Internet call waiting

Details Internet call waiting Internet call waiting

2000-06-12

2001-07-10

Olms, Douglas (Department: 2732)

Multiplex communications

Pathfinding or routing

Combined circuit switching and packet switching

C370S389000, C370S401000, C370S410000, C370S522000, C379S093350, C379S212010, C379S215010

Reexamination Certificate

active

06259692

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is in the field of Internet communication and pertains more particularly to apparatus and methods for providing call waiting services for what are known as Internet Phone (IP) calls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention deals with telephony systems, including conventional telephone calls delivered to a telephone, and what are known now in the art as Internet Phone (IP) calls, which are telephone calls delivered over the Internet, and to which a user interfaces with a computer station, such as a personal computer (PC) during a session wherein the user is connected to the Internet. To avoid confusion a convention is adopted for the purposes of this specification wherein the conventional telephone calls delivered over the public-switched telephony network to a telephone will be called PSTN calls, and the IP calls will continue to be called IP calls.
The Internet is a global matrix of linked computers and file servers providing a virtually unlimited pool of knowledge to any user who has a connection for access. The state of the Internet is continually evolving and changing both in scope and technology. What has evolved from a type of military infrastructure has become a largely civilian super-structure allowing exchange of information to take place rapidly from almost any location in the world.
At the time of the present patent application, Internet infrastructures are largely land-based, transmitting data over digital links and analog lines, and the like. The typical user connections for the land-based infrastructure include a telephone line, a modem, and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) through which connection to the Internet is provided. Generally speaking, these connective elements are all that are required for a user to have the basic capability to access the Internet, provided the user has a PC with at least minimum system requirements.
At the time of the present patent application, it is believed by the inventor that between 60% and 80% of persons having Internet access have only one telephone line to their premises, and the one line is connected to their personal computer and is also the user's regular telephone for receiving PSTN calls. It is well known in the art that a telephone line that is connected to a computer station and receiving digital data from the Internet cannot, at the same time, receive a PSTN call. Therefore, if a person were to call someone who happens to be in a current session on the Internet and using that particular line, the person placing the call would receive a busy signal. Because of this, if the person browsing the Internet has call-waiting service, the call waiting feature has to be disabled while browsing the Internet, because a call-waiting signal would disrupt an Internet data transfer.
A typical telephone connection dedicated to accessing the Internet can be expensive to maintain for a typical family that also maintains a telephone connection for conventional PSTN call use. Many families simply cannot afford to maintain more than one telephone line as would be required to browse the Internet and also receive PSTN calls in a normal fashion. Being restricted to one telephone line that is used for both Internet access and PSTN calls can be more than just an inconvenience for a family, especially for a family with children. For example, while a user with a single phone line is browsing the Internet, one of the user's children may be trying to phone home. There is no way the user can receive even emergency calls.
Personal Computers (PCs) on the market today are typically capable of multimedia communication. For example, with the appropriate software, speakers, a standard microphone, and a sound card, a typical PC can be used as a voice communication device much like a telephone. Thus equipped, a caller can engage in two-way, real-time communication with one or more people while connected to the Internet. Since the Internet is the communication medium for such applications, there are no toll charges involved for long distance connections. While not accruing toll charges is a distinct advantage with this type of arrangement, a drawback is that persons called or calling an Internet-connected user must have a multimedia PC connected to the Internet and have the matching software installed.
What is clearly needed is a system including software executable on a multimedia PC whereby a person connected to the Internet and having only one telephone line can continue to receive PSTN calls from a user and make PSTN telephone calls to persons not connected to the Internet while he or she is engaged in an on-line browsing session. Such a system would alleviate inconvenience and concern associated with the inability to receive possibly important telephone calls while on-line. Such a method could also alleviate the expense associated with the addition of a second telephone line.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention an Internet call-waiting telephony system is provided, comprising a telephony link adapted to connect a client's computer station and the client's public-switched telephony network (PSTN) telephone to a local PSTN switch; a port at the local PSTN switch adapted to receive PSTN calls directed to the client; a status indicator indicating the client's Internet connection status; and an IP interface adapted to convert a PSTN telephone call to an Internet telephone protocol, the IP interface connected to both the PSTN and the Internet. During time that the status indicator indicates the client is Internet-connected, on receiving a PSTN call directed to the client, the system sends, via the IP interface, an alert signal of a call waiting to an IP address associated with the client.
In preferred embodiments the system further comprises a client station having a PSTN telephone and a computer station having a video display unit (VDU), the computer station and the PSTN telephone connected to a single line connected to the telephony link. In these embodiments the computer station is adapted to provide an alert event on receipt of the alert signal of a call waiting, and to provide a user-initiated response to the IP interface, indicating one of acceptance or refusal of the call waiting. Upon acceptance response, the IP interface is adapted to connect the PSTN call to the client's computer station over the client's Internet connection. The alert event can be any one of several events or combinations of audio signals and visual indicia on the VDU.
In some embodiments, upon connection of an IP call to the client's computer station, the client's computer station is adapted to play a pre-recorded announcement to the caller. In some embodiments as well the system further comprises a second telephony switch to which the incoming PSTN calls directed to the client are forwarded, the second telephony switch being coupled to the IP interface. In some embodiments as well, the client's PC/VDU connects to the Internet through the local PSTN switch to an Internet Service provider (ISP), and the IP interface coupled to the second telephony switch connects to the Internet through the client's ISP.
There are several ways Internet call-waiting according to embodiments of the invention may be implemented. In some the client's PC/VDU connects to the Internet by dialing the ISP via a dialing string, and the dialing string comprises commands to cause the local PSTN switch to set up call forwarding of the PSTN calls directed to the client to the second telephony switch. In other embodiments there is a server coupled to the client's ISP and to the second telephony switch, and a special log-in procedure at the ISP for the client initiates action by the server to direct the second telephony switch to call the local PSTN switch with a remote call forwarding number associated with the client, directing the local PSTN switch to set up call forwarding for incoming PSTN calls directed to the client. In still other embodiments th

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