Patent Application
20060002543
The present invention relates to incorporating telephony device functions into a computer.
The typical work environment for many office personnel is work area which comprises a telephone and a computer/ computer terminal (referenced generically hereafter as a “PC”). Frequently, such personnel are continually going from one of these devices to the other. Picking up or replacing the handset from a telephone cradle is a peripheral vision and peripheral mental event. Very little mental focus is needed to deal with a handset, even if located 90 degrees off center from the user's visual/mental focus. Dialing on the other hand, or otherwise controlling the telephone, requires much more mental focus.
In addition to these considerations, telephone systems are becoming increasingly popular that allow users to place “telephone” calls over computer networks, such as the Internet. The Internet Protocol (IP) phone instruments associated with such communication come in a variety of forms. One form is a peripheral device that plugs into an input/output port on the user's computer. This device usually resembles a conventional slimline desk phone. Another form is a fully integrated unit with a base, a handset, and usually a small two-six inch diagonal display screen of some sort. An example of this device is marketed by Avaya Inc. of Basking Ridge, N.J., as model 4620 IP Telephone.
While such IP phones may have a support application running on the user's PC, these IP phones are not easily integrated into the PC. In particular, two common devices (the PC and the telephone), each having key-button controls, are physically presented to the user and require significant shifting of mental focus as the user goes from one device to the other.
The present invention is directed to the problem of developing a means to control the telephone from a PC such that a portion of the telephone is ergonomically incorporated in to the PC.
The present invention modifies the computer keyboard of the user's PC to thereby provide an improved user interface for controlling a telephone when the user is primarily operating a computer. In particular, the present invention comprises locating the button controls, and optional lamp status indicators, of the telephone onto the PC keyboard, thereby keeping the mental focus of the user where it typically resides during the user's work day—on the PC display and on the PC keyboard. Additional embodiments of the invention make use of the assets of the PC (e.g., the PC display) to augment various telephone features.
Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which:
The present invention includes a PC and an associated telephone.
As further depicted in
With the hardware arrangement depicted in
Keyboard 108, illustrated in
In further embodiments of the invention the keyboard 108 would also include a jack to support a telephone headset in addition to a handset or in lieu of handset 110. The keyboard could also include a handset used with or without an associated cradle. In the latter case the handset could contain a contact switch (hook switch) in the earpiece, as is well-known in the prior art (and commonly found in hospital rooms). The associated handset may also be used without a cradle or integral hook switch by providing a toggle on/off button on the phone pad 202 area of the keypad 108 that controls the onhook/offhook state of the telephone function, similar in function to that of the speakerphone button, but using the handset, rather than the speakerphone, as the audio I/O device.
In various embodiments of the invention, the telephone functions that are associated with the telephone keypad 202 may be partitioned between the telephone proper and the PC. In one embodiment, only the keyboard and optionally the associated keyboard lamps may reside within the PC system and all other telephony functions are implemented within the telephone. In an additional embodiment at least some of these functions that have been traditionally performed within the telephone are performed via software within the PC that is associated with the PC keyboard. In another embodiment at least some of these functions are implemented by specialized hardware that is physically within and electronically part of the PC that is associated with the PC keyboard. In yet another embodiment these functions are implanted by a separate computational device that is not associated with the PC keyboard and may be physically distant from the PC keyboard (and in the extreme, geographically distant from it).
In these various embodiments communications between the telephone keypad on the PC keyboard and the machine that is providing the telephone functionality (e.g., physically separate telephone, software running on the PC's primary processor, or an adjunct telephone processor within the PC system) may be implemented in a variety of ways. If the enhanced PC keyboard and telephone device are in close geographical proximity, then the communication path between the telephone keypad located on the PC keyboard and the telephone may be established by:
If the enhanced PC keyboard and telephone device are not in close geographical proximity, then the communication path between these items may comprise a connection over a private or public packetized data network (e.g., the Internet), circuit switched network or other long range communications facility.
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications can be made to the structure and elements of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as a whole.
