Incoming call management in a push-to-talk communication system

• US 7,433,680 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2004
• Issued: 10/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Clarity Communication Systems, Inc. (TAA Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Clarity Communication Systems, Inc. (TAA Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pilgrim, Steven James, Jenkins, William Wesley, Kim, Robin Greg, Fischman, Jeffrey Scott, Salvador, Laurel Ann
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Win; Aung T
• Application Number:
  US10/762,622
• Publication Number:
  US 20050164682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,720 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/413, 455/417, 455/426.1, 455/556.2, 455/566, 455/518, 455/411, 455/412.2, 455/414.1, 379201-215, 379/88.12, 379/88.22
• US Class Current: 455/412.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4061 Push-to services, e.g. push-to-talk or push-to-video
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72433 for voice messaging, e.g. dictaphones for answering incoming calls H04M1/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• 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 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53308 Message originator indirectly connected to the message centre, e.g. after detection of busy or absent state of a called party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 9/04 involving a separate line for each pair of parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A push-to-talk (PTT) communication system provides a destination subscriber (called party) with a flexible incoming call management feature in which an initial voice message associated with the initial PTT incoming call to the called party is temporarily stored at the communication application server and is not transmitted to the called party'"'"'s mobile terminal. The called party is informed of an incoming call by an alert message from the communication application server causing the called party'"'"'s mobile terminal to provide an alert. The called party may elect one of several options upon being alerted of an incoming call including transmitting a signal requesting the voice message be played.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a push-to-talk wireless mobile terminal for communicating voice information comprising the steps of:

determining if a first input from a user of a first mobile terminal is made requesting that selectable acceptance management be initiated for incoming calls not yet initiated to the first mobile terminal;

if said determining step determines that the request has been made, transmitting from the first mobile terminal a first control message to a communication application server representing an instruction to implement selectable acceptance of future incoming calls to the first mobile terminal, where selectable acceptance includes storing at the communication application server an initial voice message associated with an incoming call from a calling party to the first mobile terminal and transmitting the stored initial voice message to the first mobile terminal from the communication application server during a first real-time communication session with the calling party only upon the communication application server receiving a playback signal from the first mobile terminal where the playback signal is distinct from another signal generated by the first mobile terminal upon a depression of a push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal to answer an incoming call;

receiving at the first mobile terminal the stored initial voice message in response to the transmission of the playback signal, where the stored initial voice message is received at the first mobile terminal while the calling party remains in the first real-time communication session with the communication application server and without the first mobile terminal having answered the incoming call by depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining if a depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal has been made after the first mobile terminal has received the stored initial voice message;

upon determining a depression during the first real-time communication session of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal has been made after the first mobile terminal has received the stored initial voice message, the first mobile terminal transmitting a reply voice communication during the first real-time communication session to the calling party.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of receiving at the first mobile terminal the initial voice message so that the communication application server provides no indication to the calling party of whether or not the initial voice message was delivered to the first mobile terminal, thereby preserving privacy of availability of the user of the first mobile terminal.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

alerting the user of the first mobile terminal of an incoming call from the calling party;

receiving a second input at the first mobile terminal from the user following the alerting where the second input is one of selectable acceptance options selectable by the user of the first mobile terminal of action to be taken as part of the selectable acceptance;

transmitting by the first mobile terminal a second control message to the communication application server in response to the second input where the second control message represents an instruction to the communication application server for the communication application server to implement a voice playback to the calling party during the first real-time communication session of a stored voice message of availability status of the user of the first mobile terminal followed by automatic termination of the incoming call originated by the calling party, where said playback is not an announcement of a voice mail system.

5. A push-to-talk wireless mobile terminal for communicating voice information comprising:

means for determining if a first input from a user of a first mobile terminal is made requesting that selectable acceptance management of incoming calls yet to be initiated to the first mobile terminal;

means for transmitting from the first mobile terminal a first control message to a communication application server representing an instruction to implement selectable acceptance for future incoming calls to the first mobile terminal if said determining means determines that the request has been made, where selectable acceptance includes storing an initial voice message at the communication application server associated with an incoming call from a calling party to the first mobile terminal and transmitting the stored initial voice message to the first mobile terminal from the communication application server during a first real-time communication session with the calling party only upon the communication application server receiving a playback signal from the first mobile terminal where the playback signal is distinct from another signal generated by the first mobile terminal upon a depression of a push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal to answer an incoming call;

means for receiving at the first mobile terminal the stored initial voice message in response to the transmission of the playback signal, where the stored initial voice message is received at the first mobile terminal while the calling party remains in the first real-time communication session with the communication application server and without the first mobile terminal having answered the incoming call by depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5 further comprising:

means for determining if a depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal has been made after the first mobile terminal has received the stored initial voice message;

upon determining a depression during the first real-time communication session of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal has been made after the first mobile terminal has received the stored initial voice message, a transmitter of the first mobile terminal transmitting a reply voice communication during the first real-time communication session to the calling party.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 5 further comprising means for receiving at the first mobile terminal the initial voice message so that the communication application server provides no indication to the calling party of whether or not the initial voice message was delivered to the first mobile terminal, thereby preserving privacy of availability of the user of the first mobile terminal.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 5 further comprising:

means for alerting the user of the first mobile terminal of an incoming call from the calling party;

means for receiving a second input at the first mobile terminal from the user following the alerting where the second input is one of selectable acceptance options selectable by the user of the first mobile terminal of action to be taken as part of the selectable acceptance;

means for transmitting by the first mobile terminal a second control message to the communication application server in response to the second input where the second control message represents an instruction to the communication application server for the latter to implement a voice playback to the calling party during the first real-time communication session of a stored voice message of availability status of the user of the first mobile terminal followed by automatic termination of the incoming call originated by the calling party, where said playback is not an announcement of a voice mail system.

