Abstract:
An Intemet/intranet-based arrangement for automatically retrieving and presenting a greeting web page in response to a caller placing a call to a called party. This greeting service provides the caller with information relating to the called party and gives the caller various options for contacting the called party, redirecting the call or obtaining additional information. In an illustrative embodiment, a greeting application program running on a caller terminal obtains an identifier, such as a URL, of the greeting web page associated with the called party. This identifier is provided to a web browser application program running on the caller terminal, which uses it to retrieve the greeting web page and display it to the viewer during the call. The invention is applicable to both telephone calls and IP calls. Some of the actions which may be taken by the caller from the displayed greeting web page include selecting an alternate destination for the call, selecting a covering party for the call, paging the called party, leaving a message for the called party, conducting a textual chat with the called party, receiving call progress information, receiving private information intended only for the caller, and retrieving related documents.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to web browsers, Internet Telephony and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), and more particularly to techniques for processing calls using these anrd other similar technologies. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Telephone switching systems such as Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) and key systems have long provided the ability to redirect calls when the called party is busy or does not answer the call. This is accomplished with features known as call forwarding or call coverage, which allow calls to be redirected under busy or no answer conditions to alternate telephony endpoints. These endpoints may include an alternate telephone for the called party, e.g., a telephone at a home location, or a telephone for a covering person such as an operator or secretary. Calls may also be redirected to a voice messaging system where the caller can leave a message for the called party. In this case, the caller can typically listen to a greeting which has been recorded by the called party. The greeting is used to supply information that the called party wishes to convey to callers, such as a schedule or alternate telephone numbers. Conventional greetings in this context are generally limited to recorded voice announcements. Actions that the caller can take while listening to the greeting are limited to those that can be easily achieved using a touch tone user interface based on the telephone keypad. 
     Increasingly, communication applications are making use of Internet technologies and standards. Web browser and server applications, for example, provide a widespread infrastructure for delivering multimedia content. Also, for example, applications are beginning to make use of the Internet for voice calls. As the popularity of the Internet grows, it becomes increasingly desirable to use Internet technologies and related applications to enhance the call redirection and greeting services that are made available to users. 
     Unfortunately, existing call processing techniques generally do not take advantage of the full capabilities provided by Internet technologies. For example, although conventional personal web pages can provide important and useful information about a called party, such as alternate telephone numbers, a weekly schedule, a photograph, and so on, such pages are generally not automatically retrieved and displayed to a caller in response to a call attempt. Conventional CTI applications such as “screen pop” applications in call centers focus on presenting information about the calling party to the person receiving the call. These implementations do not benefit a caller who, under circumstances where the called party is not available, needs more options and information on how to reach the called party. In addition, the above-noted call forwarding and call coverage features in conventional telephone systems redirect calls to predefined destinations, and typically do not allow the caller to choose where to direct the call. Moreover, conventional IP telephony applications typically do not provide call coverage or call forwarding features nor do they provide an acceptable greeting service. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides methods and apparatus for automatically retrieving and displaying a greeting web page in response to a caller placing a call to a called party. The web page can be automatically retrieved over a communication network, such as the Internet or an intranet, upon initiation of the call. The web page presents information related to the called party and gives the caller options for contacting the called party, redirecting the call or obtaining additional information. These options may include, for example, redirecting the call to an alternate destination, redirecting the call to a covering person, and paging the called party. The invention improves the ability of the calling party to reach the called party or to obtain useful information about the called party. The invention thereby provides substantial advantages over a conventional recorded voice greeting and a touch tone user interface, or a personal web page which is not automatically accessed in response to a call attempt. The invention can also be applied to Internet Protocol (IP) telephony calls in which a call is placed over an IP data network or other type of network. 
     In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a greeting service is implemented in a communication system that includes a calling party terminal and telephone, other user terminals and telephones, a telephone system, and an application server, with the telephone system, terminals and application server interconnected by an Internet/intranet. A calling party initiates a call to a called party by, for example, manually dialing a telephone number at the calling party telephone, or entering appropriate information at the calling party terminal. The identity of the called party is available to the calling party terminal, for example, because the call was initiated by the calling party terminal or because the telephone system sends this information to the calling party terminal via the Internet/intranet. 
     After the call is initiated, a request for the location of the called party greeting data is sent from the calling party terminal to the application server. In response to receipt of the request at the application server, the location of the called party greeting data is sent from the application server to the calling party terminal. A request for the greeting data associated with the called party is then sent from the calling party terminal to the application server. In response to receipt of the request at the application server, the greeting data associated with the called party is sent from the application server to the calling party terminal, and presented to the calling party during the call in the form of a greeting web page. As the state of the call changes, various types of call progress information may be sent to the calling party terminal from the telephone system or the called party terminal, and displayed in the greeting web page. The calling party can provide data and select actions to be taken These actions include, for example, initiating a new call to attempt to reach the called party at an alternate destination, initiating a new call to a covering person associated with the called party, such as a secretary or operator, paging the called party with numeric or alphanumeric messages, retrieving private information that is intended only for the calling party, and retrieving documents relating to the called party. 
