Telephonic communications – Special services – Anonymous party
Patent
1993-02-16
1996-05-21
Dwyer, James L.
Telephonic communications
Special services
Anonymous party
379207, 379211, 379216, 379221, 379230, H04M 342, H04M 700
Patent
active
055197701
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved apparatus and system for providing enhanced telephony services, and a method for providing these services.
BACKGROUND
Enhanced telephony services are services provided on publicly accessible networks in addition to party-party calls, such as conference calls, call diversion, re-routing of calls and similar services. A particular difficulty with offering these services is the need to identify customers, and to recognise which service is required and to effect that particular customer's variation of the service.
Conventionally, such services are offered by replacing or reconfiguring the entire exchange. This is expensive, and generally produces a comparatively inflexible end result. Further, such services do not allow the possibility of the users themselves defining the services they require, nor generally such options as virtual private networks, closed user groups and dynamic detailed usage reports.
Prior art services which provide other than party-party calls on the PSTN have generally been rigid in services provided, alternative arrangements, and billing techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,317 to Vitalo describes a paging service which operates using a telephone number. This number only operates the paging service. Calling the number will then activate a pager and advise the caller that the customer has been paged. Only the called party could be billed for this service.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be connected to an existing exchange without significant modification of the exchange and provide enhanced telecommunications services.
According to one aspect, the present invention comprises an improved communications system for providing customer specified services, comprising in combination:
a telephone exchange including switching means adapted to switch calls according to a switching protocol which preferably includes means identifying the origin of calls, said exchange including re-entrant trunks and means for communicating with other exchanges; and
enhanced telephony means in communication with said exchange and including memory means for storing enhanced service instructions, processing means for performing enhanced services instructions and interfacing means for communicating with said exchange,
wherein said exchange communicates with said enhanced telephony means as if said enhanced telephony means is another exchange, and said enhanced telephony means is operatively enabled to re-route calls received by said exchange using said re-entrant trunks.
According to a further aspect the present invention comprises a method for providing enhanced telephony services, in a network comprising a plurality of customer lines, one or more exchanges, and an enhanced telephony unit connected by trunk lines to one of said exchanges, wherein
(a) a predefined number is called from one of said subscriber lines;
(b) said one exchange receives said call request and switches it to said enhanced telephony unit;
(c) said enhanced telephony unit compares the called number with a stored table of instructions, and causes said exchange to make at least one further call request in accordance with said instructions; and
(d) providing an enhanced telephony service in respect of said call.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Further details of this invention will become apparent from the following description of one embodiment with reference to the accompanying Figures, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an overview of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the call procedure via the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates in block form an enhanced telephony network according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates in block form the hardware components comprising an illustrative apparatus;
FIG. 5 illustrates in block form the interaction of various software modules;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the MTP implementation;
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate changeover procedures in the MTP
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Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation Limited
Dwyer James L.
Hong Harry S.
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