Telephonic communications – Special services – Service profile
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-23
2001-12-11
Smith, Creighton (Department: 2742)
Telephonic communications
Special services
Service profile
C379S207020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330319
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general terms, to a system and method for adding a new service to a computer-based telephone integration system, and in particular to a system and method of self-registering objects for creating telephone services within a computer telephony system.
2. Background and Objects of the Invention
Current computer telephony integration (CTI) systems provide various telephone services to a caller based upon information pertaining thereto. For instance, the telephone service provided to a caller may vary depending upon the time or date of the call, the direct inward dialing (DID) number, or the automatic number identification (ANI). One challenge in providing a number of different telephone services pertains to the fact that occasionally new or updated telephone services need to be added to the CTI system. For one type of CTI system, definitions for all of the telephone services are maintained in a single executable file. Consequently, the CTI system must be temporarily shut down in order to substitute a new executable file (having new or updated telephone services) for the old executable file.
A second type of CTI system maintains the behavior of services in a storage medium which contains a file for each behavior in a non-procedural language. Although this system may be updated more easily than the first type of telephone service, this second type of telephone service is noticeably slower than systems which employ service description modules written in a procedural language. As a result, there is a need for efficiently operating a computer-based telephone integration system to which new or updated services may be easily added.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a CTI system in which new or updated telephone services may be added without temporarily shutting down the CTI system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a CTI system which employs object inheritance and late binding in adding new telephone services.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings in existing computer-based telephone integration systems and satisfies a significant need for a computer-based telephone integration system in which service performance during service updates is substantially seamless.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-based telephone integration system having a control module or object which provides the basic call handling routines and a plurality of service modules or objects. A configuration database is included to identify in which of a plurality of dynamic link libraries (DLLs) the appropriate service object is located.
To locate and execute a service object for performing a particular telephone service, the control object utilizes information pertaining to an incoming call, such as the direct inward dialing (DID) telephone number and/or the automatic number identification (ANI), to query the configuration database. In response thereto, the configuration database identifies in which DLL the appropriate service object is located. The control object thereafter performs a call function on the DLL and obtains a pointer to the appropriate service object therewithin. The service object is then executed to create the desired service.
By utilizing the concepts of polymorphism and late binding of the service object to create and provide the desired service, the control object can call functions which are defined by thereby but are implemented in a service object. As a result, new objects may be added to the present CTI system without having to first shut the present CTI system down.
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patent: 4747127 (1988-05-01), Hansen et al.
patent: 5375241 (1994-12-01), Walsh
patent: 5802159 (1999-09-01), Smolentzov et al.
patent: 5802367 (1998-09-01), Held et al.
patent: 5920618 (1999-07-01), Fleischer, III et al.
patent: 6002756 (1999-12-01), Lo et al.
patent: WO 95/17063 (1995-06-01), None
patent: WO 95/34175 (1995-12-01), None
patent: WO 95/34980 (1995-12-01), None
PCT International Search Report for PCT/US99/30940, Apr. 17, 2000.
Ericsson Inc.
Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C.
Smith Creighton
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