Automated method and arrangement for integrating a telephone system with an announcement system
First Claim
1. A method of utilizing an announcement system to provide paging capability for calls forwarded to a voicemail system of a facility having a plurality of telephones, each telephone being associated with a particular user, said method comprising steps of:
- directing a call received at said facility to a specific telephone associated with an identified user, said call being intended for said identified user;
transferring said call to said voicemail system as an automated response to determining that said specific telephone has not been answered within a predetermined time interval, including establishing a first connection between said voicemail system and a telephone of a calling party, said voicemail system being capable of storing a voice message from said calling party for subsequent retrieval by said identified user;
as a first step establishing a second connection between said voicemail system and said announcement system, said second connection being separate from said first connection; and
parking said call on a known telephone line to terminate the first connection;
establishing a second connection between said voicemail system and said announcement system, said second connection being separate from said first connection; and
as an automated response to establishing said second connection, triggering an audible announcement of availability of said call for pickup by said identified user;
wherein the audible announcement is capable of verbally identifying said known telephone line and said identified user;
wherein at least one of the steps of triggering said audible announcement and establishing connectivity is selectively implemented to restrict access to either or both of triggering said areawide audible announcement and said pickup of parked call at said telephone line; and
as a second and following steps triggering said audible announcements in tiers of a multi-tier call-notification scheme in which differences in tiers are based upon at least one of regions of said facility in which said audible announcement is broadcast and modes for identifying said identified user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and arrangement of utilizing an announcement system to provide paging capability for a facility includes automating the integration of a telephone switch, a voicemail system, and an announcement system. An unanswered call to a telephone of the facility is forwarded to the voicemail system, establishing a first connection between the telephone of the calling party and the voicemail system. The caller is presented with the option of recording a message or initiating a broadcast of an audible page announcement. If the announcement option is selected, a second connection that is separate from the first connection is formed from the voicemail system to the announcement system. An audible announcement identifies the availability of the call for retrieval by the particular called party. In the preferred embodiment, access to the waiting call is restricted to either or both of verification of a password and verification that the retrieval is from one of a limited number of authorized telephones. Security and privacy are further enhanced by restricting access to the announcement procedure in accordance with the preferred embodiment. Multi-tier call notification may be employed, with differences in the tiers being based either upon regions of broadcast (e.g., localized versus general-facility announcements) or upon modes of paging (e.g., overhead announcements versus a page to a particular remote page device).
108 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of utilizing an announcement system to provide paging capability for calls forwarded to a voicemail system of a facility having a plurality of telephones, each telephone being associated with a particular user, said method comprising steps of:
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directing a call received at said facility to a specific telephone associated with an identified user, said call being intended for said identified user; transferring said call to said voicemail system as an automated response to determining that said specific telephone has not been answered within a predetermined time interval, including establishing a first connection between said voicemail system and a telephone of a calling party, said voicemail system being capable of storing a voice message from said calling party for subsequent retrieval by said identified user; as a first step establishing a second connection between said voicemail system and said announcement system, said second connection being separate from said first connection; and parking said call on a known telephone line to terminate the first connection; establishing a second connection between said voicemail system and said announcement system, said second connection being separate from said first connection; and as an automated response to establishing said second connection, triggering an audible announcement of availability of said call for pickup by said identified user; wherein the audible announcement is capable of verbally identifying said known telephone line and said identified user; wherein at least one of the steps of triggering said audible announcement and establishing connectivity is selectively implemented to restrict access to either or both of triggering said areawide audible announcement and said pickup of parked call at said telephone line; and as a second and following steps triggering said audible announcements in tiers of a multi-tier call-notification scheme in which differences in tiers are based upon at least one of regions of said facility in which said audible announcement is broadcast and modes for identifying said identified user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A call-notification method for a facility having a plurality of telephones and an announcement system;
- with each telephone being associated with a particular user, said method comprising steps of;
determining a presence of a call directed to a first telephone that is associated with a first user; presenting options to a calling party of said call to record a voicemail message or to trigger an audible announcement, said options being presented when said call is unanswered at said first telephone; parking said call; in response to selection of said option to trigger said audible announcement, as a first step triggering an areawide audible announcement on the said announcement system that verbally identifies said first user as having an available call; and establishing connectivity of said call to one of said telephones in response to pickup of said parked call; and as a second and following steps triggering said audible announcements in tiers of a multi-tier call-notification scheme in which differences in tiers are based upon at least one of regions of said facility in which said audible announcement is broadcast and modes for identifying said identified user; wherein at least one of steps of presenting said option to trigger said audible announcement and establishing connectivity is selectively implemented to restrict access to either or both of triggering said areawide audible announcement and said pickup of said parked call. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
- with each telephone being associated with a particular user, said method comprising steps of;
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13. An intersystem arrangement for a facility having a plurality of telephones comprising:
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a switch for handling connections for calls directed to and from said telephones; a voicemail system connected to said switch to receive calls which are unanswered at telephones to which said calls are directed, said voicemail system having established voice prompts, including a first voice prompt indicative of an option to trigger an areawide audible announcement of a called party, park the said received call at a known telephone line on the said switch, said voice prompts including a second voice prompt indicative of an option to record a message form a caller; an announcement system responsive to a selection of said option of said first voice prompt, said announcement system being connected to speaker means for audibilizing said areawide audible announcement that verbally identifies said known telephone line and identified user in a multi-tier call-notification scheme in which differences in tiers are based upon at least one of regions of said facility in which said audible announcement is broadcast and modes for identifying said identified user; and security means for restricting access to call announcement and pickup capability provided by interconnection of said voicemail system with said switch and said announcement system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification