Abstract:
A method for automatically changing the address and telephone number of an occupant when the occupant moves from one internal address to another internal address. The foregoing is accomplished by placing a radio frequency identification tag in occupant&#39;s nameplate, wherein the tag contains encoding information that identifies the occupant so that when the occupant changes his/her location, the nameplate may be used to update a data base and determine the occupant&#39;s new address and telephone number.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending patent applications Docket No. F-593 filed herewith entitled “Method For Dynamically Addressing Physical Mail” in the names of Deborrah J. Zukowski, Brian M. Romansky, Easton F. Bell, and Megha Sharma.  
         FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The invention relates generally to the field of internal tracking systems and, more particularly, to systems for determining internal telephone numbers.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The telecommunications network in the United States forms the basis for many communications services offered by various telephone companies. This network involves over 100 million telephones that link together over 200 million people and 4 million places of business in the United States. Telephone companies publish directories for various towns and cities that indicate the telephone numbers of people and businesses residing in the specified towns and cities. Large establishments have many people who have telephones in their offices and who receive many telephone calls. Consequently, large establishments publish telephone directories that indicate the telephone numbers of the people and departments in the large establishment.  
           [0004]    Large establishments often assign individual internal addresses, which are often kept in computer databases, to locate the occupants of their buildings. The internal addresses also enable the establishment to know where the establishment&#39;s telephones are located and to make it easier for mailroom personnel to deliver internal mail.  
           [0005]    People and departments in large establishments frequently have their offices moved to new locations. As an occupant moves from one office or desk to another, the occupant&#39;s internal address changes and telephone number changes. The telephone system or some internal department should indicate the occupant&#39;s new telephone number so that the occupant will continue to receive telephone calls. In order for the occupant to continue to receive telephone calls, someone would need to change the occupant&#39;s telephone number in a database and/or publish new telephone directories. Often, the occupant&#39;s telephone number change does not occur, so telephone calls continue to be directed to the occupant&#39;s old telephone number, inconveniencing the person who has the occupant&#39;s old telephone number. Thus, a disadvantage of the prior art is that a great amount of time may expire before members of the large establishment and outside individuals realize that the occupant changed his/her telephone number.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by automatically changing the telephone of an occupant in a database when the occupant moves from one internal address to another internal address.  
           [0007]    The foregoing is accomplished by placing a radio frequency identification tag in the occupant&#39;s nameplate, wherein the tag contains encoding information that identifies the occupant so that when the occupant changes his/her location, the nameplate may be used to update a data base and determine the occupant&#39;s new telephone number. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a drawing showing some of the offices on floor  5  of a large office building;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing of nameplate  17  showing how nameplate  17  may be placed in a holder;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3A is a drawing showing the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment data base  86 ;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3B is a drawing showing the reader table  87  of telephone server  85  of FIG. 3A;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3C is a drawing of telephone assignment database  86 ;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a drawing showing an occupant of an office  15  of FIG. 1 moving to office  11 E of FIG. 1;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5A is a drawing of the process flow for the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment database  86 , when a occupant changes offices and will have a different telephone number; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5B is a drawing of the process flow for the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment database  86 , when a occupant changes offices and will have the same telephone number that they had in their old office. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]    Referring now to the drawings in detail and more particularly to FIG. 1, the reference characters  11 A- 11 E represent a plurality of large offices on a portion of floor  5  of a large office building. Small offices  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15 , mail stops  30  and  32 , coffee room  31 , photocopy room  33  and filing cabinets  34  and are also on floor  5 . Telephones (not shown) are located in each large office  11 A- 11 E and each small office  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15 . Each large office  11 A- 11 E and each small office  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  15  is assigned an internal address  10 . A removable name plate  17  containing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  25  (FIG. 2), that indicates the user of name plate  17 , is attached to a wall near the entrance of each office  11 A- 11 E and  12 - 15  by means of a holder  20  (FIG. 2). Holder  20  may also be placed on any flat surface, i.e., desk inside offices  11 - 15 .  
