Internet call manager

• US 6,647,108 B1
• Filed: 01/02/2001
• Issued: 11/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Services Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamilton, Barbara Ann, Wurster, John H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Matar, Ahmad F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US09/751,392
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 379/215.01, 379/221.08, 379/201.02
• US Class Current: 379/215.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4281 when the called subscriber is connected to a data network using his telephone line, e.g. dial-up connection, Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53383 Message registering commands or announcements; Greetings
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308

Abstract

A method of providing a user the option to accept an incoming call, play a prerecorded message to the incoming party, ignore the incoming call or forward the incoming call to a separate telephone number is disclosed for use when the user is connected, via the same telephone line, to the Internet. The disclosed invention reduces the number of times the incoming call is transferred which reduces the number of reserves used in processing the incoming call. This reduction frees up system resources and allows overall system resources to be used more efficiently.

Claims

1. A method of processing an incoming call over a telecommunications network from a calling party to a telecommunications network of a called party while the called party is using the telecommunications network to access the Internet, the method comprising the steps of:

connecting said called party through said telecommunications network to the Internet;

recognizing said Internet connection;

initiating a call to said called party using a special calling party number;

in response to said special calling party number, establishing a flag indicating said Internet connection;

receiving said incoming call from the called party;

detecting an AIN trigger when said incoming call reaches called party'"'"'s telecommunication'"'"'s network;

using said flag and said AIN trigger to determine routing of said incoming call;

processing said incoming call in accordance with a called party'"'"'s selected option.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said called party had the option to accept said incoming call.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein when said called party accepts said incoming call the called party'"'"'s connection to the Internet is terminated.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said called party had the option to ignore said incoming call.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said called party has the option of forwarding said incoming call.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said called party has the option of allowing the calling party to listen to a prerecorded message.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said called party had the option to accept, ignore, forward or connect said incoming call to a prerecorded message.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the options are displayed to the called party in a menu.

9. The method of claim 3 wherein a distinctive ring is used to indicate the arrival of said incoming call.

10. A telecommunications system comprising:

a switched telephone network including a plurality of a service switching points (SSPs) (i) interconnected by a plurality of trunks for carrying customer traffic and (ii) connected to a private operations data network for communicating control messages;

a database storing call processing records associated with respective subscribers of said switched telephone network; and

an application server responsive to said call processing records and configured to detect establishment of a connection to a remote data network on said switched telephone network by one of said subscribers and, in response, initiate a call to said subscriber using a special calling party number,

wherein said private operations data network is configured to transmit said special calling party number to said database and said database is configured to set a service status flag in response to said special calling party number.

11. The telecommunications system of claim 10 wherein an SSP serving said one subscriber is configured to route an incoming call to said application server in response to a message from said database indicating that said subscriber is connected to said remote data network.

12. The telecommunications system of claim 10 wherein said application server is configured to transmit a message to said subscriber on said remote data network in response to an incoming call to said subscriber.

13. The telecommunications system of claim 12 wherein said application server is responsive to a data message received from said subscriber on said data network to generate instructions for handling said incoming call.

14. The telecommunications system of claim 10 wherein said database comprises a service control point connected to said private operations data network.

15. The telecommunications system of claim 14 wherein said private operations data network comprises a common channel signaling network.

16. A switched telephone network comprising:

(i) a plurality of a service switching points (SSPs) configurable to provision triggers associated with telephone lines of designated ones of subscribes served by respective ones of said SSPs and responsive to incoming calls to respective ones of said designated subscribers to initiate a query message;

(ii) a plurality of trunks for carrying customer traffic between said SSPs;

(iii) at least one signaling transfer point (STP) connected to receive said query message from said SSPs;

(iv) a private operations data network connecting said SSPs to said at least one signaling transfer point (STP);

(v) a service control point (SCP) connected to said at least one STP for receiving sad query message and storing service status indicators associated with each of said designated subscribers;

(vi) a database storing call processing records associated with respective subscribers of said switched telephone network identifying said designated subscribers;

(vii) an application server responsive to said call processing records and configured to detect establishment of a connection to a remote data network on said switched telephone network by one of said designated subscribers and, in response, initiate a call to said subscriber using a special calling party number,

said SCP responsive to said special calling party number to set one of said service status indicators associated with said one designated subscriber.

17. The telecommunications system of claim 16 wherein said SCP is further responsive to said query message and said service status indicators to transmit a routing instruction forwarding an incoming call to said one designated subscriber to said application server.

18. The telecommunications system of claim 17 wherein said application server is responsive to said incoming call to transit an identity of said incoming call to said one designated subscriber on said remote data network.

19. The telecommunications system of claim 18 wherein said application server is responsive to a message from said subscriber on said remote data network for handling said incoming call to said one designated subscriber.

20. A method of processing an incoming call from a calling party to a telephone line serving a called party, comprising the steps of:

identifying a connection status of said telephone line of said called party to a data network including

(a) initiating a call to said called party using a special calling party number, and

(b) in response to said special calling party number, setting a status indicator of said telephone line;

routing the incoming call to a signal service switching point (SSP) serving said telephone line;

suspending call processing of said incoming call at said SSP; and

selectively, in response to said status indicator, (i) prompting said SSP to resume said call processing and (ii) processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party.

