Enabling quality voice communications from web page call control

• US 20050265322A1
• Filed: 08/03/2005
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Rex Hester
• Inventors: Hester, Rex
• Granted Patent: US 8,130,750 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0027 Collaboration services where a computer is used for data transfer and the telephone is used for telephonic communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services

Abstract

A system and method of bypassing the regulated portion of the Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) to establish carrier-grade voice transmissions and/or IP data communications between an Internet Calling Person having a first telephone and a first PC coupled to a first Local Service Access Provider (LSAP) and an Internet Called Party having a second telephone and a second PC coupled to a second different Local Service Access Provider (LSAP).

Claims

1. A method of completing a quality voice telephone call between an Internet Web Page user of a Web Page on an Internet, said Internet Web Page user having Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) capable of at least one of voice and data communications to a first Local Service Access Provider (LSAP) and another party associated with the Web Page having premises communication equipment coupled to the same or another LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

coupling a Managed Voice-over-internet Protocol (MVoIP) system between said first LSAP and said premises communication equipment to allow a PSTN quality voice telephone conversation to take place between said Internet Web Page user and said another party;

using said CPE and said Internet to identify said Internet Web Page;

associating a telephone number with said Internet Web Page; and

using said Internet to enable said MVoIP system to establish voice connection and optionally data connection between said Internet Web Page user and said premises communication equipment by means of said telephone number.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said premises communication equipment is coupled to a second LSAP.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said premises communication equipment comprises Internet Protocol based premises communication equipment for receiving and transmitting both voice and Internet data from and to said Web Page user.

7. The method of claim 2 further comprising the steps of:

coupling an international LSAP to said MVoIP system for connecting the CPE of said Internet Web Page user when said Web Page comprises an international Web Page to said premises communication equipment; and

providing communication through said MVoIP from said premises communication equipment to said international LSAP using said telephone number.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said CPE includes at least one device selected from the group consisting of PCs, telephones, multimedia PCs, multimedia TVs and other multimedia devices.

4. A method of completing a quality voice telephone call between an Internet Web Page user of a Web Page on an Internet, said Internet Web Page user having Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) capable of at least one of voice and data communications, to a first Local Service Access Provider (LSAP) and another party associated with the Web Page having premises communication equipment coupled to a second LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

coupling a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) system between said first LSAP and said second LSAP to allow a PSTN quality voice telephone conversation to take place between said Internet Web Page user and said another party, wherein said Internet Web Page has a telephone number associated with said another party;

using said CPE and said Internet to locate said Internet Web Page, and using said Internet to enable said MVoIP system to establish at least voice connection between said Internet Web Page user and said premises communication equipment of said another party by means of said telephone number;

wherein the step of coupling said MVoIP system between said first LSAP and said second LSAP further comprises the steps of;

providing a first gateway in said MVoIP system for coupling both voice and Internet data links to said first LSAP to allow voice to be received at and transmitted by a telephone in said CPE of said Internet Web Page user, and Internet data to be entered into and transferred from said CPE;

providing a second gateway in said MVoIP system for coupling both voice and Internet data links to said second LSAP to allow voice to be received at, and transmitted by, said premises communication equipment, and Internet data to be entered into, and transferred from, said premises communications equipment; and

coupling said first and second gateways together to allow both voice and Internet data to be transferred between said Internet Web Page user and said another party.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:

coupling at least one managed Web-based server to said first and second gateways for storing information data of said Internet Web Page user received from the Internet and necessary to complete a said quality voice telephone call to said another party; and

using said information data of said Internet Web Page user to locate said another party and automatically connect the Internet Web Page user with said another party.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein the information data of said Internet Web Page user received from the Internet and necessary to complete said quality voice telephone call to said another party includes at least one item of information data selected from the group consisting of user telephone number, user name, user address, user language preference, and user identification of preferences.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the user identification of preferences includes identification of at least one preference selected from the group consisting of type, cost, color, and style.

