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Description  |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to message delivery methods and apparatus for programmably expanding the number and quality of features for conventional coin operated telephones within a commercial dial telephone communications network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Coin telephone stations typically include all of the features of a conventional single line telephone instrument, such as a handset containing transmitting and receiving elements, a cradle for the handset to signal when the handset is "on-hook"
and when it is taken "off-hook", and a dialing mechanism, such as a rotary pulse dial, or a dual tone multifrequency dial pad for generating dialing signals. In addition, the coin telephone station includes a coin handling mechanism for receiving coins
into an escrow chamber, for identifying each coin by denomination and for generating signals indicative of the deposit of each particular coin denomination handled by the station, for collecting the coins in the escrow chamber when a call is successfully
established and/or completed, and for returning coins to the user when the call is not successfully established for one of a number of reasons, such as called party busy, called party unavailable, or telephone system equipment busy, etc.
Conventionally, the coin handling mechanism generated chimes or other signals to annunciate over the telephone tip and ring wire pair to an operator the deposit of particular coins into the escrow chamber. These audible chimes or signals were
listened to by the operator to be sure that the user paid for the call before the operator placed it and connected the called party to the coin telephone station.
More recently, the telephone companies have automated coin telephone service so as to eliminate the need for the operator. One example of a fully automated coin telephone handling system is disclosed in the Dudonis U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,324.
The approach disclosed in that patent provided for a central office unit which provided automatic generation and delivery via digital stores of messages to the coin telephone user for prompting deposit a required amount of coins to make the particular
call. When coins representing the required amount of coins were deposited, an automatically generated message acknowledged the correct deposit. Audible intercoin prompts were also automatically generated and put out to the coin station to prompt the
user to continue depositing coins until the required amount was received. If the user over deposited, an automatic message, providing for calling credit, was then generated and put out to the user. The methods disclosed in the Dudonis patent enabled
coin tone detectors to operate simultaneously with the announcement generators without interference.
Further improvements in conventional coin telephone stations have been inclusion at the stations of coin counting mechanisms which enable periodic polling by central office equipment to determine exact coin counts in the collected coin vault of
the telephone, thereby eliminating any source of temptation to workers charged with removing the coins from the vault. One example of this improvement is found in Zarouni U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,774 (now U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 30,973).
Dively et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,840 describes a coin operated telephone including an internal computer for managing the operations thereof. The computer analyzes a called party number entered by the user and computes the minimum charge for a
minimum time period for the call. A display is then presented to the user as to the amount to be deposited. As coins are deposited, the amount is decremented, and the internal computer connects the station to a telephone line once the requisite amount
has been received. The Carter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,460 added a local message generation capability and an automatic call completion monitoring circuit to the more manual concept disclosed by Dively et al. and offered an opportunity to the user
to deliver a message to a message delivery platform in the event that the called party was unavailable. The Cornell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,933 describes a message delivery platform to which central office ESS equipment is connected via trunk
circuits for message collection, storage and delivery.
The Segre-Amar U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,349 describes apparatus for delivery of messages, including commercials, to a calling party during a ringing interval. The Sleevi U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,382, adds the concept of delivering a message which has
been selected on the basis of the number entered by the user of the telephone.
While each of the foregoing examples of the prior art has addressed one or a few of the issues relating to coin telephone service, other issues remain. For example, in countries and locations experiencing rapid currency fluctuations and
particularly inflationary trends, the existing coin telephone stations are adapted to collect too few coins to accommodate the increasing numbers of coins needed to cover the cost of even local calls. An improved coin telephone service should be adapted
to make continued use of the many thousands of conventional coin telephone stations already in place. Also, coin telephone systems having increased interaction with the user are needed. For instance, many locations, such as public airports, include
numerous coin telephone stations. Also routinely present at public airports are special telephone stations providing automatic dial-up connections to a variety of services and business of interest to the traveller, such as car rentals, taxi cab, bus and
hotels/motels. A need has arisen to add the features and functions of special purpose telephones to the functionality of standard coin telephone stations, thereby eliminating the need for the special telephone stations.
The present inventors have previously described a telephone toll integrity checking system in U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,916 which includes some of the system elements described below which are arranged and programmed differently in order to
accomplish a quite different task within a different application. The reader is referred to the referenced patent for further particulars of that system.
