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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the creation and updating of subscriber profiles maintained and used within telecommunications systems.
Among the ever increasing array of services provided by telecommunications systems are services which operate on the basis of a subscriber profile. A subscriber profile, more particularly, is a database record containing information about how
the service is to be perforated for a particular subscriber. A typical example is the personal telephone number service disclosed in the co-pending commonly assigned United States patent application of C. W. Creswell et al, Ser. No. 07/905,265, filed
on Jun. 26, 1992, entitled "A System for Providing Personalized Telephone Calling Features." As described in that patent application, a caller who has dialed the personal, e.g., "700 area code", telephone number of a subscriber to the service is
connected to a computer-based service adjunct which, upon answering the call, prompts the caller for a so-called "caller identification number." Upon receiving the caller identification number from the caller, such as via telephone pushbutton input, the
system consults a subscriber profile associated with the called personal telephone number to determine whether the caller identification number is valid and, if it is, how the call is to be treated. As examples of various call treatments, the profile
may indicate that, upon receiving a particular caller identification number, the call is to be forwarded to the subscriber's home telephone number, to some other subscriber-defined call forwarding telephone number, to a voice messaging system, or to a
specified succession of these.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The contents of the profile are under the control of the subscriber to a great extent. For example, caller identification numbers can be added or deleted; the treatment to be accorded to a call for which any particular caller identification
number was supplied by the caller can be changed; etc. Presently, the preferred technology for enabling the subscriber to create and thereafter modify his/her profile is by way of a voice interactive system, which leads the subscriber through a series of
audibly presented "menus" and prompts him/her to supply the needed information via telephone pushbotton inputs.
I have come to realize that in this specific arena--the subscriber administration of telecommunications services profiles--the supposedly modern approach of using a voice interactive system for the creation and/or modification of the profile is
not necessarily the best. In particular, systems such as that described above an be quite sophisticated and "feature-rich" in terms of, for example, the number of caller identification numbers that can be associated with a particular personal telephone
number, the number of different call treatment parameters that can be specified for each caller identification number, etc. The more sophisticated and feature-rich such a system is, the greater the complexity of the tree of audible "menus" needed to
create and/or update the profile, and it is my observation that with a complex menu system, the subscriber may well become "disoriented." That is, the subscriber may well loss track of which data is being presented for review and/or modification; what
the current contents of the profile are; etc. Moreover, the amount of time required to make entries, receive and audible confirmation of the entries, etc., can become considerable, sand may lead to subscriber dissatisfaction.
In accordance with the invention, these problems are overcome by providing a subscriber to a telecommunications service with the ability to transmit profile creation and/or update information to the system in graphic form. The telecommunications
system, in turn, "reads", or identifies, the profile information transmitted to it using machine-based image recognition technology such as character recognition and/or mark-sense, and automatically enters the information into the subscriber's profile.
In preferred embodiments, a subscriber is provided with a printed questionnaire or other form on which information defining changes to be made to the profile can be supplied in graphic form by the subscriber and the form is communicated to the system
using facsimile transmission.
In accordance with a feature of the invention, a subscriber may request the system to transmit a "hard-copy" version of the aforementioned form to him or her, again via facsimile. Moreover, the hard-copy version of the form that is so
transmitted may, advantageously, include the subscriber's existing profile information, thereby giving the subscriber the opportunity to see at a glance the current contents of the profile; to make deletions, such as by drawing a line through an entry;
to make changes to entries; and to add complete new entries.
