Method and system for control over call handling

• US 7,116,972 B1
• Filed: 11/16/2001
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: McConnell, Von, Zhang, Baoquan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US09/991,616
• Time in Patent Office: 1,782 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/415, 455/417, 455/406, 455/412.1, 455/414.4
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• 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

Abstract

Methods and a system are provided for allowing a subscriber to control the call handling at a customer premises equipment. A calling party can place a call from anywhere in a carrier network to a subscriber at a customer premises equipment. The carrier network prompts the subscriber with call information and a list of call processing choices. The subscriber can select one of the choices and the call is handled properly by the system. The methods and system allow the subscriber to interact with the carrier network in real-time.

Claims

1. A method for providing real-time service provisioning at a customer premises equipment, the method comprising:

receiving an incoming call to the customer premises equipment at a switch in a carrier network, and responsively sending a query for call handling instructions from the switch to a service control node in the carrier network;

providing one or more choices corresponding to handling of the incoming call for selection at the customer premises equipment in response to receipt of the query for call handling instructions at the service control node;

receiving at the service control node an indication of a choice selected at the customer premises equipment, and providing a response to the query from the service control node to the switch, wherein the response to the query includes call handling instructions corresponding to the selected choice; and

processing the incoming call at the switch according to the response received from the service control node.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing call information at the customer premises equipment.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting one of the one or more choices at the customer premises equipment, wherein the selection of one of the one or more choices generates a response message from the customer premises equipment, the response message including the indication of the selected choice.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the incoming call corresponds to connecting the call to the customer premises equipment, forwarding the call to voice mail, or forwarding the call to a third party.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein providing one or more choices at the customer premises equipment is provided by a short message service (SMS) message.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the customer premises equipment is a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, or other hand-held wireless device.

7. A method for providing real-time service provisioning, the method comprising:

receiving at a mobile switching center an incoming call from a first mobile station to a second mobile station, and responsively sending a query for call handling instructions from the mobile switching center to a service control node;

providing one or more choices corresponding to handling of the incoming call for selection at the second mobile station in response to receipt of the query for call handling instructions at the service control node;

receiving at the service control node an indication of a choice selected at the second mobile station, and formulating a response to the query according to the selected choice; and

transmitting the response to the query from the service control node to the mobile switching center, wherein the response includes instructions for handling the incoming call at the mobile switching center, the instructions corresponding to the selected choice.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein providing one or more choices at the second mobile station comprises:

pushing a short message service (SMS) message to the second mobile station, the SMS message including the one or more choices.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein providing one or more choices at the second mobile station comprises:

a web-server providing one or more choices at the second mobile station.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving at the service control node an indication of a choice selected at the second mobile station comprises:

a web-server receiving the choice selected at the second mobile station and sending the selected choice to the service control node.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the service control node is a service control point (SCP).

12. A system for providing service provisioning in real time, the system comprising:

a mobile switching center for receiving an incoming call from a first mobile station to a second mobile station, and for sending a query for call processing instructions in response to the received call;

a service control node for receiving the query for call processing instructions from the mobile switching center and for pushing information corresponding to the received call into the Internet domain in response to receipt of the query;

a web-server for receiving the information in the Internet domain from the service control node and (i) for providing one or more choices corresponding to processing of the incoming call for selection at the second mobile station, (ii) for receiving from the second mobile station an indication of a choice selected from the one or more choices, and (iii) for providing the indication of the selected choice to the service control node; and

wherein the service control node responds to the query by providing the mobile switching center with processing instructions corresponding to the selected choice, and wherein the mobile switching center processes the received call according to the processing instructions.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the service control node is a service control point (SCP).

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the service control node communicates with the web-server over an HTTP packet network.

15. The system of claim 12 further comprising:

a second server; and

a call processing entity in communication with the second server;

wherein the second server pushes an alert message containing the one or more choices via the call processing entity to the mobile switching center, and wherein the mobile switching center forwards the alert message to the second mobile station.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the call processing entity is a short message service center (SMSC).