Method and arrangement for establishing a conference call

• US 7,920,853 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2005
• Issued: 04/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Pesonen, Harri, Purontaus, Jouni, Keskiniva, Arto
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu; Jinsong
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hong; Dung
• Application Number:
  US11/795,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20080139188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,964 Days
• Field of Search: 455/416, 370260-263, 370/266, 379/202.1, 379/205.01, 379/93.21
• US Class Current: 455/416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5063 Centrally initiated conference, i.e. Conference server dials participants computer conference organisation arrangements H04L12/1818
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/20 hybrid systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0012 Details of application programming interfaces [API] for telephone networks; Arrangements which combine a telephonic communication equipment and a computer, i.e. computer telephony integration [CPI] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A method and arrangement for establishing a conference call from a mobile station in a call centre environment. A user may choose conference call participants from his mobile phone, and a client application in the mobile phone will communicate relevant parameters to the call centre server, which will then call the conference initiator and other participants via the gateway server. The calls are handed over to the gateway server, which will digitize each call to an audio and/or video stream, typically an RTP stream. The streams are relayed to a computer where the streams are combined to form a successful conference call. The conference call is then recorded to a data file on the computer, and may be sent to participants or stored to a database with relevant metadata. The network infrastructure of the telecommunications network operator need not be consulted, nor is there any need for additional hardware.

Claims

1. A conference call method performed by a system that includes at least one mobile station, at least one call centre server, at least one computer and at least one gateway server, the method comprising:

initiating, from a mobile station associated with a conference initiator, a conference call by transmitting a conference call request wirelessly to a call centre server, the conference call request identifying at least two desired conference participants, and their contact information unless the call centre already has access to the contact information,

calling, by the call centre server via a gateway server, the conference initiator and the desired conference participants,

establishing a call between the gateway server and each of the conference initiator and the desired conference participants,

digitizing, at the gateway server, each of the established calls with the conference initiator and the desired conference participants into a corresponding audio stream,

recognizing, by the call centre server, the conference initiator based on the conference call request,

based on recognizing the conference initiator, initializing, by the call centre server, a computer of the conference initiator,

relaying, to the initialized computer of the conference initiator, each of the audio streams digitized at the gateway server, and

connecting, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to establish the conference call between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein connecting, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to establish the conference call between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants comprises merging, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to form a teleconference between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein recognizing the conference initiator based on the conference call request comprises recognizing the mobile station of the conference initiator or a client application operating on the mobile station of the conference initiator.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein initializing a computer of the conference initiator comprises initializing a personal computer of the conference initiator.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein initializing a computer of the conference initiator comprises initializing, by the call centre server, a computer of the conference initiator for the gateway server.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the call centre server or the initialized computer of the conference initiator comprise parameters for defining the conference call.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the relayed audio streams are real time protocol (RTP) streams.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising recording, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to a data file.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the recorded data file forms the audio minutes of the conference call, further comprising adding metadata to the recorded data file.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising archiving the recorded data file to a database.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile station is a GSM-, GSM-data, IP-RAN-, UMTS-, WAP-, Teldesic-, Inmarsat-, Iridium-, GPRS-, CDMA-data-, WCDMA-data-, HTTP-, H.323-, SIP-, SMS-, MMS-, email-, LAN-, TCP/IP-, imode-, Globalstar- and/or WLAN- compliant mobile phone, PDA and/or a portable computer.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the call centre server comprises any of the following:

database server, disk array, gateway server, application server, external phone centre, virtual phone and/or a SIP and/or H.323 phone.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gateway server comprises any of the following:

at least one dial in line, at least one dial out line, at least one digital signal processor, gateway server software, and media recording software.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the computer is a personal computer (PC), a Unix computer or an Apple Macintosh™

computer.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

recording, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to a data file,

adding, to the recorded data file, metadata that indicates conference participant names, contact information, date of the conference call, and time of the conference call, and

after completion of the conference call, emailing, by the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the recorded data file to all of the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1:

wherein the conference call request includes a specified time at which the conference call is to occur, and

wherein calling, by the call centre server via a gateway server, the conference initiator and the desired conference participants comprises calling, at the specified time included in the conference call request, the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

17. A method as claimed in claim 1:

wherein recognizing, by the call centre server, the conference initiator based on the conference call request comprises recognizing, by the call centre server, the conference initiator from caller identification information transmitted with the conference call request, and

wherein initializing, by the call centre server, a computer of the conference initiator comprises starting at least one program or process in the computer of the conference initiator.

