Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8879707B2/en
Timestamp: 2018-12-15 11:37:23
Document Index: 574284744

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 102005062336', 'Application No. 102005062336', 'Application No. 102005063451', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 0600840', 'Application No. 0900506']

US8879707B2 - Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals - Google Patents
Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals Download PDF
US8879707B2
US8879707B2 US11036537 US3653705A US8879707B2 US 8879707 B2 US8879707 B2 US 8879707B2 US 11036537 US11036537 US 11036537 US 3653705 A US3653705 A US 3653705A US 8879707 B2 US8879707 B2 US 8879707B2
US11036537
US20060159248A1 (en )
An apparatus and methods are disclosed that provide a plurality of telecommunications management features to a telecommunications terminal that is associated with a corresponding terminal through a private branch exchange. In particular, the illustrative embodiment enables a user to manage the simultaneous use of and interaction between associated telecommunications terminals. This capability can be particularly advantageous when on-premises telecommunications terminals are associated with off-premises telecommunications terminals.
The present invention relates to telecommunications in general, and, more particularly, to managing interactions at a private branch exchange between associated telecommunications terminals.
FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of telecommunications system 100 in the prior art. Telecommunications system 100 comprises affiliated off-premises telecommunications terminals 101-1 through 101-N, wherein N is a positive integer; unaffiliated off-premises telecommunications terminal 102; affiliated on-premises telecommunications terminals 103-1 through 103-N; private branch exchange telephone system 104; and telecommunications network 105, interconnected as shown.
The present invention provides a plurality of telecommunications management features to a telecommunications terminal that is associated with a corresponding terminal through a private branch exchange. In particular, the illustrative embodiment enables a user to manage the simultaneous use of and interaction between associated (i.e., coupled) telecommunications terminals. This capability can be particularly advantageous when on-premises telecommunications terminals are coupled with off-premises telecommunications terminals. For example, an employee who is away from the workplace might have calls to his or her on-premises terminal (e.g., an office desk phone, etc.) automatically extended to a coupled, off-premises terminal (e.g., the employee's cell phone, etc.). In such a scenario, when the employee is engaged in a call on his or her off-premises terminal and the call was extended from the corresponding on-premises terminal, the employee might want to prevent another person from using the on-premises terminal to join or eavesdrop on the call in progress. As another example, the employee might allow another person to join the call via the on-premises terminal, but might want to drop the person from the call at a particular point during the call (e.g., for privacy reasons, etc.).
The illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides such management of coupled telecommunications terminals via call-handling permissions that are associated with each on-premises/off-premises terminal pair. For example, a particular call-handling permission for a telecommunications terminal pair X/Y might indicate that, for a call to terminal X that is extended to terminal Y:
(i) terminal X is not permitted to join the call after it has been answered at terminal Y; or
(ii) terminal Y is not permitted to join the call after it has been answered at terminal X.
In the illustrative embodiment, call-handling permissions for an on-premises/off-premises telecommunications terminal pair X/Y are maintained in a table of the private branch exchange.
The illustrative embodiment comprises: setting a call-handling permission for one of (i) a first telecommunications terminal and (ii) a second telecommunications terminal, based on a signal received from the other one of (i) the first telecommunications terminal and (ii) the second telecommunications terminal; wherein the telephone number of the first telecommunications terminal exists within the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and wherein the telephone number of the second telecommunications terminal exists within the address space of a private branch exchange telephone system; and wherein the telephone number of the first telecommunications terminal is coupled with the telephone number of the second telecommunications terminal.
Affiliated telecommunications terminal 301-n, wherein n is a positive integer between 1 and N, inclusive, is an off-premises telecommunications terminal whose telephone number is coupled with an on-premises telephone number of private branch exchange 304. Affiliated telecommunications terminal 301-n is capable of transmitting, via telecommunications network 105, signaling information that can be used to control a call. For example, terminal 301-n can be a cellular terminal that is capable of transmitting the signaling information via a cellular network that constitutes network 105. As another example, terminal 301-n can be a type of telecommunications terminal other than a cell phone (e.g., wireline analog telephone, Integrated Services Digital Network [ISDN] terminal, Internet Protocol terminal, etc.) that is capable of transmitting the signaling information via one or more compatible networks that constitute network 105. Affiliated telecommunications terminal 301-n interoperates with the rest of telecommunications system 300 to exchange information with other telecommunications terminals (e.g., terminal 302, terminal 301-n, etc.), as part of a call.
Unaffiliated telecommunications terminal 302 is a telecommunications terminal that is not affiliated with private branch exchange 304. Terminal 302 is a type of telecommunications terminal (e.g., wireline analog telephone, cellular terminal, Integrated Services Digital Network [ISDN] terminal, Internet Protocol terminal, etc.) that interoperates with the rest of telecommunications system 300 to exchange information with other telecommunications terminals (e.g., affiliated telecommunications terminal 301-n, on-premises telecommunications terminal 301-n, another unaffiliated terminal, etc.), as part of a call.
