Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-24
2001-04-10
Eisenzopf, Reinhard (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S414200, C455S550100, C379S266070
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216016
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable telecommunications device comprising a radio transceiver, a keypad, memory means, and microprocessor means for controlling device functions, the device being controllable by a called party and the device further comprising alerting means for alerting the called party if an incoming call is received from a calling party. Such a portable telecommunications device can be any portable telecommunications device having voice telephony functionality, such as a cellular or cordless telephone, or the like.
The present invention further relates to a wireless telecommunications system, to a radio base station for such a system, and to a method for processing an incoming call in such a system.
A portable telecommunications device of the above kind is known from the European patent EP 0 494 526 B1. The known device is a cellular telephone having the functionality that the user can become aware of the identity of the calling party. Whether or not having this so-called Calling Line Identification functionality, an incoming call from the calling party could come at an inconvenient moment, e.g., during a meeting or in a very noisy environment, while the called party still desires to answer the call without disturbing other persons or without the necessity to talk very loud or without hearing clearly what the calling party is saying.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable telecommunications device not having the above drawbacks.
To this end the portable telecommunications according to the present invention is characterised in that the device comprises message generation means for generating a waiting message intended for the calling party, that the device comprises first initiating means for initiating periodic transmission of the waiting message to the calling party and for putting the device on hold while transmitting the waiting messages, and that the device comprises second initiating means for halting the transmission of the waiting messages and for putting the device in normal communication mode after halting of the transmission of waiting messages, the first and second initiating means being controllable by the called party. Herewith, the calling party is informed that his call is being answered and that the called party wants to talk to him after a relatively short waiting period during which he can go outside a meeting room or to a quieter room, or the like. Because of receiving the waiting message periodically, the calling party is aware of the fact that the called party's telecommunications device is on hold and that his call most likely will be answered so that he will not put his device on hook. The waiting message could have the contents “please, wait a moment”, “please, wait a moment, I am going to find a more suitable room for answering your call”, or the like, an could be repeated every 20 or 30 seconds, for instance.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, the first initiating means comprises a first key and the second initiating means comprises a second key, and alerting stops if the first key is pressed. Herewith, the called party can easily control the waiting message functionality.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, the first key is a key dedicated to the first initiating means and the second key is a key which can also be used for other telephone functions but on-hook. Herewith, only one additional key is needed.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, the memory means comprises non-volatile memory means for storing the waiting message. If the waiting message is stored by the manufacturer of the device, the called party has available the waiting message functionality immediately after buying the device. Particularly for called parties not willing to program all kinds of telephony functionality after buying, such an embodiment is advantageous. If the device comprises recording means, recorded waiting message can be stored in the non-volatile memory. This is advantageous in that the called party can adapt the waiting message to particular circumstances. If he intends to go to a meeting, he could record a message like “I am in a meeting, please, wait until I have found a different room” before entering the meeting room. If he is usually in a very noisy room and a quieter room is not far away, he could record a message like “I am in a very noise room, please, wait until I have found a quieter room”. Then, the calling party will have an idea about the circumstances in which the called party is in and probably judge what time to wait. Herewith, the risk is reduced that the calling party puts his device on hook. In order to distract the calling party from the unpleasant waiting, a piece of recorded music could be transmitted in between the waiting messages.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, comprising a microphone, wherein the device is arranged for muting the microphone while transmitting the waiting messages. Herewith, it is prevented that the calling party receives undesired background signals while receiving the waiting messages.
In an embodiment of the telecommunications device according to the present invention, comprising speech recognition means, wherein the speech recognition means are arranged for recognising a waiting message command applied by the device for the initiation of the periodic transmission of waiting messages after recognition of the waiting message command. Herewith, an extra key can be saved that would otherwise be needed. Particularly, when reducing the size of devices such as a cellular phone it should be avoided to use many keys for many different functions. The use of a non-dedicated key would not be very practical because during a meeting, for instance, the first initiation should be done quickly, particularly if the called party is alerted via an audible alert.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, such as a vibration means. If the called party is in a meeting or in a church, for instance, other persons are not disturbed when the called party receives an incoming call.
In an embodiment of a telecommunications device according to the present invention, the device supports the functionality of calling line identification. Herewith, the called party can simply cancel the call if he receives an undesired call by putting his device on hook. He then does not have to initiate transmission of waiting messages.
In a embodiment of the present invention, the portable telecommunications device is menu driven, whereby the called party can program the portable device in advance so as to set the device in a particular mode. According to the present invention, the device can be set into a normal conversation mode and an announcement on answer mode during which waiting messages are transmitted to the calling party. Pressing any key other than the hook key could initiate the announcement on answer mode, and pressing the hook key could halt the transmission of waiting messages. This has the great advantage that no extra keys are needed for implementing method according to the present invention. If the portable device receives an incoming call when programmed in announcement on answer mode it is checked whether the called party answers the call within a predetermined time-out period after having initiated the announcement on answer mode, by checking the pressing of the hook key, for instance. This has the advantage that the called party is reminded of the fact that the calling party is still holding the line. Such a time-out period could be in the order of 30 seconds, or so.
The portable telecommunications device is comprised in a wireless telecommunications system, in particular a cordless telephone system, comprising a radio base station. The recording, storage, and generation of waiting messages can
Eisenzopf Reinhard
Ramos-Feliciano Eliseo
U.S. Philips Corporation
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