Patent Abstract:
A system and method for initiating a telephone call to a telephone line that is connected to a modem and an answering machine, the modem being configured to connect to the telephone call prior to the answering machine, determining whether the modem has connected to the telephone call, determining, if the modem has not connected to the telephone call, whether the answering machine has connected to the telephone call and providing a first indication to a user if neither of the modem nor the answering machine has connected to the telephone call.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Many sites housing network equipment are remote and unstaffed. As a result, no human is typically present to diagnose equipment failures on-site. Dispatching a technician to do so can be costly and time-consuming. It may be advantageous to be able to diagnose such failures remotely. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method for initiating a telephone call to a telephone line that is connected to a modem and an answering machine, the modem being configured to connect to the telephone call prior to the answering machine, determining whether the modem has connected to the telephone call, determining, if the modem has not connected to the telephone call, whether the answering machine has connected to the telephone call and providing a first indication to a user if neither of the modem nor the answering machine has connected to the telephone call. 
     A system having a networking component connected to a power source, a modem connected to the networking component, to the power source, and to a telephone line, the modem being configured to answer an incoming call on the telephone line after a first predetermined time period and a telephone answering machine connected to the power source and to the telephone line, the answering machine being configured to answer the incoming call on the telephone line after a second predetermined time period, the second time period being longer than the first predetermined time period. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an exemplary system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows an exemplary method according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention describe systems and methods for diagnosing problems with network hardware. 
     The exemplary embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods whereby network problems may be diagnosed remotely with more precision than previously possible. This may prevent excessive site trips by technicians; such trips may be time-consuming and expensive, and may also be inadequate to resolve certain types of problems (e.g., power outages). Moreover, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be implemented with only minor cost and difficulty. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary system  100  according to the present invention. The system may be administered by a management console  110 , which may be, for example, a user workstation dedicated to operating the system  100 , a user workstation dedicated to network management but performing additional tasks besides those disclosed in this disclosure, a general-purpose workstation capable of performing these tasks, etc. The management console  110  may be a dedicated hardware component or may be a software application running on a computer system that also performs other tasks. 
     The management console  110  may communicate with other elements of the system  100  via a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”)  120 . The PSTN  120  is a network of circuit-switched telephone networks, and may typically use E.163/E.164 addresses (i.e., telephone numbers) for addressing of data. The PSTN may include a plurality of telephone lines, including telephone line  130 , to which the modem  140  and the answering machine  150  are both connected. 
     Using the PSTN  120 , the management console  110  may have access to the modem  140  and the answering machine  150 . The modem  140  may be any type of modem that may be capable of communicating with a computer and of conducting data communications over the PSTN  120 . The answering machine  150  may be a device that monitors traffic over a single phone line of the PSTN  120  (e.g., the phone line  130 ) and that is configured to answer an incoming call after a preselected period of time. The answering machine  150  may be configured to then play an outgoing message and record an incoming message. In the exemplary system  100  of the present invention, both the modem  140  and the answering machine  150  are configured to answer an incoming call after a respective preselected period of time; the configured period of time for the answering machine  150  may be longer than that for the modem  140 . In one exemplary embodiment, the modem  140  may be configured to answer an incoming call on the phone line  130  after one ring, while the answering machine  150  may be configured to answer an incoming call on the phone line  130  after three rings. 
     The modem  140  may be connected to a network component  160 . The network component  160  may be, for example, a data router, but may also be any other type network component which is desirable to monitor remotely, and which may either incorporate a modem internally or may be attached to one. Those of skill in the art will understand that while  FIG. 1  illustrates a system  100  including a network component  160  connected to a separate modem  140 , the principles of the present invention may be equally applicable to a network component  160  that includes an integral modem. 
     The modem  140 , answering machine  150 , and network component  160  may be connected to the same power source  170 .  FIG. 1  illustrates that the power source  170  is a power strip or surge protector; however, the power source  170  may be any comparable component suitable for causing the modem  140 , the answering machine  150 , and the network component  160  to respond identically to power failures. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary method  200  by which the exemplary system  100  of  FIG. 1  may operate. Those of skill in the art will understand that while the method  200  is described herein with specific reference to the system  100 , it is equally applicable to any other combination of elements that may be capable of executing the steps described. In step  210 , a user of the management console  110  initiates a process to diagnose a problem involving the network component  160 . This may occur because the user has become aware of the existence of an undiagnosed problem with the network component  160  (e.g., because a signal has been lost on a data link to the network component  160 , because a loss of functionality of the network component  160  has been reported by someone attempting to access the network component  160 , etc.) or as part of periodic maintenance to communicate with the network component  160  (which may be one of a plurality of similar components comprising a network) to determine whether any problems have occurred. Alternately, in other embodiments of the present invention, the process may be initiated automatically (e.g., by a computer program running on the management console  110  in embodiments where the management console  110  is a hardware component; by the management console  110  itself in embodiments where the management console  110  is a computer program, etc.) either in response to a specific problem involving the network component  160  or periodically to monitor the performance of the network component  160  as well as of other network components (not shown). 