     A greeting service implemented in accordance with the invention gives the calling party substantially more information and more control over their calls than is possible in conventional systems. Moreover, the greeting service can be implemented using existing standards. For example, the request for the location of the called party greeting data may be sent over the Internet/intranet using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and the greeting data may be sent via the Internet/intranet using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Furthermore, the greeting data sent to the calling party terminal may be in a form supported by a Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) page or Java screen, such that the calling party can use entry fields on the form to provide data and use HTML links or buttons to invoke actions. By using these standard and widely available communication mechanisms, the greeting service can be made instantly and widely accessible without change to the existing Internet/intranet infrastructure. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered together with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications system which implements an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of the user terminals in the communications system of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of the application server in the communications system of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are a flow diagram of functions performed by the elements of the communications system of FIG. 1 to implement an Internet/intranet-based greeting service in accordance with the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention will be illustrated below in conjunction with an exemplary greeting service implemented in a communications system. Although particularly well-suited for obtaining greeting data over the Internet using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections, the invention is not limited to use with any particular type of network or network communication protocol. The term “Intemet/intranet” as used herein should be understood to include the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a local area network, a wide area network, as well as combinations of these and other types of networks. An “IP call” as the term is used herein is intended to include calls placed over any Internet/intranet. The term “web page” should be understood to include any type of graphical information which is retrieved and displayed to a caller and which provides information about a called party, or allows a calling party to invoke functions relating to the called party. A given “web page” as the term is used herein may include multiple separate pages, windows, or other groupings of displayed information. For example, a portion of a given web page may be accessible via a link or other connection from another portion of that web page. 
     FIG. 1 shows a communications system which embodies an illustrative implementation of the invention. The communication system includes a telephone system  100 , such as the Lucent DEFINITY® PBX or Lucent LEGEND® PBX/key system, which is connected by voice ports to telephones  101 ,  102 ,  103 , and  104 . Telephone system  100  is also connected to an Internet/intranet  105 , which as previously noted may be any type of network. Connected to Internet/intranet  105  are user terminals  106 ,  107 ,  108 , and  110 , each of which may be, for example, a personal computer equipped with a web browser application  201  as shown in FIG. 2, such as a Netscape Navigator™ or a Microsoft Internet Explorer™. Also connected to Internet/intranet  105  is at least one application server  109 . 
     A calling party using telephone  102  or terminal  106  places calls to other parties, such as a called party using telephone  103 . Calls placed using telephone  102  are dialed using the telephone keypad, while calls placed using the terminal  106  are placed using a CTI connection over Internet/intranet  105  to telephone system  100 . In either case, the calls are transported by telephone system  100 . Telephone system  100  may redirect such calls to other parties, such as the party at telephone  101 , when the called party at telephone  103  is busy on an existing call or is not available to answer the call. Such calls may also be redirected to a voice messaging system (not shown), so that the calling party may listen to a voice greeting supplied by the called party and/or leave a message for the called party. In addition, the called party may have their calls forwarded by telephone system  100  to an alternate telephone such as telephone  104 . In a typical conventional system, redirection of the call is controlled by telephone system  100  and the calling party does not receive greeting information on terminal  106  about the called party. 
     The calling party using terminal  106  can also place calls to other parties, such as a called party at terminal  108 , using an IP telephony application  202  as shown in FIG.  2 . Exemplary IP telephony applications include Microsoft Net meeting™ or a VocalTec™ Internet Phone. Calls initiated in this manner using the IP telephony application program  202  are transported by Internet/intranet  105 . In a typical conventional system, no call redirection is provided and the calling party terminal  106  does not display greeting information about the called party. 
     In accordance with the invention, the calling party terminal  106  interacts with application server  109  over Intemet/intranet  105  to provide a Internet/intranet-based greeting service which will be described in greater detail below. 
     FIG. 2 shows the terminals  106 ,  107 ,  108  and  110  in greater detail. The terminals  106 ,  107 ,  108  and  110  in the illustrative embodiment are each equipped with the web browser application  201 , the IP telephony application  202 , and a client greeting application  203 . The client greeting application  203  receives call initiation and call progress information from either the IP telephony application  202  or the telephone system  100 . Client greeting application  203  is notified when calls are initiated and subsequently controls the presentation of greeting data using web browser application  201 . Under different calling scenarios, terminals  106 ,  107 ,  108 , and  110  may change roles depending upon which user initiates the call. For example, the user of terminal  108  becomes the calling party when that user initiates a call. Similarly, the user of terminal  106  becomes the called party when calls are placed to that user. The operation of these and other scenarios will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are therefore not further described herein. 
