Establishing data connections

• US 7,441,002 B1
• Filed: 11/13/2000
• Issued: 10/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Crook, Gary, Midwinter, Timothy, Catchpole, Andrew, Brockbank, Robert G
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar; Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hamza; Faruk
• Application Number:
  US10/110,476
• Time in Patent Office: 2,899 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-207
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4535 using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/009 in systems involving PBX or KTS networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/128 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables

Abstract

A method wherein a first user obtains an identifier for a desired destination user, makes a request to a server for a data communication with that desired destination user, retrieves a computer network address from a directory entry for that desired destination user, retrieves the source computer network address from the request packet from the first user, and sends requests to the computers of both users for return of respective stored unique identifiers. When these respective unique identifiers are received at the server, a check is made to see that they correspond to only one respective entry in a database, and the server then sends a message to one of the computers to make a data call to the other computer. Users register initially and download a helper application which stores the user'"'"'s respective unique identifier together with, in a preferred embodiment, a unique password, which is also stored in the respective entry in the database. The helper launches a NetMeeting application passes its associated user'"'"'s names.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a data connection between a first of a plurality of computers on a network and a second of said plurality of computers, each of the first computers being logically associated with a respective user, the method comprising:

storing in a directory database entries comprising fields for at least a network address of a computer currently associated with each user, and a unique identifier for each user;

storing at each of the computers a respective data item comprising a field containing the respective unique identifier for the logically associated user;

responding at a server to receipt of a message from a first user at the first computer indicative of a desired data communication with the second computer and containing identifying data for the second user, the identifying data corresponding to a field of said directory entries, by accessing the directory database in accordance with said identifying data, and, if a unique entry is found for the second user, retrieving the network address of said unique entry, sending from said server to the second computer at said retrieved network address and to the first computer at the source network address of said received message, a respective message requesting a return message containing the field of the respective stored data item;

responding to receipt at the server of each respective return message by accessing the directory database in accordance with content of the field of the respective return message, and checking that only a single entry is returned by this accessing step

if only a respective single entry is returned for both of said return messages, sending one of the first and second computers a message instructing said one computer to make a data call and containing for a destination address for said data call the network address of the other one of the first and second computers.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each computer is arranged to run a respective data sharing application, and the data call is a message from the data sharing application at said one computer for starting a data sharing session with the data sharing application at said other computer.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of sending to one of the first and second computers a message instructing that one computer to make a data call includes the substep of sending a message to the first and second computers for generating a display for inviting the respective users to send respective messages to the server to proceed with a data sharing session, and the substep of responding to receipt at the server of a respective message from both the first and second computers for proceeding with a data sharing session to send said message instructing the one computer to make said data call.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said identifying data for the second user is a directory number.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, further including storing a logical association between the network address of the first computer and a directory number for the first user, the directory number for the first user corresponding to a telephone extension of a CTI-enabled switch;

retrieving, from addressing information of the received message indicative of a desired communication, the source address of the received message;

accessing the stored logical association in accordance with the retrieved source address and obtaining the associated directory number; and

sending from the server a CTI command to the CTI-enabled switch for a call to be made from the associated directory number to the directory number of the second user.

6. A method of establishing a data connection between a first of a plurality of computers on a network and a second of said plurality of computers, each of the first computers being logically associated with a respective user, the method comprising:

storing in a directory database entries comprising fields for at least network address of a computer currently associated with each user, a unique identifier for each user and a respective unique password;

storing at each of the computers a respective data item comprising fields containing the respective unique identifier for the logically associated user and a respective unique password;

responding at a server to receipt of a message from a first user at the first computer indicative of a desired data communication with the second computer and containing identifying data for the second user, the identifying data corresponding to a field of said directory entries, by accessing the directory database in accordance with said identifying data, and, if a unique entry is found for the second user, retrieving the network address of said unique entry, sending from said server to the second computer at said retrieved network address and to the first computer at the source network address of said received message, a respective message requesting a return message containing the fields of the respective stored data item;

responding to receipt at the server of each respective return message by accessing the directory database in accordance with content of one of the fields of the respective return message, and comparing content of other ones of the fields of the respective return message with the content of the corresponding directory entry field; and

if a successful comparison for both of said return messages occurs, sending to one of the first and second computers a message instructing said one computer to make a data call and containing for a destination address for said data call the network address of the other one of the first and second computers.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, further including for each user, generating by the server the respective unique password, communicating said generated unique password from the server to the respective user, and entering at the respective logically associated computer by the respective user said generated unique password into the respective field of the respective data item.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein communicating said generated unique password comprises sending said generated unique password from the server to the respective user in a message addressed to a respective unique email address for the respective user.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein generating by the server the respective unique password is performed in response to receipt at the server of a request message sent from the respective logically associated computer.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein generating by the server the respective unique password comprises retrieving user identifying data from the received request message and checking that the retrieved user identifying data matches corresponding user identifying data in a field of the respective entry for the respective user.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the retrieved user identifying data is the respective unique email address for the respective user.

12. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said identifying data for the second user is a directory number.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, further including storing a logical association between the network address of the first computer and a directory number for the first user, the directory number for the first user corresponding to a telephone extension of a CTI-enabled switch;

retrieving, from addressing information of the received message indicative of a desired communication, the source address of the received message;

accessing the stored logical association in accordance with the retrieved source address and obtaining the associated directory number; and

sending from the server a CTI command to the CTI-enabled switch for a call to be made from the associated directory number to the directory number of the second user.