PUBLIC WEB PHONE SYSTEM

Abstract: The public WEB phone system is implemented as a process that is accessible via a WEB page and which executes on the WEB server and/or a backend Internet telephony server accessed by the WEB server. The customer accesses the public WEB phone service via any existing Java Enabled Internet Browser software resident on the customer's personal computer either as an adjunct process thereon, or as a dedicated Internet telephony server. This is accomplished by presenting the public WEB phone service to the customer as an accessible service option on an Internet WEB page, typically in the form of an icon presented thereon. When a customer, who has accessed the Internet WEB page, clicks on the public WEB phone icon, the WEB server executes the resident public WEB phone script (such as a Java Servlet) and presents the customer with the data entry fields to enable the customer to input the telephone number of the desired destination. The WEB server downloads an applet to run on the client machine, then implements the Internet telephony communication connection between the customer and the designated destination, without disturbing the customer's WEB page access. This is accomplished by the WEB server implementing a communication connection to an Internet telephony server/network and forwarding the customer provided data to enable the communication connection to be extended to the designated destination.

Description: PUBLIC WEB PHONE SYSTEM Field of the Invention This invention relates to the provision of telephone service via the Internet and, in particular, to a system that enables a user who accesses a WEB site on the Internet to initiate a telephone call via a WEB page user interface, from any location and from any personal computer, without the need to have priorly established a billing account for this telephone service and the associated loading of Internet provider specific telephony software on the accessing personal computer. Problem It is a problem in the field of Internet telephony to provide customers with access to the telephone service without the need to have priorly established a billing account for this telephone service and the associated loading of Internet provider specific telephony software on the accessing personal computer. In operation, presently available Internet telephony service comprises loading an Internet telephony software package on a customer's personal computer in conjunction with establishing a billing account for this telephone service. This process executes on the customer's personal computer and enables the customer to access a specified and dedicated Internet telephony WEB site to thereby obtain access to the Internet telephone service. The need to install Internet provider specific telephony software on the customer's personal computer represents an impediment to customers who access the Internet from various computers, since each personal computer used by the customer must be equipped with the Internet provider specific telephony software. In addition, the existing dedicated Internet telephony software operates to the exclusion of other processes and requires the customer to directly access a predetermined Internet telephony WEB site to initiate an Internet telephone call, thereby failing to coordinate with other Internet accesses that the customer may wish to coordinate with the Internet telephony call. Thus, the presently available Internet telephony service represents an inexpensive alternative to standard long distance telephone service, but presents a number of constraints to the customer in order to obtain the benefits of low cost communications services. Solution The above described problems are solved and a technical advance achieved by the present public WEB phone system which is implemented as a process that is accessible via a WEB page and which executes on the WEB server and/or a backend Internet telephony server accessed by the WEB server. The customer accesses the public WEB phone service via any existing Java Enabled Internet Browser software resident on the customer's personal computer either as an adjunct process thereon, or as a dedicated Internet telephony server. This is accomplished by presenting the public WEB phone service to the customer as an accessible service option on am Internet WEB page, typically in the form of an icon presented thereon. When a customer, who has accessed the Internet WEB page, clicks on the public WEB phone icon, the WEB server executes the resident public WEB phone script (such as a Java Servlet) and presents the customer with the data entry fields to enable the customer to input the telephone number of the desired destination. The WEB server downloads an applet to run on the client machine, then implements the Internet telephony communication connection between the customer and the designated destination, without disturbing the customer's WEB page access. This is accomplished by the WEB server implementing a communication connection to an Internet telephony server/network and forwarding the customer provided data to enable the communication connection to be extended to the designated destination. Thus, the customer can access Internet telephony service through any hosting WEB server as the access point, and by using the existing Internet browser software that is resident on any personal computer. The customer's Internet login and password represent the public WEB phone billing data, which are provided by the customer from any personal computer. In addition, the public WEB phone process can be installed on any WEB server and the routing of the Internet telephony calls from the WEB server to the designated destination is implemented as a background process via an Internet telephony server/network, in a manner that is transparent to the customer. Furthermore, the WEB page can present a plurality of public WEB phone icons, with the icons representing either general Internet telephony service access or access to dedicated destinations. Thus, the customer who accesses a particular WEB server that hosts a commercial enterprise can be provided with a plurality of icons representative of a number of destination choices, such as: customer service, sales, product support, manufacturer's service representative. By selecting one of these dedicated destination icons, the customer activates the public WEB phone to automatically initiate an Internet telephony call to the identified destination while concurrently maintaining the customer's access to the WEB page. The Internet telephony call that is originated from a WEB server is routed to an Internet telephony host, with the customer's login and password being forwarded as the customer billing data and the WEB server URL being forwarded to provide the Internet telephony host with data regarding the public WEB phone retailer who is assigned credit for the Internet telephony call initiation. The public WEB phone service can therefore by used to route customer inquiries to predefined destination while the customer concurrently has access to the data provided by the WEB page, or the WEB server can simply resell the public WEB phone service that is provided by an Internet telephony server/network. Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 illustrates in block diagram form the overall architecture of the present public WEB phone system and a typical environment in which it is operational; Figure 2 illustrates the exchange of messages among the various elements that comprise the present public WEB phone system; Figure 3 illustrates a typical display that is produced by a WEB site to enable a user to access the present public WEB phone system; and Figures 4 and 5 illustrate in flow diagram form the operational steps taken by the present public WEB phone system to provide Internet telephone service to a customer in the instance of a call origination. Detailed Description System Architecture of the Public WEB Phone System Figure 1 illustrates in block diagram form the overall architecture of the present public WEB phone system 140 and a typical Internet telephony network environment in which it is operational. The communications environment illustrated in Figure 1 includes communications networks 101 , 102, which comprise a part of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that serves a plurality of customer terminal devices 111 , 112 (such as personal computers, personal communication devices, and the like) and telephone station sets 121 , 122. The operation of such a communications network 101 , 102 is well known and is not described in detail herein. In addition, Internet 103 is provided to exchange data communications among a plurality of servers 131 ,135 connected thereto. Access to the Internet 103 is provided in well known fashion to customers resident at customer terminal devices 111 , 112 via Internet Providers using servers 131 , 135 which interconnect communications networks 101 , 102 with Internet 103. Thus, the customer at customer terminal device 111 accesses the Internet by activating the WEB browser process 143 that is resident on terminal device 111 and initiating a modem connection from customer terminal device 111 through communications network 101 to Internet Provider server 131. The Internet Provider server 131 enables the customer to access Internet 103 using the WEB browser process 143 to gain access to the plurality of WEB servers that are interconnected by the Internet 103. As part of the Internet access, the WEB server 131 that the customer contacts typically provides a display to the customer's terminal device 111, which display is termed a WEB page 144 which is downloaded from the Internet Provider server 131 to the customer terminal device 111. Call Origination in the Public WEB Phone System Figure 2 illustrates the exchange of messages among the various elements that comprise the present public WEB phone system 140, Figure 3 illustrates a typical display that is produced by a WEB site to enable a user to access the present public WEB phone system 140 and Figures 4 and 5 illustrate in flow diagram form the operational steps taken by the present public WEB phone system 140 to provide Internet telephone service to a customer in the instance of a call origination. The public WEB phone system 140 typically resides on/includes an Internet WEB server, such as WEB server 131 , as the host. The customer's WEB browser 143 is the proxy or pseudo-client and enables the customer to talk to the WEB server 131 via a set of communication scripts. These scripts are typically Java Enabled Internet Browser scripts resident on the WEB server 131 which allow the customer to place telephone calls to a destination by using the customer's account name (login) and password via the WEB browser user interface. The WEB page 144 provided by the WEB server 131 to the customer terminal device 111 functions as a password protected user interface for the Internet telephony process. The customer at step 401 initiates an Internet communication connection by activating the Java Enabled Internet Browser 143 executing on the customer terminal device 111 to initiate a local telephone call via communications network 101 to the access number of the customer's Internet service provider. This connection is via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and serves to provide the customer with a physical connection from the customer's terminal device 111 to the Internet Service Provider's server 131. The customer at step 402 can access a selected WEB site (WEB server 131 for example) by inputting the URL of the WEB site via the customer's WEB browser that is executing on the customer's terminal device 111 or by selecting am option which is presented by the WEB server 131 to which the customer is connected. The WEB server 131 that is accessed in this manner transmits a WEB page 144 for display on the customer terminal device 111 at step 403. As part of the WEB page, the WEB server 131 can display an icon or WEB page (such as that shown in Figure 3) indicative of the public WEB phone service. The customer can access the public WEB phone service by simply clicking on the displayed icon at step 404 or by activating the selected feature displayed on the WEB page of Figure 3, which actions transmit a "downloadO" message to the WEB phone system 140. The icon can be representative of the generic public WEB phone service where the customer can initiate an Internet telephone call to a designated destination, or the icon can represent a predefined telephone number that automatically executes a script upon selection to initiate an Internet telephone call to the designated destination. In the first instance, the WEB server 131 at step 405 provides the customer with a display by downloading a WebPhone applet 141 to the customer terminal device 111 that executes the customer terminal device portion of the WebPhone service and enables the customer to input a telephone number indicative of the desired destination at step 406. At step 407, the keystrokes input by the customer are used by the public WEB phone system 140 to initiate an Internet telephony connection by forwarding the received data ("create" in Figure 2) to an Internet telephony Receiver Proxy Servlet 142, along with the customer's login and password identity. In the case of a predetermined destination being represented by the selected icon, the step of customer input of a telephone number is bypassed, since the WEB server 131 already has the destination telephone number data. The WEB server 131 includes its URL to enable the Receiver Proxy Servlet 142 to credit the WEB server 131 with being the source of the Internet telephony call. The Receiver Proxy Servlet 142 at step 408 uses the received data to establish a communication session with the Internet telephony server 135 located proximate to the destination terminal device 112 or telephone station set 122. The Internet telephony server 135 completes the Internet telephone call connection at step 409 by extending the call connection ("ringO" of Figure 2) to telephone station set (for example) 122 via the