18. A conference call system, comprising at least one mobile station, at least one call centre server, at least one computer and at least one gateway server, wherein:

a mobile station associated with a conference initiator is arranged to initiate a conference call by transmitting a conference call request wirelessly to a call centre server, the conference call request identifying at least two desired conference participants, and their contact information unless the call centre already has access to the contact information,

the call centre server is arranged to call the conference initiator and the desired conference participants via a gateway server,

the gateway server is arranged to establish a call with each of the conference initiator and the desired conference participants

the gateway server is arranged to digitize each of the established calls with the conference initiator and the desired conference participants into a corresponding audio stream,

the call centre server is arranged to recognize the conference initiator based on the conference call request,

the call centre server is arranged to initialize a computer of the conference initiator based on recognizing the conference initiator,

the gateway server is arranged to relay, to the initialized computer of the conference initiator, each of the audio streams digitized at the gateway server, and

the initialized computer of the conference initiator is arranged to connect the relayed audio streams to establish the conference call between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

19. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the initialized computer of the conference initiator is arranged to merge the relayed audio streams to form a teleconference between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

20. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the call centre server is arranged to recognize the mobile station of the conference initiator or a client application operating on the mobile station of the conference initiator.

21. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the computer is a personal computer of the conference initiator.

22. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the call centre server is arranged to initialize the computer for the gateway server.

23. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the call centre server or the computer comprise parameters for defining the conference call.

24. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the relayed audio streams are real time protocol (RTP) streams.

25. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the initialized computer of the conference initiator is arranged to record the relayed audio streams to a data file.

26. The system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the recorded data file is arranged to form the audio minutes of the conference call, and the initialized computer of the conference initiator is arranged to add metadata to the recorded data file.

27. The system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the initialized computer of the conference initiator is arranged to archive the recorded data file to a database.

28. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the mobile station is a GSM-, GSM-data, IP-RAN-, UMTS-, WAP-, Teldesic-, Inmarsat-, Iridium-, GPRS-, CDMA-data-, WCDMA-data-, HTTP-, H.323-, SIP-, SMS-, MMS-, email-, LAN-, TCP/IP-, imode'"'"'-, Globalstar- and/or WLAN-,compliant mobile phone, PDA and/or a portable computer.

29. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the call centre server comprises any of the following:

database server, disk array, gateway server, application server, external phone centre, virtual phone and/or a SIP and/or H.323 phone.

30. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the gateway server comprises any of the following:

at least one dial in line, at least one dial out, at least one digital signal processor, gateway server software, and media recording software.

31. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the computer is a personal computer (PC), a Unix computer or an Apple Macintosh™

computer.

32. At least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

initiating, from a mobile station associated with a conference initiator, a conference call by transmitting a conference call request wirelessly to a call centre server, the conference call request identifying at least two desired conference participants, and their contact information unless the call centre already has access to the contact information,

calling, by the call centre server via a gateway server, the conference initiator and the desired conference participants,

establishing a call between the gateway server and each of the conference initiator and the desired conference participants,

digitizing, at the gateway server, each of the established calls with the conference initiator and the desired conference participants into a corresponding audio stream,

recognizing, by the call centre server, the conference initiator based on the conference call request, based on recognizing the conference initiator,

initializing, by the call centre server, a computer of the conference initiator, relaying, to the initialized computer of the conference initiator, each of the audio streams digitized at the gateway server, and

connecting, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to establish the conference call between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

33. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein connecting, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to establish the conference call between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants comprises merging, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to form a teleconference between the conference initiator and the desired conference participants.

34. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein recognizing the conference initiator based on the conference call request comprises recognizing the mobile station of the conference initiator or a client application operating on the mobile station of the conference initiator.

35. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein initializing a computer of the conference initiator comprises initializing a personal computer of the conference initiator.

36. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein initializing a computer of the conference initiator comprises initializing, by the call centre server, a computer of the conference initiator for the gateway server.

37. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein the call centre server or the initialized computer of the conference initiator comprise parameters for defining the conference call.

38. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein the relayed audio streams are real time protocol (RTP) streams.

39. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 32, wherein the operation further comprise recording, at the initialized computer of the conference initiator, the relayed audio streams to a data file.

40. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 39, wherein the recorded data file forms the audio minutes of the conference call, and the operations further comprise adding metadata to the recorded data file.

41. The at least one non-transitory computer readable memory unit as claimed in claim 39, wherein the operations further comprise archiving the recorded data file to a database.