The use of such a "pencil-and-paper" approach to the administration of a telecommunications service profile, although seemingly a step backward in the art--a throwback to the "old way of doing things"--is, to the contrary, I have realized, an
improved approach over that which is standard in the art in that, for example, it obviates the aforementioned sources of subscriber disorientation and dissatisfaction and therefore makes such services more convenient to use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
THE DRAWINGS
In the drawing,
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications network which includes a service adjunct implementing a personal telephone number service;
FIG. 2 shows a number of the fields of a record containing profile information for a subscriber to the service;
FIGS. 3-6 show expanded versions of respective fields of the record of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 illustrates a coding scheme for specifying respective call treatments in the fields of FIGS. 5 and 6;
FIG. 8 is a form generated by the adjunct of FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the invention;
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the service adjunct shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 10-12 comprise a flow chart of the software program which executes within the service adjunct to implement the personal telephone number; and
FIG. 13 is a flowchart of steps carried out by the service adjunct in implementing the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows a public switched telephone network 100 that provides long distance telephone services for its subscribers, such as the subscribers associated with telephone stations S1 through S6. Network 100 includes, inter alia, a plurality of
switching offices, or switches, three of which--110, 130 and 140--are shown. The switches are interconnected via an inter-toll network 111. A network switch may also be connected to one or more local Central Offices (CO), such as COs 10, 20 and 30,
which serve stations S1 through S6.
Included in network 100 is service adjunct 150 which processes calls to a subscriber of a personal telephone number service in accordance with a telecommunications service profile associated with that subscriber. As described in detail
hereinbelow, the information contained in the profile can be entered and/or changed by the subscriber via a) interaction with a voice interactive system, as in the prior art, or b) in accordance with the present invention, by using facsimile technology
to transmit to the adjunct new or changed information in graphic form--the adjunct, in turn, using character recognition technology to "read" the profile information and to automatically update the subscriber's profile.
CREATION OF THE SUBSCRIBER PROFILE
A telephone user, illustratively calling from station S5, may subscribe to the personal telephone number service by dialing a predetermined telephone number, which causes network 100 to establish a connection to terminal 160 attended by a service
representative. As a result of interacting with the representative, the new subscriber is assigned a unique personal telephone service number. In the illustrative embodiment, the personal telephone number is prefixed by the area code 700.
Associated with the personal telephone number is a Personal Identification Number (PIN), as many as four Caller Identification Numbers (CINs) and as many as four Secondary CINs (SCINs). As will be discussed below, a subscriber may define
different call treatments for different ones of the subscriber's associated CINs and SCINs. Also, different billing modes are associated with CINs and SCINs. In particular, originators of calls associated with a SCIN pay for the call, whereas the
subscriber pays for calls associated with CINs. A subscriber's PIN, CINs, and SCINs may be distinguished from one another by the number of digits forming those identifiers, for example, five, four and three digits, respectively.
As a further result of such interaction, the service representative positioned at terminal 160 causes a data record defining a profile for the new subscriber to be stored in memory internal to adjunct 150. An illustrative example of a such a
record 300 is shown in FIG. 2, in which one or more of the fields define a particular aspect of the personal telephone number service as follows:
PHONE.NUM--defines the unique subscription telephone number, e.g., 700-555-2234, assigned to the associated subscriber.
SUB.LANG--identifies a particular language in which announcements are to be made to the subscriber.
SUB.PIN--defines the PIN assigned to the associated subscriber and may further define an associated secondary subscriber PIN.
HOME.PHONE--defines the subscriber's home telephone number.
PA.CALL--defines whether the subscriber will pay for all calls.
NUM.CIN--defines the number of CINs assigned to the associated subscriber.
NUM.SCIN--defines the number of SCINs assigned to the associated subscriber.
NUM.MSG--defines the number of voice messages stored in messaging service system 200 (FIG. 1) for the associated subscriber.
CFNUM.1-3--define respective call forwarding numbers when programmed by the subscriber.
LNK.REC--defines the address of an associated or secondary subscriber record.
CIN.1-4--define respective CINs and their respective call treatments as specified by the subscriber.
SCIN.1-4--define respective SCINs and their respective call treatments as specified by the subscriber.
Of the various fields forming a subscriber record, the SUB.PIN, CFNUM. 1-3, CIN. 1-4 and SCIN. 1-4 fields are formed from a number of subfields as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, respectively. Referring to FIG. 3 first, the SUB.PIN field includes a
S.PIN subfield for storing the subscriber's PIN and a SS.PIN subfield for storing the subscriber's secondary PIN, if any. The latter PIN is used in the case where two subscribers, e.g., a husband and wife, are sharing the same personal telephone number
but, for example, wish to establish different subscriber profiles. If a secondary PIN is stored in the SS.PIN subfield, then the address of a subscriber record associated with that secondary PIN is stored in the LNK.REC field of the subscriber record.
