Method and apparatus for providing user controlled call management services

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to personal communication services (PCS), but more particularly, to a system and method for providing the service subscribers with more flexibility in handling incoming calls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

New telephone features have recently been introduced to provide telephone subscribers with enhanced personal communication services. These features are designed to make it easier for a calling party to reach the subscriber. For example, in one instance, a single personal telephone number is provided to a customer of the service. This personal telephone number is associated with a customer profile which is designed to assist in the routing of an incoming call, regardless of their physical location. In a typical scenario, a caller can attempt to reach the subscriber by dialing the personal telephone number that has been assigned to that subscriber. A call connection will be attempted according to the subscriber's profile. The subscriber's profile is used to route the call according to where the subscriber is expected to be at that time and day, that is, at the subscriber's home, office, automobile if the subscriber has a cellular telephone or simply to a voice messaging system.

The problem with these new services, is that in making the subscriber more reachable, the implementation of call management services have become much more difficult. Also, since practically anyone can reach the subscriber regardless of his location, the subscriber has to rely on the service to screen incoming calls. Any changes to the subscriber weekly schedule will have to be entered in the system, either by the subscriber or by a service provider's operator. Also, regular calls routed directly to the subscribers home, office or cellular telephone will not be screened by the service.

Accordingly, there is a need for personal communication services wherein call screening is facilitated by associating the number dialed by a calling party with a function or role of the dialed number. That is, a private role for calls directed to a home or cottage number, a business role for calls directed to the office, a social role for calls directed to the baseball or country club, etc. This function or role is then sent to the subscriber when an incoming call is received. In addition, the Calling Party Identification (CLID) and/or name will also be sent to the subscriber. In this way, the subscriber can decide to answer the incoming call knowing the role or context associated with the dialed number.

Similarly, another form of telephony that has seen tremendous growth is in the area of wireless telephony. Unfortunately, portable telephone users, regardless of whether they are using cellular or low power wireless type telephones, have very few services available to them for screening incoming calls. For example, although an incoming call will in most instances reach the portable phone user, the user's call management options will normally be limited to a) answering the call or b) have the call sent to voice mail.

Accordingly, there is a need for personal communication services which other than providing enhanced reachability for the subscriber, will give a cellular or portable telephone user additional services in handling and screening incoming calls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the system and method of the present invention, various levels of personal communication services can be provided without the problems associated with the existing PCS services. In particular, a service node is used by the service provider, such as a Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) to provide the subscriber with the ability to screen incoming calls based on the role or function associated with the numbers dialed by a calling party. A mobility service node provides the LEC with the intelligence required to service incoming calls to subscribers.

Thus, in accordance with a first feature of the present invention, a service provider can provide call screening to subscribers based on the role or function associated numbers. With this feature, a subscriber receives not only the calling number ID and/or name of the calling party, but also the function or role associated with the number dialed by the calling party. For example, when a calling party is dialing the subscriber's home or cottage telephone number, the call will be associated with a private role. A call to the business number will be associated with a Business role. Therefore, call screening can be enhanced by having the role associated with the number dialed sent to the subscriber along with the CLID and/or name of the calling party. Thus, upon receiving the call, the subscriber can determine from the display the associated role of the called number and decide how to handle the incoming call.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a subscriber having a portable terminal can invoke a call-on-hold feature when an incoming call is received, if he or she is unable to immediately answer the call. This would be the case when the subscriber is unable to talk privately, is in a noisy environment or can be disruptive to others, such as in meetings, elevators, cafeteria, bus stop, etc. This feature would be activated while the subscriber's terminal is ringing by pressing a terminal function key, such as *2. A message would then be offered to the calling party prompting him or her to "please wait and the call will be answered shortly". In the mean time, the subscriber can move to a more convenient location or more suitable environment to answer the call. The subscriber can then get connected to the incoming call by dialing another terminal function key, such as *1 on the telephone keypad.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a subscriber can invoke an Access Independent Hand-off feature which allows a subscriber to transfer a call from a wireless terminal to a wireline set and vice-versa while remaining connected to the calling party.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a service provider can offer a Wide Area Virtual Extension (WAVE) feature to a group of subscribers wherein calls directed to say, a PRIVATE telephone (e.g. home) number, will be routed to alerting devices of multiple subscribers in the group (e.g. husband and wife). Those responding to the incoming call will then be conferenced in to the call, as if each telephone were extensions of each other.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a subscriber can invoke a real-time call screening feature wherein an incoming call is routed to Voice Mail. While the calling party is recording a message on Voice Mail, the subscriber can listen in real-time to the calling party's voice. If the subscriber recognizes the calling party or the message content, the subscriber can make a connection with the calling party by pressing the required key (e.g. *2), and at the same time exiting voice mail. The voice mail system does not retain any such interrupted messages.

