Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-18
2001-02-06
Alam, Hosain T. (Department: 2771)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185565
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and method for handling communication sessions, such as telephone-related messages and electronic mail, among others that may originate from a telecommunications network or the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A class of telephony services usually known as Single Number Service (SNS) or Personal Number Service (PNS) has been introduced in the marketplace in recent years to address mobility and call management needs of users. Their main characteristic is to provide call routing based on customer-programmed schedules. These services are usually implemented through proprietary service logic residing on either Service Control Points (SCP) in an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) or Intelligent Network (IN), or special purpose switch adjuncts or service nodes.
Since the introduction of these services, the telecommunications environment has significantly evolved (Internet/WWW, unified messaging) thereby increasing the events and conditions that could influence call completion decisions as well as the mechanisms available to reach the called party and the potential call delivery points.
Thus, there is a need in the industry to provide a more flexible communication session disposition mechanism that can take decisions regarding communication session disposition based on a broader range of events.
OBJECT AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a novel Service Logic Controller (SLC) responsive to events occurring in a telecommunications network or a data communications network to make decisions regarding the disposition of a certain communication session, such as a telephone call or electronic mail transaction.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system for the management of communication sessions, the system being capable to take communication session disposition decisions based on events occurring in a telecommunications network or a data communications network.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method for managing a communication session originating in either one of a telecommunications network and data communications network.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a service logic controller for management of communication sessions originating in either one of a telecommunications network and a data communications network, the service logic controller including:
a first connection point permitting to exchange data with the telecommunications network;
a second connection point permitting to exchange data with the data communications network;
a data structure including a plurality of entries, each entry including an information element indicative of a certain call disposition program, said service logic controller being responsive to a communication session disposition inquiry message input through either one of the first and second connection points to associate a certain entry in the data structure with the communication session disposition inquiry message and output through either one of the first and second connection points a communication session disposition instruction message in accordance with the communication session disposition program of the certain entry.
Throughout this specification, the expression “communication session” is intended to encompass any session-oriented real-time or non-real time communication such as telephone-related messages, electronic mail messaging, video-conferencing, facsimile transactions and pager-related calls, SMS (Short Message Service), voice-mail, file-transfer etc.
Throughout this specification, the expression “telecommunications network” encompasses networks through which are exchanged primarily, but not exclusively, audio signals, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), mobile telephone networks and private telephone networks, among others.
Throughout this specification, the expression “data communications network” refers to networks that exchange primarily, but not exclusively, data such as electronic mail and file transfer, among others. Typical examples of data communications networks include networks based on the Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), such as the Internet, Intranets and Extranets.
In a specific embodiment of this invention, the SLC connects with three independent network domains, namely the PSTN, a mobile telephone network and the Internet. The connection to the respective network domain is effected through gateways Each network is provided with a Detection Point Functional Element (DPFE) whose task is to detect a communication session that needs the services of the SLC. Once such communication session is detected, say a caller originates a telephone call from the PSTN, the DPFE issues a communication session disposition inquiry message through the associated gateway, directed at the SLC. When the instruction message is sent by the DPFE, the latter will typically suspend call processing pending the call disposition instructions from the SLC.
The SLC includes a data structure in the form of a database including a plurality of information elements, each information element being a user profile that contains a communication session disposition program. That program determines how a communication session is to be managed in dependence upon various factors, such as time of day, type of communication etc. In a very specific example, an illustrative script can be: “Between 9 to 5 on working days, route calls to my directory number (DN) from my customer list to my office unless my cellular phone is activated, in which case calls should be routed by the cellular phone. In all cases if my telephone is engaged through a dial-up connection with my Internet service provider, forward calls to the Voice-over-IP (VoIP) client. Route all fax calls to the Telco-provided fax store & forward server and notify me on my pager.”
A Conditions and Events Controller (CEC) is coupled to the SLC to provide the latter with conditions and events information to enable the selection of the appropriate communication session disposition instruction based on the user's program. The CEC is linked to various condition agents (CA) residing in the three network domains that provide the CEC with status information on specific elements. Typically, such elements may be the status of the telephone line (busy or free) of the user in the PSTN, status of the cellular telephone of the user (activated or not activated) and the status of any dial-up connection session with an Internet service provider (session active or not active). Based on the information received from the respective CAs, the CEC builds a suitable message to pass the information to the SLC. The latter, in turn, utilizes this data to determine the proper communication session disposition in accordance with the user's profile.
The user's profile stored in the SLC may be altered to take into account updates or simply implement changes to suit the user's preferences. The modifications to the user's profile may be made through interactions with the data communications network. Most preferably, a server on the Internet supports a Service Logic Agent (SLA) that may interact with the user during a dial-up Internet connection session to store a user profile. Typically, the SLA provides a user-friendly way to build a suitable communication session disposition program. After the user profile has been built or altered, the SLA transfers the data to the SLC. The updating procedure can take the form of on demand data transfer, where the SLC initiates data exchange transactions with the SLA at periodic intervals, or the SLA may initiate an update of the SLC database when a change to the user profile is performed.
In a variant, dynamic user profile updates can also be effected during call processing. In this case, the SLC, after receiving a communication session disposition inquiry message, initiates a communication with the SLA to obtain profile-updating information. This procedure offers the
Jodoin Sylvain
Meubus Charles J.
Nadeau Raymond
Alam Hosain T.
Nortel Networks Corporation
Shah Sanjiv
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