Turning now to FIG. 4, each of the call forwarding fields, CFNUM.1-3, includes a CF.NUM subfield for storing a respective call forwarding telephone number and a CF.DUR subfield for specifying a period of time during which certain telephone calls
will be forwarded to that telephone number. The start time for that period of time is specified in the associated CF.TIME subfield.
Turning now to FIG. 5, each of the CIN. 1-4 fields includes CIN.NUM and CIN.NAME subfields for respectively storing a caller identification number and an associated name that are defined by the subscriber. Each such field also includes up to
four call treatments CT.1-4 that may be accorded to the associated CIN, as will be explained below. The SCIN.1-4 fields are similarly constructed, as shown in FIG. 6. It is through the specifying of data for these fields that the subscriber may specify
particular call treatments that adjunct 150 will use in the processing of particular calls placed to the subscriber's service number, as will be discussed below.
Once the profile information has been stored in record 300, the subscriber may thereafter interact with adjunct 150 and update the record to (a) invoke particular calling features, (b) change the values of one or more of the assigned CINs and/or
SCINs, (c) change various call treatments associated with one or more CINs and/or SCINs.
VOICE INTERACTIVE PROFILE UPDATING (PRIOR ART)
A subscriber may update the profile by dialing his/her service number, e.g., 700-555-2234, to establish a network 100 connection to adjunct 150. Switch 130, in a conventional manner, passes to adjunct 150 the calling and called telephone
numbers. Responsive to the connection and receipt of those numbers, adjunct 150 translates the called personal telephone number into a memory location and unloads from its internal memory the data record 300 associated with that number. (Hereinafter
the latter data record will also be referred to as the primary data record.) Adjunct 150 then prompts the calling party (subscriber in this instance) to enter a caller identification number or, in the event that the caller has not been given a caller
identification number by the subscriber, the pound sign (#). As will be seen, the # sign functions as a default SCIN. In this example, the station S5 calling subscriber enters, via the associated station set keypad, his/her assigned PIN. Adjunct 150,
responsive to receipt thereof, compares the value of the received PIN with the value of S.PIN contained in the associated primary data record. In this instance, adjunct 150 would find that the former and latter values match one another and therefore
returns to the calling subscriber a prerecorded announcement listing a number of calling features that the subscriber may access and/or update.
(It is noted that if the attempted match fails, then adjunct 150 compares the value of the received PIN with the value (if any) stored in the SS.PIN subfield of the primary data record. If those values match one another, then adjunct 150
processes the call in accordance with the secondary subscriber data record ("secondary data record") whose memory location is identified by the contents of the primary record LNK.REC field. Since the functionality of the primary and secondary subscriber
data records are virtually the same, the discussion herein referring to the former record pertains equally to the latter record. As such, the following discussion will be given in the context of the subscriber's primary data record.)
An illustrative example of the aforementioned calling features announcement, which is presented in the language defined in the SUB.LANG field, is as follows:
______________________________________ "Welcome to your personal telephone number service system. To hear your voice messages -- press one, to program or review call forwarding numbers -- press two, to call home or place a call -- press three, (1) to access your caller identification numbers -- press four, to transmit or receive a subscriber profile form -- press five, to terminate this call, press star pound [i.e., *#]". ______________________________________
This announcement is the highest level audible "menu" of the menu "tree" presented to subscribers, and the entering of one of the digits "1" to "5" in response to this menu causes the system to present further menus and submenus further down in
the tree, as will be seen as this description continues.
Assuming that the subscriber, responsive to announcement (1), enters the digit "1" by pressing the corresponding keypad button of station set S5, then adjunct 150, responsive thereto, unloads the contents of the NUM.MSG field of the associated
record. If the contents of that field equals zero, then adjunct 150 transmits a message indicative of that fact to the calling subscriber.
If the value of the contents of the NUM.MSG field is greater than zero, then adjunct 150 returns a message reciting the contents of the latter field and presents a menu inviting access to the stored messages.