6. A method of completing a quality voice telephone call between an Internet Web Page user of a Web Page on an Internet, said Internet Web Page user having Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) capable of at least one of voice and data communications, to a first Local Service Access Provider (LSAP) and another party associated with the Web Page having premises communication equipment coupled to a second LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

coupling a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) system between said first LSAP and said second LSAP to allow a PSTN quality voice telephone conversation to take place between said Internet Web Page user and said another party;

using said CPE and said Internet to locate a subject of interest to said Internet Web Page user on said Internet Web Page;

associating a telephone number with said subject of interest; and

using said Internet to enable said MVoIP system to establish at least voice connection between said Internet Web Page user and said premises communication equipment by means of said telephone number;

wherein the step of coupling said MVoIP system between said first LSAP and said second LSAP further comprises the steps of;

providing a first gateway in said MVoIP system for coupling voice and Internet data links to said first LSAP to allow voice to be received at, and transmitted by, a telephone in said CPE of said Internet Web Page user, and Internet data to be entered into and transferred from said CPE;

providing a second gateway in said MVoIP system for coupling voice and Internet data links to said second LSAP to allow voice to be received at, and transmitted by, said premises communication equipment, and Internet data to be entered into, and transferred from, said premises communication equipment; and

coupling said first and second gateways together to allow both voice and Internet data to be transferred between said Internet Web Page user and said another party;

coupling at least one managed Web-based server to said first and second gateways for storing information data of said Internet Web Page user received from the Internet and necessary to complete a said quality voice telephone call to said another party; and

using said information data of said Internet Web Page user to locate said another party and automatically connect the Internet Web Page user with said another party;

wherein the step of using said information data of said Internet Web Page user to locate said another party further comprises the steps of;

(1) providing menu navigation prompts;

(2) locating an idle agent of said another party using the menu navigation prompts prior to connecting the quality voice telephone call to the Internet Web Page user;

(3) notifying said Internet Web Page user of options if no agents of said another party are available; and

(4) providing a voice and Internet data connection through said first and second gateways from said second LSAP to said first LSAP.

8. A method of establishing a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) network having a Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone carrier-grade transmission quality equivatent to carrier quality of a Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) for generating voice communications between a party associated with an Internet Web Page advertiser having premises communication equipment coupled to an Internet Web Page advertiser LSAP and an Internet Web Page user having CPE coupled to an Internet Web Page user LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

providing advertiser menus, prompts, and procedures with menu navigation from an Internet Web Page of said Internet Web Page advertiser;

coupling said MVoIP network to (1) said premises communication equipment of said Internet Web Page advertiser;

(2) said Internet Web Page user LSAP and (3) an Internet;

performing at least one of the steps of;

(i) locating an Internet advertised product/service of said Internet Web Page advertiser having an associated telephone number and (ii) correlating an Internet Web Page of said Internet Web Page advertiser to an IP address on the MVoIP network by browsing said Internet with said CPE of said Internet Web Page user;

entering a request to said Internet with said CPE of said Internet Web Page user to cause said MVoIP network to provide at least one of (i) voice communication and (ii) data communication with said premises communications equipment of said Internet Web Page advertiser for said Internet advertised product/service;

entering into said Internet, with said CPE of said Internet Web Page user, information concerning said Internet Web Page user that is necessary to complete a telephone call to said Internet Web Page user;

automatically connecting said Internet Web Page advertiser to a server within the MVoIP network upon entry of said Internet Web Page user information;

automatically navigating said menu prompts and procedures from said Internet Web Page of said Internet Web Page advertiser;

locating any idle advertiser location at said premises communication equipment of said Internet Web Page advertiser through Internet Web Page navigation procedures prior to connecting the call to said Internet Web Page user;

notifying said Internet Web Page user of options if no advertiser locations are available via a menu on said CPE of said Internet Web Page user; and

providing communication through said MVoIP network from said premises communications equipment of said Internet Web Page advertiser to a said Internet Web Page user LSAP.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein said information concerning said Internet Web Page user that is necessary to complete a telephone call to said premises communication equipment of said Internet Web Page advertiser includes at least one item of information selected from the group consisting of user telephone number, user name, user address, user language preference, and user identification of product/service preferences.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said user identification of product/service preferences includes identification of at least one preference selected from the group consisting of flight information, ticket purchase information, pricing, fares, color, and style.

20. The method of claim 8, wherein said notifying said Internet Web Page user of options if no advertiser locations are available, via a menu on said CPE of said Internet Web Page user, includes notifying said Internet Web Page user of at least one of user options selected from the group consisting of (i) “

hang up and wait for callback,”

(ii) “

wait for callback from advertiser” and

(iii) “

your expected queue time is.”

9. A method of bypassing a regulated toll portion of a Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) to establish voice communications between an Internet Web Page advertiser having a premises communication equipment coupled to an Internet Web Page user LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

establishing a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) system that is capable of bidirectional transmission of both voice and Internet Protocol data communications in parallel with said regulated portion of said PSTN;

conducting at least one of the steps of (i) browsing an Internet to locate an Internet advertised product/service having an associated telephone number and (ii) correlating a Web Page of said Internet Web Page advertiser to an IP address on the MVoIP) system; and

using at least one of said associated telephone number and said IP address, as determined by said conducting at least one of the steps of (i) and (ii), to cause said MVoIP system to establish voice and Internet Protocol data communications between said Internet Web Page advertiser of said Internet advertised product/service and said Internet Web Page user through said Internet Web Page user LSAP.

