Web call access and egress to private network

• US 8,861,692 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2013
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Phelps, David E., Badger, Brian S.
• Primary Examiner(s): TIEU, BINH KIEN
• Application Number:
  US13/894,789
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 379/112.08, 379/112.09, 379/114.01, 379/115.01, 379/121.01, 379/127.01, 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/309, 370/352, 370/354, 370/401, 726/2, 726/3, 726/4, 726/7, 726/12, 726/15
• US Class Current: 379/121.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/08 Metering calls to called party , i.e. B-party charged for the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/39 Arrangements for preventing metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/43 Billing software details
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

A system may include a Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) backend server configured to receive a request for a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for a WebRTC call session requested by a browser application and generate the URI for the WebRTC call session; and a validation proxy configured to receive the URI from a WebRTC gateway and validate the URI with the WebRTC backend server. The WebRTC backend server may be receive a request to validate the URI from the validation proxy, determine whether the URI corresponds to a valid URI, and send a validation message to the validation proxy, if the received URI is valid. The validation proxy may generate a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message based on the received validation message and send the generated SIP message to a contact center services system to initiate a real-time call between the contact center services system and the browser application.

Claims

1. A method performed by a computer device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the computer device, a request for a Uniform Resource Identifier for a Web Real-Time Communication call session from a Web Real-Time Communication access server;

generating, by the computer device, the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

providing, by the computer device, the generated Uniform Resource Identifier to the Web Real-Time Communication access server;

receiving, by the computer device, a request to validate the Uniform Resource Identifier from a validation proxy;

determining, by the computer device, whether the received Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier; and

sending, by the computer device, a validation message to the validation proxy, in response to determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier, wherein the validation proxy is configured to forward calls to a contact center services system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session includes:

identifying a customer associated with the request;

generating the Uniform Resource Identifier based on one or more associations associated with the identified customer;

associating the generated Uniform Resource Identifier with the identified customer; and

billing the customer for the Web Real-Time Communication call session, in response to sending the validation message to the validation proxy.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

including information identifying a billing identifier in the validation message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving call session data based on the received request for the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session; and

including at least some of the retrieved call session data in the validation message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the call session data includes at least one of:

a customer identifier that identifies a particular account associated with the contact center services system;

information identifying a caller associated with the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

information identifying a reason for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

a billing identifier to be used for charging the customer for the call;

or

information flagging the caller for a particular action at the contact center services system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier does not correspond to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier; and

sending, by the computer device, a rejection message to the validation proxy, in response to determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier does not correspond to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier does not correspond to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier includes:

determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier has expired;

or

determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier has been previously validated.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated Uniform Resource Identifier includes an identifier of an instruction to cause a Web Real-Time Communication gateway to instruct a browser application to use a secure communication method for the Web Real-Time Communication call session.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering a customer for Web Real-Time Communication in connection with the contact center services system;

configuring an authentication procedure for an access server, associated with the computer device, for the customer; and

configuring billing for Web Real-Time Communication call sessions associated with the customer.

10. A computer device comprising:

logic configured to;

receive a request for a Uniform Resource Identifier for a Web Real-Time Communication call session from a Web Real-Time Communication access server;

generate the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

provide the generated Uniform Resource Identifier to the Web Real-Time Communication access server;

receive a request to validate the Uniform Resource Identifier from a validation proxy;

determine whether the received Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier; and

send a validation message to the validation proxy, in response to determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier, wherein the validation proxy is configured to forward calls to a contact center services system.

11. The computer device of claim 10, wherein, when generating the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session, the logic is further configured to:

identify a customer associated with the request;

generate the Uniform Resource Identifier based on one or more associations associated with the identified customer;

associate the generated Uniform Resource Identifier with the identified customer; and

bill the customer for the Web Real-Time Communication call session, in response to sending the validation message to the validation proxy, by including information identifying a toll-free number in the validation message.

12. The computer device of claim 10, wherein the logic is further configured to:

retrieve call session data from the received request for the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session; and

include at least some of the retrieved call session data in the validation message, wherein the call session data includes at least one of;

a customer identifier that identifies a particular account associated with the contact center services system;

information identifying a caller associated with the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

information identifying a reason for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

a toll-free number to be used for charging the customer for the call;

or

information flagging the caller for a particular action at the contact center services system.

13. The computer device of claim 10, wherein the generated Uniform Resource Identifier includes an identifier of an instruction to cause a Web Real-Time Communication gateway to instruct a browser application to use a secure communication method for the Web Real-Time Communication call session.

14. A system comprising:

a Web Real-Time Communication device configured to;

receive a request for a Uniform Resource Identifier for a Web Real-Time Communication call session requested by a browser application, and

generate the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

a validation proxy configured to;

receive the Uniform Resource Identifier from a Web Real-Time Communication gateway, and

send a request to validate the Uniform Resource Identifier to the Web Real-Time Communication device;

wherein the Web Real-Time Communication device is further configured to;

receive the request to validate the Uniform Resource Identifier from the validation proxy,

determine whether the Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier, and

send a validation message to the validation proxy, in response to determining that the received Uniform Resource Identifier corresponds to a valid Uniform Resource Identifier; and

wherein the validation proxy is further configured to;

generate a Session Initiation Protocol message based on the received validation message; and

send the generated Session Initiation Protocol message to a contact center services system to initiate a real-time call between the contact center services system and the browser application.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a Web Real-Time Communication access server configured to;

receive the request for a Uniform Resource Identifier for a Web Real-Time Communication call session from a customer server;

authenticate the customer server;

forward the request to the Web Real-Time Communication device, in response authenticating the customer server;

receive the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session from the Web Real-Time Communication device; and

forward the Uniform Resource Identifier to the customer server, in response to receiving the Uniform Resource Identifier.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the Web Real-Time Communication access server is further configured to:

receive a request to contact a contact center agent from the contact center services system;

forward the request to contact the contact center agent to the customer server;

receive a contact center agent Uniform Resource Identifier from the customer server; and

forward the received contact center agent Uniform Resource Identifier to the contact center services system.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the Web Real-Time Communication device is further configured to:

retrieve call session data from the received request for the Uniform Resource Identifier for the Web Real-Time Communication call session, and

include at least some of the retrieved call session data in the validation message; and

wherein the validation proxy is further configured to;

populate the Session Initiation Protocol message using the at least some of the retrieved call session data.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the call session data includes at least one of:

a customer identifier that identifies a particular account associated with the contact center services system;

information identifying a caller associated with the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

information identifying a reason for the Web Real-Time Communication call session;

a toll-free number to be used for charging the customer for the call;

or

information flagging the caller for a particular action at the contact center services system.

19. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

the contact center services system, wherein the contact center services system is configured to;

receive the Session Initiation Protocol message;

identify a customer associated with the Web Real-Time Communication call session based on the Session Initiation Protocol message; and

forward the Session Initiation Protocol message to a contact center services instance associated with the customer.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the contact center services system is further configured to:

detect a request for a contact center agent;

obtain call session data associated with the detected request;

send a request for a contact center agent to a Web Real-Time Communication access server, wherein the request for the contact center agent includes the obtained call session data;

receive a Web Real-Time Communication access server from the Web Real-Time Communication access server; and

contact the contact center agent using the received Web Real-Time Communication access server via a Web Real-Time Communication gateway.