If the subscriber declines that invitation by entering, for example, the digit zero via the associated station set keypad, then adjunct 150, responsive thereto, retransmits announcement (1) to the calling subscriber. Alternatively, adjunct 150,
responsive to receipt of another digit, e.g., the digit "1", establishes a connection to switch 130 and outpulses the telephone number assigned to messaging service 200. Switch 130, operating in a conventional manner, establishes a connection to service
200. Adjunct 150 then bridges the calling subscriber's connection to the connection extending to service 200. At that point, the subscriber may, in a conventional manner, interact with service 200 to hear voice messages that are addressed to the
subscriber, as discussed above.
If, on the other hand, the calling subscriber desires to program call forwarding numbers and therefore in response to announcement (1) enters the digit "2", then adjunct 150 responds with a menu announcement detailing options that the subscriber
may elect in connection with the call forwarding feature. An illustrative example of such a menu announcement is as follows:
______________________________________ "To review call forwarding numbers -- press one, to program call forwarding numbers -- press two, (2) to return to main menu, press star pound [i.e., *#]" ______________________________________
If the subscriber, in response to announcement (2), enters the digit "1", then adjunct 150 transmits a verbal accounting of the contents of the CFNUM.1-3 fields, and presents the subscriber with a menu offering the opportunity to cancel any one
or more of them.
If the subscriber enters the digit "2", adjunct 150 prompts him/her to enter a ten-digit call forwarding telephone number, its duration (one option being "permanent"), and the date and time that it is to become effective. Adjunct 150 confirms
the entry of this information by returning an announcement indicative thereof and presents the subscriber with the option of changing or approving it. Once approved, the data are stored in CF.NUM, CF.DUR and CF.TIME subfields of ones of the fields
CFNUM. 1-3 of the associated record.
Adjunct 150 then presents the subscriber with the option of programming another call forwarding number, and so forth.
After the subscriber has exited the call forwarding feature by entering "*#", adjunct 150 retransmits announcement (1). Assuming, now, that the calling subscriber enters the digit "3" in response to that announcement, adjunct 150 prompts the
calling subscriber with a menu allowing him/her to indicate whether the calling subscriber desires to place a call to his/her home or some other location.
Assuming that the calling subscriber elects to call some other location, then adjunct 150, responsive thereto, requests entry of the ten-digit telephone number that the calling subscriber desires to call. Upon receipt of the last such digit, it
then establishes a connection to switch 130 and outpulses the telephone number. If the subscriber had indicated a desire to call home, the telephone number stored in the HOME.PHONE field would have been outpulsed instead. In either case, as will be
discussed below, adjunct 150 creates a billing record to track the time and charges for the associated call. Adjunct 150 then "bridges" the subscriber's inbound connection to the outbound connection between adjunct 150 and switch 130. In a conventional
manner, switch 130 causes the aforementioned connection to be extended to the local CO, e.g., CO 20, serving the called telephone station set, e.g., S3, identified by the outpulsed telephone number. If CO 20 finds that station S3 is in a busy state
(i.e., off-hook), then, CO 20 returns busy tone over the established connection. Assuming that is not the case, then CO 20 applies a ringing signal to the telephone line connected to called station S3. When the call is "answered", then the calling
subscriber and answering party may begin to converse with one another over the bridged connections. At the termination of the call, adjunct 150 retransmits announcement (1) to the calling subscriber.
The subscriber is also provided with the capability of interacting with adjunct 150 for the purpose of administering the subscriber's CINs and SCINs. The subscriber invokes that capability by entering the digit "4" in response to hearing
announcement (1). Adjunct 150, in response thereto, presents the user with a menu and submenus thereof detailing a number of different options relating to (a) adding, deleting, renaming and/or specifying the call treatments that are to be accorded to a
respective caller identification number (CIN or SCIN) or (b) reviewing such numbers.
