Method and device for handling telephone calls directed to non-reachable mobile phones

• US 20040110489A1
• Filed: 06/17/2003
• Published: 06/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telecom Italia S.p.A.
• Original Assignee: Telecom Italia S.p.A.
• Inventors: Palermo, Michele, Murri, Paolo, Bizzi, Mario
• Granted Patent: US 7,349,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/412.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, wherein:

I—provided the call diversion service to a different number, or the answering service, have not been enabled, the phone call is routed towards a phone call data management and storage device, when the mobile phone called user is non-reachable, out to the fact that is in the detach mode or is temporarily out of the range reachable by radio-frequency signals; II—at the time mobile phone is again reachable, a notification is transmitted to the subscriber number of the telephone call; the notification being effected in the form of SMS, which contain phone call data of missed phone calls performed during the period while the mobile phone was not reachable.

Claims

1. A method for handling telephone calls to a non-reachable radio mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, like the telephone number of the calling subscriber, the time of the telephone call, and any additional information relating to the calling subscriber, characterized in that it is started by an event like a voice call, which in turn originates a notification through a recordable SMS text channel, the method comprising the two following distinct steps of:

I—

routing the telephone call to a device for storage and management of data relating to the phone call, when the called subscriber is not reachable, due to the subscriber mobile phone being in the detach mode or due to the absence of a radio-frequency signal, and when, at the same time, the call diversion service towards the answering service or another phone number is not operative;

II—

transmitting, that is noticing, to the called subscriber, at the moment the mobile phone is reachable again, all SMS texts including data relating to the calls missed in the period when the subscriber was not reachable;

the method being based on a protocol, in which the usual steps sequence for performing a mobile telephone line call, is first started and thereafter immediately interrupted after the signaling and acquisition of the subscriber identification, and this steps sequence is resumed at the time it has been ascertained that the radio mobile phone is reachable again, but actuating this time an SMS text channel, so as to completely eliminate the actual serial operative step sequence (transaction), typical of a voice communication protocol, thereby producing, in fact, a traffic having a virtual nature;

2. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable radio mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, according to claim 1, characterized in that said data are acquired according to the following method steps:

A) the calling subscriber (1′

, 1″

) dials (30) the destination or “

target”

number and performs his telephone call;

B) the original switching center MSC (2) interrogates the subscribers register HLR (3), asking the roaming destination number,

C) the HLR (3) checks (34) if the addressed mobile phone is in the DETACH mode;

C i) if the answer is “

NO”

, it transmits (35) to the original switching center MSC (2), the roaming number of the center MSC/VLR in which the destination number relative to the destination center is recorded, and the method continues as described below in steps D and subsequent ones,

C ii) if the answer is “

YES”

, it is checked (36) whether the destination number has actuated the call diversion service towards its own answering service or towards another phone number;

a) if the answer is “

YES”

, the number towards which the call diversion is active, is returned (37) to the original MSC center (2), and the method proceeds by repeating the above step B;

b) if the answer is “

NO”

, the number of the device (9) for the storage and management of phone calls is returned (38) to the original center MSC (2), and the method proceeds to step E;

D) in case the preliminary check on the DETACH mode of the mobile phone has led to a negative result, the destination center performs also a test (40) in order to establish if the destination mobile phone is reachable;

i)—

if the answer is “

YES”

, it effects (41) a phone call to the destination number, following the common procedure provided for in radio mobile phone systems;

ii)—

if, on the other hand, the mobile phone is not reachable, a connection is established (38) with the number of the device (9) for storage and management of phone calls, and then the method proceeds according to the following sequence of operative steps;

E) if the destination mobile phone is in the detach mode or is not reachable, and no call diversion is active, then the calling user receives an announcement and the phone call is routed towards the device (9) for storage and management of phone calls.

3. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable radio mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that a preliminary check (32) is performed on the HLR (3), based on the VLR number, to determine whether the destination mobile phone is roaming abroad in case of a GSM mobile phone network, and in that:

i) in the affirmative case, the phone call is managed following the usual procedure (33) provided for in GSM networks;

ii) otherwise, the procedure (34) for determining the DETACH mode is followed, and thereafter the other steps provided for by this method are performed.

4. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it comprises the implementation, on the HLR (3) and on the transport network, of procedures which are apt to automatically transit the processing load towards at least a system (9) performing the storage and management of phone calls, trough a virtualization of the subscriber addressee by means of a fictitious call diversion.

5. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, according to claims 1 and 4, characterized in that it uses two phone call management and storage nodes, which share the same phone call Data Base (14), duplicated in the relative sites, by defining on the HLR two series of distinct numberings for redirecting the phone calls towards the device (9) for the storage and management of phone calls.

6. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, according to claim 4, characterized in that it makes use of ten storage and management nodes, which are apt to share the same Data Base (14) of the telephone calls, repeated on the relative sites, based on the definition on the HLR of ten sets of distinct numberings of redirection of the called subscriber, wherein, for all ten sets of numberings it is provided that each number is formed by adding the last number of the MSISDN of the called user on which the service is made active, at the end of an initial, predefined and fixed numbering.

7. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, and for handling data pertaining to them, according to claim 1, characterized in that it makes use of a device (9) for the storage and management of phone calls, which accomplishes the following steps, in this order

I—

acquisition of only the signaling component relating to the phone call;

exaction of the number of the calling subscriber, from the signaling IAM message;

recording of the hour/date of the phone call; and

emission of an appropriate deliver message with respect to the MSC/VLR which is sending the data, so that the same MSC/VLR may send a courtesy message to the calling subscriber, in order to obtain the interruption of the phone call and the release of the phonic channel;

—

checking whether the calling number is included in the list of the numbers which have already tried to communicate with that particular subscriber, and performing the following steps, based on the result of this check;

a) provided this number is already in the list of calling numbers for that addressee, the replacement of the hour/date of the last phone call performed by this subscriber number, with the hour/date recorded during the preceding step;

b) if , on the other hand, this number is not in the list of calling numbers for that subscriber, the addition of this number at the end of the list, together with an indication of the hour/date of the last telephone call;

III—

if the phone call corresponds to a first phone call, directed to the subscriber during the period when he was not reachable, performing a request to the HLR to receive a notification immediately after the addressee is reachable again;

IV—

when the telephone call subscriber is reachable again, notification of this fact, from the HLR to said device (9) for storage and management of telephone calls;

V—

once the notification has been received, editing of the text message by the device (9) for storage and management of telephone calls, said text message being that which must be sent to the destination mobile phone and containing the data related to the registered telephone calls;

VI—

transmission to the short message service center (11) from the device for storage and management of telephone calls, of the previously edited messages, making use of the UCP protocol, by indicating the called mobile phone subscriber number as addressee;

VII—

transmission of said short messages to the destination mobile phone, performed by the short message service center at the time the destination mobile phone is again reachable.

8. A device for the storage and management of data relating to phone calls directed to a mobile phone, when the latter is in the detach mode, or when a radio-frequency signal cannot reach said mobile phone, characterized in that it comprises:

means apt to cooperate, through the management of the ISUP protocol, with the switching nodes of the GSM network, and suited to extract the calling number from the ISUP IAM message, for telephone calls directed to non reachable mobile phones, or in absence of a radio-frequency signal;

means for storing and handling data relating to telephone calls directed to every mobile phone which is not reachable by a radio-frequency signal;

means apt to cooperate with the HLR, through the management of the MAP protocol, for performing a request of notification of the return of the mobile phones inside the area reachable by radio frequency signals;

means apt to cooperate with the SMS-C of the GSM switching network, through the management of the UCP protocol, in order to send the SMS text messages to those mobile phones which have returned inside the area which is reachable by radio-frequency signals.

9. A method for handling telephone calls directed to a non-reachable mobile phone and for handling data pertaining to them, in which use is made of the device for storage and management of data according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises the following operative steps:

I—

routing of phone calls initially directed to a non-reachable mobile phone, towards said device (9) for storage and management of phone calls, with no charge being paid by the subscriber, said routing being performed when no call diversion is active and when the mobile phone is not abroad,

II—

extraction from the IAM signaling message, of the calling subscriber number relating to said phone calls directed to said non-reachable mobile phone, said extraction being performed by the phone call storage and management device;

III—

notification of the return of temporarily non-reachable mobile phones, inside the area reachable by radio-frequency signals, said notification being performed from the HLR to the phone call storage and management device;

IV—

transmission of one or more SMS, containing data of missed phone calls, wherein this transmission is performed by the phone call storage and management device (9) to those mobile phones which are again reachable.