Abstract:
A method of conferencing communication devices in a system having (i) a conference server, (ii) a voice interface unit (VIU), and (iii) at least one conference bridge, the method including, at a first communication device: (a) establishing a first connection between the VIU and the first communication device via the switching point, the switching point enabled to establish connections for the communication devices; (b) sending first validation data from the first communication device to the VIU for forwarding to the conference server for validating the first validation data, and, in response to the validating the first validation data: (b)(i) terminating the first connection; and (b)(ii) establishing a second connection between the at least one conference bridge and said first communication device, to establish a conferencing session.

Description:
[0001]    This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/736,504, filed Dec. 17, 2003 (allowed), and is generally related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/307,335, filed Dec. 2, 2002, the entire contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to telecommunications network implementations for facilitating group (or peer-to-peer) communications; and in particular, to a real-time mobile conferencing solution. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The invention disclosed provides the relevant art for enabling real-time multi-media communications and conferencing events between mobile subscribers. Functionally then, the real-time mobile conferencing solution consists of a computer program product (CPP) encompassing like logical instructions, algorithms and advances to the art which enables real-time mobile conferencing, including mobile conference set-up and notification. 
         [0004]    In one embodiment of the invention, a wireless subscriber (“client”) dials a short code or a generic E. 164 national number which is dedicated for the purpose of the conference service. The telecommunication is initially terminated to a front-end server which will collect the PIN (or in other embodiments, examine the MSISDN). 
         [0005]    In order to minimize the number of ports associated with a front-end server, the art has been innovatively articulated to support a DP3 based approach which would direct calls to a front-end IVR system which would collect the PIN (accomplished using an Establish Temporary Connection command to the SSP). Upon receiving the PIN other elements of the computer program product which helps implement the real-time mobile messaging and conference solution would direct the call to the appropriate conference server. 
         [0006]    In alternate embodiments, a mechanism has been developed for smaller configurations (where a single server would terminate traffic and link the person to the appropriate conference bridge by virtue of the received PIN information) to ‘daisy-chain’ servers/cards together so that the front end DP3/IVR approach is not required. (The maximum number of ports for any given bridge would remain a function of the termination card used and other such limitations of the state of the art). 
         [0007]    Clients activate, configure and/or otherwise manipulate a conference bridge session using any one of the following mechanisms (or a combination thereof where applicable); web-based graphical user interface (GUI), IVR menu, SMS/USSD short codes (e.g. a USSD command specifying 5 ports for 2 hours returns a PIN code for a post-paid or pre-paid client). Said mechanisms of course remain only bounded by the state of the art. 
         [0008]    Other advancements to the art include the ability to, in the preferred embodiment, send an SMS (or e-mail) to individuals (identifiable by the MSISDN (or NAI)) that a conference bridge has been established; non-limiting details as the sponsor or originator of the conference bridge, its topic, and other such details (as PIN code) could be furnished in a like manner. 
         [0009]    As well as the ability to outdial specific identified individuals (employing USSD command as *XX#MISDN_to_be_outdialled# for instance), which remain particularly salient and noteworthy in ‘Calling Party Pays’ based environments (as per the billing mechanisms in place, an incremental charge would have to be applied to the originator or sponsor). 
         [0010]    Indeed, the CPP has been articulated, in alternate embodiments, with the necessary logic and like art to automatically pre-screen incoming participants on the basis of the MSISDN (thereby avoiding use of PIN codes). However it is appreciated that PIN codes should be used in the preferred and exemplary embodiment and in practice as an individual could well be ‘double booked’ on various ongoing conferences. 
         [0011]    In other instances, the invention may be utilized in concert with prepaid vouchers to pay for ad hoc conference bridge facilities on a per-use basis; automatic debiting from credit-cards or post-paid accounts may also be interfaced as required. Additionally, in further alternate embodiments, location based notification may be co-articulated with the invention, whereby an SMS is sent to (a) pre-specified list(s) within a configurable radius of the originator or sponsor. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a typical, non-limiting embodiment of the system level architecture employed in the disclosure of present. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]    Members skilled in the art will recognize that the ensuing represents an illustrative recital of the preferred embodiments of the invention of present and other embodiments may be articulated, gleaned and articulated from such while still remaining with in its spirit and scope. Indeed, equivalents found within the state of the art, and those which may reasonably and effectively be deemed equivalent in the future should also be understood as being incorporated by reference hereto and such. Furthermore, much of the language has been illustrative and is to be construed as expressly for pedagogical purposes in helping elucidate the art as concisely and beneficially as practical. 
         [0014]    For simplicity and ease of instruction practitioners will recognize the totality of the real-time mobile conferencing solution consists of certain discrete elements of which the CPP form elements, but only when combined with other telecommunications and/or network elements does the full potency of the invention become apparent. 
