Abstract:
A call forwarding system that prevents unwanted call forwarding activations from taking place. The system requests approval prior to activating call forwarding. The approval is obtained by sending a request communication to the destination to which calls are to be forwarded. The destination has the option of accepting the request for call forwarding or rejecting the request. The call forwarding may be applied to phone calls between electronic devices and to forwarding of video communication sessions over computer networks.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   The present invention relates generally to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a method and system for negotiated call forwarding. 
   Call forwarding allows calls that would otherwise be directed to a first destination to be redirected automatically to a second destination. For example, suppose that a businessman is scheduled to be in a conference all morning but is expecting an important telephone call. Call forwarding may be activated so that all calls that would, otherwise, be directed to the office telephone of the businessman are forwarded automatically to the telephone in the conference room. The redirecting of the phone calls is performed automatically by a local switching device that is configured to perform the call forwarding. When the business meeting is over, the businessman may deactivate the call forwarding so that calls reach the businessman at his office telephone. 
   When a party wishes to activate call forwarding, it is presumed that the party has gained permission to forward calls to the new destination. Unfortunately, the party may have not obtained such permission. Additionally, improper or abusive forwarding of calls for multi-media sessions can be very costly for the calling or called party because multi-media calls consume a large amount of bandwidth, which is very expensive. Moreover, this conventional approach to call forwarding is ripe for abuse in that a malicious party may intentionally forward calls to a destination for which approval has not been obtained. 
   SUMMARY 
   The present invention addresses the limitations of conventional call forwarding systems by contacting a party at the destination to which calls are to be forwarded to obtain approval before activating call forwarding. 
   In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a request is received to forward calls directed toward a first destination to a second destination. The second destination is contacted to obtain approval for forwarding the calls. If approval is not obtained, the request to forward calls is denied. Where approval is obtained, the request to forward calls is granted. 
   In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a telecommunications network having a first computer system and a second computer system. Per this method, a configuration is provided wherein a video communication session is initially directed to the first computer system. A request is received to direct the video communication session to the second computer system. A communication is then sent to the second computer system to obtain approval of the request. Where the approval is obtained, the video communication session is redirected to the second computer system. 
   In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a call forwarding system includes a switch for forwarding calls directed to a first destination to a second destination when call forwarding is activated. The call forwarding system includes approval logic for contacting the second destination to obtain approval for the forwarding of calls before call forwarding is activated. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  depicts a portion of a telecommunication network that is suitable for practicing the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed when a request to forward calls is received in the illustrative embodiment. 
       FIG. 3  depicts an alternative configuration of a network for practicing the illustrative to embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed to forward a video communication session in the illustrative embodiment. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The illustrative embodiment of the present invention obtains approval prior to activating call forwarding. In particular, when a party requests to forward calls destined for a first destination to a second destination, the illustrative embodiment contacts the second destination to obtain approval for the call forwarding. If approval is obtained, the call forwarding is activated. If approval is not obtained, call forwarding is not activated. 
   The approval is obtained by sending a communication to the second destination to which calls are to be forwarded. This communication may be a telephone call that is placed to the second destination. The telephone call requests approval for the call forwarding. The telephone call may be initiated by a live operator or by an automated operator. An interactive voice response (IVR) unit may be used to request and obtain approval. 
   Approval may also be obtained for the forwarding of video communication sessions, such as video conferencing sessions. Techniques similar to those employed for call forwarding may be employed to obtain approval for the forwarding of video communication sessions. 
   One embodiment provides a party at a destination, to which calls may be forwarded, control over what calls are forwarded to the destination. This ensures that the party is not inundated with forwarded calls and ensures that the party does not receive unwanted calls due to call forwarding. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a portion of a telecommunication network  10  includes a switch  14  that is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  12 . The switch  14  may take many different forms. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a variety of different types of switches may be utilized to practice the present invention. For example, the switch  14  may be a private branch exchange (PBX) or an automatic call distributor (ACD). For the illustrative case depicted in  FIG. 1 , it is presumed that the switch  14  is a PBX. The depiction of a PBX, in  FIG. 1 , is intended to be merely illustrative and not limiting of the present invention. Calls are received from the PSTN  12  over a voice trunk  15  that connects the PSTN  12  with the switch  14 . Calls may be received from the PSTN  12  and directed to telephone sets  18  and  20 . Calls may also be directed to a live operator  24  and an IVR unit  22 . The switch  14  may use a number of different tables  16  to assist it in directing incoming calls. 
   The IVR unit  22  is a self-contained computer platform. The IVR unit  22  offers a wide range of services, including the playing of voice messages and the acceptance of dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) digits. The IVR unit  22  includes storage and a processor for executing applications and scripts to provide services. The IVR unit  22  may also include a speech recognition module  23 , which is discussed below. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , at step  30 , a request is received from a party to forward calls to a destination. The request may be initiated by the party dialing a predetermined number to request the call forwarding. Alternatively, the party may enter predefined key sequences that are received by the switch  14  to request call forwarding. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a number of different approaches may be used for the party to request call forwarding. The party must identify the destination to which calls are currently directed and the new destination to which calls are to be forwarded. This may entail providing telephone numbers or extensions. The request may be received by an intelligent platform or by a live operator  24 . 
