Abstract:
A method, system and computer instructions are disclosed for visually representing telephone call tree interfaces for interaction by users of data network phones, such as, for example, wire-line telephones, data network telephones, or IP telephones. A caller can connect to an automated telephone answering service, and view a display of an interactive, visual interface for a call tree. The display can depict actions that can be taken with respect to the nodes of the call tree. The visual interface can show details about one or more nodes of the call tree, and the caller can select a node for interaction and enter a wait queue associated with the selected node. For example, the caller can use a wire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone to interact with, navigate and/or modify the displayed call tree.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Technical Field  
         [0002]     The present invention relates generally to telephony, and in particular, but not exclusively, to a method and system for visually representing call tree interfaces for interaction by users of telephones such as, for example, wire-line telephones, wireless telephones, data network telephones, or Internet Protocol (IP) telephones.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     Automated telephone answering systems are typically software applications that answer and process incoming telephone calls. So-called “call path” or “call tree” systems are automated telephone answering systems used by businesses to reduce the costs of answering customers&#39; calls. However, these cost reductions are usually offset by the inconveniences forced on the customers, who typically have to wade through a long, confusing and sometimes frustrating maze of options in menu form. These menus of options are commonly referred to as “call trees”.  
         [0005]     A significant drawback of existing call tree systems is that they typically require callers to make multiple attempts before they can traverse the menu options successfully. For example, in the health care field, a patient might submit a payment request to an insurance provider for services performed by a healthcare provider. If the healthcare provider fails to submit the appropriate paperwork to the insurance provider in order to support the alleged services performed, the insurance provider might reject the patient&#39;s submission. Typically, the patient&#39;s only recourse is to call the insurance provider. If the insurance provider&#39;s answering system uses a complicated and/or confusing call tree, having to navigate such a complicated or confusing call tree only exacerbates the patient&#39;s concern and frustration about the rejected payment request.  
         [0006]     Another drawback of existing call tree systems is that significantly different call trees are typically used in similar technologies. For example, a call tree used for voice mail in a cellular telephone system can be significantly different than the call tree used for voice mail in the wire-line telephone system within the same region.  
         [0007]     Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and system that allows a caller to interact with and modify a call tree, and thereby make it easier and quicker for the caller to navigate the call tree options successfully.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention provides a method, system and computer instructions for visually representing telephone call tree interfaces for interaction by users of telephones, such as, for example, wire-line telephones, wireless telephones, data network telephones, or IP telephones. A caller can connect to an automated telephone answering service, and view a display of an interactive, visual interface for a call tree. The display can depict actions that can be taken with respect to the nodes of the call tree. The visual interface can show details about one or more nodes of the call tree, and the caller can select a node for interaction and enter a wait queue associated with the selected node. For example, the caller can use a wire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone to interact with, navigate and/or modify the displayed call tree.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a system diagram illustrating a plurality of interconnected, heterogeneous networks in which the present invention may be implemented;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a pictorial diagram of a wireless telephone that can be used for implementing a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a wireless telephone, such as any of the wireless telephones illustrated in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0013]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are related exemplary screens of display that illustrate principles of the present invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a process for visually representing an interactive telephone call tree in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to  FIG. 1 , a system diagram illustrating a plurality of interconnected, heterogeneous networks in which the present invention may be implemented is depicted. As illustrated, exemplary system  100  includes IP network  102 , Local Area Network (LAN)/Wide Area Network (WAN)  104 , Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)  109 , cellular wireless network  112 , and satellite communications network  116 . As such, system  100  makes up a plurality of heterogeneous networks, and one or more of these networks can be used to implement the present invention.  
         [0016]     IP network  102  can be a publicly available IP network, a private IP network, or a combination of public and private IP networks. In any case, IP network  102  operates according to the Internet Protocol and can route packets through its numerous switches and transmission paths. IP networks are generally known in the art to be expandable, fairly easy to use and heavily supported. Coupled to IP network  102  is Domain Name Server (DNS)  108  to which queries may be sent, with such queries each requesting an IP address based upon a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). IP network  102  can support 32 bit IP addresses as well as 128 bit IP addresses.  
