Abstract:
When a caller calls a call busy called station, the caller may request that a message be provided to the called station while the caller waits. In such instance, the called station receives the message while busy with the other call. The message may be speech indications provided by the caller which are received by the called station at a volume normally associated with a whisper. The speech indications may be recorded from the caller and the caller given an opportunity to edit same before they are sent. The message may also be a text message where the called station supports text or has an associated text-based telephone appliance.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an apparatus and method for handling call waiting. 
     While a person is busy with a voice call, it may happen that another call is made to that person. In such a circumstance, it is known to provide call waiting tones on the communication line to alert the person of the other call. The person can then (with a flash hook indication) take the new call. A drawback with this approach is that the caller cannot communicate the importance of her call. 
     WO99/48263 filed by Ameritech Corporation and published Sep. 23, 1999 describes an advanced intelligent network (AIN) where, when a service switching point (SSP) determines a called station is busy, it queries a service control point (SCP) in respect of the call. In one embodiment, the SCP returns call control information which directs the SSP to generate instructions that ask the calling party to speak her name. The spoken name can be recorded. Additionally, the caller may be able to key in an indication of call priority. The call path of the previous call can then be interrupted to place it on hold and then call waiting indicators and an audible representation of the caller&#39;s name along with a priority indication can be provided to the called station. 
     This approach provides the caller with a limited ability to communicate the importance of her call. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,504 to Alfred, where a call comes in for a call busy line, if the called party subscribes to call waiting and voice messaging, call waiting tones are applied to the busy line and the caller is passed to voice mail. The called party, on hearing the call waiting tones, has the option of keying in a code which sets up a one-way conference call allowing the called party to eavesdrop on the message. 
     This allows the called party to make a more informed decision as to whether to take the call but, as the entire process is transparent to the caller, the ability of the caller to properly communicate the importance of her call is limited. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for an improved approach to provide a called party with call waiting information. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     When a caller calls a call busy called station, the caller may request that a message be provided to the called station while the caller waits. In such instance, the called station receives the message while busy with the other call. The message may be speech indications provided by the caller which may be recorded and edited by the caller before being delivered. 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for voice call management comprising, where a communications link terminated by a first station is busy with a call and a new call is waiting for said first station, responsive to a request from a calling station for said new call, providing a message on said call busy communications link based on input from said calling station, said message comprising speech indications superimposed on a path of said communications link outbound to said first station and not superimposed on a path of said communications link inbound from said first station. 
     An apparatus, a personal agent, a voice mail system, and a telephone switch adapted to carry out this method are also provided. Additionally, a computer readable medium is provided which adapts a communications system to carry out the method. Further a computer data signal is provided which adapts a communication system to carry out the method. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for facilitating voice call management, comprising: while a call path is busy with a call, on receipt of another call for said call path from a calling station: on said calling station requesting messaging on said call path while said call path is busy, prompting said calling station for information and superimposing speech indications on said call path based on any said information. 
     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for facilitating voice call management, comprising: while a called party station is busy with a call on a communications link, on request of a calling station for a waiting call, providing speech indications to said called party station on said communications link relating to said waiting call at a volume normally associated with a whisper. 
     According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for facilitating voice call management, comprising: while a call path terminated with a first station is busy with a call, on receipt of another call for said first station from a calling station and on receipt of an indication from said calling station, superimposing on any signal on a path of said call path outbound to said first station, speech indications related to said another call at a volume normally associated with a whisper. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for voice call management comprising, where a communications link is busy with a call and a new call is waiting, providing a message on said call busy communications link based on initial input from a calling station for said new call and editing input from said calling station. 
     Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with accompanying figures. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the figures which illustrate example embodiments of the invention, 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system made in accordance with this invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of another portion of FIG. 1, 
     FIGS. 4A,  4 B, and  5  are flow diagrams illustrating the operation of portions of FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another system made in accordance with this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning to FIG. 1, a communications system  10  comprises a switch  12  connected to a network  14 . Network  14  may be a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, or both a PSTN and Internet. The switch  12  is also connected to a voice mail system (VMS)  16  and a number of communication lines  18   a ,  19   a  which are terminated by telephone stations  18 ,  19 , respectively. Telephone station  19  may have a display  22 . Other telephone stations  20 ,  21  may also be associated with the network  14 . Where network  14  is or includes the Internet, switch  12  may also be connected on communication line  23   a  to a telephone station which is implemented on a computer  23 . 
     Referencing FIG. 2, the switch  12  has a processor  24  with operating software  26  and a personal agent  28  each of which may be a software module loaded into the switch from a computer readable media  32 . The computer readable media may be, for example, a disk, a tape, a removable memory chip, or a file downloaded from a remote source. The switch additionally has a database  34 . 
