Method and apparatus for co-socket telephony
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for allowing a caller on a telephone network to establish an internet co-socket. In a first embodiment, a protocol stack establishes an Internet connection over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) link and then operates and maintains the Internet connection on a second link. Internet socket establishment is initiated with a caller-ID packet so the distant end may pick up with an Internet form instead of a interactive voice response system (IVR). This allows the caller to interact with a graphical form instead of a voice prompt, and provides new methods of operation for web call-back systems for call centers. The invention also enables mixed PSTN/internet multimedia telephone calls. In an exemplary embodiment, when a point-to-point telephone PSTN connection is established, a screen of information automatically appears at both ends via the Internet. This allows users who have computers connected to an internet to easily mix PSTN calling with internet services.
99 Citations
82 Claims
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1-61. -61. (canceled)
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62. A computerized wireless handset, comprising:
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a wireless air interface which enables wireless communications between the computerized wireless handset and a network access device that is coupled an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network;
a user interface which enables a user to specify a subscriber identifier corresponding to a remote subscriber; and
executable instructions which implement a plurality of functions, including;
(i) sending a first IP packet comprising the subscriber identifier to a remote database server via the network access device and via the IP packet-switched network;
(ii) receiving from the remote database server via the network access device a second IP packet comprising an IP address where a remote device associated with the remote subscriber can be presently reached via an active IP connection; and
(iii) establishing, using the IP address, a bidirectional and interactive text messaging communication session for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the computerized wireless handset to the remote device, via the wireless air interface, the network access device, and the IP packet-switched data network. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A computerized wireless handset, comprising:
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a wireless air interface which enables both circuit-switched and packet-switched wireless communications between the computerized wireless handset and a network access device that is coupled to both a circuit-switched telephone network and to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network;
a user interface which enables a user to specify a subscriber identifier corresponding to a remote subscriber; and
executable instructions which implement a plurality of functions, including;
(i) sending a first IP packet comprising the subscriber identifier to a remote database server via the network access device and via the IP packet-switched network;
(ii) receiving from the remote database server via the network access device a second IP packet comprising an IP address where a remote device associated with the remote subscriber can be presently reached via an active IP connection; and
(iii) establishing, using the IP address, a bidirectional and interactive multimedia messaging communication session for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the computerized wireless handset and at least one additional media type to the remote device, via the wireless air interface, the network access device, and the IP packet-switched network. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. For use in a computerized wireless handset, a method comprising:
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communicating wirelessly using a wireless air interface which enables both circuit-switched and packet-switched wireless communications with a network access device that is coupled to both a circuit-switched telephone network and to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network;
interfacing with a user to allow the user to specify a subscriber identifier corresponding to a remote subscriber;
sending a first IP packet comprising the subscriber identifier to a remote database server via the network access device and via the IP packet-switched network;
receiving from the remote database server via the network access device a second IP packet comprising an IP address where a remote device associated with the remote subscriber can be presently reached via an active IP connection; and
establishing, using the IP address, a bidirectional and interactive text messaging communication session for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the computerized wireless handset to the remote device, via the wireless air interface, the network access device, and the IP packet-switched network. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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Specification