On-premises telecommunications terminal 301-n, wherein n is a positive integer between 1 and N, inclusive, is a telecommunications terminal that is connected to private branch exchange 304 and whose telephone number is within the address space of private branch exchange 304. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, on-premises telecommunications terminal 301-n, is a deskset that is capable of transmitting, via private branch exchange 304, signaling information that can be used to control a call. Terminal 303-n interoperates with the rest of telecommunications system 300 to exchange information with other telecommunications terminals (e.g., affiliated telecommunications terminal 301-n, unaffiliated terminal 302, etc.), as part of a call.
Mapping 501 comprises one or more records of data, wherein each record describes a coupling of an off-premises telephone number (or other identifier) for terminal 301-n with an on-premises telephone number (or other identifier) for terminal 301-n, for n=1 through N, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Private branch exchange 304 uses mapping 501 to determine which off-premises telephone number is associated with which on-premises telephone number for the purposes of (i) extending incoming calls to off-premises terminals and (ii) identifying one or more telecommunications terminals for which to activate or deactivate a feature. The content of mapping 501 is described in detail below and with respect to FIG. 6.
Field 603-n stores an on-premises telephone number (e.g., “732-555-0102, x12”, etc.) that identifies on-premises telecommunications terminal 303-n. As those who are skilled in the art will appreciate, other types and formats of identifiers can be used to identify on-premises telecommunications terminal 303-n.
Field 604-n tores one or more call permissions that are currently in effect for the on-premises/off-premises terminal pair represented in user record 600-n. The information in field 604-n indicates (i) which telecommunications features terminals 301-n and 303-n are permitted to access; (ii) whether terminals 301-n and 303-n are permitted to participate in or control current and future calls; and (iii) whether terminal 301-n is permitted to access a call appearance of terminal 303-n. For example, a call permission of field 604-n might exclude Un's on-premises terminal from joining an in-progress call that was extended by private branch exchange 304 to Un's off-premises terminal.
i. terminal T only;
ii. a current call that involves terminal T;
iii. a future call that is directed to terminal T;
iv. a future call that is placed by terminal T;
v. terminal T's counterpart terminal (i.e., the on-premises terminal that corresponds to terminal T when T is an off-premises terminal, and vice versa);
vi. a current call that involves terminal T's counterpart terminal;
vii. a future call that is directed to terminal T's counterpart terminal;
viii. a future call that is placed by terminal T's counterpart terminal;
ix. all on-premises terminals; or
x. all affiliated off-premises terminals.
At task 1004, private branch exchange 304 activates (or deactivates, as appropriate) the telecommunications feature that was determined at task 1002. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, some telecommunications features might apply to the user Un (identified in field 601-n) who sent the session-initiation request, while some other telecommunications features might apply just to one of the on-premises and off-premises telephone numbers that correspond to user Un, or might even be “global” in nature and apply to all telephone numbers within the address space of private branch exchange 304. After task 1004, the method of FIG. 10 terminates.
At task 1105, private branch exchange 304 transmits to telecommunications terminal Ta signal (e.g., a dial tone, an audio message, etc.) that indicates that private branch exchange 304 is ready to receive input from telecommunications terminal T (i.e., the argument(s) to the command).
At task 1203, private branch exchange 304 establishes a call between off-premises telecommunications terminal T and the telecommunications terminal V with telephone number R, in well-known fashion. In establishing the call, private branch exchange 304 transmits the on-premises telephone number identified at task 1202 as the calling party number. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in some alternative embodiments another on-premises telephone number (e.g., a “main office number” associated with private branch exchange 304, etc.) might be transmitted as the calling party number and provide the desired spoofing. After task 1203, the method of FIG. 12 terminates.
At task 1303, private branch exchange 304 establishes a second call between off-premises telecommunications terminal T and the telecommunications terminal V with telephone number R, in well-known fashion. In establishing the second call, private branch exchange 304 transmits the on-premises telephone number identified at task 1302 as the calling party number. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in some other embodiments of the present invention another on-premises telephone number (e.g., a “main office number” associated with private branch exchange 304, etc.) might be transmitted as the calling party number and provide desired spoofing.
At task 1305, private branch exchange 304 checks whether the difference in times at which it receives the first and second disconnection signals is less than or equal to a threshold 6 (e.g., one second, etc.). If this is the case, execution proceeds to task 1306, otherwise, the method of FIG. 13 terminates. Task 1305 is based on a heuristic that it is typically reasonable to conclude that the two disconnection signals were generated as a result of terminal T hanging up when the two disconnection signals are received at times that are relatively close to each other.
