U.S. patent application number 10/191904 was filed with the patent office on 2003-05-29 for system and method for providing voice messaging services utilizing a network connection.
Invention is credited to Castagna, William D., Smith, Shawn W., Vanderford, Jan.
Application Number | 20030099333 10/191904 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26754468 |
Filed Date | 2003-05-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030099333 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Castagna, William D. ; et
al. |
May 29, 2003 |
System and method for providing voice messaging services utilizing
a network connection
Abstract
When an incoming call is received, a signal is sent to a
computer that monitors the telephone line. If the telephone is not
answered, the messaging system sends a signal and streaming audio
signals to the computer. The signals are output over speakers
connected to the computer.
Inventors: |
Castagna, William D.; (Ojai,
CA) ; Smith, Shawn W.; (Ventura, CA) ;
Vanderford, Jan; (Santa Barbara, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
UNISYS Corporation
Unisys Way, MS/E8-114
Blue Bell
PA
19424-0001
US
|
Family ID: |
26754468 |
Appl. No.: |
10/191904 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10191904 |
Jul 8, 2002 |
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09243213 |
Feb 2, 1999 |
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6442245 |
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60073442 |
Feb 2, 1998 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
379/70 ;
379/211.02 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 7/0027 20130101;
H04M 1/654 20130101; H04M 2203/253 20130101; H04M 1/663 20130101;
H04M 3/53341 20130101; H04M 3/537 20130101; H04M 1/578
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
379/70 ;
379/211.02 |
International
Class: |
H04M 001/64; H04M
003/42 |
Claims
1. A telephone system comprising: means for detecting an incoming
call placed to a particular phone number; means for sending a
signal to a device other than a telephone connected to the
telephone line for the particular phone number; means for
generating an outgoing message to the caller on the incoming call;
means for receiving an intercept signal from a device other than a
telephone connected to the telephone line for the particular phone
number; means for ceasing the operation of the means for generating
an outgoing message; means for rerouting the incoming call to a
device identified in the intercept signal.
2. The telephone system of claim 1 wherein the means for sending a
signal comprises means for sending a message over a worldwide
computer network.
3. The telephone system of claim 1 wherein the means for rerouting
the incoming call comprises means for rerouting the call to a
computer via a worldwide computer network.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. provisional
Application No. 60/073,442 filed Feb. 2, 1998, the disclosure of
which is incorporated fully herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There are two predominant types of systems used by home
telephone or small office locations to answer telephone calls and
electronically store telephone messages. The first is the common
answering machine; the second is to subscribe to voice mail service
provided by a central provider, such as the local telephone
company. Each of these system have advantages and disadvantages
compared with the other system. Central messaging systems are more
reliable than home answering machines. The central systems use
digital storage methods and often use redundant systems so that if
a hard disk or other hardware system malfunctions, the system still
operates correctly, without loss of data. If the subscriber's home
loses power, the central messaging system keeps working while the
home answering machine stops working. Central messaging systems can
also handle more than one incoming call at a time for the same home
telephone number. Home answering machines, on the other hand, only
handle one call at a time and if a second call comes in, the second
call gets a busy signal if the home does not have call waiting. If
the home has call waiting, a possibly worse result may occur; the
caller hears endless ringing, as the home answering machine is not
able to answer call waiting calls, and the caller may assume that
the phone number does not have answering machine and thus may not
call back shortly to leave a message, with the result that the home
user may miss an important message. Last, central messaging systems
are often much easier to access by the subscriber when the
subscriber is away from home. While many home answering machines
have remote message retrieval features, the user interfaces are
often clumsy and ineffective. Central messaging systems also
sometimes have toll free numbers for out of town subscribers to use
to retrieve messages.
[0003] Home answering machines, on the other hand, have certain
advantages over existing central messaging systems. One advantage
of home answering machines is that when the subscriber walks into
the home and there are messages waiting, a red light, illuminated
number or other visual indication is given on the home answering
machine to indicate that the machine has received new messages. On
most central messaging systems, the subscriber must actively take
some action, such as pick up a telephone receiver to see if there
is stutter dial tone instead of the normal dial tone, in order to
find out if there are new messages waiting. The other main
advantage of home answering machines is that they can be used to
screen incoming telephone calls. Many home answering machine users
do not answer telephone calls even when they are home. Rather, they
let the answering machine answer the telephone call, play the
greeting message, let the caller begin to leave a message and
identify the caller before they decide whether to answer the
telephone call or not. With a central messaging system, once an
unanswered call is answered by the messaging system, the subscriber
cannot listen to the message being left or decide to answer the
call.
[0004] It is desired to have a system that has the advantages of
each of these systems with few or none of the disadvantages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment
according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] FIG. 1 shows a system according to an embodiment of the
invention. The system includes a traditional telephone line 10
connecting the telephone central office 12 to the telephone 14 of a
home or small office 16 (collectively referred to herein as a
home). The home also includes a computer 18. The computer is
connected to an interface circuit 20 for interfacing the computer
with a computer network 21. The computer network is preferably the
Internet, but alternatively can be any other computer network that
both the telephone central office and the home computer can connect
to simultaneously. The interface circuit 20, likewise, can
alternatively be any interface circuit necessary to connect to the
network, including, but not limited to a modem connected to a
telephone line 22, a cable modem connected to a cable television
system 24 or a satellite receiver connected to a satellite system
26, such as DirecPC (DirecPC is a trademark of Hughes
Electronics).