     The operation of system  10  is described in conjunction with FIGS. 4A and 4B. On receiving a request to establish a call from, say, telephone station  20  to telephone station  18 , operating software  26  of switch  12  may look up a customer record for telephone station  18  in database  34  to determine whether telephone station  18  has an associated personal agent (S 110 , S 112 , S 114 ). Assuming no, if telephone station  18  is idle (S 116 ), a call path may be established between telephone station  20  and telephone station  18  in a conventional fashion (S 118 ). The segment of the call path on communication line  18   a  between switch  12  and station  18  has an outbound path from the switch  12  to the station  20  and an inbound path from the station to the switch. After establishment of the call path, a request may be received to establish a call from, say, telephone station  21  to telephone station  18  (S 110 , S 112 ). After determining telephone station  18  has no personal agent (S 114 ), the switch notes that station  18  is busy with another call (S 118 ). The customer record for station  18  is then reviewed to determine whether the station subscribes to voice mail (S 122 ). If no, a busy signal is simply fed back to station  21  (S 124 ). If yes, then the switch connects the new call to VMS  16  (S 126 ). 
     Turning to FIG. 5, responsive to receiving the new call, VMS  16  accesses a greeting from database  46  and plays same (S 210 ). The greeting indicates station  18  is busy and queries whether the caller wishes to leave a message and hang up or, instead, deliver a message and wait on the line (sometimes referred to hereinafter as “instant messaging”). If station  21  chooses to simply leave a message, it is recorded and stored in a conventional fashion and the VMS sends a messaging waiting flag to switch  12  (S 211 ). If station  21  chooses the option of delivering a message and waiting on the line (S 212 ), then, in a conventional fashion, the VMS generates a beep tone and records input from station  21  until receiving an end of recording indication from the caller (S 214 ). After recording a message, the VMS gives the caller at station  21  an opportunity to edit same (S 216 , S 218 , S 219 ). Once station  21  requests delivery of the message (S 220 ), the VMS sends the instant message to switch  12  (S 222 ). The VMS then accesses database  46  for a prompt which is periodically played to station  21  to indicate the recorded message is being delivered and that the caller should stay on the line (S 224 ). The caller may deliver her choice amongst options, edit commands, an end of recording indication, and other control information to VMS  16  by appropriate DTMF entries at station  21  which are interpreted by DTMF module  44  or by a voice commands which are interpreted by IVR module  42 . 
     Returning to FIGS. 4A and 4B, switch  12 , on receipt of an instant message from VMS  16  (S 132 ), attenuates the amplitude of the recorded message by between 3 dB and 9 dB (S 134 ) and superimposes the recorded message on the outbound path of communication line  18   a , while avoiding superposition of the recorded message on the inbound path (S 136 ). Voice signals in switch  12  are typically digital, either by virtue of arriving in digital form or by virtue of being converted to digital signals after arriving. In consequence, superposition may be accomplished by a summing circuit which sums the digital recorded message with digitised speech from station  20 . Additionally, avoiding transmission of the recorded message to station  20  may be accomplished by a difference circuit which acts as an echo canceller. Alternatively, the inbound path of communications line  18   a  may be muted during delivery of the message. A suitable system for selectively superposing digitised speech signals is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,947, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In consequence, the called party may hear the recorded message while continuing to hear any speech from the caller at station  20 . Due to its attenuation, the message will have a lower average volume than that of speech from station  20  so that the called party may more easily distinguish between the superposed signals. Indeed, the message may be attenuated sufficiently that it is heard as a whisper. Additionally, the message will not be heard at station  21 . 
     If, based on the recorded message, the called party decides to take the waiting call, she may generate a flash hook signal (S 140 ). In such case, switch  12  tears down the call leg from the switch to the VMS in respect of the waiting call from station  21  (S 142 ) and connects the waiting call through the switch to station  18  (S 144 ). The switch also tears down the call leg from the switch to station  18  in respect of the prior call from station  20  such that the prior call is terminated (S 146 ). Alternatively, the called party can key in a DTMF code (e.g., press the number “1”) to indicate to the switch  12  that it does not wish to take the waiting call (S 148 ) whereupon the switch will immediately remove the superposed signal from the outbound path of communication line  18   a  (S 150 ). Further, in such instance, the switch will signal the VMS to indicate that the call from telephone  21  will not be completed (S 152 ). Referencing FIG. 5, in response, the VMS will play a message to station  21  indicating that the call will not be completed and that the caller may now hang up (S 226 , S 228 ). The switch continues to await either a flash hook or a refusal of the waiting call until receiving a hang up signal in respect of the waiting call (S 154 ). 