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a method of providing improved call screening to subscribers of personal communication services, comprising the steps of:

assigning a role to a network address provided to a subscriber of said personal communication services;

storing a list of all network addresses and corresponding roles in a subscriber database;

assigning a separate network address corresponding to a call alerting device used by said subscriber to receive incoming calls;

storing said separate network address in said subscriber's database;

accessing said subscriber database when a call from a calling party is directed to one of said network address on said list;

identifying the role assigned to the network address to which the call is directed;

routing the identified role to said separate network address associated with said subscriber's call alerting device; and

establishing a voice path from said calling party to said subscriber's call alerting device when going off-hook.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing improved call screening to subscribers of personal communication services, comprising the steps of:

routing incoming calls directed to any one of a number of network addresses provided to a subscriber, to a call alerting device used by the subscriber to receive incoming calls, wherein a role associated to each network address is routed to said subscriber call alerting device before the incoming call is answered, such that call screening is improved.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing user controlled personal communication services (PCS) for users of call alerting devices, wherein specified communication services can be invoked by the user prior to answering a call from a calling party, comprising the steps of:

storing, in a service node database, a list of network addresses at least one of which is assigned to a PCS subscriber;

storing for each subscriber listed in said database, a separate network address associated with the subscriber's alerting device;

storing for each subscriber listed in said database, a list of DTMF codes and associated services that a subscriber can invoke when an incoming call is received;

accessing said database when an incoming call to one of said network addresses on said list is received at said service node, to determine where the call should be routed;

determining the call alerting device and associated separate network address of the called subscriber;

establishing a voice path between the alerting device and the calling party if the subscriber goes off-hook;

accessing said list of DTMF codes in said database if a DTMF code is received from said subscriber, to determine the requested communication service; and

enabling the selected service.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing user controlled call transfer from a first call alerting device to a second call alerting device while a call is in progress between a PCS subscriber and a calling party, comprising the steps of:

establishing a link from said second alerting device to a service node connected to a host switch, said host switch providing a voice path between said calling party and said subscriber using said first call alerting device;

sending a DTMF code from said second alerting device to said service node, said DTMF code corresponding to a request for a call in progress transfer;

instructing said host switch to establish a conference bridge such that a second voice path is established between said second alerting device and said calling party; and

releasing said first voice path, such that said call can continue between said calling party and said subscriber on said second alerting device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating the interaction of a mobility service node with a Local Exchange Carrier and the Public Switched Telephone Network;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of one embodiment of the mobility service node for providing the PCS services of the present invention;

FIG. 2A shows a typical call scenario using the Role or Function Associated Number feature;

FIG. 2B illustrates a call scenario using the call-on-hold feature;

FIG. 2C illustrates the Access Independent Handoff call scenario;