Specifically, if the subscriber elects to add a CIN or SCIN, then adjunct 150 requests entry of an identifier, for example, a four- or three-digit number, as the case may be. Upon receipt of the number, adjunct 150 transmits a verbal
representation of the number to the subscriber as a way of confirming the subscriber's entry. Adjunct 150 then requests entry of the name that is to be associated with the received number. In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a subscriber
enters an alphabetic character by pressing respective keypad buttons on the associated station set in a well-known way. For example, to enter the name "Tom" the subscriber presses keypad buttons 8 and 1 for the "T" (first letter on button 8), buttons 6
and 3 for the "o" (third letter on button 6) and buttons 6 and 1 for the "m" (first letter on button 6). Responsive to the name entry, adjunct 150 transmits a verbal spelling thereof as a way of confirming the entry. Adjunct 150 then stores the entered
CIN (SCIN) and associated name in an available one of the fields CIN.1-4 (SCIN.1-4).
If, in the above example, the subscriber fails to start the entry of a name within a predetermined period of time, e.g., five seconds, then adjunct 150 assigns a default name to the newly added CIN or SCIN. Such a default name is selected based
on the number of caller identification numbers that are contained in the subscriber's associated record. That is, if the number of CINs and SCINs in the record is eight, then a default name of "nine" may be assigned to the next CIN or SCIN that is added
to record. If adjunct 150 makes such a default assignment, then adjunct 150 advises the subscriber of that fact by transmitting the default name to the subscriber. At that point, the subscriber may change the default name by entering a desired name in
the manner described above.
Adjunct 150 then requests entry of the call treatments for the newly added CIN or SCIN. FIG. 7 shows the various call treatments and associated codes that a subscriber may specify for a particular CIN or SCIN. For example, if the subscriber
enters codes "*4" and "*6" in that order, then adjunct 150 stores those codes in subfields CT.1 and CT.2 of the associated CIN (or SCIN) field. Thereafter, in response to an incoming call associated with the newly added CIN, adjunct 150 forwards the
call to the subscriber's home telephone number. If the call is not answered, then adjunct 150 redirects the call to messaging service 200. As another example, assume that the subscriber enters treatment codes "4", "*3" and "*8", which would then be
stored in subfields CT.1, CT.2 and CT.3, respectively. Also assume that, as before, the call to the subscriber's home telephone number goes unanswered. In that event, adjunct 150 redirects the call to the call forwarding number specified in the CFNUM.3
field of the associated record. If the latter call is not answered, then adjunct 150 advises the calling party that the subscriber is not available, as specified by treatment *8. As a further example, assume that the subscriber enters treatment codes
"*1" and "*6". Then adjunct 150 forwards the incoming call to the call forwarding number contained in the CFNUM.1 field of the associated record. If that call is not answered, then adjunct 150 redirects the call to messaging service 200.
In a similar manner, the subscriber is provided with the opportunity to define call treatments for the case where the caller enters the # sign instead of a CIN or SCIN, as described below. (Although not shown in FIG. 2, record 300 further
includes a field in which this information is stored.)
If the subscriber elects to delete a CIN or SCIN and advises adjunct 150 thereof, then adjunct 150 requests entry of the caller identification number that is to be deleted and, for example, clears the associated CIN or SCIN field containing the
entered number. If, on the other hand, the subscriber elects to rename a caller identification number (CIN or SCIN), then adjunct 150 requests entry of that number as well as its new name. The subscriber, in response to the request, enters the caller
identification number.
At any point during the administration of the CINs and SCINs, the subscriber may request to review his/her "list" of CINs and SCINs by entering a predetermined keypad digit, e.g., the digit "5" (which is representative of the letter L (List)).
Adjunct 150, responsive to receipt of that request, transmits a verbal representation of the contents of the CIN.NAME subfield and then the contents of the CIN.NUM subfield of field CIN.1 to the subscriber. Adjunct 150 then presents the subscriber with
the option of either changing the call treatments specified for the announced caller identification number or "skipping" to the next such number. If the subscriber elects the former option, then the subscriber may enter a new series of called treatment
codes for the announced CIN (or SCIN). Adjunct 150, in response thereto, stores the received codes in respective subfields CT.1-4 of the identified field. Adjunct 150 then goes on to identify the next CIN or SCIN field. Adjunct 150 proceeds in
foregoing manner with respect to each of the subscriber's CINs and SCINs (e.g., fields CIN.2 through SCIN.N (not shown)) and then announces when it has reached the end of the list.
