Short message park and page system and method

Details Short message park and page system and method Short message park and page system and method

1998-12-23

2001-12-04

Trost, William (Department: 2683)

Telecommunications

Radiotelephone system

Auxiliary data signaling

C455S425000, C455S412100, C455S414200, C340S007100, C340S007210

Reexamination Certificate

active

06327478

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless telecommunication, and more particularly to a method and system for completing a call to an unavailable wireless unit.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Currently, when a wireless subscriber is not reachable, the calling party waits through a series of ring back tones and is eventually provided with an announcement indicating that the cellular subscriber cannot be reached. If the subscriber has voice mail, the call is eventually routed to the subscriber's voice mail box where the caller listens to the subscriber's greeting and leaves a message. The subscriber accesses voice mail messages by calling his or her voice mail box and navigating through voice response mail selection menus. If the subscriber does not have voice mail, the calling party is simply advised that the subscriber is not available and the call is terminated.
In addition to normal voice services, wireless operators offer short message services to wireless subscribers. A short message service enables a user with a short message service enabled wireless unit to receive and send the text messages over the wireless network. The short messages are typically transmitted over a control channel of the wireless network rather than a voice channel. The short message service attempts to deliver a message to a wireless unit whenever the unit is registered to the network, even when the terminal is engaged in a voice or data call, or otherwise unavailable.
Short message services allow a wireless unit to function effectively as a pager. If a wireless subscriber is in a meeting or other situation in which he desires not to receive voice calls, he can set his wireless unit to “page-only” mode. Currently, if a subscriber receives a page that indicates that a party wishes to speak to him, he must place a call to the other party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method of and system for processing calls to an unavailable wireless unit. When the system of the present invention receives a call to a wireless unit, the system determines if the wireless unit is in a “page-only” mode or able to receive short messages but otherwise unavailable to receive the call. If the wireless unit is unavailable to receive the call, system of the present invention determines if the calling party would like to send a page to the wireless unit. If so, the system sends a short message to the wireless unit. The short message identifies the calling party and provides an option to receive the call. When the wireless unit receives the short message page, the subscriber can elect to receive the call by sending short message response to the system. When the system receives the short message response, the system completes the call to the wireless unit if the short message response indicates selection of the option to receive the call.
The system of the present invention includes a mobile switching center, a wireless service node, and a short message center. The mobile switching center receives the call and determines if the wireless unit is unavailable. The mobile switching center forwards the call to the wireless service node, which carries on an automated dialogue with the calling party to determine if the calling party wishes to have the subscriber paged. Preferably, the wireless service node includes speech recognition software so that the dialogue can be carried on in natural language. The wireless service node announces that the called party is unavailable and inquires if the calling party wishes to have the subscriber paged. If so, the wireless service node prompts the calling party to identify himself, either by name or telephone number. The wireless service node composes a short message identifying the calling party and providing an option to be connected to or “join” the calling party. The wireless service node sends the short message to the short message service center for delivery to the wireless unit and advises the calling party to hold. If the called party wishes to be connected to the calling party, the calling party sends a short message response selecting the join option back to the short message center for delivery to the wireless service node. The wireless service node advises the calling party that the call will be completed and instructs the mobile switching center to complete the call to the wireless unit.


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