Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1992-02-28
2001-02-20
Cumming, William (Department: 2799)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S426100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192254
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to personal communications and, more particularly, to systems for setting up communications between a caller and a called individual using a combination of paging and call bridging.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A problem with setting up telecommunications connections today is the difficulty of locating called individuals who are highly mobile. This problem is partially alleviated by mobile telephone technology and radio paging systems. However, a caller typically must place several calls to reach a particular individual, one call to each particular type of communication system of which that individual is a subscriber.
A particular prior art approach to reducing the number of calls necessary to reach an individual have combined: a) telephone numbers assigned to individuals rather than locations (personal telephone numbers), b) incoming call management techniques, c) radio paging technology and d) mobile telephone technology. More particularly, the prior art system 1) receives a call from a caller to the personal number of a called individual, 2) places the received call on hold, 3) pages the called individual, and 4) connects the caller to the called individual if the latter places a return call to a predetermined number. See the commonly-assigned copending U. S. patent application Ser. No. 07/667,734, filed Mar. 11, 1991. A call established by this type of system is not transparent to the called individual, i.e., the called individual perceives the reception of such a call differently from the reception of an ordinary telephone call. This is because the called individual must locate a telephone upon receipt of the page and, thereafter, take the action of making the return call. Moreover, the caller may have ended the call, i.e., decided to “hang up”, by the time the called individual completes the return call. In this case, the called individual may become confused as he determines that he has made the return call in vain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An improvement in the transparency of personal telecommunications over the prior art is achieved, in accordance with the principles of the invention, by automatically placing a return call from a personal communications unit of a called individual in response to a call from a caller and alerting the called individual to the existence of the call placed to his personal number only upon an indication that the call from the calling telephone remains in progress. This overcomes the potential drawbacks of the prior art system because it assures the called individual that he will be connected to a call that continues to exist when the personal communications unit alerts.
In one embodiment of the invention, the called individual associates his personal communications unit with a telephone channel, before his reception of any calls. Should a caller make a call to the called individual's personal calling number, the telephone network causes the transmission of an actuation signal to the personal communications unit. In response to the actuation signal, the personal communications unit places a return call over a switched telephone network to a predetermined number using the aforementioned telephone channel. As long as the telephone network determines that the caller's telephone call continues to be in progress, it sends a so-called “in progress” signal over the telephone channel to the personal communications unit. After the initial receipt of the in-progress signal, and during its continued reception, the personal communications unit causes the generation of an alerting indication that a person can perceive. A going off-hook on the telephone channel by a telephone during the generation of the alerting indication results in completion of the caller's telephone call to the off-hook telephone. To this end, the telephone network stops sending the in progress signal and bridges the caller's call to the return call placed by the personal communications unit. Advantageously, unless the called individual receives a call, the telephone channel remains free for the placing and receiving of telephone calls, as if it remained unassociated with the personal communications unit.
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IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms, 1984, p. 117.
Telephony's Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1986 pp. 41 and 310.
Carlsen Ralph
Kaplan Marc P.
Robertson John S.
AT&T Corporation
Cumming William
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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