From time to time, the subscriber might find it desirable to pay for all calls placed to the subscriber's service number regardless of whether or not a caller enters a CIN, a SCIN or a # sign in response to an initial adjunct 150 prompt. More
specifically, following the administration of the subscriber's CINs and SCINs discussed above, adjunct 150 presents to the subscriber the option of invoking a "pay-all-calls" mode, during which the subscriber pays for all calls placed to his/her service
number. The subscriber may invoke that option in response to a prompt from adjunct 150. Adjunct 150, in response thereto, inserts a predetermined value in the PA.CALL field of the associated record. Thereafter, in response to receipt of calls directed
to the subscriber's service number, adjunct 150 charges the call to the subscriber as a result of finding that the associated PA.CALL field contains the aforementioned predetermined value.
The subscriber may limit the invocation of the pay-all-calls mode to a specified duration of time. That is, after selecting that mode, the subscriber may then enter a duration at the request of adjunct 150, in which the duration is specified as
particular units of time, e.g., units of one hour each unit. For example, in response to an adjunct 150 request, the subscriber may enter the digit "2" to limit the duration of the pay-all-calls mode to two hours. Adjunct 150, in response to receipt of
the digit, stores the current date and time, the value of "2" and aforementioned predetermined value in the PA.CALL field of the associated record. Adjunct 150 thereafter clears the contents of that field during the processing of a call placed to the
subscriber's service number subsequent to the expiration of the two-hour duration.
GRAPHIC PROFILE FORM UPDATING (THE INVENTION)
The problems that the present invention solves may now begin to be appreciated. In order for the subscriber to interact with adjunct 150 for purposes of creating or updating his/her profile, the subscriber must "traverse" a multiple-level menu
structure which must, for example, a) inform the subscriber of the options available at each level, b) prompt the subscriber to enter information, c) verbally present any entered information back to the subscriber to verify that it was entered/received
correctly. The potential complexity of this process can be appreciated by considering the above-described administration of a single CIN. In the course of administering a CIN, the subscriber needs to already know or, in the alternative, request that
the system provide such information as,
which CINs and SCINs already exist?
which call treatments are assigned to which CINs?
which person (name) is associated with which existing CIN?
which call forwarding numbers have already been programmed in?
when are each of the particular call forwarding numbers set to expire?
which call treatment codes correspond to which call treatments (FIG. 7)?
Keeping track of all this information and keeping track of what data is being dealt with at any point in time can become very difficult. Indeed, the subscriber may often become "disoriented," asking him/herself such questions as: "What am I
doing now? Am I inputting the call treatments for Tom or the ones for Fifi? Is my "number two" call forwarding number my Middletown office or my Springfield office? Does the ID that I assigned to Fred charge the calls to me or will it charge the calls to
him?" Thus the subscriber may find him/herself needing to frequently leave one menu, even though the data inputting is not yet complete, go to another menu to get some information, and then return. Indeed, unless the subscriber is sufficiently organized
and patient enough to write down all the data presented at any particular point in the process, he/she may find it necessary to access certain information repetitively.
These problems are obviated by the present invention. The subscriber, upon entering the digit "5" from announcement (1), is presented with the following announcement menu:
______________________________________ "To receive a subscriber profile form -- press one, to send a subscriber profile form -- press two, (3) to return to main menu, press star pound [i.e., *#]" ______________________________________
The steps carried out by adjunct 150 in response to the subscriber entering "1", "2" or "*#" in response to the menu are shown in flowchart form in FIG. 13, beginning with the prompting of the subscriber with announcement (3) (block 1301 ).
Upon entering the digit "1", the subscriber is led through a series of steps which ultimately results in a facsimile transmission to the subscriber of a hard-copy version of the profile--specifically, a form such as the one shown in FIG. 8
(without the handwritten entries or deletion line shown in the Figure). Specifically, it is determined (block 1303) whether or not the form should be transmitted during this same telephone call, by prompting the subscriber to indicate whether the
telephone call is being placed from a telephone set connected to a facsimile machine. This could be the case, for example, if the call were being made from telephone set S5 of FIG. 1, which is associated with facsimile machine F1. In this case, the
hard-copy version of the form is formatted (block 1306) based on data in the subscriber's profile and then the subscriber is prompted to press the "start" button of the facsimile machine, after which the form is transmitted (block 1308). Announcement
(3) is then re-presented (block 1301).
