Network presence for a communications system operating over a computer network

• US 6,128,304 A
• Filed: 10/23/1998
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Genuity Inc. (Lumen Technologies, Inc.), Verizon Communications Inc.
• Original Assignee: GTE Laboratories Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bhatnagar, Rajiv, Antell, Thomas James, Gardell, Steven E., Zibman, Israel B., Kelly, Barbara Mayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Frank
• Application Number:
  US09/178,130
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 370/259, 370/260, 370/261, 370/270, 370/352, 370/355, 370/356, 370/401, 379/201, 379/202, 379/211, 379/212
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/64 Hybrid switching systems
• 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 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/203 composed of PSTN and data network, e.g. the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0075 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables

Abstract

A method and apparatus are implemented for providing traditional telecommunications service capabilities in a packet based computer network. The system and method of the present invention automatically provide such service capabilities in the event a terminal end-point is unavailable to receive an incoming call, based upon predetermined associations between the terminal end-point and one or more of the available services.

Claims

1. A communication system for interacting with a switched circuit network and for providing network-based services for handling incoming calls directed to at least one terminal end-point, the system comprising:

a gateway in communication with the switched circuit network, the gateway being operative to translate switched circuit network-compatible signals into computer network-compatible signals;

an association table configured to store a routing address corresponding to the terminal end-point, the routing address identifying a preselected one of the terminal end-point and a network-resident service terminal;

a signal routing agent in communication with the gateway, with the terminal end-point, and with one or more network-resident service terminals, the signal routing agent being operative to receive an incoming call from the gateway addressed to the terminal end-point; and

a feature selector in communication with the signal routing agent and the association table, the feature selector being programmed to determine a routing address for the incoming call using the association table and to instruct the signal routing agent to route the incoming call based on the routine address.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the signal routing agent is programmed to notify the feature selector upon receipt of the incoming call.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the feature selector is responsive to receipt of an incoming call addressed to one of the terminal end-points to access the association table to identify one of the network-resident service terminals to receive the incoming call, and to signal the signal routing agent to route the incoming call to the identified network-resident service terminal.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the gateway and signal routing agent are constructed to operate under an H.323 standard.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the signal routing agent comprises a call routed gatekeeper.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the signal routing agent comprises a call control service entity.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein:

the call control service entity comprises the feature selector and the association table.

8. A system for use in a packet based network, the packet based network including one or more terminal end-points and one or more network-resident service nodes, the system comprising:

a call management database configured to store a routing address corresponding to each of the terminal end-points, the routing address identifying a preselected one of the corresponding terminal end-points and one of the service nodes;

a service feature selector programmed to access the call management database upon notification of an incoming signal directed to one of the terminal end-points to determine a destination to receive the incoming signal based on routing address; and

a signal routing agent in communication with the service feature selector, the signal routing agent being operative to receive incoming signals and to route the incoming signals to appropriate destinations as directed by the service feature selector.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the service feature selector is further programmed to access the call management database to identify one of the service nodes for a terminal end-point in the event the terminal end-point is unavailable.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the signal routing agent is responsive to receipt of an incoming signal to notify the service feature selector; and

the service feature selector is responsive to receipt of the notification to access the call management database to determine the appropriate destination to receive the incoming signal.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the signal routing agent comprises a call control service entity.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the call control service entity comprises the service feature selector and the call management database.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the signal routing agent comprises a call routed gatekeeper.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the call management database is in the form of an association table.

15. The system of claim 8 wherein:

the signal routing agent is constructed to operate under an H.323 standard.

16. A method for providing network-resident communication services in a packet based network, comprising the steps of:

receiving an incoming call addressed to a particular terminal end-point in the packet based network;

determining whether to send the incoming call to the terminal end-point or one of a plurality of network-resident service nodes based on predetermined data;

sending the incoming call to the network-resident service node when the predetermined data identifies the network-resident service node;

sending the incoming call to the terminal end-point when the predetermined data identifies the terminal end-point;

determining whether the terminal end-point is available to receive the incoming call;

if the terminal end-point is not available, identifying one of the network-resident service nodes to receive the incoming call; and

routing the incoming call to the identified network-resident service node.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of determining whether the terminal end-point is available comprises routing the incoming call to the terminal end-point and monitoring whether the terminal end-point responds to the incoming call within a preselected time period.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of determining whether to send the incoming call to the terminal end-point or the network-resident service node comprises accessing a call management database to check if the network-resident service node has been selected to receive incoming calls directed to the terminal end-point.

19. A method for providing network-resident communication services in a packet based network, comprising the steps of:

receiving an incoming call addressed to a particular terminal end-point;

accessing a call management database to determine whether the terminal end-point is linked with a corresponding service node for initial call presentation;

if the terminal end-point is linked with the service node for initial call presentation, routing the incoming call to the service node; and

if no service node is linked with the terminal end-point, routing the incoming call to the terminal end-point.

20. The method of claim 19 and further including the steps of:

after the incoming call has been routed to the terminal end-point, determining whether the terminal end-point is unavailable;

if the terminal end-point is unavailable, accessing the call management database to determine the appropriate service node to receive the incoming call; and

routing the incoming call to the appropriate service node.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the step of determining whether the terminal end-point is available comprises monitoring whether the terminal end-point responds to the incoming call within a selected period of time.