Enhanced telephone communication methods and apparatus incorporating pager features
First Claim
1. A communication method, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a pager message indicative of a waiting call at a switch;
operating a telephone device to respond, without intervention by the operator of the telephone device, to the pager message by automatically dialing a telephone number of the switch; and
transmitting, to the switch, information identifying the responding party.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for implementing a telephone communication system incorporating pager features are described. In accordance with the present invention, when a call to a system subscriber is received, the subscriber is contacted by the telephone switch which receives the call via the use of a pager message, e.g., using a conventional pager system. If the subscriber has a pager module of the present invention, which receives the pager message directed to the subscriber inserted into an enhanced telephone of the present invention, the pager module will automatically initiate a call to the switch where the waiting call is being held or “parked”. The automatically placed call will result in a connection between the switch and called party being established over conventional telephone lines. The connection with the switch is thus established automatically in a manner that is transparent to the subscriber. After verifying the identify of the responding party, the calling and called parties are connected. A signal from the contacted switch may be used to cause the enhanced telephone used to establish the connection with the switch to ring thereby signal the receipt of a call to the telephone subscriber. Because the methods and apparatus of the present invention can be implemented using pager technology and land-line telephones, many of the cost, privacy, power consumption, and regional compatibility problems encountered when using current cellular telephones are avoided.
47 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A communication method, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a pager message indicative of a waiting call at a switch;
operating a telephone device to respond, without intervention by the operator of the telephone device, to the pager message by automatically dialing a telephone number of the switch; and
transmitting, to the switch, information identifying the responding party. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 19)
receiving from the switch an acknowledgement signal; and
generating a signal indicative of an incoming call in response to the acknowledgement signal.
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3. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
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providing a portable pager device; and
inserting the portable pager device into a telephone device.
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4. The communication method of claim 3, wherein the telephone device is a land-line telephone apparatus coupled to a public switching network.
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5. The communication method of claim 3, wherein the telephone device is a cellular telephone apparatus capable of receiving and placing cellular telephone calls.
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19. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of verifying includes steps of determining whether a received PAN and UAC match an expected PAN and UAC.
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6. A communication method comprising the steps of:
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operating a switch to receive a call directed to a phone number corresponding to a called party;
transmitting, to the called, party a pager message indicating that a call is waiting at the switch;
operating a telephone device capable of making and receiving telephone calls to automatically respond, without action by the operator of the telephone device, to the pager message by dialing a telephone number of the switch; and
operating the switch to connect the called party to the telephone device in response to the call made by the telephone device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 20)
determining, prior to transmitting the pager message, if a primary telephone associated with the called party is active.
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8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:
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operating the switch to transmit a call acknowledgement signal to the telephone device; and
operating the telephone device to generate an audible signal indicative of a telephone call.
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9. The method of claim 8, wherein the telephone device is a land-line telephone device coupled to the switch by a public switching network.
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10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:
operating the switch to verify the identity of the party responding to the pager message prior to connecting the calling party to the telephone device.
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11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:
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billing the calling party for the call directed to the assigned phone number; and
billing the called party for the call made by the telephone device.
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20. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of verifying includes steps of determining whether a received PAN and UAC match an expected PAN and UAC.
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12. A portable pager device, comprising:
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a connector for coupling the portable pager device to a telephone device;
a memory; and
means for initiating, without intervention by the operator of the portable pager device, a telephone dialing operation in response to a pager message, wherein the means for initiating a telephone dialing operation include means for automatically initiating a telephone dialing operation to a switch parking a waiting telephone call, in the absence of human intervention, in response to a pager message indicative of the call waiting at the switch. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
means for generating an audible signal indicative of an incoming call in response to an acknowledgement signal received from the switch.
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15. In a system having a local central office, a paging network, and a remote central office, a method for processing a call to a portable device located outside of a range of the local central office, the method comprising:
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a) parking, at the local central office, the call;
b) sending, from the local central office, to the paging network, a message including a telephone number of the parked call and an enhanced call indication;
c) paging, with the paging network, the portable device;
d) determining whether or not a pager is attached to the portable device;
e) if a pager is not attached to the portable device, indicating to a caller that placed the call, that the called party is being paged; and
f) determining whether or not the called party responds to the page within a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
g) if the called party does respond to the page within the predetermined time period, connecting the caller and the called party.
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17. The method of claim 15 wherein if it is determined that a pager is attached to the portable device, initiating a call, from the portable device, to the local central office.
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18. The method of claim 17 wherein the call initiated from the portable device to the local central office is initiated without intervention by an operator of the portable device.
Specification