If the subscriber indicates that he/she is not calling from a telephone set connected with a facsimile machine, the subscriber will be prompted to enter the telephone number at which a facsimile machine can be reached, which telephone number is
thereupon collected by adjunct 150 (block 1305). For example, a subscriber calling from station set S6 could give the telephone number associated with station set S5. In that case, adjunct 150 would schedule, at block 1309, the formatting of the form
and the initiation of a separate telephone call to the number supplied, during which call the form then will be transmitted. Again, announcement (3) is then re-presented (block 1301).
At some later time after the form has been modified by the subscriber to include data that is to be incorporated into the profile, as is discussed below, the subscriber will again call his/her personal telephone number and will follow the
above-outlined steps leading to the presentation of announcement menu (3). Now, however, the subscriber will enter the digit "2". At this time, the call must be made from a telephone associated with a facsimile machine, such as station set S5, because
adjunct 150, responsive to the entry of that digit, will instruct the subscriber, at block 1311, to a) place the modified form in the facsimile machine, b) wait for the standard facsimile "answer" tone, and then c) press the facsimile machine "start"
button. Adjunct 150 thereafter causes the answer tone to be provided (block 1312) and, upon receiving the subscriber profile form (block 1313), uses machine-based image recognition technology--in this case, character recognition technology--to read the
form to recover the aforementioned data and thereby determine the updates desired to be made (block 1316). Adjunct 150 thereupon updates the subscriber record as a function of the recovered information (block 1318).
In alternate embodiments, it is possible for the adjunct to accept subscriber profile forms via the dialing of a special telephone number, such as a specific 700- or 800-type telephone number established for this purpose, rather than offering
this functionality as an option within the subscriber menu structure, as just described. In such embodiments, however, security is a concern because there must be some way for the system to ensure that the profile form being sent is authentic, i.e., was
sent by the true subscriber, not someone "posing" as the subscriber. To this end, it could be required that the subscriber enter his/her PIN via pushbutton input at the start of the telephone call or on the form itself. In the latter case, however, the
PIN is subject to being compromised if someone else were to see the form.
Moreover, mechanisms other than facsimile transmission could be used to transmit the subscriber profile form to the system. For example, a subscriber could mail in a form, using normal mail facilities, to a service center at which the form is
fed into a character recognition unit and the profile thereupon automatically updated. This approach also raises security concerns, but might well be regarded as highly desirable for subscribers who do not have ready access to a facsimile machine.
Indeed, the system might have a menu option whereby such subscribers could request that a profile form be mailed to them.
When the subscriber enters "*#" in response to menu announcement (3), return is made to main menu announcement (1) (block 1320).
Attention is now directed, more specifically, to the subscriber profile form itself which, as shown in FIG. 8, presents at least some of the data currently existing in the subscriber profile associated with the personal telephone service number
700-555-2234.
A first section of the form includes data for two call forwarding numbers--CF1 and CF2--including data about their duration and starting date and time. Since the system illustratively allows for the possibility of three call forwarding numbers,
a third blank line is provided for handwritten or typed entry of same by the subscriber. FIG. 8 shows that data for a third call forwarding number has, in fact, been written in by the subscriber.
A second section relates to call treatments. The profile already includes data associated with a) two SCINs, b) two CINs and c) the entry by a caller of the # sign as a default SCIN. Although not discussed earlier, the present illustrative
embodiment allows the subscriber to define a language to be used for announcements and prompts when different CINs or SCINs are given by callers. (The SUB.LANG field that was discussed earlier, it will be remembered, defines the language to be used when
the caller is the subscriber.) In this example, it can be seen that the subscriber has defined a CIN for her friend Fifi, who speaks French. Various call treatments have been identified including the forwarding of calls to call forwarding numbers (CF1
and CF2), to messaging service 200 (MSG), to the subscriber's home telephone (HOME) and to the "subscriber unavailable" (UNAV) announcement. Note that, in this particular case, the subscriber has decided that she does not want to receive calls from
anyone who does | | |