         [0015]    With reference now to  FIG. 1 ,  130  represents the conferencing application server, which hosts the service logic and network interface modules (GSM-MAP USSD, CAMEL 2/GSM CS-1HR, SMPP, SNMP) that enable the service logic and operations (including the conference database repository) required by that particular element of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product  100  (CPP). Technicians skilled in the art will also recognize that any number of protocols, triggers and interfaces may be employed herewith, and indeed, remain only bound by the state of the art and the reference to any one protocol (or similar rules, methods and means for the transmission of data) remains purely for the purposes of simplicity and ease of instruction, and do not serve to dilute the application and scope of the invention as such. Furthermore, the conferencing application  130  has been articulated to provide certain conferencing resource management capabilities, as determining the appropriate conference bridge resources  110 A,  110 B,  110 C (as appropriate) (including resources in use, resources reserved, resources available) for the conference call; as well as certain call handling features as, admission/authorization/rejection based on conference ID/MSISDN/PIN combination, current number of participants in the call, monitoring of call duration, and call release of each connected participant when the conference call duration time is exhausted. It  130  also allocates said resources and instructs the MSC-SSP 30 to route the user call to that resource using existing INAP/IN/CAMEL technologies. Technicians skilled in the art will also recognize that any number of protocols, triggers and interfaces may be employed herewith, and indeed, remain only bound by the state of the art and the reference to any one protocol (or similar rules, methods and means for the transmission of data) remains purely for the purposes of simplicity and ease of instruction, and do not serve to dilute the application and scope of the invention as such. The Multimedia Voice Interface Unit (MVIU)  120  provides the requisite functionality for an interactive voice server which permits prompting and collecting of information from the caller, and playing voice announcements to the conference participants. The conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B,  110 C remains a scaleable element of the invention  100  which provides a media server(s) capable of several simultaneous, multiparty audio conferences. 
         [0016]    Certain elements of the invention (CPP)  100  may be provisioned through an articulated graphical user interface (likely web based  50 ), which may permit both administrators of the elements of the invention in question  100  to provision various operating commands and parameters  90 ; or subscribers to the conferencing solution may well provision/schedule their own conference information (and like data)  91 . 
         [0017]    Wireless subscribers  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13  may well access the conferencing functionality of the invention  100  directly, or may distinctly or simultaneously or in parallel access said invention  100  through their internet-enabled  10  computing devices (as laptops and such)  20 . In the preferred embodiment such wireless subscribers  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13  and users of computer devices  20  would already have employed and be enjoying the functionality of computer program products articulated within said handsets which permit enjoyment of the invention&#39;s  100  multi-cast server functionality as well as the local storage and/or caching of multi-media. In alternate embodiments, some conference participants may well be accessing the functionality of those elements of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product  100  through external messaging clients from their internet-enabled  50  computing devices  21 . 
         [0018]    To satisfy billing concerns and needs, certain elements of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product  100  (and  130  in particular) may interface, with credit bureaus  60  and other external billing (or voucher) systems  61 . The invention  100 , may in alternate embodiments, be juxtaposed and co-articulated with an Open Charging (OC) middleware platform and gateway system  10  as detailed in patent application Ser. No. 10/307,335, for mediation with a prepaid or postpaid platform (for account decrement, balance inquiry and other similar purposes). Noble technicians skilled in the art will recognize that the invention of present need not be limited to the aforementioned Open Charging (OC) middleware platform and gateway system and other similar network implementations may be employed without diluting the intent and scope as such. 
         [0019]    Continuing with reference to  FIG. 1 , in the instance where a first caller  10  dials the Service Access Number (SAN) assigned to the conference call service, the MSC-SSP  30  recognizes the dialed conferencing SAN and launches a query to the invention&#39;s  100  conference application server  130 . The MSC-SSP  30  is then instructed to establish a connection with the MVIU  120 . Whereupon after said MSC-SSP  30  and MVIU  120  connection is established, the conferencing application  130  instructs the MVIU  120  to play a welcome announcement to the caller (“Good Morning Mr. Hunt” for instance) and prompt for the conference # and PIN. The caller  10  (in this instance) enters the conference # and PIN, the collected digits are forwarded to the conferencing application  130 . Upon successful validation of the conference # and PIN, the conferencing application  130  logically instructs the MVIU  120  to play an announcement to inform the caller that he/she will be placed in the conference (“Placing Mr. Hunt in IMF conference” for instance). The conferencing application  130  instructs the MSC-SSP  30  to terminate the MVIU  120  session and connect the caller to the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B or  110 C (as appropriate) (conference port # information is provided). The conferencing application  130  begins monitoring the conference time and conference events (additional caller admission, caller leaving the conference call, and so forth). 
