Method for providing enhanced directory assistance upon command using out-of-band signaling

• US 6,628,772 B1
• Filed: 10/13/1999
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Grape Technology Group Incorporated (KGB)
• Original Assignee: Metro One Telecommunications, Inc.
• Inventors: McGrath, Adam J., Timmins, Timothy A., Elsey, Nicholas J., Cox, Patrick M., Powell, A. Peter, Kepler, Michael A., Filliger, Paul W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Deane, Jr., William J.
• Application Number:
  US09/417,523
• Time in Patent Office: 1,448 Days
• Field of Search: 379/218.01, 379/203.01, 379/209.01, 379/212.01, 379/67, 379/218.02, 455/404, 455/114
• US Class Current: 379/218.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/22 Automatic class or number identification arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42093 Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42102 Making use of the called party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/424 Arrangements for automatic redialling at the subscriber's set H04M1/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/48 Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4933 with operator assistance
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4935 Connection initiated by DAS system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/60 Semi-automatic systems, i.e. in which the numerical selection of the outgoing line is under the control of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 : for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/72 : Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber

Abstract

A user calls a directory assistance service provider to search for a desired telephone number and be connected to a party at the desired number. In one such connection, the user is afforded enhanced directory assistance upon a user command in the form of an out-of-band signaling message, e.g., SS7 signaling message. For example, the user may be afforded further operator assistance by pushing on the user telephone a predetermined key (e.g., “*” key), which is detectable by the directory assistance service provider as an SS7 signaling message.

Claims

1. An enhanced method of providing telephone directory assistance from a directory assistance center having a directory assistance node and a directory assistance switch, the method comprising the steps:

(a) receiving a customer call through a first network switch from a customer telephonic device in an external telephone network;

(b) receiving signaling data associated with the customer call through a network node;

(c) connecting the customer call through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch over a first voice connection between the directory assistance switch and the first network switch;

(d) connecting the signaling data associated with the customer call to the directory assistance node over a data connection between the directory assistance node and the network node;

(e) connecting the customer call to a directory assistance operator;

(f) determining a destination telephonic device number of a desired party wanted by the customer in a computer database;

(g) initiating a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch, the telephonic connection being responsive to one of a plurality of connection options, at least one of the connection options including the following steps (h)-(i);

(h) detecting at the directory assistance node one or more instances of a command issued by the customer; and

(i) performing a predetermined function upon detection of one or more instances of the command.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises reconnecting the customer to an operator.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises re-attempting to establish a connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises providing the destination telephonic device number to the customer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises recording a message for later delivery to the destination telephonic device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises prompting the customer for an alphanumeric page to be sent to the destination telephonic device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined function in step (i) comprises presenting the customer with a plurality of service options.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein one of the plurality of service options includes reconnecting the customer to an operator.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of service options include at least one of the following options:

resuming the telephonic connection in progress, re-attempting to establish a connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device, providing the destination telephonic device number to the customer, recording a message for later delivery to the destination telephonic device, or prompting the customer for an alphanumeric page to be sent to the destination telephonic device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network switch and the second network switch comprise a single network switch.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling data associated with the customer call is received from an external out-of-band signaling network.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

maintaining the first voice connection from the customer telephonic device through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch for the duration of the customer call; and

maintaining the data connection associated with the customer call through the network node to the directory assistance node for the duration of the customer call.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) further comprises:

transmitting call initiation signaling data over the data connection to a second network node to initiate a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device; and

upon receipt of confirmatory call initiation signaling data, establishing the telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device is comprised of a voice channel and a signaling channel, and wherein the voice channel is initiated over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch, and the signaling channel is initiated over a second data connection between the directory assistance node and a second network node.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first network node and the second network node comprise a single network node.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first network switch and the second network switch comprise a single network switch.

17. The method of claim 1 in which at least one of the plurality of connection options includes the following steps (j)-(l):

(j) allocating one or more detectors in the directory assistance switch to monitor the customer call for a command issued by the customer;

(k) detecting at the directory assistance switch one or more instances of the command; and

(l) performing a predetermined function upon detection of one or more instances of the command.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises reconnecting the customer to an operator.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises re-attempting to establish a connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises providing the destination telephonic device number to the customer.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises recording a message for later delivery to the destination telephonic device 22.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises prompting the customer for an alphanumeric page to be sent to the destination telephonic device.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined function in step (l) comprises presenting the customer with a plurality of service options.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein one of the plurality of service options includes reconnecting to an operator.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of service options include at least one of the following options:

resuming the telephonic connection in progress, conferencing in an additional desired party to the telephonic connection, re-attempting to establish a connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device, providing the destination telephonic device number to the customer, recording a message for later delivery to the destination telephonic device, or prompting the customer for an alphanumeric page to be sent to the destination telephonic device.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) comprises sending a digit sequence of the destination telephonic device number contained in the computer database to a switching matrix host to initiate the telephonic connection.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) further comprises initiating the telephonic connection without a voiced recitation of the destination telephonic device number.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) further comprises providing the destination telephonic device number to the customer by a voice recording unit.