At task 1403, private branch exchange 304 establishes a second call between off-premises telecommunications terminal T and the telecommunications terminal V with telephone number R, in well-known fashion. In establishing the second call, private branch exchange 304 transmits the on-premises telephone number identified at task 1402 as the calling party number. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in some other embodiments of the present invention another on-premises telephone number (e.g., a “main office number” associated with private branch exchange 304, etc.) might be transmitted as the calling party number and provide desired spoofing.
As part of a strategy for providing ringback, it is typically advantageous for embodiments of the present invention to withhold the fact that a call is extended to an off-premises telecommunications terminal, assuming that the telecommunications service provider that handles the call offers advanced ringback services. For example, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/028,997 titled “Location-Based Ringbacks” and filed on Jan. 4, 2005, which is incorporated by reference, discloses a telecommunications system in which a call originator receives a ringback signal that is based on the location of the called terminal. In order to maintain the illusion that a user who answers the call off-premises is actually on-premises, therefore, private branch exchange 304's extension of the call to the off-premises terminal should not be visible to the outside telecommunications network (i.e., network 305).
receiving a telephone number R from one of (i) a first telecommunications terminal and (ii) a second telecommunications terminal;
uniquely associating the telephone number R to a corresponding telecommunications feature by use of a telephone number R to telecommunications feature mapping, wherein the corresponding telecommunications feature is one of a plurality of telecommunications features;
setting a flag for the telecommunications feature for the other one of (i) the first telecommunications terminal and (ii) the second telecommunications terminal;
wherein the first telecommunications terminal's telephone number T1 exists within the address space of the Public Switched Telephone Network; and
wherein the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2 exists within the address space of a private branch exchange telephone system; and
wherein the first telecommunications terminal's telephone number T1 is coupled with the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2; and
wherein the telephone number R is different from the first telecommunications terminal's telephone number T1 and the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the flag indicates whether the second telecommunications terminal is permitted to join a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2, wherein the call has been answered by the first telecommunications terminal.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the flag indicates whether the second telecommunications terminal is permitted to remain on a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2, wherein the call has been answered by the first telecommunications terminal.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the flag indicates whether the first telecommunications terminal is permitted to activate a telecommunications feature of the private branch exchange telephone system.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the flag indicates whether the first telecommunications terminal is permitted to deactivate a telecommunications feature of the private branch exchange telephone system.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising dropping the second telecommunications terminal from a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2.
wherein the first telecommunications terminal's telephone number Ti exists within the address space of a first telecommunications network; and
wherein the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2 exists within the address space of a second telecommunications network; and
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first telecommunications network is the Public Switched Telephone Network.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the second telecommunications network is a private branch exchange telephone system.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the flag indicates whether the second telecommunications terminal is permitted to join a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2, wherein the call has been answered by the first telecommunications terminal.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein the flag indicates whether the second telecommunications terminal is permitted to remain on a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2, wherein the call has been answered by the first telecommunications terminal.
12. The method of claim 7 wherein the flag indicates whether the first telecommunications terminal is permitted to activate a telecommunications feature of the second telecommunications network.
13. The method of claim 7 wherein the flag indicates whether the first telecommunications terminal is permitted to deactivate a telecommunications feature of the second telecommunications network.
14. The method of claim 7 further comprising dropping the second telecommunications terminal from a call made to the second telecommunications terminal's telephone number T2.
US11036537 2005-01-14 2005-01-14 Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals Active 2030-11-29 US8879707B2 (en)
US11036537 US8879707B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2005-01-14 Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals
DE200510062336 DE102005062336B4 (en) 2005-01-14 2005-12-24 PBX which interactions between linked telecommunication terminals managed
GB0900506A GB2453686B (en) 2005-01-14 2006-01-16 Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals
GB0600840A GB2422512B (en) 2005-01-14 2006-01-16 Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals
US20060159248A1 true US20060159248A1 (en) 2006-07-20
US8879707B2 true US8879707B2 (en) 2014-11-04
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US11036537 Active 2030-11-29 US8879707B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2005-01-14 Private branch exchange that manages interactions between associated telecommunications terminals
US (1) US8879707B2 (en)
DE (1) DE102005062336B4 (en)
GB (2) GB2453686B (en)
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US20060159248A1 (en) 2006-07-20 application
DE102005062336A1 (en) 2006-08-24 application
GB0600840D0 (en) 2006-02-22 application
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GB0900506D0 (en) 2009-02-11 application
GB2422512A (en) 2006-07-26 application
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ABRAMSON, SANDRA R.;MILTON, STEPHEN M.;STEFANACCI, EMIL F.;REEL/FRAME:015811/0584