   When the request to activate call forwarding is received, at step  32 , a communication is initiated to the forwarded destination. For example, suppose a party wishes for calls that are normally destined to telephone set  18  to be directed to telephone set  20  and the party submits a call forwarding request. After such a request is received by switch  14 , a communication is initiated to telephone set  20 . This communication may be a telephone call that is placed by a live operator  24  to the telephone set  20  or may alternatively be an automated call that connects the IVR unit  22  with the telephone set  20 . 
   At step  34 , the communication requests approval for forwarding the calls to the forwarded destination. For example, the live operator  24  may ask the party that answers the telephone set  20  whether the party agrees to accept calls forwarded from telephone set  18 . Alternatively, the IVR unit  22  may play a recorded audio message that asks the party that answers telephone set  20  for approval. The party may then provide a response. The IVR unit  22  may record the response. Upon receipt of the response, speech recognition module  23  may be used to determine whether an approval or rejection of the request was received from the party that answered the telephone set  20 . In this fashion, at step  36 , it is determined if approval is granted. If approval is granted, then at step  38 , call forwarding is activated. Call forwarding is activated by configuring the table  16  and the switch  14  to direct all calls directed to the initial destination to the forwarded destination. Thus, for the example case discussed above, the tables  16  are configured, upon receiving approval, to direct calls destined for telephone set  18  to telephone set  20 . Conversely, if approval is not granted, then at step  40 , the request is denied such that no call forwarding is performed. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a network  26  includes computer systems  30  and  32 . Communication between the computer systems  30  and  32  takes place over a network  28 . The network  28  may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or even a hybrid of computer networks and telecommunication networks. For example, the network  28  may be the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet, amongst other types of networks. The computer system  30  includes a telephony support  50  so that telephone calls may be initiated and received by the computer system  30 . The computer system  30  is coupled to a microphone  39  for receiving audio input and a loudspeaker  38  for outputting audio output. Likewise, the computer system  32  includes a telephony support  58  and is coupled to a microphone  41  and a loud speaker  40 . Both computer systems  30  and  32  are coupled to video displays  34  and  36 , respectively, for displaying video images. Both computer systems  30  and  32  also include facsimile support  52  and  60 , respectively, for receiving and sending facsimile communications. The computer systems  30  and  32  may also have an interface with facsimile machines  42  and  44 , respectively. The computer system  30  includes support for electronic mail (email)  54  and for video conferencing  56 . The computer system  32  also includes support for email  62  and video conferencing  64 . 
   The phone calls that are redirected by call forwarding need not be strictly phone calls between two live persons, but rather can be communications between facsimile machines  42  and  44  or modem to modem phone calls. 
   The communication that requests approval and the response that is provided to approve or reject the request for call forwarding need not be strictly a telephone communication. For example, the communications may be facsimile communications, email communications, and even electronic pages. In  FIG. 3 , computer system  32  has a pager  46  that can accept pages. The pager  46  may be a two-way pager that is capable of generating responses. 
   In the example of  FIG. 3 , suppose that the computer system  30  wishes to forward communications, such as a phone call or video conferencing session, to computer system  32 . Computer system  30  generates a request  70  for call forwarding. The request  70  is received by an intelligent platform. This intelligent platform may be a digital switch or other intelligent services platform, such as a switching node  76  within the network  28 . The switching node  76  may hold a forwarding table  78  that identifies how packets received at the switching node  76  are forwarded. The switching node  76  generates a communication  72  that requests approval for the forwarding from computer system  32 . Computer system  32  generates a response  74  that is received by the switching node  76 . Depending upon the response  74 , the switching node  76  configures the forwarding table  78  appropriately to support forwarding or to not support forwarding. 
     FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed for practicing the illustrative embodiment to forward a video conferencing session in the alternative configuration of FIG.  3 . It is presumed that the video conferencing supports  56  and  64  on the respective computer systems  30  and  32  generate data that is transmitted in IP packets over the network  28 . These IP packets are received by the switching node  76 . The switching node  76  accesses the forwarding table  78  to determine where to forward the packets in order to guide the packets to their appropriate destinations. The packets are directed to the desired destination to complete transmittal of the video communication information for a session. 
   At step  80 , the video communication session is directed to a first computer system, such as computer system  30  in FIG.  3 . At step  82 , the request  70  is then generated and forwarded from the computer system  30  to request the forwarding of the video communication session to a second computer, system, such as computer system  32 . This communication is sent to a designated platform, such as the switching node  76  within the network  28 . At step  84 , the designated platform sends a communication to the second computer system  32  requesting approval of the forwarding. This communication may take the form of an email message, a facsimile message, a page, an interruption of a video conference, or the like. The communication may request that the computer system  32  respond directly to the switching node  76  or that the computer system  32  visit a designated location, such as a designated web site to approve or reject the request. At step  86 , if approval is obtained, then at step  90 , the audio communication session is redirected to the second computer system  32 . On the other hand, if approval is not obtained, then at step  88 , the request is denied and no forwarding of the video communication session takes place. 
   While the present invention has been described with reference to an illustrative embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the intended scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, different telecommunication network configurations and computer networks configurations than shown in the Figures may be used to practice the present invention.