         [0020]    Still continuing with reference to  FIG. 1 , in another instance a new caller  11  (in this case) wishes to join an existing conference, by dialing the SAN assigned to the conference service. The MSC-SSP  30  recognizes the dialed conferencing SAN and launches a query to the conference application server  130 . The MSC-SSP  30  is instructed to establish a connection with the MVIU  120 . After the MSC-SSP  30  and MVIU  120  connection is established, the elements of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product  100  which relate to the conferencing application  130  instructs the MVIU  120  to play a welcome announcement (“Good Morning” for instance) to said caller  11  and prompt for the conference # and PIN. Said caller  11  dials the conference # and PIN. The collected digits are forwarded to the conferencing application  130  for validation. 
         [0021]    After the conference # and PIN has been successfully validated. The MVIU  120  prompts the caller  11  for his/her name (“Mr. Phelps” for instance) and informs such caller  11  that he/she will be placed in the conference. After this announcement is played the MSC-SSP  30  is instructed to terminate the session with the MVIU  120 . The conferencing application  130  also instructs the MVIU  120  to set up a UI session with the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B or  110 C (as appropriate) (referencing other caller&#39;s  10  (already in the conference) port number) in order to announce the arrival of said caller  11 . The conferencing application  130  then instructs the MSC-SSP  30  to connect the caller to the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B or  110 C (conference port # information is provided). The MSC-SSP  30  notifies the invention&#39;s  100  conferencing application  130  of the successful call connection of the new caller  11 . (Said new caller  11 , joins the existing callers to the conference  10 ,  12 ,  13  or even  20  or  21 ). The conferencing application  130  continues monitoring the conference time and conference events (additional caller admission, caller leaving the conference call, etc). 
         [0022]    Also in reference to  FIG. 1 , in the instance where there remains imminent prospect that the conference may be terminated owing to insufficient or dwindling funds, the conferencing application  130  detects that “x minutes” (e.g. 5 minutes) of conference time is remaining, and instructs the MVIU  120  to set up a UI session with the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B or  110 C (as appropriate) (referencing caller  10 ,  12 ,  13  or even  20  or  21 &#39;s conference port). The MVIU  120  sets the UI session with the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B, or  110 C (as appropriate). The conferencing application  130  requests that the MVIU  120  play a warning expiry announcement to the conference call participants  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13  and even  20  or  21  (“This conference will self-terminate in thirty (30) seconds” for instance). The MVIU  120  plays said announcement to the caller via the conference bridge server  110 A,  110 B, or  110 C (as appropriate). After which, each conference all participant  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13  (and even  20  or  21  if articulated properly), hears said ‘expiration warning’ announcement. 
         [0023]    The architecture delineated by  FIG. 1 , combines mobile voice network capabilities with mobile messaging (SMS, USSD, MMS among others) and Web based technologies to simplify the set up of conference calls. Furthermore, allowing for a variety of payment options (including credit-card and vouchers to facilitate casual usage of the service). The art permits flexible conference call set up. The user or ‘master’ provides the conference date, start time, number of participants, list of participants&#39; MSISDNs (optional), duration, and method of payment, and certain elements of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product (CPP 2 )  100  returns the Conference Call Service Access Number (configurable), conference ID, and PIN (optional). User receives conference details via SMS or e-mail notification. Aside from the expected telephony user interface based conferencing scheduling (by IVR announcements) or web-based provisioning interface for the setting of conference details, the invention also permits for an SMS based conference scheduling mechanism, whereby the master may schedule a conference call by entering the required set up information in an SMS Text Message (as the art advances beyond SMS, there remains much equivalence in applying the methodology to MMS and other such iterations); as well as a USSD based conferencing scheduling, which remains similar to the SMS conference scheduling mechanism, except herewith the master enters an USSD short code command with the required set up information (e.g. time, # of participants, etc.) and upon successful conference call scheduling, the master receives the conference call information in an USSD text response as well as a SMS message. 
         [0024]    Other innovative elements of the art include, an automated dial out feature whereby certain elements of the invention articulated as part of a computer program product  100  “automatically” initiates conference call set up by attempting to connect with selected participants&#39; MSISDN at the scheduled time. (A configurable message is played to the terminating party). There also remains the opportunity for a manual participant dial out, whereby the master (conference chair) initiates an outdial to conference-in an individual that s/he wishes to have join the conference. (This may be associated with a configurable incremental charge). Practitioners may well appreciate that this facilitates attendance by pre-paid subscribers in calling party pay jurisdictions. 
         [0025]    The invention may notify conference participants of the conference details (together with conference reminders set in a configurable time period) by e-mail (provided said e-mail address was entered during the conference establishment process) or by SMS (mobile users whose MSISDNs were input during the conference call set up may receive an SMS text message with the conference information and/or that the conference is scheduled to begin in x-timeframe) or by USSD, MMS and other such messaging and notification technologies as taught by the state of the art.