29. The method of claim 1 in which at least one of the connection options includes the step of maintaining the directory assistance operator as a conferenced party to the initiated telephonic connection to monitor whether the connection is completed satisfactorily.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer telephonic device and destination telephonic device are telephones.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer telephonic device is a wireless telephone.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the command issued by the customer results from an implied action by the customer.

33. An enhanced method of providing telephone directory assistance from a directory assistance center having a directory assistance node and a directory assistance switch, the method comprising the steps:

(a) receiving a customer call from a first network switch from a customer telephonic device in an external telephone network;

(b) receiving signaling data associated with the customer call from a network node;

(c) connecting the customer call through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch over a first voice link between the directory assistance switch and the first network switch;

(d) connecting the signaling data associated with the customer call to the directory assistance node over a data link between the directory assistance node and the network node;

(e) connecting the customer call to a directory assistance operator;

(f) determining a destination telephonic device number associated with a desired party wanted by the customer in a computer database;

(g) initiating a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch. and a second network switch, said telephonic connection being responsive to one of a plurality of connection options, at least one of the connection options including the following steps (h)-(j);

(h) detecting at the directory assistance node one or more instances of a command for conferencing issued by the customer;

(i) determining an additional destination telephonic device number of an additional desired. party wanted by the customer in a computer database; and

(j) initiating a conferencing telephonic connection between the additional destination telephonic device and the connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device, over a third voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a third network switch.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the signaling data associated with the customer call is received from an external out-of-band signaling network.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein step (i) further comprises reconnecting the customer to an operator to determine the additional destination telephonic device number of the additional desired party wanted by the customer from a computer database.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein step (i) further comprises prompting the customer by voice recording unit to enter or speak the additional destination telephonic device number of the additional desired party.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein step (i) further comprises providing the customer with a plurality of options for determining and providing the additional destination telephonic device number, wherein one of the options includes reconnecting to an operator.

38. The method of claim 33 in which at least one of the connection options includes the following steps (k)-(n):

(k) allocating one or more detectors in the directory assistance switch to monitor the customer call for a command for conferencing issued by the customer;

(l) detecting at the directory assistance switch one or more instances of the command;

(m) determining an additional destination telephonic device number of an additional desired party wanted by the customer in a computer database; and

(n) initiating a conferencing telephonic connection between the additional destination telephonic device and the connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device, over a third voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a third network switch.

39. The method of claim 33, wherein the conferencing telephonic connection is responsive to one of a plurality of conferencing connection options, and wherein at least one of the conferencing connection options includes the step of maintaining the directory assistance operator as a conferenced party to the initiated conferencing telephonic connection to monitor whether the connection is completed satisfactorily.

40. The method of claim 33, further comprising, upon an unsuccessful initiation of the conferencing telephonic connection, providing the customer with a plurality of service options, wherein at least one of the plurality of service options includes returning to an operator.

41. The method of claim 33, wherein step (i) occurs blindly with respect to the destination telephonic device.

42. The method of claim 33, further comprising the steps of:

maintaining the first voice link from the customer telephonic device through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch for the duration of the customer call; and

maintaining the data link associated with the customer call through the network node to the directory assistance node for the duration of the customer call.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein step (g) further comprises:

transmitting call initiation signaling data over the data connection to a second network node to initiate a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device; and

upon receipt of confirmatory call initiation signaling data, establishing the telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the first network node and the second network node comprise a single network node.

45. The method of claim 33, wherein step (g) comprises sending a digit sequence of the destination telephonic device number contained in the computer database to a switching matrix host to initiate the telephonic connection.

46. The method of claim 33, wherein the first network switch and the second network switch comprise a single network switch.

47. The method of claim 33, wherein the first network switch, second network switch, and third network switch comprise a single network switch.

48. The method of claim 33, wherein the customer telephonic device, destination telephonic device, and additional destination telephonic device are telephones.

49. The method of claim 33, wherein the customer telephonic device is a wireless telephone.

50. The method of claim 33, wherein step (g) further comprises initiating the telephonic connection without a voiced recitation of the destination telephonic device number.

51. The method of claim 33 which includes repeating steps (h) through (j) for a different additional desired party.

52. The method of claim 33 wherein the command for conferencing issued by the customer results from an implied action by the customer.