A heretofore unsolved need has remained for a coin telephone service which is fully programmable and which makes full use of the capabilities and possibilities of the coin telephone station as an interactive, information and data entry and
delivery terminal device, as well as a basic communications station.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION WITH OBJECTS
A general object of the present invention is to provide a coin telephone message and management system which overcomes the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a real-time reprogrammable, user interactive coin telephone message and management system which expands the functionality of existing coin telephone stations without any need to change
or modify the stations themselves.
Yet another specific object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for effectively delivering commercial messages to coin telephone station users and for providing such users coin-credits for conventional coin telephone service
following successful delivery of the commercial message to the user.
One more specific object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism enabling the coin station user provide real-time feedback by selecting messages or services or taking other action via responsive data entered at the coin telephone
station keypad by the user.
A further specific object of the present invention is to provide a coin message and management system which effectively supervises a plurality of conventional coin telephone stations thereby to offer and provide expanded service thereto,
including delivery of advertising and other useful messages to a user thereof, obtaining and collecting user response data and feedback from the user, and providing additional and further service including delayed message delivery from an automated
message and data platform, and or busy/redial service.
One more specific object of the present invention is to provide a coin message and management system which is responsive to the signaling conditions capable of being generated at a conventional coin telephone station and which operates in
response to detection of the signaling conditions in a manner adding substantial new features to the station without modification to or interference with the station or its associated automated coin subsystem.
Yet one more specific object of the present invention is to provide a coin message and management system which may replace a conventional central office automated coin subsystem with a subsystem providing coin telephone stations with vastly
expanded functional capabilities including message delivery and interactive user response.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a coin telephone message and management system is provided for use at a central office location of a telephone system with a plurality of conventional remotely located coin telephone
stations and with, or in place of, an associated automated coin subsystem to which the coin telephone stations are connected by coin trunks. The coin telephone message management system comprises a plurality of programmable line interface units each
being connected to a said coin trunk for monitoring electrical signals present on the coin trunk indicative of usage of the station connected thereto, for delivering predetermined messages to a user of the station, and for generating electrical signals
for controlling the automated coin subsystem; a message storage and delivery unit selectively connectable to the programmable line interface units for delivering at least one selectable audio message to the user of a said station via the coin trunk; and,
a programmed system controller for coordinating operations of the programmable line interface units and the message storage and delivery of selected messages or message segments to the user of a said station, whereby each line interface unit may respond
to data entered by the user of a said station and cause electrical control signals to be generated for controlling the coin telephone station and for controlling the central office switching equipment.
In one aspect of the present invention, the message storage and delivery unit comprises digital store for storing said messages in digital format in a digital storage medium and further includes a message delivery controller for causing said
messages to be read from the digital store and a digital to analog converter for causing said digital format messages to be converted to analog electrical signals for delivery to said user via said line interface unit.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a modem is provided for enabling the programmed system controller to be connected to the telephone system thereby to enable transfer of data, messages for users and programs to the system and for
receiving data collected by the system at a remote control location.
In one more aspect of the present invention, the telephone system further comprises a message and data platform, and the programmed system controller is programmed to cause a line interface unit means to generate dial signals enabling connection
of a said coin telephone station with said message and data platform in response to a request from the coin station user in response to a said message delivered thereto.
In yet one more aspect of the present invention, each of the plurality of line interface units includes circuitry for monitoring calling sequence signaling conditions present on the coin trunk with which the line interface unit is connected.
In still one more aspect of the present invention, each of the plurality of line interface units includes circuitry for detecting DTMF dial up sequences, dial tone, ring back, called party busy signaling conditions and includes circuitry for
detecting coin deposit tone signalling conditions and for generating coin deposit tone signalling conditions for thereby controlling the automated coin subsystem.
These and other objects, aspects, advantages and features of the present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, presented in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the Drawings:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a call message service system for use with a coin telephone network in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is comprised of FIGS. 2A and 2B which form a detailed block and schematic circuit diagram of one of the e.g. 16 line interface units of the type included within the FIG. 1 system.