[0007] Preferably, the connection between the computer 18 and the
network is a constant connection, or at least a connection on
demand which can be connected in a matter of seconds.
[0008] The system of FIG. 1 also includes a messaging system 28 in
the telephone central office. The messaging system 28 is in most
respects a typical messaging system such as a VoiceServer.RTM. 2110
system (VoiceServer is a registered trademark of PulsePoint
Communications).
[0009] The messaging system 28 is modified so that when an incoming
call is received for a phone number of a subscriber, whether it be
the subscriber's home number, cellular number, business number,
some other number or any combination of these, a realtime signal is
sent over the network 21 to the computer 18 that indicates that an
incoming call is arriving. Thus, at the same time the central
office is sending a ring tone to, for example, the subscriber's
home phone, a signal is sent to the computer 18 that may include,
among other things, Caller ID or ANI information for the call that
is being presented on the home phone line. At all times, the
computer is running a program in the background that monitors the
network for this type of signal. When such a signal is received, a
window is displayed on the computer that indicates the originating
phone number of the incoming call (i.e., the computer operates as a
Caller ID box). In an alternative embodiment, the computer includes
an address book database that identifies any phone numbers in the
database by caller name or location rather than phone number.
[0010] If the home's phone 14 is not answered, the messaging system
28 begins the standard process for receiving a message: playing a
greeting and recording a message after the greeting is completed.
In the preferred embodiment, though, the messaging system sends an
alert signal over the network 21 to the computer 18 as soon as the
messaging system determines that it will start the process for
receiving a message. Immediately after sending the alert signal,
the messaging system begins sending streaming audio signals, using
conventional technology, such as RealAudio (RealAudio is a
trademark of RealNetworks), containing the greeting and the message
being recorded. The computer, on the other hand, receives the alert
signal and prepares for the coming streaming audio signals by
loading the appropriate program or programs to process the
streaming audio signals and output the encoded audio over speakers
(not shown) connected to the computer. In an alternative
embodiment, the greeting is not sent to the computer over the
network because the computer may not be able to load the streaming
audio processor program in time to receive the greeting in near
real time and thus introduce an unacceptable delay between the
message being spoken and the presentation of the message being
left. In another alternative embodiment, the streaming audio
processor program remains loaded on the computer 18 at all times so
that the computer is ready to receive streaming audio data at any
time. Alternatively, a combination of the two previously described
alternatives is employed.
[0011] If the home subscriber decides, after listening to a portion
of the message being received by the messaging system and being
played over the speakers connected to the computer 18, that they
wish to answer the call after all, they simply pick up their phone
14. A signal is then routed from the central office 12 to the
messaging system 28 indicating that the phone 14 has been taken off
hook. When this signal is received by the messaging system, the
messaging system stops recording the message and transfers the call
back to the central office which in turn reconnects the call to the
phone 14. In this way, the system retains the advantages of a
central messaging system, but adds the desirable call screening
feature available from home answering machines.
[0012] In an alternative embodiment, in addition to being able to
pick up the phone 14 to be connected to a call that they are
screening through their computer, a button is provided in a window
on the screen of the subscriber's computer. If the subscriber
presses this button, a signal is then routed back over the network
21 to the messaging system 28 indicating that the subscriber wishes
to intercept the call with the subscriber's computer. When this
signal is received by the messaging system, the messaging system
stops recording the message and transfers the call to any of the
available network telephony protocols and software, such as
NetPhone (NetPhone is a trademark of NetPhone, Inc.) allowing the
subscriber to use their computer's microphone and speakers to take
the call.
[0013] It is noted at this point that while the call screening
feature of the preferred embodiments works best if the subscriber's
computer is left on (it usually takes computer's too long to boot
up for a subscriber to be able to hear their phone ringing, decide
that they want to screen the call, turn on their computer, have it
boot up and connect to the network in time to hear the message
being left before the caller hangs up), all of the other features
of the voice messaging system, including the basic task of taking
messages for calls not answered by the subscriber still operate if
the subscriber's computer is turned off. This is in contrast to
PC-based, software answering machines that rely on the computer's
fax/modem to answer calls made to the home phone line after a
predetermined number of rings. In such a PC-based answering system,
the subscriber's PC must remain on 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. In this sense, the PC-based answering machines have many of
the same shortcomings of traditional home answering machines.
[0014] Another aspect of the system is the ability to provide the
home subscriber with a message waiting indicator. The messaging
system 28, whenever it has unaccessed messages for a particular
subscriber, periodically sends a signal over the network to the
computer 18 indicating this. Likewise, when the messaging system 28
has no unplayed messages for a particular subscriber, it
periodically sends a signal over the network to the computer
indicating this state. These signals are sent periodically, as
opposed to once, to guard against the situation where a signal gets
lost or is otherwise not delivered or not received by computer 18.
Computer 18, meanwhile, includes a window, or, in an operating
system as Windows 95, an icon in the system tray portion of the
task bar, that indicates whether there are unplayed messages
waiting at the messaging system. If a single computer is used to
monitor more than one phone line, separate message waiting
indicators are provided for each phone line. In an alternative
embodiment, a device is placed next to the phone 14 that includes a
message waiting indicator that is connected to the computer 18 by
such convention manners as wire, infrared, RF and AC line
modulation.
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