FIG. 2D shows the Wide Area Virtual Extension (WAVE) call feature scenario; and

FIG. 2E shows a user-controlled real-time call screening scenario according to another PCS feature of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As is shown in FIG. 1A, a service node 10 for providing PCS services is connected to a host switch 11 at the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) 12. The host switch 11 is also connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 13. The host switch 11 can, for example, be comprised of a central office switch, such as a DMS-100 (Trademark) digital telephone switch, or a Private Branch Exchange, such as an SL-1 (Trademark), both available from Northern Telecom. When a caller 14 dials anyone of the PCS subscriber's role numbers (e.g. home location 18, business, other 18, etc.), the PSTN will direct the call to the LEC associated with the digits dialed. At LEC 12, the call is intercepted by the host switch 11 to determine whether the called subscriber has access to the PCS service. This will be determined by comparing the dialed number with subscriber telephone numbers in a database at service node 10. If the dialed number corresponds to one of the numbers in the PCS subscriber's list, then from this point on, the service node 10 will interact with the host switch 11 to attempt call completion to the subscriber's alerting devices, according to the subscriber's profile contained at the service node 10. The alerting device can be, but is not limited to, the subscriber's pager, subscriber's portable telephone, home line, business line, etc. The subscriber can select anyone of the alerting devices listed, by accessing the service node. A description of the interaction between the service node and a subscriber is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,578. In FIG. 1A, the subscriber could select the cellular telephone 17 as the alerting device when outside of the business location 15 and a portable low power wireless type telephone CT2 when inside the business location. As will be shown further, the service node enables the LEC to provide PCS services from the most basic call-on-hold to the more advanced call origination/delivery using role or function associated numbers.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the service node 10 interacts with the host switch 11 and voice mail 21, by making use of an application processor 22 for accessing service profiles 24 of one or more subscribers. These components are currently available from Northern Telecom, as Meridian Mail Voice Processor (MMVP), and dual processor Meridian Application Equipment Module (AEM). Meridian is a Registered Trademark of Northern Telecom.

Network connectivity and switching functions can be carried out by a voice switch (not shown), or the host switch 11. The service node 10 is connected to host switch 11 and the PSTN network 13 via an ISDN Primary Rate Access (PRA) link 23, or an equivalent link able to carry voice and signaling information. Call information includes the original dialed number, calling line identification, call redirection information, called number, etc.

The Recording Announcement (RAN) module 19 can either be part of a Meridian Voice Mail system or connected directly to the host switch 11 as a RAN module via a T1 link and a universal trunk module line card. The RAN module is available from Northern Telecom. The RAN module 19 provides voice prompts to a calling party when the service node is interfacing with the caller. For example, a typical voice prompt would be "Please hold while we try to connect you to --John Doe--."

The application processor 22 makes use of databases 24 which contain the service profiles of the PCS subscribers, for providing the subscriber with communication mobility and incoming call management. Database 24, can either form an integral part of the application processor 22, or be part of a separate storage facility.

One of the files making up the subscriber's profile is the voice messaging file 25. This file contains information about the subscriber's voice messaging service, such as what types of message will be played, access codes required for accessing voice mail from a remote location, etc.

Another file which makes up the subscriber's profile and which stores information about the subscriber's alerting device(s) is the alerting device file 26. This file contains the type of alerting device, e.g. pager, portable (low power wireless) type terminals or cellular telephone. The Directory Numbers DN associated with each device would be stored on this file. An example of a typical Alerting Devices List is shown below in Table 1.0.

TABLE 1.0 ______________________________________ NUMBER ______________________________________ DEVICE CELLULAR TELEPHONE 444-1212 PORTABLE LOW POWER 444-1313 WIRELESS TELEPHONE OTHER DEVICES PAGER: 551-1155 TYPE: DIGITAL MESSAGE SYSTEM: 922-2222 MAILBOX NUMBER: 1234 MAILBOX PASSWORD: 555 MWI COORDINATION: YES OPERATOR: 333-4567 ______________________________________

In TABLE 1.0, "Numbers" show the Directory Numbers (DN) associated with each alerting device, whereas "Device" show the type of alerting device selected by the subscriber for receiving incoming calls.

"Other Devices" include the possible destinations for completing calls when a subscriber can't be reached. These can be a pager, a messaging system, or a private operator console 30. Sufficient information is provided to allow PCS to complete the call to these destinations.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, another file which also makes up the subscriber's profile is the Subscriber Number & Function List 27. This list contains the network addresses and types of telephones used by the subscriber and the usual role or function associated with those telephones. An example of a Subscriber Number & Function List is shown below in TABLE 2.0.