         [0017]     LAN/WAN  104  is coupled to IP network  102  via proxy server  106  (or any other appropriate connection). LAN/WAN  104  can operate according to various communication protocols, such as the Internet Protocol, the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol, or other known packet switched protocols. Proxy server  106  functions primarily to route data between IP network  102  and LAN/WAN  104 . A firewall that precludes unwanted communications from entering LAN/WAN  104  may also be located at the site of proxy server  106 .  
         [0018]     Computer  120  is coupled to LAN/WAN  104  and supports communications with LAN/WAN  104 . Computer  120  can employ LAN/WAN  104  and proxy server  106  to communicate with other devices across IP network  102 . Such communications are generally known in the art and will not be further described herein except to expand upon the teachings of the present invention. Also, phone  122  can be coupled to computer  120  and employed to initiate IP Telephony communications with another phone or voice terminal using the IP Telephony functions available. In such an IP telephony system, a service provider can deploy a gatekeeper (not shown) to manage IP telephony for its users. IP phone  154  connected to IP network  102  (or other phone, such as, for example, phone  124 ) can be used to communicate with phone  122  using IP telephony.  
         [0019]     PSTN  109  is a circuit switched network that is employed primarily for voice communications, such as those enabled by standard phone  124 . However, PSTN  109  can also support the transmission of data. Data transmissions may be supported to a tone-based terminal, such as facsimile (FAX) machine  125 , a tone-based modem contained in computer  126 , or another device that can be coupled to PSTN  109  via a digital connection, such as an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) line, an Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), or another appropriate digital connection to a terminal that supports such a connection. As illustrated, a voice terminal, such as phone  128 , can be coupled to PSTN  109  via computer  126  rather than being supported directly by PSTN  109 , as can be the case with phone  124 . Thus, for example, computer  126  can support IP telephony with voice terminal  128 .  
         [0020]     Cellular network  112  supports wireless communications with terminals operating within its service area (e.g., providing coverage for a city, county, state, country, etc.). Cellular network  112  can include a plurality of base transmitter system (BTS) towers (e.g., tower  130 ), and each such tower can define and service radiotelephone or wireless communications within a respective cell. Wireless terminals operate in conjunction with cellular network  112  and can include wireless handsets  132  and wireless-enabled laptop or personal computers  134 , for example. Wireless handsets  132  can be, for example, personal digital assistants (PDA&#39;s), radiotelephones, wireless or cellular telephones, or two-way pagers. Cellular network  112  can be coupled to IP network  102  via gateway  114 .  
         [0021]     Wireless handsets  132  and wireless-enabled laptop or personal computers  134  can communicate with cellular network  112  using, for example, a wireless application protocol (WAP). The WAP is an open, global specification that allows mobile users with wireless devices, such as, for example, mobile phones, pagers, two-way telephones phones, radiotelephones, smart-phones, communicators, PDA&#39;s, and portable laptop or similar personal computers, to easily and almost instantly access and interact with network provided information and services. The WAP is a communications protocol and application environment and can be built on any operating system (OS) including, for example, Palm OS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, and a Java OS. The WAP can also provide interoperability between different families of devices.  
         [0022]     Furthermore, the WAP is a wireless equivalent of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The HTTP-like component of the WAP defines the communication protocol between the handheld device and a server or gateway. This component addresses characteristics that are unique to wireless devices, such as data rate and round-trip response time. The HTML-like component of the WAP, Wireless Markup Language (WML), defines markup and scripting languages for displaying information to, and interacting with, the users. The WML component of the WAP is highly focused on the limited display size and limited input devices available on small, handheld devices. For example, a typical cell phone may have a 4×10-character display with 16-gray levels, a numeric keypad, and up/down volume keys.  
         [0023]     Cellular network  112  operates according to a particular mobile radiotelephone operating standard, which can be, for example, an Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) standard, Digital-AMPS (D-AMPS) standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) standard, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, or any other appropriate mobile radiotelephone operating standard. As such, independent of the standards supported by cellular network  112 , cellular network  112  can support voice and data communications with terminal units, such as, for example, terminals  132  and  134 .  