     When a call first arrives at the VMS, optionally, the VMS may also indicate an option to have an instant message delivered in real time rather than be recorded, edited, then sent. In such case, if the caller requests this service, the VMS sends an appropriate prompt to the switch and establishes a call path to the switch for the ensuing message. The VMS  16  then generates a beep tone to prompt the caller to begin the message. In one embodiment, the VMS may record the message as well as port it through to switch  12  as it is received. On receipt of such a prompt, the switch  12  attenuates and superposes the real-time message on the outbound path of communication line  18   a . Again, the called party, in response, may switch to the new call, refuse the new call, or take no action one way or the other. 
     If the called party does have a personal agent  28  (S 114 ), then each new call for the called party is directed by the switch  12  to this agent (S 160 ) whether or not the called party is busy with a call. When a new call arrives in a call busy situation, the personal agent interacts with the caller to obtain information about the call. In a conventional fashion, this interaction may involve speech synthesized or recorded speech prompts to the caller and DTMF or voice responses from the caller. In one embodiment, switch  12  may superpose this interaction on the outbound path of communication line  18   a , after attenuation so that the called party may listen in on the interaction (S 162 ). In another embodiment, after the completion of the interaction, the personal agent may prompt the caller to remain on the line. The assistant may then send information (such as the caller&#39;s name, a short message, and an indication of priority) as recorded from the caller, or as speech synthesized, to the switch  12 . In response, the switch superposes the information on the communication line  18   a  after its attenuation. As with a VMS connection, in response to the instant message, the called party may take the waiting call, refuse the waiting call, or take no action. 
     In a further embodiment, even absent any personal agent or VMS, special purpose software for providing the instant messaging call feature may reside on switch  12  as part of operating software  26 . 
     If the called party&#39;s telephone station is equipped with a display  22 , then text messages may be sent to the display using a suitable protocol such as the Analog Display Services Interface (ADSI). Where system  10  is so provisioned, the instant message obtained (by VMS  16 , personal agent  28 , or operating software) may be sent as text (being translated from speech, if necessary) to called station  21  for display. 
     If network  14  includes the Internet and a computer  23  is connected to the switch  12  as a telephone station, then an instant message which is text based may be sent to the computer for display while the computer is engaged on a data call or a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call. 
     If, based on a customer record for the called party at switch  12 , switch  12  knows the called station  18  has an associated pager or other text-based telephone appliance, the switch may send the text based instant message to this other telephone appliance either instead of, or in addition to, sending an instant message to called station  18 . 
     Where the called party receives a text based instant message on a computer  23  or a text based telephone appliance, the called party may be able to respond to the instant message with a text reply while continuing with the earlier call. In such instance, if the caller has a text display, the reply may be displayed thereon. Otherwise, the reply may be converted to speech and played to the caller. 
     An advanced intelligent network (AIN) architecture in which this invention may be used is shown in FIG.  6 . AIN  50  has service switching points (SSPs)  52 ,  54 , each with associated telephone stations  56 ,  57 ,  58 . The SSPs connect to a service control point (SCP)  60 . SSP  54  is shown connected to an intelligent peripheral (EP)  62 . 
     In operation, if a call arrives for telephone station  58  while it is busy with another call, SSP  54  directs a call handling query to SCP  60 . SCP may look up a data record for the called party and, in response, send call handling instructions to the SSP. These may enable the SSP to provide the instant messaging described hereinbefore. Alternatively, these call handling instructions may direct the SSP to complete the new call to IP  62 . EP  62  may then function in conjunction with SSP  54  in a similar manner to that described for the operation of switch  12  (FIG. 1) in conjunction with VMS  16 . 
     By virtue of the caller requesting instant messaging, the caller is aware of the process and so will be more likely to provide an instant message appropriate to the circumstance of the called party being busy with another call. The caller will also be aware of the need to stay on the line in case the called party switches to her call. 
     Communications systems  10  (of FIG. 1) and  50  (of FIG. 6) have been illustrated with communication lines to the stations  18 ,  19 ,  21 ,  23  and  56 ,  57 ,  58 , respectively. More generally, the communication lines are communication links which may be land lines or wireless links. 
     The call waiting message superimposed on the call path has been described as having a lower average volume than the average volume of speech of the existing call. However, equally the average volume of the message may be greater than the average volume of speech of the existing call since in such instance the called party could still distinguish between the message and speech from the existing call. 
     Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the invention is defined in the claims.