System and method for call management with voice channel conservation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for managing telephone calls, comprising:
- a data channel;
a plurality of voice channels;
a call management system, coupled to the data channel and plurality of voice channels, the call management system including circuitry that transmits subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call to a subscriber over the data channel, and for directing the incoming call over one of the voice channels in accordance with a menu option selection, such that said one of the voice channels is conserved until the incoming call is directed over one of the voice channels.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for providing a call management service subscriber with options for handling incoming calls, without using voice channel resources, is disclosed. When an incoming call is received by the call management system, caller information and menu options are provided to the subscriber in text form on a display, using a data channel, rather than in spoken form over a voice channel. This conserves air time and network resources while providing the subscriber with call handling options in a convenient and user-friendly form.
-
Citations
55 Claims
-
1. A system for managing telephone calls, comprising:
-
a data channel;
a plurality of voice channels;
a call management system, coupled to the data channel and plurality of voice channels, the call management system including circuitry that transmits subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call to a subscriber over the data channel, and for directing the incoming call over one of the voice channels in accordance with a menu option selection, such that said one of the voice channels is conserved until the incoming call is directed over one of the voice channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A call management system, comprising:
-
a central processing unit;
a data channel interface for sending and receiving data signals over one or more data channels;
a voice channel interface for sending and receiving audio signals over one or more voice channels;
an incoming call management application which, in response to receiving an incoming call for a particular subscriber, transmits menu options for handling the incoming call to the subscriber over one of the data channels; and
a call setup application for receiving a menu option selection transmitted by the subscriber to the call management system over the data channel and directing the incoming call in accordance with the selected menu option, such that the voice channels are conserved until the incoming call is directed in accordance with the selected menu option.
-
-
23. A method of managing telephone calls, comprising:
-
transmitting subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call from a call management system to a subscriber over a data channel;
receiving a selected menu option transmitted by the subscriber to the call management system over the data channel; and
directing the incoming call over a voice channel in accordance with the selected menu option, such that the voice channel is conserved until the incoming call is directed over said voice channel. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
connecting the incoming call to a voicemail system, and to the receiver path of the subscriber'"'"'s handset; and
in response to a command from the subscriber, connecting the incoming call to the transmitter path of the wireless mobile telephone associated with the subscriber and disconnecting the incoming call from the voicemail system.
-
-
29. The method of claim 25, wherein the transfer to voicemail option includes transfer to a voicemail system external to the call management system.
-
30. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received selected menu option is the call forwarding option, the method includes transferring the incoming call from the call management system to a default telephone number.
-
31. The method of claim 25, wherein when the receiving step includes receiving the call forwarding option and a telephone number from the subscriber, the method includes transferring the incoming call from the call management system to the telephone number.
-
32. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received selected menu option is the call forwarding option, the method includes:
-
placing a call from the call management system to a telephone number;
waiting for a response from the telephone number; and
transferring the incoming call from the call management system to the telephone number.
-
-
33. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received selected menu option is the transfer to voicemail option, the method includes:
- transferring the incoming call from the call management system to a voicemail system.
-
34. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received selected menu option is a callback option, the method includes:
-
playing a message informing the caller that his call will be returned shortly, and asking the caller to leave a callback number; and
forming a connection over a voice channel between the caller and a voicemail system.
-
-
35. The method of claim 24, wherein when the received selected menu option is a hold call option, the method includes:
-
playing a message informing the caller that his call will be answered shortly;
holding the call until a command is received from the subscriber; and
forming a connection over a voice channel between the caller and the subscriber.
-
-
36. The system of claim 24 wherein the plurality of voice channels include wireless voice channels.
-
37. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
-
waiting for a specified period of time for the menu options to be delivered to the subscriber; and
directing the call in accordance with a “
handset off”
option.
-
-
38. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
-
waiting for a specified period of time for the subscriber to select a menu option; and
directing the call in accordance with a “
subscriber ignored the message”
option.
-
-
39. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
transmitting caller identification information to the subscriber over the data channel.
-
40. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
transmitting caller identification information to the subscriber over the voice channel.
-
41. A system for managing telephone calls, comprising:
-
a data channel;
a plurality of voice channels;
a call management system, coupled to the data channel and plurality of voice channels, the call management system including circuitry that transmits subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call to a subscriber over the data channel, and for not directing the incoming call over one of the voice channels until a menu option selection is received that requires use of said one of the voice channels, such that said one of the voice channels is conserved until the incoming call is directed over one of the voice channels. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
-
-
46. A system for managing telephone calls, comprising:
-
a data channel;
a plurality of voice channels;
a call management system, coupled to the data channel and plurality of voice channels, the call management system including circuitry that transmits subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call to a subscriber over the data channel, and for conditionally directing the incoming call over one of the voice channels in accordance with a menu option selection when the menu option selection requires the incoming call to be directed over said one of said voice channels, such that said one of the voice channels is conserved until the incoming call is directed over said one of the voice channels. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A method of managing telephone calls, comprising:
-
transmitting subscriber selectable menu options for handling an incoming call from a call management system to a subscriber over a data channel;
waiting to receive a selected menu option transmitted by the subscriber to the call management system over the data channel, said selected menu option comprising one of said subscriber selectable menu options for handling the incoming call;
when the selected menu option is received, conditionally directing the incoming call over a voice channel in accordance with the selected menu option when the selected menu option requires the incoming call to be directed over said voice channel, such that said voice channel is conserved until the incoming call is directed over said voice channel. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
-
Specification