         [0024]     Exemplary satellite network  116  includes at least one satellite dish  136  that operates in conjunction with one or more satellites  138  to provide satellite communications with a plurality of terminals, such as, for example, laptop or personal computer  142  and satellite handset  140 . Also, satellite handset  140  can be a two-way pager. Satellite network  116  can be serviced by one or more geo-synchronous orbiting communications satellites, a plurality of medium earth orbit (MEO) communications satellites, or a plurality of low earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites. In any case, satellite network  116  can provide voice and data communications and services and can be coupled to IP network  102  via gateway  118 .  
         [0025]     Wireless Proxy  160  can be coupled to IP network  102  and also to a plurality of transmission/reception towers (e.g., tower  162 ), each of which can provide wireless communications with wireless devices such as, for example, wireless device  164 . Wireless Proxy  160  can provide access to IP network  102  for wireless device  164 . For example, wireless device  164  can be a PDA or wireless telephone, which may require proprietary or other special protocols in order to communicate with IP network  102 . For example, wireless proxy server  160  can be a 3Com server utilizing 3Com protocols for communicating with a Palm VII, which is a handheld, portable computing device available from 3Com Corporation in Santa Clara, Calif.  
         [0026]     Also, wireless proxy  160  can be a 3Com proxy server supporting communications with, for example, a Palm VII personal organizer, and portable computing device  164  can be a Palm VII personal organizer. As such, communications between wireless proxy server  160  and portable computing device  164  can be facilitated by the use of Palm Query Applications (PQAs).  
         [0027]     A PQA is similar to a mini-Web site that can reside on portable computing device  164 . In other words, a PQA can be a special type of records database. A typical PQA can contain an HTML form, or a list of hyperlinks that request additional information either locally on personal computing device  164  or remotely via the Internet. As such, PQAs are available that can access targeted bits of Internet information, similar to clippings from a newspaper. Typically, a handheld computer user does not focus on following hyperlinks to the Internet (although this is available), but instead, a typical user composes a simple query in a PQA (for example a request for a stock quote), and then sends that query over the airwaves.  
         [0028]     In any event, the configurations and operations of the networks shown in  FIG. 1  are described herein for illustrative and explanatory purposes only, and are intended as examples and not as architectural limitations for the processes of the present invention.  
         [0029]     With reference now to  FIG. 2 , a pictorial diagram of a wireless telephone is depicted that can be used for implementing a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Wireless telephone  200  can include display  202  for presenting at least textual and graphical information. Display  202  can be a known display device, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display, or any other display device that can be used appropriately with such a wireless telephone. For this exemplary embodiment, display  202  can be used to present and manipulate, among other things, a call tree or similar menu of options provided, for example, from an automated telephone answering system. Also, for this embodiment, wireless telephone  200  can include appropriate software to execute a Web browser and perform such processing functions as downloading and uploading data from and to the Internet, and similar other processing functions. As such, wireless telephone  200  can also perform the two-way communication functions of a typical wireless telephone.  
         [0030]     Wireless telephone  200  may also include keypad  204 , speaker  206 , antenna  208 , and microphone  212 . Keypad  204  may be used to receive typed or cursor-like input from a user. Speaker  206  provides a mechanism for audio output, such as the voice audio of a party to whom the user of wireless telephone  200  may be speaking. Microphone  212  provides a mechanism for audio input such as for speaking to a called party. Antenna  208  provides a mechanism for establishing a wireless communications link between wireless phone  200  and a network, such as, for example, network  102  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0031]     In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wireless telephone  200  may also be an IP telephone, or alternatively, for example, a Voice-over IP (VoIP) telephone using packet-switching technologies. For this exemplary embodiment, a caller can dial the number of an automated telephone answering system associated with a particular service provider. A digital Private Branch Exchange (PBX), server, or gateway (not shown) can map the dialed telephone number to an IP address of an IP host associated with the automated telephone answering system.  
