Routing telecommunications to a user in dependence upon location

• US 7,296,740 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2004
• Issued: 11/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Thorson, Derral C., Bodin, William Kress, Rybczynski, Gregory Waldemar, Agrawal, Kavita Kumari
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labaze; Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US10/981,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20060091205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,111 Days
• Field of Search: 235/435, 235/440, 235/472.01, 235/492, 235/451
• US Class Current: 235/435
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• 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 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80

Abstract

Routing telecommunications to a user including receiving a call, determining that the call is intended for the user, receiving an RFID signal from a user'"'"'s RFID tag, determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal, and forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location. In typical embodiments, determining that the call is intended for the user also include prompting the caller for the name of the user, receiving from the caller as speech the name of the user, converting the speech to a text, and retrieving a user record in dependence upon the text.

Claims

1. A method for routing telecommunications to a user, the method comprising:

receiving a call;

determining that the call is intended for the user;

receiving an RFID signal from a user'"'"'s RFID tag;

determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal, including receiving a plurality of RFID signals at a plurality of RFID reader locations from the RFID tag, determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag, and determining the intersection of the areas of possible locations; and

forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the call is intended for the user further comprises:

prompting the caller for the name of the user;

receiving from the caller as speech the name of the user;

converting the speech to a text; and

retrieving a user record in dependence upon the text.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal further comprises:

receiving a plurality of RFID signals from the RFID tag at a plurality of RFID reader locations; and

determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID reader locations and a rule.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag comprises determining for each RFID reader a distance between the RFID reader and the RFID tag.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises:

selecting a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location; and

transferring the call to the telephony device.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying location based routing preferences for the user;

wherein forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises transferring the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location and the user'"'"'s location based routing preferences.

7. A system for routing telecommunications to a user, the system comprising:

means for receiving a call;

means for determining that the call is intended for the user;

means for receiving an RFID signal from a user'"'"'s RFID tag;

means for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal, including means for receiving a plurality of RFID signals at a plurality of RFID reader locations from the RFID tag, means for determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag, and means for determining the intersection of the areas of possible locations; and

means for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein means for determining that the call is intended for the user further comprises:

means for prompting the caller for the name of the user;

means for receiving from the caller as speech the name of the user;

means for converting the speech to a text; and

means for retrieving a user record in dependence upon the text.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein means for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal further comprises:

means for receiving a plurality of RFID signals from the RFID tag at a plurality of RFID reader locations; and

means for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID reader locations and a rule.

10. The system of claim 7 wherein means for determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag comprises means for determining for each RFID reader a distance between the RFID reader and the RFID tag.

11. The system of claim 7 wherein means for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises:

means for selecting a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location; and

means for transferring the call to the telephony device.

12. The system of claim 7 further comprising:

means for identifying location based routing preferences for the user;

wherein means for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises means for transferring the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location and the user'"'"'s location based routing preferences.

13. A computer program product for routing telecommunications to a user, the computer program product comprising:

a recording medium;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a call;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining that the call is intended for the user;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving an RFID signal from a user'"'"'s RFID tag;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal, including means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a plurality of RFID signals at a plurality of RFID reader locations from the RFID tag, means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag, and means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining the intersection of the areas of possible locations; and

means, recorded on the recording medium, for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining that the call is intended for the user further comprises:

means, recorded on the recording medium, for prompting the caller for the name of the user;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving from the caller as speech the name of the user;

means, recorded on the recording medium, for converting the speech to a text; and

means, recorded on the recording medium, for retrieving a user record in dependence upon the text.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID signal further comprises:

means, recorded on the recording medium, for receiving a plurality of RFID signals from the RFID tag at a plurality of RFID reader locations; and

means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining the location of the user in dependence upon the RFID reader locations and a rule.

16. The computer program product of claim 13

wherein means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag comprises means, recorded on the recording medium, for determining for each RFID reader a distance between the RFID reader and the RFID tag.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein means, recorded on the recording medium, for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises:

means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location; and

means, recorded on the recording medium, for transferring the call to the telephony device.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising:

means, recorded on the recording medium, for identifying location based routing preferences for the user;

wherein means, recorded on the recording medium, for forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location further comprises means, recorded on the recording medium, for transferring the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the user'"'"'s location and the user'"'"'s location based routing preferences.

19. A method of providing a service of routing calls to users based on location, the method comprising:

receiving a call;

determining that the call is intended for a particular one of a plurality of users;

receiving an RFID signal from an RFID tag associated with the particular user;

determining the location of the particular user in dependence upon the RFID signal, including receiving a plurality of RFID signals at a plurality of RFID reader locations from the RFID tag associated with the particular user, determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag, and determining the intersection of the areas of possible locations; and

forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the particular user'"'"'s location.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein determining that the call is intended for a particular one of a plurality of users further comprises:

prompting the caller for the name of a particular user;

receiving from the caller as speech the name of the particular user;

converting the speech to a text; and

retrieving a user record for the particular user in dependence upon the text.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein determining the location of the particular user in dependence upon the RFID signal further comprises:

receiving a plurality of RFID signals from the RFID tag associated with the particular user at a plurality of RFID reader locations; and

determining the location of the particular user in dependence upon the RFID reader locations and a rule.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein determining for each RFID reader an area of possible locations of the RFID tag comprises determining for each RFID reader a distance between the RFID reader and the RFID tag.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the particular user'"'"'s location further comprises:

selecting a telephony device in dependence upon the particular user'"'"'s location; and

transferring the call to the telephony device.

24. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

identifying location based routing preferences for the particular user;

wherein forwarding the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the particular user'"'"'s location further comprises transferring the call to a telephony device in dependence upon the particular user'"'"'s location and the particular user'"'"'s location based routing preferences.