined time interval while said incoming call is parked, so that a caller is at least initially unaware that a meet-me page request has been generated and wherein said meet-me unit is further connected to said paging systems second processing circuit for forwarding said meet-me page request thereto; and call connection circuitry integral with said meet-me unit for determining from which meet-me page subscriber that said meet-me page subscriber call has been received, determining if said parked call is for the calling meet-me page subscriber; and
, if said parked call is for the calling meet-me page subscriber, establishing a single link between said parked call and the call from the meet-me page subscriber, said caller being connected in communication with the calling meet-me page subscriber without being informed that the calling meet-me page subscriber has been paged if the signal link is established within said predefined time interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A meet-me unit connected to a publicly switched telephone network for receiving telephone calls to meet-me page subscribers and for receiving telephone calls from the meet-me page subscribers, and further connected to a paging terminal, said unit comprising:
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a first processing unit capable of distinguishing between calls to the meet-me page subscribers and calls from the meet-me page subscribers and in response to an incoming call for a specific meet-me page subscriber, generating a meet-me page request, selectively forwarding said page request to one of a plurality of terminal devices based on a time of day at which the call to the system subscriber is received, and parking the incoming call; and a second processing unit connected to said first processing unit for determining from which a meet-me page subscriber a call is received, determining if said parked call is for the meet-me page subscriber unless a predefined number of incoming lines are busy, where said predefined number is substantially less than a maximum available of the number of incoming lines; and
if said parked call is for the meet-me page subscriber who is calling, establishing a single link between said parked call and the call from the meet-me page system subscriber who is calling. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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Specification