         [0032]     In this example, it may be assumed that the IP host can be the automated telephone answering system involved. As such, a session can be established between the PBX, server or gateway associated with wireless telephone  200  and the called party&#39;s (e.g., automated telephone answering system&#39;s) IP host. For this example, wireless telephone  200  can be operated in accordance with an accepted VoIP protocol, such as, for example, the known H.323 Protocol or the known Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).  
         [0033]     For this exemplary embodiment, wireless telephone  200  can establish a session with a computer associated with the automated telephone answering system involved. Nevertheless, the use of wireless telephone  200  is for illustrative purposes only and not intended as an architectural limitation for the present invention. Any appropriate telephone (e.g., in  FIG. 1 ) that can function primarily to enable a user to interact with a call tree can be used to implement the present invention.  
         [0034]     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of a wireless telephone is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Wireless telephone  300  is an example of a wireless telephone, such as wireless telephone  200  in  FIG. 2 , in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the present invention may be stored and executed. Exemplary wireless telephone  300  includes bus  302  to which processor  304  and main memory  306  are connected. Display adapter  308 , keypad adapter  310 , storage  312 , microphone adapter  318 , audio adapter  314 , and automatic answer unit  316  also are connected to bus  302 .  
         [0035]     For this exemplary embodiment, an OS runs on processor  304  and can be used to coordinate and provide control of various components within wireless telephone  300  in  FIG. 3 . Instructions for the OS and applications or programs can be located on storage devices, such as storage device  312 , and can be loaded into main memory  306  for execution by processor  304 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIG. 3  can vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash ROM (or equivalent nonvolatile memory) or optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0036]     With reference now to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , related exemplary screens of display are depicted that illustrate principles of the present invention. For example, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the exemplary information shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  can represent illustrative screens of display of call trees or menu options published (e.g., as an HTML or HTML-like page, Extensible ML (XML) page, WML page, etc.) by an Internet or other network service provider associated with an automated telephone answering system. Also, for example, the exemplary information shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  can represent illustrative screens of display on wireless telephone  200  or other appropriate wireless telephones (e.g., wireless telephone  132 ,  140 ,  164 ), and/or a monitor for a computer (e.g.,  120 ,  126 ,  134 ,  142 ). For this exemplary embodiment, it may be assumed (for illustrative purposes only) that the exemplary information of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  are related, interactive screens for the display of wireless telephone  200  and interaction by a user of wireless telephone  200 . In this regard, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, exemplary screen of display  400   b  in  FIG. 4B  represents an expansion (e.g., with additional details) of menu item  402   a  in  FIG. 4A .  
         [0037]     Referring now to  FIG. 4A , for this exemplary embodiment, screen of display  400   a  can represent an HTML or HTML-like web page that can be displayed on an IP phone (e.g., wireless telephone  200 ) or a monitor associated with a computer that can be viewed by a user of a wire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone. Alternatively, screen of display  400   a  can represent a WML page, XML page or similar (web) page. For this example, it may be assumed that screen of display  400   a  is displayed on a display device of wireless telephone  200 . Also, for illustrative purposes and ease of understanding, it may be assumed that wireless telephone  200  is wireless IP telephone  164  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0038]     With reference now to  FIG. 5 , a flowchart of a process for visually representing an interactive telephone call tree interface is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As such, for this example, the process illustrated in  FIG. 5  may be implemented by wireless IP telephone  164  (e.g., configured as wireless telephone  200 ).  
         [0039]     Exemplary process  500  begins by a user accessing a call tree of interest (step  502 ). For example, the user can place a telephone call (e.g., with wireless IP telephone  164 ) to a number associated with a particular service provider (e.g., Information Technology Services Call Center), and an automated telephone answering system can answer that call. Also, for example, the number called can be for a telephone associated with that service provider (e.g., for wire-line telephone  128 ), and the number and telephone also can be associated with a computer (e.g., computer  126 ) where an application for such an automated telephone answering system can reside.  