TABLE 2.0 ______________________________________ ROLE NUMBER LOCATION ______________________________________ PERSONAL 123-1234 HOME 777-1234 COTTAGE BUSINESS 555-1234 OFFICE SOCIAL 666-1234 YACHT CLUB ______________________________________

"ROLE" define the social roles associated with the subscriber. For example, the subscriber will have a private role associated with home and the cottage, a business role at the office, and a social role at the baseball or yacht club.

"Number" is the network address of the telephone device associated with that role. Under a basic PCS service of the present invention, if a call is directed to anyone of these numbers it will be routed to the subscriber's selected alerting device with the role associated with the number dialed, the CLID and/or name of the calling party displayed on that device. The subscriber can then answer the incoming call according to the role associated with the called number. If a display is not available, a text-to-speech application can be used to verbalize the information which would normally be shown.

Also part of the subscriber's profile is the Subscriber's Services & PAN List 28. This list indicates the type of services the subscriber can invoke, keys required to activate the service and the subscriber's Personal Access Number (PAN) required to complete a connection when certain types of services are invoked (e.g. call-on-hold, access-independent-handoff, etc.) An example of a Subscriber Services list is shown in TABLE 3.0.

TABLE 3.0 ______________________________________ SUBSCRIBER SERVICE KEY PAN ______________________________________ ALICE CONNECT *1 12345 HOLD *2 REAL TIME CALL SCREENING *3 ACCESS INDEPENDENT *4 HANDOFF ______________________________________

Also part of the subscriber's profile are other Data files which store other subscriber information necessary to operate PCS or provide the subscriber with prompt and courteous operator service. An example of this data is shown below in TABLE 4.0.

TABLE 4.0 ______________________________________ NAME: SUBSCRIBER NAME ______________________________________ PASSWORD: 1234 MESSAGING PASSWORD: 9876 CALLING CARD #: 416 555-1212 XXXX LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ALLOWED FEATURES: PAGER, SYSTEM OPERATOR REVERT, URGENCY CALL URGENCY QUERY: PRIORITY ROTARY DEFAULT: NORMAL NOTES: CUSTOMER IS HARD OF HEARING - SPEAK SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY WHEN GIVING ASSISTANCE ______________________________________

"Name" and "Notes" are examples of textual comment fields which can be associated with the subscriber profile to facilitate service.

"Password" is the identification number for the subscriber, which can be used for operator verification of subscriber identity, or when the subscriber is calling the Subscriber Service Interface.

"Calling Card #" is used to charge PCS placed calls when the subscriber has directed calls to a location not local to the host switch 11.

"Language" is the language to be used for the playing prompts to Subscriber's callers.

"Allowed Features" indicates which features this subscriber has access to. The options listed in Table 4.0 are for example only, and may vary according to what is specified by the PCS service provider.

"Call Urgency Query" can be "none", "priority", or "emergency". If "none", calls which are not assigned an urgency in the caller list will always be assumed "normal".

If a Numeric/Digital pager is used as an alerting device by the PCS subscriber, the pager receives and displays an alpha numeric message associated with the incoming call. The PCS service node can provide the pager with the CLID and name of the caller and the role associated with the called number, if this information is known.

The service node 10 together with the host switch 11 and RAN module 19 are adapted to receive/send voice and signaling information there between. The host switch 11 is adapted to initiate, establish and transfer calls and generate DTMF signalling to external devices. The external devices can be a pager, or external voice messaging system. As indicated above, the RAN module 19 stores various prompts which are sent to the calling party or the subscriber, when either is communicating with the system. The RAN module 19 sends this information along a voice channel (not shown) once established. These prompts are usually the ones provided by the service provider, such as "Please hold while we try to connect you to --John Doe--". The voice mail unit 21 is used for the recording and playback of the voice of an incoming caller, when the caller is asked to leave a message, or of the subscriber, when the subscriber wants to modify the welcoming message of his or her voice mail.

The host switch 11 is also able to detect and recognize DTMF tones sent by the calling party or subscriber, when either is connected to service node 10. Similarly, the host switch can detect call progress tones which allow the system to detect busy, fast busy, reorder, ringing, etc., when the service node instructs the host switch to place a call. The Calling Line Identification (CLID), called number, incoming calls, end of call, reason for call forwarding, answer supervision, etc. are also all detected by the host sw