FIGS. 3A and 3B together form a detailed block and schematic circuit diagram of one presently preferred system controller unit of the type included within the FIG. 1 system with FIG. 3A arranged on the left side, and FIG. 3B arranged on the right
side.
FIG. 4 is a detailed block and schematic circuit diagram of one type of message storage and delivery units which may be included within the FIG. 1 system.
FIG. 5 is a detailed block and schematic circuit diagram of a modem unit of the type included within the FIG. 1 system.
FIG. 6 is a detailed block and schematic circuit diagram of a power supply unit of the type included within the FIG. 1 system.
FIGS. 7A and 7B together form a backplane wiring diagram for interconnecting the FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 units; FIG. 7A is arranged on the top and FIG. 7B is arranged on the bottom.
FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, 8H, 8I, 8J, 8K and 8L comprise scripted control program flow chart for dynamically controlling operations of one of the line interface units of the system depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with a programmable
message script.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 depicts a preferred embodiment of the present invention situated within a subscriber telephone system 10. In overview, the telephone system 10 includes a plurality of central offices 12 (two central offices 12a and 12b are shown by way of
illustration). Each central office 12 includes call switching equipment 13, usually ESS switches. The central offices 12 are typically connected together in conventional fashion by a network of local and/or long distance trunks 14. In the case of long
distance trunks 14, one or more long distance carriers may provide toll trunk interface service to each central office 12. Each central office 12 serves as a switching point for switching calling signals and calls to and from a multiplicity (such as
10,000 or more) subscriber service telephones 16 which are connected directly to the central office 12 by subscriber service tip and ring line pairs 17.
Each central office may also serve a plurality of coin telephone stations 18. Sixteen coin telephone stations 18a-p are shown connected to the central office 12b by coin service tip and ring pairs 19 The coin service tip and ring pairs 19 may
lead through switch equipment 13 at the central office 12 to special coin service controller equipment, such as the automated coin subsystem disclosed in the referenced Dudonis U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,324, for example; or the service pairs may be
conventional subscriber service pairs which are adapted by the apparatus of the present invention into service as coin service pairs.
The coin telephones are typically, but not necessarily, of a conventional, Bell system standard configuration, and include a handset 20, cradle 22, twelve key DTMF (TOUCHTONE tm) keypad 24, coin deposit slot 26, manual coin return lever 28,
internal escrow chamber (not shown), coin vault 30 and coin return receptacle 32. Conventionally, each coin telephone station 18 provides direct access to its associated central office 12. With "dial-tone-first" coin station service, conventional
access would be a dial tone. With "coin-first" coin station service, no access is provided until a minimum denomination of coins is deposited at the coin telephone station 18.
After removing the handset 20 from its cradle 22 and hearing the dialtone in the earpiece of the handset 20, the user then may enter five or seven, or more, numbers at the keypad 24 in a sequence appropriate to reach a desired called station.
The automated coin subsystem then generates an audio prompt message and sends it to the coin station earpiece, for prompting the user to deposit an indicated amount of coinage as is determined by the automated coin subsystem to be required to pay for the
call as entered at the station 18.
As each coin is inserted through the coin slot 26, a tone or chime generator within the coin station 18 signals deposit to the automated coin subsystem, and it monitors and accumulates these coin deposit signals. Alternatively, the coin station
18 may internally count coin deposits and generate a coin chime or tone only when sufficient coinage for a minimum call is on deposit in the escrow chamber. Once the requisite amount of coinage is on deposit and that fact is signalled over the coin
trunk, the automated coin subsystem generates an acknowledge audio prompt, and thereupon enables the switch equipment 13 to complete the call as it would for a conventional subscriber station 16. Overpayments are acknowledged audibly with an indication
of additional credit. Conventionally, the coin station 18 generates a small control current between the tip wire and ground when a coin is in place in the escrow chamber. This signal current enables the automated coin subsystem to determine that a coin
is present in the escrow chamber at any time, even if the coin deposit chime signal is not detected.
During the call, the automated coin subsystem continually monitors its progress and duration; and, periodically, the automated coin subsystem may interrupt the call in progress and require via an audible prompt that the user of the station 18
deposit more coinage in an amount indicated audibly before permitting the call to continue. This conventional coin service as generally implemented within the United States is described in Feature Specific Document No. 10-01-0000, published by Bell
Communications Research in Dec. 1984.
The telephone service company may also provide a message delivery service, which is either manual or automated. Manual message delivery is described in Feature Specific Document No. 80-01-0200, also published by Bell Communications Research in
Dec. 1985 and revised in Dec. 1986. This referenced document describes a mechanism by which an operator may deliver a predetermined message to an indicated called party at a time or times indicated by the calling party. Automated message delivery,
sometimes referred to as "voice-mail" is described, for example in the referenced Cornell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,933.
In the telephone system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 hereof, the central office 12a includes a message and data platform which may be the same as or similar to the message storage system described in the referenced Cornell et al. '933 patent noted
above. The message and data platform 34 is adapted to store both voice messages and data messages as digital values. Telephone subscriber sets 16 may have direct dial-up access to the message and data platform 34 and messages may be deposited therein
for later delivery to designated called party stations. In accordance with principles of the present invention, one service subscriber for message delivery is an advertising agency 36. The advertising agency 36 generates a plurality of advertising
messages, surveys, public service announcements, etc., causes these messages to be converted into digital values, and then sends them via the telephone system 10 to the message and data platform 34 for storage and download to other central offices, such
as the central office 12b serving the sixteen coin telephone stations 18.
A programmable coin telephone message and management system 38 in accordance with the principles of the present invention is located at the central office 12b and connects between the coin service lines 19 and switch equipment 13 thereof.
Alternately, the telephone message management system 38 may replace the coin trunk equipment and serve as the primary automated coin subsystem, and with vastly expanded functional capabilities over conventional automated coin subsystems.
The controller 38 includes sixteen remotely programmable line interface units 40a-p. The line interface units 40 are controlled by a remotely programmable system central controller 42, which may be a dedicated controller, or which may most
preferably be a personal computer, such as an IBM Personal Computer, or equivalent. A message storage and delivery unit 44 is provided for storing and delivering messages to the coin station user in accordance with a script downloaded to and executed by
the associated line interface unit 40. Preferably, the message storage and delivery unit 44 includes a store of selectable messages and segments, recorded on a suitable mass store device, such as an optical write-once, read memory (WORM) and with
message buffer memories providing real time random access selectivity to messages, according to the downloaded script for each coin telephone station.
The subsystem 38 may also include a modem 46 which is directly connected between the controller 42 and the switch equipment 13b via a dedicated service line pair 47. The modem 46 enables a direct remote control and reporting connection to be
made from a supervisory location to the subsystem 38. Data collected by the subsystem 38 may also be forwarded to a remote location via the modem 46. A power supply unit 48 provides suitable operating power and voltage levels for the other circuits
comprising the subsystem 38. The power supply unit 48 may operate from central station battery, or it may covert AC power from the power mains, or both.
The units 40a-p, 42, 44, 46 and 48 may be conveniently formed on individual edge-guided plug-in circuit cards which are mounted within a single bay of an equipment rack and connected together by suitable back-plane wiring and cabling as is
conventionally employed within the telephone equipment industry.
System Functional Overview
While there are numerous available functions and applications of the coin telephone message and management system 38, all of the functions and applications make use of the ability of the system to monitor signaling conditions and activities on
the coin trunk 19, selectively to generate signalling conditions and audible messages for delivery to the user, and to collect and report data arising from use of each coin telephone station 18 being supervised and controlled.
One application of the coin message and management system 38 is to deliver advertising messages to users of the coin telephones 18 in a way which is apt to assure that the commercial message has been delivered effectively and which exchanges
credit for coin telephone service for the user's participation in the advertisement. In this preferred application of the coin telephone message and management system 38, a user removes the handset from one of the supervised coin telephone stations 18,
and instead of receiving dialtone, immediately begins to hear a commercial message from the system 38. The commercial message may be subdivided into several parts. For example, a national beauty care manufacturer or group of manufacturers may design a
telephone advertisement for skin care which includes portions tailored to different populations and/or ages. During the delivery of the advertisement to the user, the user is asked to provide some background information, such as male or female, and age
grouping, by entering appropriate values (spelled out in the ad) at the keypad 24. These values are detected by the line interface unit 40 and passed on to, and recorded by, the system controller 42, whereupon a further segment of the advertisement
selected by the keyboard values entered is generated by the audio message storage unit 44 and sent to the user. A similar approach is taken with surveys requiring user response, wherein the user responses are collected by the system controller 42 and
then may be returned to the message and data platform 34 for readout and tabulation by the advertising agency 36 or pollster. The system controller 42 may easily keep track of activity at each coin telephone station being supervised, so that data are
collected and reported for each location. The system controller 42 also supervises script control program execution by each line interface unit 40, and may download revisions and replacement scripts to each line interface unit periodically, or between
each call, so that different commercial messages may be delivered to subsequent users of each coin telephone station 18.