     FIG. 3 shows the application server  109  in greater detail. Application server  109  in this embodiment is equipped with a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server application  301  such as a Netscape Fasttrack™ Server or a Microsoft Internet Information Server. HTTP server application  301  responds to requests for greeting information from Web browser application  201 . Application server  109  is also equipped with a directory server application  304  which responds to requests from client greeting application  203  for the location of the greeting information. Directory server application  304  returns other data associated with the user identified in the request sent by client greeting application  203 . Application server  109  is further equipped with a greeting server application  302  which interfaces with HTTP server application  301  and user greeting data  303 . User greeting data  303  contains records of data associated with each user. The data records may include each user&#39;s ID, name, telephone number, IP address, alternate telephone numbers, alternate IP addresses, names and telephone numbers of alternate contacts such as an operator, superior or secretary, IP addresses of alternate contacts such as an operator, superior or secretary, personal calendars, numeric and/or alphanumeric pager information, personal photographs, etc. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show exemplary functions performed by the elements of FIGS. 1 through 3 to provide an Intemet/intranet-based greeting service in accordance with the invention. At step  400 , the calling party at telephone  102  and terminal  106  initiates a call to the called party at telephone  103  and terminal  108 . The call may be transported by either Intemet/intranet  105  or telephone system  100 . If transported by Intemet/intranet  105 , the call is initiated using IP telephony application  202  of terminal  106  and the IP address of the called party at terminal  108  is passed to client greeting application  203 . If transported by telephone system  100 , the call is initiated using the keypad on telephone  102  or by using a CTI dialing application (not shown) on terminal  106 . In this case, the telephone number of the called party at telephone  103  is passed to client greeting application  203  of terminal  106 . The telephone number is passed to client greeting application  203  either directly from a CTI dialing application (not shown) on terminal  106  or is passed over Internet/intranet  105  from telephone system  100 . 
     The identifier for the called party derived in step  400  is used in step  401  to determine the URL for the greeting data associated with the called party at terminal  108  and telephone  103 . Client greeting application  203  of terminal  106  sends the IP address or telephone number of the called party to directory server application  304  on application server  109  via Intemet/intranet  105  in the form of a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) query. In response to this request, directory server application  304  looks up the URL associated with the called party&#39;s greeting data. This URL is returned to client greeting application  203  of terminal  106  via Internet/intranet  105  in the form of an LDAP response. 
     The returned URL is used at step  403  by client greeting application  203  to invoke the calling party&#39;s Web browser  201 . Invoking Web browser  201  with a URL in this manner causes an HTTP request for the information referenced by the URL to be sent over Internet/intranet  105  to HTTP server application  301  on application server  109 . This request is received by HTTP server application  301  at step  404 . The requested URL is in a form that allows HTTP server application  301  to invoke processing of a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script. Greeting server application  302  serves as such a CGI script for URLs referencing greeting data. Greeting server application  302  retrieves the user greeting data  303  associated with the requested URL. Greeting server application  302  then formats the user greeting data into a format which is suitable for display by web browser application  201 , such as a general Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) page or an HTML page which references a downloadable Java applet. 
     The appropriately formatted data is then sent via Internet/intranet  105  to web browser application  201 . At step  405 , in response to the received data, web browser application  201  displays the received data for the called party at terminal  106 . The calling party at terminal  106  may now view the greeting data associated with the called party and take actions, to be described in conjunction with FIG. 5 below, or wait for the call to proceed. If the call is answered at step  406 , the calling and called parties may converse as shown in step  407 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, at step  500  the calling party at terminal  106  may fill in fields and/or choose actions available in conjunction with the greeting data displayed in web browser application  201 . Examples of possible actions the calling party may take are shown in steps  501  through  504 . The calling party may take these actions whether or not the call is answered. 
     At step  501 , the calling party at terminal  106  chooses to initiate a call to an alternate destination for the called party. The alternate destination may be selected from a list presented with the greeting information displayed by web browser application  201 . For calls transported by telephone system  100 , the alternate destinations may include an alternate destination on the same phone system, such as telephone  104 , or destinations in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) including home and cellular phones. These types of calls may be implemented using conventional CTI capabilities of telephone system  100 . In response to the calling party selection, greeting server application  302  sends a request for a call to be established between the calling party telephone  102  and the telephone number for the selected alternate destination. The request is sent over Internet/intranet  105  from greeting server application  302  to telephone system  100 . In response to the received request, telephone system  100  initiates a call from telephone  102  to the identified alternate destination. For calls transported by Internet/intranet  105 , the possible alternate destinations include alternate terminals for the called party that are equipped with an IP telephony application, such as terminal  110 . Such calls may be implemented using conventional IP telephony protocols. In response to the calling party selection, greeting server application  302  sends the IP address of the selected alternate destination to client greeting application  203  on the calling party&#39;s terminal  106  via Internet/intranet  105 . In response to the received IP address, client greeting application  203  initiates an IP telephony call using the received IP address and IP telephony application  202 . 