53. An enhanced method of providing telephone directory assistance from a directory assistance center having a directory assistance node and a directory assistance, the method comprising the steps:

(a) receiving a customer call through a first network switch from a customer telephonic device in an external telephone network;

(b) connecting the customer call through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch over a first voice link between the directory assistance switch and the first network switch;

(c) connecting the customer call to a directory assistance operator;

(d) determining a destination telephonic device number of a desired party wanted by the customer in a computer database;

(e) initiating a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice link between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch;

(f) initiating a signaling data connection associated with the telephonic connection over a data link between the directory assistance node and a network node;

(h) upon detection at the directory assistance node of one or more instances of a predetermined signaling event associated with the telephonic connection between the customer telephone and the destination telephone, taking a predetermined action.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the network node is in an external out-of-band signaling network.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the predetermined signaling event in step (h) includes at least one of the following:

call could not be completed, ring-no-answer, called party termination of call, number-is-disconnected, busy signal, and network communication problem.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein the predetermined action in step (h) comprises reconnecting the customer to an operator.

57. The method of claim 53, wherein the predetermined action in step (h) comprises presenting the customer with a plurality of service options.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the plurality of service options are specific to the predetermined signaling event.

59. The method of claim 57, wherein at least one of the plurality of service options includes reconnecting to an operator.

60. The method of claim 57, wherein the plurality of service options are announced by a voice response unit.

61. The method of claim 53, wherein the predetermined signaling event is a busy signal and wherein the predetermined action comprises informing the customer that destination telephone number is busy.

62. The method of claim 53, further comprising the steps of:

(i) detecting a subsequent signaling event indicating that the destination telephone number is no longer busy;

(j) ceasing informing the customer that the destination telephone number is busy; and

(k) reinitiating a telephonic connection between the customer telephone and the destination telephone over the second voice link; and

(l) reinitiating a signaling data connection associated with the telephonic connection over the data link.

63. The method of claim 53, wherein the customer telephonic device and destination telephonic device are telephones.

64. The method of claim 53, wherein the customer telephonic device is a wireless telephone.

65. An enhanced method of providing telephone directory assistance from a directory assistance center having a directory assistance node and a directory assistance switch, the method comprising the steps:

(a) maintaining an attribute database of preferred services associated with individual customers of the directory assistance center;

(b) receiving a customer call through a first network switch from a customer telephonic device in an external telephone network;

(c) receiving signaling data associated with the customer call through a network node;

(d) connecting the customer call through the first network switch to the directory assistance switch over a first voice connection between the directory assistance switch and the first network switch;

(e) connecting the signaling data associated with the customer call to the directory assistance node over a data connection between the directory assistance node and the network node;

(f) connecting the customer call to a directory assistance operator;

(g) determining a destination telephonic device number of a desired party wanted by the customer in a computer database;

(h) determining the preferred service associated with the customer from the attribute database;

(i) initiating a telephonic connection between the customer telephonic device and the destination telephonic device over a second voice connection between the directory assistance switch and a second network switch, the telephonic connection being responsive to one of a plurality of connection options, at least one of the connection options including the following steps (l)-(k);

(j) detecting at the directory assistance node one or more instances of a command issued by the customer for the preferred service associated with the customer; and

(k) performing the preferred service upon detection of one or more instances of the command.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the signaling data associated with the customer call is received from an external out-of-band signaling network.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein the preferred service comprises returning to an operator.

68. The method of claim 65, wherein step (h) further comprises determining a default preferred service if the attribute database does not contain a preferred service associated with the customer.

69. The method of claim 65, wherein the customer telephonic device and destination telephonic device are telephones.

70. The method of claim 65, wherein the customer telephonic device is a wireless telephone.

71. A method of generating an out-of-band signaling message affiliated with a customer command for enhanced directory assistance service issued from a customer telephonic device, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting the customer command for enhanced directory assistance service issued from the customer telephonic device;

generating a first data field containing routing information for the out-of-band signaling message;

generating a second data field identifying the enhanced directory service sought by the customer; and

generating a third data field identifying a protocol of the customer device.

72. The method of claim 71, further comprising the step of generating a fourth data field identifying customer service parameters associated with the customer.

73. The method of claim 71, further comprising the step of generating a fourth data field identifying a characteristic of the customer telephonic device.

74. A method of processing an out-of-band signaling message affiliated with a customer command for enhanced directory assistance service issued from a customer telephonic device, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the out-of-band signaling message affiliated with the customer command for enhanced directory assistance service issued from the customer telephonic device;

processing a first data field of the out-of-band signaling message to obtain the enhanced directory service sought by the customer; and

processing a second data field of the out-of-band signaling message to obtain a protocol of the customer device.

75. The method of claim 74, further comprising the step of processing a third data field of the out-of-band signaling message to obtain customer service parameters associated with the customer.

76. The method of claim 74, further comprising the step of processing a fourth data field of the out-of-band signaling message to obtain a characteristic of the customer telephonic device.