         [0040]     Once an appropriate telephone connection is made between these telephones or telephone systems, an application running in wireless IP telephone  164  (or the user) can determine whether or not this particular telephone number and/or service provider has been called earlier (step  504 ). If not, wireless IP telephone  164  can display text describing this fact for the user. In response, the user (e.g., or software application running in wireless IP telephone  164 ) can initiate a download (e.g., with an internal browser) of the service provider&#39;s call tree (step  506 ). As described earlier, the downloaded call tree can be provided to wireless IP telephone  164  as an interactive HTML or HTML-like (e.g., WML, XML, etc.) page. As an alternative, the service provider&#39;s call tree can be input (e.g., manually keyed) directly into wireless IP telephone  164  as an interactive HTML or HTML-like page. Also, as another alternative, a speech recognition application running in wireless IP telephone  164  can be used for vocally inputting the interactive call tree into wireless IP telephone  164 .  
         [0041]     Next, the application running in wireless IP telephone  164  can display the downloaded call tree as the HTML or HTML-like page (step  510 ). An illustrative example of such a page for a call tree (or menu) is screen of display  400   a  shown in  FIG. 4A . For this example, it may be assumed that a user of wireless telephone  164  can interact with and utilize call tree  400   a  via keyed and/or cursor inputs to wireless telephone  164 .  
         [0042]     Next, the user can decide whether or not to interact with, and/or access a node of, displayed call tree  400   a  (step  512 ). If not, at some pertinent point in time, the user can decide whether or not to terminate the call (step  514 ). If the user decides not to terminate the call, then the flow can return to step  510 . Otherwise, the user can terminate the call if so desired.  
         [0043]     For this exemplary embodiment, the user of wireless IP telephone  164  can decide whether or not to access a node of call tree  400   a  by “hovering” (e.g., placing a cursor temporarily) over or highlighting a node of interest on the HTML or HTML-like page. Responsive to such a “hovering” or highlighting action for a node of interest, the browser in wireless IP telephone  164  and application associated with the displayed HTML or HTML-like page can generate a new display (e.g., new HTML or HTML-like page, or separate frame) including certain details regarding the node of interest. An illustrative example of such a new page for a node of interest in the call tree of  FIG. 4A  is screen of display  400   b  shown in  FIG. 4B .  
         [0044]     For this exemplary embodiment, referring to screen of display  400   b  of  FIG. 4B , it may be assumed that a user of wireless IP telephone  164  has “hovered” over node  402   a  in screen of display  400   a  of  FIG. 4A , and in response to the “hovering” action, a new page with certain details of node  402   a  has been displayed as node  402   b  of  FIG. 4B  (step  516 ). For this example, if the user of wireless telephone  164  decides to access node  402   a , the user can select node  402   a  on the interactive HTML or HTML-like page in display  400   a  of  FIG. 4A  (step  518 ). For example, the user can select node  402   a  by performing a “clicking” function on node  402   a  with a cursor on the display of wireless IP telephone  164 . Then, for example, the application of wireless IP telephone  164  can be placed in a “wait” queue for further user interaction with node  402   b  in  FIG. 4B .  
         [0045]     As an alternative, for this exemplary embodiment, the user of a wire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, wireless IP telephone, etc. can select node  402   a  for interaction by “clicking” on, or dialing, the number shown (e.g., 1-512-838-7777). As another alternative, appropriate tones representing that telephone number can be downloaded to an appropriate computer, and the tones can be played from a speaker of the computer to a mouthpiece of a telephone in order for that telephone to dial the telephone number shown.  
         [0046]     Returning to step  504 , if the application running in wireless IP telephone  164  (or the user) determines that this particular telephone number and/or service provider has been called earlier, then the application (or the user) can initiate an action for wireless telephone  164  to retrieve a stored call tree node, such as, for example, node  402   b  of display  400   b  (step  508 ). For example, the stored call tree node can be retrieved from storage  312  in  FIG. 3 . The flow can then proceed to step  510 .  
         [0047]     It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system or system of communication networks, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a RAM, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and transmission-type media, such as digital and analog communications links, wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms, such as, for example, radio frequency and light wave transmissions. The computer readable media may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual use in a particular data processing system.  
         [0048]     The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.