Abstract:
A method is provided for transferring an incoming call. The method includes determining whether the incoming call is answered or transferred, converting caller information of the incoming call in a first network to yield converted caller information in a second network for the incoming call being transferred is not answered, sending the converted caller information to a server in the second network, and checking the converted caller information stored in the server. Moreover, a callee station having a callee terminal, and a communication system are used for implementing the method.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention generally relates to methods for performing call transfer function, and particularly, to a method, a callee station, and a communication system using the same. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Communication terminals such as mobile phones are very common. Mobile phones allow users to communicate with each other according to a network standard. 
         [0005]    Generally, call transfer and/or call forwarding functions are provided for the communication terminals. The call transfer and/or the call forwarding functions are a telecommunication mechanism that enables a user to redirect an incoming call to another communication terminal such as a fixed phone. Thus, when the communication terminal such as a mobile phone is powered off, incoming calls can be automatically forwarded to a fixed phone. 
         [0006]    However, when users power off their phones, or if the battery is dead, and if users did not previously set the call forwarding service, the users may miss knowing about important incoming call attempts. Therefore, the currently used method and the current communication terminal thereof are not reliable. 
         [0007]    Therefore, what is needed in the industry is to provide a method for collecting and storing caller information for users to communicate with each other more reliably, for example, providing data of important call attempts, a callee station having the communication terminal, and a communication system for implementing the method. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    Accordingly, a method is provided for reliably recording caller information for unanswered incoming calls. The method includes determining whether the incoming call is answered directly or if the incoming call is forwarded to and answered by another terminal, or if the incoming call is not answered; converting caller information such as a caller phone number into e-mail compatible format, sending the formatted caller information to a mail server, and checking for the caller information in the mail server. Moreover, a callee station and a communication system are provided for implementing the method. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a communication system, the communication system comprising a caller station, a communication network, and a callee station. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detailed block diagram of the communication system in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates a mapping table for routing information in the communication system in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates a flow chart of a collecting and storing caller information method using the communication system in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a communication system  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment includes a caller station  200 , a connection network  300 , and a callee station  400 . The caller station  200  and the callee station  400  are interconnected with each other by the connection network  300 . The connections to the connection network  300  may be hard-wired connections, wireless connections, or combination thereof. 
         [0014]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the caller station  200  includes a caller terminal  210  and a caller computer  220 . The callee station  200  includes a callee terminal  410  and a callee computer  420 . The term “caller” herein is used to indicate a user who initiates a telephone call, whereas “callee” indicates an intended recipient of the telephone call. The caller terminal  210  and the callee terminal  410  may be any type of communication devices capable of telecommunicating, such as a fixed phone or a mobile phone. The caller terminal  210  and the callee terminal  410  are used for converting analog audio input to digital voice signals, and editing or displaying short messages. The digital voice signals or the short messages are sent via the connection network  300  from the caller terminal  210  to the callee terminal  410 , or vice versa. 
         [0015]    The connection network  300  includes a wireless network  310 , a network interface  320 , the internet  330 , and a mail server  340 . The wireless network  310  is used for establishing a wireless connection between the caller terminal  210  and the callee terminal  410 . The network interface  320  is coupled between the wireless network  310  and the internet  330 . The wireless network  310  may be a GSM, GPRS, or CDMA standard network and the internet  330  may be a TCP/IP telecommunication network. The network interface  320  is used for converting/formatting information, that is transferred between the wireless network  310  and the internet  330 , to formats recognizable to each other. The mail server  340  is coupled to the caller computer  220  and the callee computer  420 . The caller computer  220  and the callee computer  420  can receive e-mails from the mail server  340 . 
         [0016]    Details about operation of the communication system  100  will be described hereinafter. For example, a caller may use the caller terminal  210  to input a phone number to call a callee. If the callee does not answer after a predetermined number of rings, a call transfer function is automatically initiated, or enabled by the callee. The incoming call then is forwarded to a fixed phone for example. If the callee terminal  410  is powered on and within the reach of the providing network, and the callee answers, a wireless connection is established between the caller terminal  210  and the callee terminal  410 . The caller and the callee can communicate with each other normally. 
         [0017]    If the callee terminal  410  is powered off, the callee computer  220  may be used to collect the caller information. 
         [0018]    For example, the wireless network  310  collects the caller information including the caller number and calling time to the network interface  320 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the network interface  320  may, beneficially, further include a mapping table  321  stored therein. The mapping table  321  associates a plurality of caller numbers with a plurality of e-mail addresses respectively. For example, a phone number 888-8888 is associated with an e-mail address fox@email.com. The collected caller information is converted to an e-mail compatible format associated with an e-mail address. The formatted caller information is sent to the mail server  340  via the internet  330  by routing to the e-mail address. The callee computer  420  then may be used to login to the mail server  340  to check for e-mail having the caller information. 
         [0019]    The callee computer  420  may be a portable type computer, so that the callee terminal  410  and the callee computer  420  may be carried together by the callee. In this situation, if the callee notices that the callee terminal  410  is not powered on or the battery is dead, the callee computer  420  may easily be checked for any caller information by e-mail. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a method  800  will be described hereinafter. In some embodiments, the method  800 , or portions thereof, may be performed by the communication system  100  as described above, although the method  800  is not limited by the particular type of apparatus, software element, or system performing the call transfer method. The various actions in the method  800  may be performed in the order presented, or may be performed in a different order. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in  FIG. 4  may be omitted from the method  800 . 
         [0021]    At block  801 , a call transfer function is activated. For example, the call transfer function is activated when the caller number is not answered by a mobile phone. 
         [0022]    At block  803 , it is determined whether the transferred call is being answered by a fixed phone or not. 
         [0023]    At block  815 , if the call is answered by a fixed phone, normal communication ensues. 
         [0024]    At block  805 , if the call is not answered by a fixed phone, the caller information is collected. For example, the wireless network  310  collects the caller information such as the caller number and the calling time. The collected caller information is transferred to the network interface  320 . 
         [0025]    At block  809 , the caller information is converted. For example, the network interface  320  converts the caller information to a format usable over the internet  330  such as that recognized by an email server  340 . 
         [0026]    At block  811 , the converted caller information is sent. For example, the converted caller information is sent to a mail server  340  via the internet  330 . The mapping table  321  of the network interface  320 , associates a plurality of caller numbers with a plurality of e-mail addresses respectively. The converted caller information is transferred to the mail server  340  via the internet  330  by routing to the e-mail address. 
         [0027]    At block  813 , the converted caller information is checked by the callee via, for example, a laptop computer carried by the callee. 
         [0028]    As the communication system  100  and the method  800  disclosed above, the user may communicate with each other more reliably. When the call transfer function is not feasible in some conditions, the caller information is converted to e-mail format caller information. The user then can use a computer to check for the e-mail format caller information. Therefore, a situation of missing important incoming calls is avoided. 
         [0029]    Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.