Methods and apparatus to route a communication session directly to a voicemail mailbox

• US 8,879,545 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2007
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jackson, James, Sheth, Niral, Yasrebi, Mehrad
• Primary Examiner(s): Phung, Luat
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHANG, KAI J
• Application Number:
  US11/967,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20090168986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,500 Days
• Field of Search: 370352-356, 379/201.01, 379/211.01, 379/211.02, 455/412.1, 455/412.2, 455/413
• US Class Current: 370/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1008 Calls without connection establishment for implicit information transfer or as a service trigger
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4545 Message forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42076 where the identifier is a Uniform Resource Locator
• 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 3/53316 Messaging centre selected by message originator
• 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
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/127 where the session control protocols comprise SIP and SS7

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to route a communication session directly to a voicemail mailbox are disclosed. An example method includes receiving a communication session initiation message from a caller at a source telephone number, the communication session initiation message including a destination telephone number and a direct voicemail feature identifier, determining that the direct voicemail feature identifier indicates that the caller requests that the call be sent to a voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number, and forwarding the call directly to the voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number without ringing the destination telephone number.

Claims

1. A method for handling voice over internet protocol telephone calls, the method comprising:

receiving a communication session initiation message for a voice over internet protocol call from a caller at a source telephone number, the communication session initiation message including a destination telephone number and a direct voicemail feature identifier;

determining that the direct voicemail feature identifier indicates that the caller requests that the call be sent directly to a voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number;

requesting a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with the destination telephone number from a telephone number (ENUM) server;

in response to the requesting, receiving from the ENUM server a list of URIs associated with the destination telephone number, wherein the list of URIs includes indications of service names and service types;

selecting a voicemail URI from the list, wherein the voicemail URI in the list of URIs includes a service name indicating voicemail and a service type indicating voicemail;

replacing a uniform resource locator of the communication session initiation message with the voicemail URI; and

forwarding the call directly to the voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number without ringing the destination telephone number, by;

inserting the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field; and

replacing content of a destination field with an identifier associated with a voicemail server containing the voicemail mailbox.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the communication session initiation message is a session initiation protocol (SIP) request.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein a destination field of the SIP request contains the feature identifier appended to the destination telephone number.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising inserting the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field of the communication session initiation message, the redirecting number field identifying a location from which a call was redirected.

5. The method as defined in claim 4, further comprising inserting an identification in the communication session initiation message indicating that the caller requested that the call be directed to the voicemail associated with the destination telephone number.

6. The method as defined in claim 5, wherein the identification is inserted in a header of the communication session initiation message.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the header is a diversion header.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a session initiation protocol (SIP) interface to receive a communication session initiation message for a voice over internet protocol call from a caller at a source telephone number, the communication session initiation message including a destination telephone number and a direct voicemail feature identifier;

a direct voicemail configurer to determine that the direct voicemail feature identifier indicates that the caller requests that the call be sent to a voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number; and

a telephone number mapping (ENUM) querier to request a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with the destination telephone number from a ENUM server, to receive from the ENUM server a list of URIs associated with the destination telephone number in response to the request, the list of URIs including indications of service names and service types, to select a voicemail URI from the list, and to replace a uniform resource locator of the communication session initiation message with the voicemail URI, the voicemail URI in the list of URIs including a service name indicating voicemail and a service type indicating voicemail,

the direct voicemail configurer to forward the call directly to the voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number without ringing the destination telephone number, by;

inserting the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field,

replacing content of a destination field with an identifier associated with a voicemail server containing the voicemail mailbox, and

forwarding the communication session initiation message to a call session control function server.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the communication session initiation message is a SIP request.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein a destination field of the SIP request contains the feature identifier appended to the destination telephone number.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the direct voicemail configurer is further to insert the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field of the communication session initiation message, the redirecting number field identifying a location from which a call was redirected.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the direct voicemail configurer is further to insert an identification in the communication session initiation message indicating that the caller requested that the call be directed to the voicemail associated with the destination telephone number.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the identification is inserted in a header of the communication session initiation message.

14. A system comprising:

a call session control function server to receive a communication session initiation message for a voice over internet protocol call from a caller at a source telephone number and to forward the communication session initiation message, the communication session initiation message including a destination telephone number and a direct voicemail feature identifier; and

a feature server to;

determine that the direct voicemail feature identifier of the communication session initiation message received from the call session control function server indicates that the caller requests that the call be sent to a voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number;

request a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with the destination telephone number from a telephone number (ENUM) server;

in response to the request, receive from the ENUM server a list of URIs associated with the destination telephone number, the list of URIs including indications of service names and service types;

select a voicemail URI from the list, the voicemail URI in the list of URIs including a service name indicating voicemail and a service type indicating voicemail;

replace a uniform resource locator of the communication session initiation message with the voicemail URI; and

forward the call directly to the voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number without ringing the destination telephone number, by;

inserting the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field; and

replacing content of a destination field with an identifier associated with a voicemail server containing the voicemail mailbox.

15. The system as defined in claim 14, wherein the communication session initiation message is a SIP request.

16. The system as defined in claim 15, wherein a destination field of the SIP request contains the feature identifier appended to the destination telephone number.

17. A tangible machine readable storage device comprising machine readable instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

accessing a communication session initiation message for a voice over internet protocol call from a caller, the communication session initiation message including a destination telephone number and a direct voicemail feature identifier;

determining that the direct voicemail feature identifier indicates that the caller requests that the call be sent directly to a voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number;

requesting a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with the destination telephone number from a telephone number (ENUM) server;

selecting a voicemail URI from a list of URIs associated with the destination telephone number and received from the ENUM server, the list of URIs including indications of service names and service types, the voicemail URI on the list of URIs including a service name indicating voicemail and a service type indicating voicemail;

replacing a uniform resource locator of the communication session initiation message with the voicemail URI; and

forwarding the call directly to the voicemail mailbox associated with the destination telephone number without ringing a device at the destination telephone number, wherein the forwarding includes;

inserting the destination telephone number in a redirecting number field; and

replacing content of a destination field with an identifier associated with a voicemail server containing the voicemail mailbox.

18. The tangible machine readable storage device as defined in claim 17, wherein the communication session initiation message is a SIP request.