         [0017]    The space containing the offices  11 A- 11 E and  12 - 15  is scanned with scanning devices, e.g., radio frequency identification tag readers  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J, and  29 A- 29 D which periodically scan the area to determine if any RFID tag  25  (FIG. 2) is within a given distance from any reader  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J, and  29 A- 29 D. Reader  26 A scans office  11 A, and reader  26 B scans office  11 B. Reader  26 C scans office  11 C, and reader  26 D scans office  11 D. Reader  26 E scans office  11 E. Readers  27 A through  27 F, respectively, scan offices  5 - 105  to  5 - 110 , and readers  28 A through  28 J, respectively, scan offices  5 - 111  through  5 - 120 . Readers  29 A through  29 D, respectively, scan offices  5 - 121  through  5 - 124 . Radio frequency identification tag readers  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J and  29 A- 29 D may be the Pin Point Cell Controller Network manufactured by RFT Technologies of 3125 N. 126 th  Street Brookfield, Wis. 53005.  
         [0018]    Display  43 , located in mail stop  30  will indicate all of the telephone numbers of all of the users of name plates  17 , and display  44  located in mail stop  32  will indicate all of the telephone numbers of all of the users of name plates  17 .  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing of nameplate  17  showing how nameplate  17  may be placed in a holder  20 . Nameplate  17  has a region  21  that indicates the user of nameplate  17  and a RFID tag  25  that indicates the user of nameplate  17 . RFID tag  25  may be the Pin Point Active RF Tag manufactured by RFT Technologies of 3125 N. 126 th  Street Brookfield, Wis. 53005.  
         [0020]    Additional information regarding the user of name plate  17  may be entered into RFID tag  25 , i.e., the user&#39;s employee number, the user&#39;s social security number, etc. Thus, the information in RFID tag  25  will uniquely identify the user of nameplate  17 . Nameplate  17  may be placed in slot  22  of holder  20  and removed from slot  22  of holder  20 . Holder  20  is attached to the wall of the entrances of the offices described in FIG. 1 or placed on any flat surface, i.e., desk inside the offices described in FIG. 1. Holder  20  is attached to wall  23  by any known means, i.e., screws, nails, glue, etc.  
         [0021]    It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that tag readers  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J, and  29 A- 29 D (FIG. 1) may be incorporated into holders  20 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3A is a drawing showing the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment data base  86 . Periodically, radio frequency identification tag readers  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J, and  29 A- 29 D, poll their areas of search to determine all nameplates  17  in their areas of search. The list of name plates, along with each tag reader&#39;s  26 A- 26 E,  27 A- 27 F,  28 A- 28 J, and  29 A- 29 D identity and the users of name plates  17  indicated in tags  25  are transmitted to telephone server  85 . Telephone server  85  includes a nameplate tracking system reader table  87  (FIG. 3B) that associates each reader to a group of internal addresses  9 . Readers  26 A through  26 E, respectively, will read internal addresses  5 - 100  to  5 - 104  (FIG. 1), and readers  27 A through  27 F, respectively, will read internal addresses  5 - 105  to  5 - 110 . Readers  28 A through  28 J, respectively, will read internal addresses  5 - 111  to  5 - 120  (FIG. 1), and readers  29 A through  29 D, respectively, will read internal addresses  5 - 121  to  5 - 124 . Server  85  is coupled to telephone assignment database  86 . Database  86  will be described in the description of FIG. 3C. Telephone server  85  and database  86  are coupled to display  42 . Display  42  displays information contained in telephone server  85  and database  86 . Display  43 , located in mail stop  30 , is coupled to database  86 ; and, display  44 , located in mail stop  32 , is coupled to database  86 . Display  43  and display  44  will indicate all of the telephone numbers of all of the users of nameplates  17 .  