     At step  502 , the calling party at terminal  106  chooses to initiate a call to a party other than the called party, such as an operator, superior, or secretary of the called party. The other party may be selected from a list presented with the greeting information displayed by web browser application  201 . As in step  501 , for calls transported by telephone system  100 , the other destinations may include another destination on the same phone system such as telephone  101  or destinations in the PSTN, and the call can be implemented using conventional CTI capabilities of telephone system  100 . For calls transported by Internet/intranet  105 , the other destinations may include other terminals that are equipped with an IP telephony application, such as terminal  107 , and the call can be implemented using conventional IP telephony protocols. 
     At step  503 , the calling party chooses to page the called party. This action is chosen after the information to be sent to a called party pager is entered in step  500 . The information may be numeric, such a telephone number for the called party to call, or alphanumeric, such a text message. The called party is then paged with the entered information via conventional techniques. For example, in response to the calling party selection, greeting server application  302  formulates an electronic mail message identifying the called party and the information to send to the called party pager. This electronic mail message may be sent to the electronic mail system of the service provider of the called party&#39;s paging service. In response to the receipt of the electronic mail message, the service provider sends a page to the called party which contains the information collected from the calling party. As another example, in response to the calling party selection, greeting server application  302  interacts with telephony hardware such as a Dialogic Tip/Ring interface card to place a call via the PSTN to the service provider of the called party&#39;s paging service. A conventional dial-up paging system call may be used to request a page to the called party with the information collected from the calling party. In response to the received request, the service provider sends a page to the called party which contains the information collected from the calling party. 
     At step  504 , the calling party chooses any other action and/or views any other data the called party wishes to present on their greeting web page. This includes but is not limited to retrieving documents the called party wishes to make available, viewing the called party&#39;s calendar, viewing other data associated with the called party such as company title, electronic mail address, favorite URLs, personal photograph, etc., leaving a message for the called party, launching a terminal-based chat session with the called party, and viewing information that is intended only for the specific calling party. 
     Of course, various changes and modifications to the illustrative embodiment described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, multiple application servers may be employed to implement the Intemet/intranet greeting service. The HTTP server application  301 , the greeting server application  302 , and the directory server application  304  of the application server  109  may each be implemented on different host computers. Furthermore, the functions of the various individual applications  301 ,  302  and  304  of application server  109  could be combined into a single server. Similarly, the applications  201 ,  202  and  203  of a given user terminal could be implemented in a single server application program. 
     Another possible modification involves the elimination of the directory server application  304 . Requests for greeting data from the calling party web browser  201  to the HTTP server  301  could instead take a from similar to “http://&lt;server address&gt;/&lt;telephone number&gt;” or “http://&lt;server address&gt;/&lt;IP address&gt;” where &lt;server address&gt; is preconfigured in all user terminals and &lt;telephone number&gt; or &lt;IP address&gt; is provided by the client greeting application after the call is initialized. The &lt;telephone number&gt; or &lt;IP address&gt; is passed by the HTTP server  301  to the greeting server application  302 . The greeting server application  302  can then resolve the &lt;telephone number&gt; or &lt;IP address&gt; to the corresponding greeting data without the need for a directory server such as server  304 . 
     Other possible modifications involve changes to the physical connectivity of the user terminals to the telephone system so as to equip the user terminals with CTI features such as call placement and receipt of call progress information. In particular, two alternate forms of CTI connectivity could be supported. One is known as LAN-Proxy CTI and the other is known as Direct-Connect CTI. An illustrative implementation of the invention for each of these alternate types of connectivity is given below. In the case of LAN-Proxy CTI, a server equipped with the physical hardware required to terminate an interface that the telephone system natively supports, such as a Basic Rate Interface (BRI), is set up. The server is equipped with a connection to the Internet/intranet, and with any additional hardware or software that is required to convert messages from the telephone system native interface to messages that can be transported by the Internet/intranet. This server acts as a proxy between the telephone system and user terminals for CTI features. CTI messages are delivered to and from user terminals over the Internet/intranet and to and from the telephone system over its native interface. In the case of Direct-Connect CTI, the user terminals are equipped with the hardware and software needed to directly connect to a telephone adapter. The telephone adapter may be integrated into a user&#39;s telephone or exist as an adjunct to the telephone and provides access to CTI messages sent to and from the telephone system. In this case, CTI messages are delivered to and from the user terminal via the terminal adapter without the use of the Internet/intranet. These and other alternative embodiments of the invention within the scope of the following claims will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.