communications network 102. When the called telephone station set 122 answers the call, an "answer()" message is propagated back through the message path illustrated in Figure 2 and the customer at customer terminal device 111 is connected to the called party ("Receiver") located at telephone station set 122 to enable the two parties to communicate in a telephone communication session via the Internet 103 and the communications network 101 , 102. The public WEB phone system 140 chronicles each Internet telephone call, including the source WEB page, call duration, call destination and this data is used to update a billing database 145 at step 410 at the conclusion of the call connection. The billing can be via preestablished customer account, credit card, associated telephone number, associated Internet user identification, and the like. This system architecture is Fat Host/Thin Client in that the public WEB phone software allows the customer to remotely operate the WEB phone system 140 with the WEB page provided by the WEB server 132 functioning as the user interface. As a speed enhancement in this process, when the customer browses to the WEB site 131 , the WEB page is downloaded to the customer's terminal device 111 and cached for future speed enhancement without direction from the customer. Thus, any terminal device, such as a personal computer, with a multimedia package that includes a microphone and speakers, can function as a telephone without the user having to download any software. Summary The public WEB phone system provides the following benefits: 1. The Public WEB phone system gives portal access to an Internet telephony network from anywhere on the Internet, thereby allowing customers to place calls over the Internet from any location, using any personal computer. In addition, new customers can create their own accounts dynamically without the need for complex subscription processes, since the Internet telephony call can be billed back to the customer through the Internet Service provider. 2. WEB page owners, Internet Service Providers and other portal sites can resell Internet telephony services without having the equipment to implement the process. The WEB site URL is transmitted to the Internet telephony server to identify the source of the telephone call, thereby simplifying the billing process. 3. The transmitted URLs can be correlated to identify the calling patterns of individual customers, thereby creating a customer profile. 4. Customers can continue to browse on the Internet while using public WEB phone.

Claims: What is Claimed: 1. A system for enabling a customer to initiate an Internet telephone call from any customer terminal device while connected to an Internet WEB site which displays a WEB page on the customer's terminal device, comprising: means for displaying image data indicative of the presence of an Internet telephony service on said WEB page; and means, responsive to a customer selecting said Internet telephony service by responding to said image data, for executing an Internet telephony service process on said Internet WEB site for any customer terminal device. 2. The Internet telephone service system of claim 1 wherein said means for executing comprises: means, downloaded to said customer terminal device, for processing a WEB phone script independent of an identity of said customer terminal device. 3. The Internet telephone service system of claim 2 wherein said means for executing further comprises: means, responsive to data received from said customer terminal device pursuant to processing said WEB phone script and indicative of an identity of a destination telephone station set, for extending a communication connection from said Internet WEB site to an Internet telephony server. 4. The Internet telephone service system of claim 3 wherein said means for executing further comprises: means, responsive to said Internet telephony server extending said communication connection to said destination telephone station set, for monitoring a duration of said communication connection for billing purposes. 5. A method for enabling a customer to initiate an Internet telephone call from any customer terminal device while connected to an Internet WEB site which displays a WEB page on the customer's terminal device, comprising the steps of: displaying image data indicative of the presence of an Internet telephony service on said WEB page; and executing, in response to a customer selecting said Internet telephony service by responding to said image data, an Internet telephony service process on said Internet WEB site for any customer terminal device. 6. The method of providing Internet telephone service system of claim 5 wherein said step of executing comprises: downloading a WEB phone script to said customer terminal device; and processing said WEB phone script independent of an identity of said customer terminal device. 7. The method of providing Internet telephone service system of claim 6 wherein said step of executing further comprises: extending, in response to data received from said customer terminal device pursuant to processing said WEB phone script and indicative of an identity of a destination telephone station set, a communication connection from said Internet WEB site to an Internet telephony server. 8. The method of operating Internet telephone service system of claim 7 wherein said step of executing further comprises: monitoring, in response to said Internet telephony server extending said communication connection to said destination telephone station set, a duration of said communication connection for billing purposes. 9. A system for enabling a customer to initiate an Internet telephone call from any customer terminal device while connected to an Internet WEB site which displays a WEB page on the customer's terminal device, comprising: means for displaying image data indicative of the presence of an Internet telephony service on said WEB page; means, responsive to a customer selecting said Internet telephony service by responding to said image data, for downloading a WEB phone script to said customer terminal device; and means for processing said WEB phone script independent of an identity of said customer terminal device. 10. The Internet telephone service system of claim 9 further comprising: means, responsive to data received from said customer terminal device pursuant to processing said WEB phone script and indicative of an identity of a destination telephone station set, for extending a communication connection from said Internet WEB site to an Internet telephony server. 11. The Internet telephone service system of claim 10 further comprising: means, responsive to said Internet telephony server extending said communication connection to said destination telephone station set, for monitoring a duration of said communication connection for billing purposes.

Inventors: GREENBERG JEFFREY D, GREENBERG, JEFFREY, D.
Applicants: PUBLICWEBPHONE INC, PUBLICWEBPHONE, INC.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: H04M7
IPC codes: H04M7