         [0023]    It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that radio frequency identification tag readers and radio frequency identification tags may be located on all or some of the floors of a building and/or located in different buildings and then coupled to telephone server  85 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3B is a drawing showing the reader table  87  of telephone server  85  of FIG. 3A. Reader table  87  is a static pre-configured table. Column  88 , of table  87  indicates the RFID tag reader identity that reads tags  25 , and column  89  indicates the internal address  10  that is associated with the particular RFID tag reader. Column  90  indicates the telephone number that is associated with the internal address or actual room number.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3C is a drawing of telephone assignment database  86 . Database  86  is a dynamic database that associates the user of nameplate  17  identified in the RFID tag  25  with the occupant&#39;s internal address  10  and telephone number. Column  91  of database  86  indicates the occupant&#39;s name, and column  92  indicates his/her internal address. Column  93  of database  86  indicates the occupant&#39;s telephone number. When a person changes offices, that person usually will be assigned a different telephone number.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a drawing showing an occupant of an office  15  of FIG. 1 having internal address  5 - 121  moving to office  11 E of FIG. 1 having internal address  5 - 104 . When Mr. G, the occupant of one of the offices  15 , moves to office  11 E, Mr. G removes his name plate  17  from a holder  20  (FIG. 2) attached to the wall near the entrance to his old office  15  and places name plate  17  in a holder  20  (FIG. 2) attached to the wall near the entrance to his new office  11 E. The prior occupant of offibe  11 E, Ms. H removed her name plate  17  and placed it in a holder  20  (FIG. 2) attached to the wall near the entrance to her new office (not shown) which is on the twentieth floor of the same office building. Mr. G may notify the establishment&#39;s telephone personnel to update assignment database  86  to indicate that he has moved to office  11 E and to indicate his new telephone number.  
         [0027]    Whether or not Mr. G notifies the establishment&#39;s telephone personnel to update assignment database  86  to indicate that he has moved to office  11 E, reader  26 E will poll its area of search during its next search period and determine that a new nameplate  17  is at office  11 E. If Ms. H does not notify establishment&#39;s telephone personnel to update assignment database  86  to indicate that she has moved to a new office, a reader (not shown) on the twentieth floor similar to reader  26  will poll its area of search during its next search period and determine that a new name plate  17  is at Ms. H&#39;s new office.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5A is a drawing of the process flow for the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment database  86 , when an occupant changes offices and will have a different telephone number. The process begins in step  150 , where nameplates  17  are placed at the entrances to or in offices  11 A- 11 E, and  12 - 15 . Next, in step  151 , individual nameplates  17  respond to their assigned readers at the next reader period. Then, in step  152 , the nameplate tracking reader table  87  is used to map individual nameplates  17  to their internal addresses and assigned telephone numbers. Now in step  153 , the telephone assignment database  86  is updated to indicate that a specific user of a nameplate  17  is now assigned a different internal address and a telephone number associated with their new internal address. Then in step  154 , the information contained in nameplate tracking reader table  87  and database  86  is displayed in displays  42 ,  43  and  44 . An e-mail is sent to the person who moved his/her office requesting if he/she would like to order new business cards. If a new business card is requested, a business card provider may be notified to print new business cards indicating the new internal address and telephone number for the user of nameplate  17 .  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5B is a drawing of the process flow for the transmission of information from RFID tag  25  to telephone assignment database  86 , when an occupant changes offices and will have the same telephone number that he/she had in his/her office. Steps  150 - 152  are the same as steps  150 - 152  of FIG. 4A. In step  160  if an occupant&#39;s internal address changes, a work order is placed for the establishment&#39;s telephone personnel to give the occupant the old telephone number at the new internal address. Then in step  161 , the telephone assignment database  86  is updated to indicate occupant&#39;s new internal address. The reader table is also updated, and the phone numbers are switched from the old office to the new office. Now in step  162 , the information contained in nameplate tracking reader table  87  and database  86  is displayed in displays  42 ,  43  and  44 . An e-mail is sent to the person who moved his/her office requesting if he/she would like to order new business cards. A business card provider may be notified to print new business cards indicating the new internal address for the user of nameplate  17 .  
         [0030]    The above specification describes a new and improved method for changing the address and telephone number of an occupant when the occupant moves from one internal address to another internal address. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.