     In step  220 , the management console  110  dials the phone line  130  via the PSTN  120 . Dialing may be accomplished, for example, via a modem (not shown) that is connected to or part of the management console  110 , or via another mechanism through which data communications may be conducted. In step  230 , the modem  140  does or does not answer the incoming call on the phone line  130  within a first predetermined time period (e.g., one ring, five seconds, etc.). If the modem  140  answers, then in step  240 , data communication may take place between the management console  110  and the modem  140 . This communication may involve the diagnosis of a problem involving the network component  160 , to which the modem  140  is connected, or it may simply confirm whether the network component  160  is operating and/or whether the network component  160  is operating properly. Following step  240 , the method terminates. 
     If, however, the modem  140  does not receive the incoming call in step  230 , the method proceeds to step  250 . In step  250 , the answering machine  150  does or does not answer the incoming call on the phone line  130  within a second predetermined time period (e.g., three rings, ten seconds, etc.). If the answering machine  150  answers the incoming call, then the method continues at step  260 . 
     In step  260 , the answering machine  150  plays an outgoing message over phone line  130  and PSTN  120 . The contents of the message are unimportant; the fact that the message is transmitted indicates to the management console  110  (or a user thereof) that there is a problem with either the modem  140  or the network component  160 . Following step  260 , the method terminates. Those of skill in the art will understand that the next step in diagnosing and repairing a problem with the modem  140  or the network component  160  may be to dispatch a technician to the site where the network component  160  is located; however, this or other subsequent troubleshooting steps are beyond the scope of the exemplary method  200 . 
     While it is not required, the outgoing message played by the answering machine  150  may have specific characteristics. For example, the outgoing message may be encoded to identify the hardware, encrypted to prevent attackers from using it to do network mapping, etc. In another exemplary embodiment, the answering machine  150  may have the ability to measure and announce the temperature at the site in the outgoing message. 
     However, if the answering machine  150  does not answer in step  250 , then the method proceeds to step  270 . In this step, the problem may be diagnosed as a problem involving the power source  170 . This presumption may be made because simultaneous failure of the network component  160 , modem  140  and the answering machine  150  is a rare occurrence; if the answering machine  150  does not answer, it is reasonable to presume that power must have failed. Following step  270 , the method terminates. As discussed above, further troubleshooting steps may follow but are beyond the scope of the exemplary method  200 . For example, after concluding that there is a problem with the power source  170 , a user of the management console  110  may dispatch a technician to the site where the power source  170  is located to determine the nature of the problem (e.g., in embodiments where the power source  170  is a power strip, surge protector, etc.), or may alternately contact the power provider for the site to inform them of the problem. 
     As described above, performance of the above exemplary method may be automated to periodically poll various network components for information about their status. In another exemplary embodiment including such automation, results of such polling may be recorded in a log file. Such a log file may then be analyzed to determine whether any discovered problems may be occurring systematically, rather than in isolated instances. 
     In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the system may include an answering machine that may be connected to the same power source as the network component, but may also provide a battery backup. In such an embodiment, the answering machine may be programmed to automatically place an outgoing call (e.g., to a management console) when it detects a power failure. This may thus automate the process of calling the modem for continuous monitoring. 
     The exemplary embodiments of the present invention may thus make it possible to more effectively remotely diagnose problems affecting network hardware components. Using the above-described exemplary embodiments, the information obtained by simply placing a phone call may inform a technician as to the specific nature of such problems, often saving a site trip that may be time-consuming and expensive. Further, the implementation of the above exemplary embodiments may be very simple, merely requiring commonly-accessible resources such as a phone line, a modem, an answering machine and a power strip. 
     The present invention has been described with reference to the above specific exemplary embodiments. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the same principles may be applied to other embodiments of the present invention, and that the exemplary embodiments should therefore be read in an illustrative, rather than limiting, sense.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7