The present invention relates generally to telecommunication services using a public telephone network and more particularly to communicating information about a called party to the calling party.
Local telephone service providers, through a central office, offer a variety of optional services to their customer. Some of these services provide information about a person placing a call (a calling party) to a person receiving the call (a called party). Customer premises equipment (CPE) of many offices and homes increasingly will integrate telephony and computers. This type of CPE can connect to a network environment that includes both a real or virtual telephone path and a real or virtual data path for access to a computer network such as the Internet. In addition to the conventional phone-computer setup, there is an emerging technology that integrates both a computer and a telephone into a single device, a so-called smart or intelligent phone that contains a built-in microprocessor capable of running applications, such as World Wide Web browsing software. Another example is Internet television with integrated telephony.
In accordance with the present invention a method and apparatus is provided that initiates two actions in response to the dialing of a telephone number. In addition to placing the call, supplemental information about the called party is automatically retrieved and displayed on the terminal of the calling party. This supplemental information allows the called party to communicate in a more detailed way with callers. For example, the called party might provide the caller with a high level calendar showing when the called party would be available to take calls. Preferably, in accordance with the present invention when a caller places a call, the number called is used to look up and return to the caller the Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the called party. Application software resident in the caller's CPE uses the URL to retrieve the home page of the called party from the Internet.
Referring now to the drawings and initially to
Referring now to
The SSPs 22-28 communicate voice and data traffic over links 48 to conventional tandem switches 30 and 32. The tandem switches transfer the voice and data traffic within or between regions of the network 20. It should be understood, however, that SSPs in different areas may also transfer voice and data traffic directly between each other without the use of a tandem switch.
Both the tandem switches 30 and 32, and the SSPs 22-28, transfer network signaling protocols over links 46 to the STPs 34 and 36. The network signaling protocols, such as those defined by the well known Signaling System 7, control the network switching of voice and data traffic.
STPs 34 and 36 transfer network signaling protocols over links 46 within or between regions and to SCPs 38 and 40. SCPs 38 and 40 may also directly transfer network signaling protocols between regions. The STPs and the SCPs preferably include a microprocessor controlled computer system using computer peripherals controlled by application software programmed to implement the appropriate communication functions. STPs and SCPs are available from a number of telephone switch vendors.
SCPs 38 and 40 handle the queries sent from a called party's SSP by communicating with databases 42 and 44. Preferably, these databases contain information identifying the types of services available to each CPE 100-122 and related information such as, but not limited to, FAX numbers, e-mail addresses, cellular numbers, and computer-network addresses, such as Internet location identifiers (e.g., (URLs)). The information may be stored in a memory storage device such as random access memory or a magnetic or optical disk drive, known to those skilled in the art. Of course, a combination of different memory storage devices or other types of devices may be used. The memory storage device preferably stores the service information in a data record such as an array, lookup or pointer table, or other data structures known to those skilled in the art.
The Internet indicated generally at 50 is shown for purposes of discussion as being accessed from the SSP 24. When accessing the Internet 50, a modem connected with the microcomputer of the CPE is connected through the SSP 24 to a modem provided by an Internet access provider, which in turn is connected to the Internet. A server connected with a data base is indicated at 52 and preferably store the URL associated with each telephone number of interest.
The method of providing the Web page of a called party to a calling party it illustrated by the diagram in
More particularly, with respect to
The SCP 40 also identifies the properties of the originating CPE 106, and determines whether it can display a Web page. If so, SCP 40 indexes the database 44 to obtain and transmit the URL associated with the dialed telephone number back to the originating CPE 106.
Once the originating CPE 106 receives the URL from the SSP 24, application software in the CPE 106 retrieves and display the Web page, associated with the URL, that is stored in an Internet server database 52 as is well known in the art. This application may be any of the well known Web browsing software available from various suppliers.
Alternatively, the CPE 106 may be provided with appropriate software and datalink connection permitting it to formulate and transmit a query directly to the SCP 40 via the STP 36. Other methods of querying a database can be used and the database can be local to the SCP, accessible over a connecting data network, or accessible remotely over a SS7 network.
In
More particularly, when the calling party lifts the telephone receiver, located at CPE 106, and dials the number of the receiver of the called party, located at CPE 116, that number is sent to the corresponding central office, here central office 64. When the calling party's central office 64 receives the digits, the string is passed to an application processor in the central office that queries a database 80. The central office also sends the digits in a network signaling protocol to the STP 76, which sets up the routing of the call in the usual manner. The database 80 indexes telephone numbers to URLs, and the URL of the dialed number is returned to the calling party's CPE 106. Once the calling party's CPE receives the URL from the central office 64, an application in the CPE 106 can retrieve and display the Web page associated with the URL, as is well known in the art. This application may be any of the well known Web browsing software available from various suppliers.
Providing the Web page of the called party to a calling party is not dependent upon a specific network such as shown in
While this description has referenced URLs, other computer-network addresses would work as well. While it has referenced the Internet, other computer networks could be used. While it has referenced Web pages, other customized user files could be used.
The preferred CPE arrangements on the caller side include the smart telephone with a display and application processor as described. A CPE specifically designed to receive and display the customized user files could also be used, as well as a personal computer with a telephone and a data network interface. Other equivalent devices could be used including the so called “thin client,” where the serving processor has a telephone and data network interface, as well as a telephone and a computer coordinated by a network application. Other CTI capable devices with the dual real or virtual channel capability (voice over data, or data over voice) could be used, and these might include PDSs, cellular phones with data displays, and so on. Even specialized devices such as a version of a WebTV box running a browser with a built-in Internet telephone could be appropriately modified and used.
Several databases storing the computer-network address indexed to the telephone number were mentioned above. These could also include known databases such as the Directory Assistance database, and future databases (e.g., inside the called party's smart telephone itself, where an incoming call might prompt a customized user file to be returned before the phone is answered).
While the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/267,966 filed Nov. 10, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/430,193 filed May 8, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,450,704, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/676,938 filed Oct. 1, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,029, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/390,070 filed Sep. 3, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,100, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/884,830 filed Jun. 30, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,806, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/801,880 filed Feb. 18, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,684, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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WO9722212 | Jun 1997 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20100061531 A1 | Mar 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12267966 | Nov 2008 | US |
Child | 12618847 | US | |
Parent | 11430193 | May 2006 | US |
Child | 12267966 | US | |
Parent | 10676938 | Oct 2003 | US |
Child | 11430193 | US | |
Parent | 09390070 | Sep 1999 | US |
Child | 10676938 | US | |
Parent | 08884830 | Jun 1997 | US |
Child | 09390070 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 08801880 | Feb 1997 | US |
Child | 08884830 | US |