9. A method implemented by a communication application server that processes communications among users in a push-to-talk communication network comprising the steps of:

receiving a first control message from a first mobile terminal where the first control message represents an instruction to initiate a process providing selectable acceptance of yet to be received incoming calls to the first mobile terminal;

in response to the first control message, updating a stored presence state associated with the first mobile terminal to reflect that future incoming calls to the first mobile terminal will be processed in accordance with the selectable acceptance;

receiving, with selectable acceptance having been implemented by the first mobile terminal, an incoming call from a second mobile terminal for the first mobile terminal during a first real-time communication session where a voice message from the second mobile terminal comprises part of the incoming call;

storing the voice message in memory;

transmitting an incoming call alert message to the first mobile terminal during the first real-time communication session where the incoming call alert message does not contain the voice message;

receiving a playback message from the first mobile terminal during the first real-time communication session, where the playback message represents a request to transmit the stored voice message from storage at the beginning of the voice message to the first mobile terminal during the first real-time communication session only upon receipt of the playback message, where the playback message is different from a signal corresponding to depression of a push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal to answer a call;

transmitting to the first mobile terminal the stored initial voice message in response to the transmission of the playback signal, where the stored initial voice message is received at the first mobile terminal while the calling party remains in the first real-time communication session and without the first mobile terminal having answered the incoming call by depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the initial voice message is transmitted to the first mobile terminal without providing any indication to the second mobile terminal of whether or not the initial voice message was delivered to the first mobile terminal, thereby preserving privacy of availability of the user of the first mobile terminal.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of not providing any indication to the second mobile terminal of the receipt of the second control message or that the first stored initial voice message was transmitted to the first mobile terminal.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising transmitting a presence status update message to mobile terminals having the first mobile terminal as a Pal upon updating the presence state associated with the first mobile terminal to be in a selectable acceptance state, where the selectable acceptance state of the first mobile terminal is displayed on the Pal'"'"'s mobile terminals as a unique state distinguishable from all other states.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and upon the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period causing processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and upon the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period, before receiving a reply communication from the first mobile terminal, causing processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the causing the processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted includes deleting the initial voice message stored in memory.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and upon receiving a reply communication from the first mobile terminal before the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period, causing the initial voice message from the second mobile terminal to be transmitted to the first mobile terminal.

17. A communication application server that processes communications among users in a push-to-talk communication network comprising:

means for receiving a first control message from a first mobile terminal where the first control message represents an instruction to initiate a process providing selectable acceptance of yet to be received incoming calls to the first mobile terminal;

means for updating, in response to the first control message, a stored presence state associated with the first mobile terminal to reflect that future incoming calls to the first mobile terminal will be processed in, accordance with the selectable acceptance;

means for receiving an incoming call, with selectable acceptance having been previously implemented by the first mobile terminal, from a second mobile terminal for the first mobile terminal during a first real-time communication session where an initial voice message from the second mobile terminal comprises part of the incoming call;

means for storing the initial voice message in memory;

means for transmitting an incoming call alert message to the first mobile terminal during the first real-time communication session where the incoming call alert message does not contain the initial voice message;

means for receiving a playback message from the first mobile terminal during the first real-time communication session, where the playback message represents a request to transmit the stored initial voice, message to the first mobile terminal during a real-time communication session only upon receipt of the playback message, where the playback message is different from a signal corresponding to depression of a push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal to answer a call;

means for transmitting to the first mobile terminal the stored initial voice message in response to the transmission of the playback signal, where the stored initial voice message is received at the first mobile terminal while the calling party remains in the first real-time communication session and without the first mobile terminal having answered the incoming call by depression of the push-to-talk button on the first mobile terminal.

18. The communication application server of claim 17 further comprising means for transmitting a presence status update message to mobile terminals having the first mobile terminal as a Pal upon updating the presence state associated with the first mobile terminal to be in a selectable acceptance state, where the selectable acceptance state of the first mobile terminal is displayed on the Pal'"'"'s mobile terminals as a unique state distinguishable from all other states.

19. The communication application server of claim 17 further comprising means for preventing any indication from being sent to the second mobile terminal of the receipt of the playback message and of an indication that the stored initial voice message was transmitted to the first mobile terminal.

20. The communication application server of claim 17 further comprising means for starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and means for causing processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted upon the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period.

21. The communication application server of claim 20 further comprising means for starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and means for causing processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted upon the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period before receiving a reply communication from the first mobile terminal.

22. The communication application server of claim 21 wherein the means for causing the processing of the incoming call to the first mobile terminal to be aborted includes means for deleting the initial voice message stored in memory.

23. The communication application server of claim 17 further comprising means for starting a timeout timer associated with the receipt of the incoming call where the timeout timer has a predetermined time period and means for causing the initial voice message from the second mobile terminal to be transmitted to the first mobile terminal upon receiving a reply communication from the first mobile terminal before the timeout timer reaching the predetermined time period.