21. The method according to claim 20 further comprising a step of selectively completing said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line in response to said step of prompting said SSP to resume said call processing.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein said step of prompting said SSP to resume said call processing further comprises the steps of detecting an off-hook condition of said telephone line and, in response, selectively (i) completing said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line, and (ii) performing line busy processing.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein said step of performing line busy processing includes a step of audibly signaling said called subscriber that said incoming call is waiting and supplying a ring-back signal to said calling party.

24. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes a step of causing said SSP to forward said incoming call to an alternate telephone number.

25. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes a step of forwarding said incoming call to a server.

26. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes a step of forwarding said incoming call to a voice mail system.

27. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes a step of playing an announcement to the calling party.

28. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes steps of terminating a connection of said telephone line to said data network and connecting said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line.

29. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of processing said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party includes the steps of notifying said called party of said incoming call and soliciting selection of said option for processing said incoming call.

30. The method according to claim 20 fiber comprising a step of recognizing an event in said call processing as a Point in Call (PIC), wherein said step of suspending said call processing is responsive to said step of recognizing.

31. The method according to claim 20 further including a step of detecting a trigger associated with said telephone line at said SSP.

32. The method according to claim 31 wherein said trigger indicates a condition selected from the set consisting of a (i) Trigger on Busy, (ii) T-Busy Trigger and (iii) Termination Attempt Trigger.

33. The method according to claim 20 further comprising a step making said connection between (i) said telephone line serving said called party and (ii) said data network and, in response, performing said step of identifying said connection status of said telephone line.

34. The method according to claim 20 further comprising a step of maintaining a connection of said telephone line serving said called party to a data network and, and, in response, performing said step of identifying said connection status.

35. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of suspending call processing is responsive to said connection status of said telephone line.

36. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of identifying said connection status of said telephone line is responsive said connection of said telephone line to the Internet.

37. The method according to claim 20 wherein said step of identifying said connection status includes a step of setting a flag indicating said connection to said data network.

38. A telecommunication system for processing an incoming call from a calling party to a telephone line serving a called party, telecommunication system comprising:

an application server operational to identify a connection status of said telephone line of said called party to a data network, said application server responsive to said connection status for initiating a call to said called party using a special calling party number;

a network operational to route the incoming call;

a Service Switching Point (SSP) connected to said network and to said telephone line, said SSP responsive to a Point in Call (PIC) of said telephone line for suspending call processing of said incoming call; and

a database connected to said application server and to said SSP, said database response to said special calling party number for selectively (i) prompting said SSP to resume said call processing and (ii) initiating alternative processing of said incoming call in accordance with an option selected by said called party.

39. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is responsive to said prompting step to selectively complete said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line.

40. The telecommunications system according to claim 38, wherein said SSP is responsive to said prompting step to detect an off-hook condition of said telephone line and, in response, selectively (i) complete said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line, and (ii) perform line busy processing.

41. The telecommunications system according to claim 40 wherein said SSP is optional to perform said line busy processing by audibly signaling said called subscriber that said incoming call is waiting and supplying a ring-back signal to said calling parry.

42. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database is operational for initiating said alternative processing of said incoming call by instructing said SSP to forward said incoming call to an alternate telephone number.

43. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database is responsive to said connection status to selectively instruct said SSP to forward said incoming call to a server.

44. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database is responsive to said option selected by said called party to cause said incoming call to be forwarded to a voice mail system.

45. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database is responsive to said option selected by said called party to cause an announcement to be played to the calling party.

46. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database is responsive to said option selected by said called party to send an authorize termination response to the SSP and said SSP is responsive to said authorize termination response to terminate a connection of said telephone line to said data network and connect said incoming call to said called party on said telephone line.

47. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein further comprising a server connected to said database and to said data network, said server responsive to a message from said database to transmit a message on said data network notifying said called party of said incoming call and soliciting selection of said option for processing said incoming call.

48. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is responsive to event in said call processing as a Point in Call (PIC) to suspend said call processing of said incoming call.

49. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is operational to detect a trigger associated with said telephone line.

51. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is operational to establish said connection between (i) said telephone line serving said called party and (ii) said data network.

52. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is responsive to said connection status of said telephone line for selectively suspending said call processing.

53. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is responsive to identification of said telephone line associated with said incoming call suspending said call processing.

54. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said application server is responsive to said connection of said telephone line to the Internet for identifying said connection stats of said telephone line.

55. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database in responsive to said application server for setting a flag indicating said connection to said data network.

56. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said SSP is operational to launch a query to said database and said database is responsive to said special calling party number for setting a flag indicating said connection status.

57. The telecommunications system according to claim 38 wherein said database comprises a Service Control Point (SCP).

50. The telecommunications system according to claim wherein said trigger indicates a condition selected from the set consisting of a (i) Trigger on Busy, (ii) T-Busy Trigger and (iii) Termination Attempt Trigger.