Once the advertisement or survey is successfully completed, the user is given a preannounced credit toward coin calling. This may be provided either by action of a coin deposit tone generator included within the line interface unit which
operates to inform the conventional automated coin subsystem of a "coin drop"; or, when the system 38 is acting as an automated coin subsystem, by entry of an internal credit value in a storage register. The credit may be part of, or all of, the amount
needed for a local call. A timer may be set when the credit is given, if a time limit is imposed for local calling by the telephone company offering this service.
The user may desire to make a call without first listening to a commercial message, and may override the message as by dropping a coin into the coin slot 26 of the coin telephone station, or, alternatively, by pressing a predetermined key of the
keypad 24, such as the zero key. In either case, a coin drop tone or a DTMF signal from the zero key is sensed by the line interface unit 40, and it acts to disconnect the message delivery function from the coin telephone station 18 and permit
conventional calling operations of the coin telephone station. If a coin has been dropped, the system 38 may be programmed to record that fact and keep track of all coin-deposit credits of the user, and offer post calling services, such as message store
and forward or busy signal/redial services, depending upon choices entered by the user in response to audio message prompts generated by the message and management system 38.
The coin telephone message and management system 38 may offer a plurality of message handling services in addition to providing service credit by advertising. For example, after delivering an advertisement and after the user's calling
information is received and the call is placed, the line interface unit 40 may be programmed to monitor the called party's line status. If no one answers after a predetermined number of ring back signals have been detected, or if a line busy signal is
detected, an audio prompt generated by the message storage unit 44 may invite the user to leave a message in the message and data platform 34. If the user selects this service, the line interface unit 42 establishes a dial-up path to the platform for
the user and permits the user to leave a message for later delivery to the called party who either was not available or whose line was busy.
Alternatively, and for called party lines detected to be busy, the coin telephone message and management system 38 may provide a further announcement or message, such as late minute news, to the user during a waiting interval, and then
automatically redial the number determined to be busy. This function is referred to herein as the "busy/redial" service option.
In addition, should the user desire message delivery service in lieu of direct dial communications, as for example when a message is to be delivered in a broadcast mode to a number of different recipients, the message and management system 38
will separate the coin telephone station from the service trunk and will deliver a message to the user while independently dialing up the message platform; once the connection is made to the platform, the station will be reconnected and the platform may
then obtain the telephone number(s) to be called and store the message from the user for subsequent delivery.
The message and management system 38 automatically monitors each offered service and prompts the user to deposit an appropriate amount of coinage for each service, and/or also may provide credit earned through participation of the user in the
advertisements and/or surveys, in accordance with a message script being followed at the time by the line interface unit servicing the particular coin telephone station 18 in use.
Safeguards may be provided by the message and management system 38, such as limiting the time of free calls and blocking repeat calls to the same called party within a certain time interval. This feature would prevent children and abusive users
of the coin telephone station from tying it up endlessly in sequential calls to the same called party.
Many other features and uses can be readily designed and implemented for the message management system 38. As a feature is desired to be added or changed, digitized replacement message segments and revised scripted control programs for the line
interface units may be downloaded via the modem 46 to the system controller 42 and respectively provided to the message storage and delivery unit 44 and the line interface unit(s) 40. Conversely, statistics and usage data collected at the system
controller 42 may be offloaded via the modem 46, either to the message and data platform 34 or to some other location served by the telephone system 10.
The implementation of these and other features within the coin telephone message and management system 38 will | | |
