Telephonic communications – Special services – Call diversion
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-04
2001-10-09
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Special services
Call diversion
C379S212010, C379S207030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301349
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention relates to telecommunications, and particularly relates to call forwarding services. Even more particularly, the field of the invention relates to the connection of unanswered calls to a voice mail service of a subscriber when the call forwarding service is applied to calls of the subscriber.
BACKGROUND
A particularly popular service offered by many telecommunication service providers is a call forwarding service. A subscriber who has call forwarding service may specify that at certain times all of his or her calls be forwarded to a forwarded location. The subscriber typically may also specify that if a call that is forwarded to the forwarded location goes unanswered, then the call may be routed to a voice mail service (VMS) that is applied to a designated directory number associated with the subscriber. Usually, this designated directory number is the home telephone number of the subscriber, but it may be any other directory number such as the subscriber's office directory number, car phone number, etc.
Even though a call forwarding service is a popular service, a typical call forwarding service does have some drawbacks. One drawback is that a caller may suffer a delay in the connection of his or her call in certain circumstances. One such circumstance relates to the process of a caller being connected to the voice mail service of a called party who has not answered the caller's call that has been forwarded to a forwarded location. In other words, a caller may suffer a delay in the connection of his or her call when the call goes unanswered at the forwarded location and the call has to be routed to the voice mailbox of the called party.
FIG. 1
illustrates an example of a process that causes the delay that a caller may suffer in being connected to a called party's voice mail service. For this example, assume that a subscriber to a call forwarding service has directed that all of his or her calls that go unanswered at a forwarded location be sent to the subscriber's voice mail service. Also assume that a caller has called the subscriber, that the call has been forwarded to a forwarded location, and that the call has gone unanswered at the forwarded location (block
7
of
FIG. 1.
) So, the call forwarding service, taking note of the unanswered call at the forwarded location, calls the home telephone number of the subscriber as shown in block
8
, and waits for the call to be forwarded to the subscriber's voice mail service as shown in block
9
. Typically, after three or four rings, the voice mail service answers the call, per block
10
, and the caller may leave a message for the subscriber in the subscriber's voice mailbox. Connecting the caller to the subscriber's mailbox pursuant to the process shown in
FIG. 1
takes about 18-24 seconds (3-4 rings of a telephone). In the greater scheme of things, 18-24 seconds may seem inconsequential. But in the competitive world of telecommunications, 18-24 seconds is a delay that is noticeable to a caller, and generally is not appreciated. Such a noticeable delay to a caller is something service providers wish to avoid.
FIG. 2
illustrates another example of a process that causes the delay that a caller may suffer in being connected to a called party's voice mail service. As with the previous example, assume that a subscriber to a call forwarding service has directed that all of his or her calls that go unanswered at a forwarded location be sent to the subscriber's voice mail service. Also assume that a caller has called the subscriber, that the call has been forwarded to a forwarded location, and that the call has gone unanswered at the forwarded location (block
11
of
FIG. 2.
) So, the call forwarding service, taking note of the unanswered call at the forwarded location, calls the telephone number of the voice mail service of the subscriber (block
12
). In block
13
, the voice mail service answers the call, and as illustrated in block
14
, the call forwarding service responds by outpulsing the subscriber's mailbox number. The call then is connected to the subscriber's voice mailbox (block
15
). Connecting the caller to the subscriber's voice mailbox pursuant to the process shown in
FIG. 2
takes less time than the process illustrated in
FIG. 1
, but the
FIG. 2
process still takes about 6-12 seconds (1-2 rings of a telephone). In other words, after a call has noticeably gone unanswered, the caller is delayed another 6-12 seconds from being able to leave a voice mail message for the subscriber. Even though this
FIG. 2
process is quicker than the
FIG. 1
process, it still involves a delay in the connection of a call that is noticeable, and often annoying, to a caller. Service providers are interested in eliminating or at least minimizing such annoyances to their customers and subscribers.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process that minimizes the delay suffered by a caller during the process of being connected to the voice mail service of a called party in the circumstance when a call forwarded to a forwarded location goes unanswered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a telecommunications system having a call forwarding service, the present invention includes methods and systems that connect an unanswered forwarded communication directly to a voice mail service of the called party. Advantageously, the present invention avoids the connection of the unanswered forwarded communication to the home telephone number or other designated directory number to which the voice mail service is applied. By avoiding the connection of the unanswered forwarded communication to the home telephone number, the present invention minimizes the delay suffered by the caller during the process of connection. Another advantage of the exemplary embodiments is that the message that is left by a caller pursuant to these embodiments appears as if the message has been left as a result of a call that has rolled over into voice mail from the subscriber's designated directory number having gone unanswered. In other words, the message appears as if the caller had called directly the subscriber's designated directory number and been transferred to voice mail. No record of the caller's call having been forwarded to a forwarded location and gone unanswered at the forwarded location is made apparent to the subscriber.
Generally stated, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention involves an intelligent peripheral such as a service node to enable the process of connecting an unanswered forwarded communication to the voice mail service of a called subscriber. This process begins when the exemplary embodiment recognizes that a communication for a subscriber has gone unanswered at a forwarded location and recognizes that the subscriber has specified that such unanswered forwarded communications are to be routed to the voice mail service applied to the subscriber's designated directory number. For ease of reference, the term “designated directory number” is often used herein synonymously with the term “home telephone number”, but the term “designated directory number” should not be so limited and may refer to any other directory number that may be designated by the subscriber and to which the subscriber's voice mail service is applied.
The exemplary embodiment proceeds by placing a call by dialing a code such as a feature access code. The code is followed by voice mail information so that the call is routed with the voice mail information through the telecommunications system. In the exemplary embodiment, the voice mail information includes the designated directory number of the subscriber to which the voice mail service is applied and the voice mail service (VMS) directory number of the VMS applied to the designated directory number.
In routing the call through the telecommunications system, a recognition is made of the code. For example, if a feature access code is dialed, then this code is recognized at a service switching point
BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
Escalante Ovidio
Ewing, IV Esq. James L.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Tocups, Esq. Nora M.
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