10. A method of completing a telephone call between a Calling Party having a first CPE coupled to a first LSAP and a Called Person having a second CPE coupled to a second LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

bypassing a regulated portion of an existing Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) telephone system with an MVoIP system having carrier-grade voice quality and that is coupled between said first LSAP and said second LSAP to allow voice conversation to take place between said Calling Party and said Called Person;

locating and selecting a name of the Called Person on an Internet with said first CPE; and

automatically enabling said MVoIP system to establish a voice connection between said Calling Party and said Called Person that bypasses the regulated portion of the existing PSTN telephone system when the name of said Called Person is selected.

11. The method of claim 10 further including the step of locating the name of the Called Person from an e-mail document received on the first CPE.

12. The method of claim 10 further including the step of storing the pages of a telephone directory on an Internet Web server to enable a telephone number of the Called Person to be located by the first CPE.

13. A system for completing a telephone call between an Internet Web Page user having a telephone and a PC coupled to an LSAP and an Advertiser Call Center of an Advertiser, said system comprising:

a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) telephone system capable of being coupled between said LSAP and said Advertiser Call Center to allow a voice telephone conversation to take place between said Internet Web Page user and said Advertiser;

a product/service of interest to said Internet Web Page user being located by said Advertiser on an Internet Web Page and selected with said PC by said Internet Web Page user;

a telephone number associated with said product/service of interest; and

Internet connection means to said MVoIP telephone system for enabling said MVoIP telephone system to automatically establish voice connections between said Internet Web Page user and said Advertiser Call Center upon selection of said telephone number associated with said product/service of interest by said Internet Web Page user.

14. The system of claim 13 further comprising:

a Web-based server forming a part of said MVoIP telephone system for storing advertiser prompts as options selectable for use by said Internet Web Page user;

Internet Web Page user product/service selection information entered into said Web-based server through said PC by said Internet Web Page user;

circuit means within said MVoIP telephone system for automatically coupling said Web-based server to a telephone line of said Advertiser at said Advertiser Call Center upon selection of one of said options in accordance with said Internet Web Page user product/service selection information; and

MVoIP telephone system connection means for providing a voice telephone connection between said Internet Web Page user and said Advertiser Call Center having Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) carrier-grade voice quality.

21. A method of quality voice communication including a user having a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) that is at least one of data-capable and voice-capable, said method comprising:

using a browser to locate a Web Page by which the user can cause a quality voice communication to occur between the user CPE and a second CPE over a Managed VoIP network; and

conducting said quality voice communication over the Managed VoIP network.

22. A communication system comprising:

a first communication installation including Calling Party Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), adapted to provide Web Page access to a Called Party Web Page, and voice communication capability, wherein the Called Party Web Page includes capability for communication of a request by the Calling Party to a Called Party for voice communication between the Calling Party and the Called Party;

a second communication installation including Called Party premises communication equipment responsive to Web Page access to the Called Party Web Page by the Calling Party and request by the Calling Party on the Called Party Web Page for voice communication between the Calling Party and the Called Party;

a Managed VoIP network providing carrier-grade voice quality and performance equal to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN);

wherein the first communication installation and the second communication installation are adapted for connecting the Calling Party CPE and the Called Party in quality voice communication by the Managed VoIP network in response to Calling Party access to the Called Party Web Page and request by the Calling Party on the Called Party Web Page for voice communication between the Calling Party and the Called Party.

23. A method of completing a quality voice telephone call between an Internet Web Page user of a Web Page on an Internet, said Internet Web Page user having Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) capable of at least one of voice and data communications, to a first Local Service Access Provider (LSAP) and another party associated with the Web Page having premises communication equipment coupled to a second LSAP, said method comprising the steps of:

coupling a Managed Voice-over-Internet Protocol (MVoIP) system between said first LSAP and said second LSAP to allow a PSTN quality voice telephone conversation to take place between said Internet Web Page user and said another party, wherein said Internet Web Page has a telephone number associated with said another party; and

using said CPE and said Internet to locate said Internet Web Page, and using said Internet to enable said MVoIP system to establish at least voice connection between said Internet Web Page user and said premises communication equipment of said another party by means of said telephone number.