FR2895863A1 - Call managing device for proxy server, has middleware selecting local terminal and redirecting call to interface for communicating with selected terminal for establishing communication link between sending terminal and selected terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has communication interfaces (11-15) to communicate with local terminals (T1-T5) e.g. personal computer. Client communication modules (CL2-CL5) establish communication links with respective remote terminals (T6-T10) via a communication network. A middleware (18) selects a local terminal suitable to receive a call when receiving the call from a remote terminal via one of the modules, and redirects the call to the respective interface for communicating with the selected terminal for establishing a communication link between the sending terminal and the selected terminal. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a method of managing calls (2) a computer program comprising instructions for executing steps of call managing method (3) a computer readable recording medium on which a computer program is recorded (4) a terminal comprising a communication module.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is that of

  systems for managing the personal communications of one or more users. The invention finds a privileged but nonlimiting application in a residential context in which users share terminals of different types to communicate with remote terminals on one or more telecommunication networks. In this invention, the local terminals and the remote terminals may be of any type, these terminals may in particular be constituted by analog telephones, mobile phones conforming to the GSM or GPRS standard, videoconferencing systems implementing the H323 protocol, Voice over IP (Internet Protocol) terminals and Personal Assistant (PDA). In a known manner, the advent of mobile telephony, and the increase in the bit rates available on the Internet have accelerated the development of many telecommunication services. In this document, a telecommunication service is to be put in contact with a closed group of users able to communicate with each other by using in particular a set of communication protocols and common registration procedures. Thus, as is known and not limited to: - telephone service over the switched telephone network, hereinafter referred to as "PSTN service", - GSM service or GPRS service, - voice over IP service (VoIP for "Voice over IP" in English), and - instant messaging service (IM). To access a particular communication service, each potential recipient of a call, called here contact, must have a user account associated with that service. This account is generally assigned by the service operator at the time of the user's subscription, and closed or deactivated by the operator following the termination of this subscription. The contact or user account is associated with one or more natural persons.

  It is identified by a name, which when the user account is unique to a single natural person, is usually the name and / or the first name of that person. Such an account has at least one identifier for identifying the server or terminal addressed by the call and by means of which a contact can be reached. It also optionally includes a password, and possibly other attributes of defining the service, for example rate and bandwidth conditions defined at the time of subscription. In the case of the PSTN service or a mobile telephone service, the identifier of a user account is simply constituted by a telephone number. In the case of an instant messaging service, this identifier is constituted by an e-mail address. In the case of a voice over IP service, this identifier consists of a character string chosen by the user, the uniqueness of this identifier within the closed user group being checked by the operator at the time of the request. registration to the service. The different communication services implement different types of communication. For each type of communication, a terminal must have certain predefined minimum technical capabilities in order to establish a communication link via this communication service. By capabilities of a terminal is meant here all the parameters determining the possibilities of the terminal relative to the establishment of communication sessions. These parameters define in particular: the supported communication establishment protocols (H320, H323, SIP, GSN'1, RTC, etc.); the encoding and / or decoding algorithms for audio and / or audio streams; supported video, - the telecommunication media offered by the terminal: audio only, video only (real time, streaming, etc.), audio and video, etc., - stream processing characteristics: minimum latency required by the network , supported rates, packet loss tolerated, connection rate, etc. By way of example, the three types of text, voice and video communication will be distinguished at a first level, each of these types requiring specific capabilities at the terminal level. At a second level, the real-time / asynchronous processing of the text messages imposes constraints at the terminals so that it is advantageous to define the two types of SMS and instant messaging communication, hereinafter IM. On the basis of the examples of services mentioned above: the PSTN service is a service supporting communications of the "voice" type, the GPRS service is a service supporting communications of the "voice" or "text" type, instant messenger service is a service that supports, as the case may be, only "text" type communications, or also "voice" or "video" type communications. Those skilled in the art will understand that this notion of type of communication is likely to evolve with future generations of terminals. By way of example, it will be considered here that the LCD screens available to date are all capable of displaying color, and that it is only necessary to define the type of video communication, whereas a few years ago it would have been It has been necessary to define grayscale video and color video types. When a user wants to communicate with one of his contacts, he uses the terminal of his choice to initiate this session. On the other hand, in the current state of the art, incoming communications, that is, initiated by a contact, are received by the user's terminal to which the call of the contact has been sent. This terminal is usually the termina (on which a user account and a client software have been installed to be able to access the communication service corresponding to this call.

  This has a major drawback, especially when this terminal is not available, since the call can not succeed.

  OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The main object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned drawbacks, by proposing a device making it possible to manage and simplify calls that can be received by a plurality of terminals. More specifically, the invention relates to a call management device for a local terminal among a plurality of local terminals, this device comprising: - a communication interface for a local connection with each of the local terminals - a communication module, suitable to receive an incoming call signal, transmitted in accordance with a communication service by a remote terminal and to a contact, - selection means able to select at least one local terminal by means of which a user associated with this contact is reachable according to the communication service and a terminal selection rule taking into account at least data relating to the capabilities of the local terminals for the implementation of communication services; and means for transmitting a notification message to the selected local terminal via the communication interface associated with this terminal, with a view to establishing via the communication module a communication link making it possible to convey a content between the terminal selected local and said remote terminal. In this document, to say that the contact is reachable by means of a service implies that the user or users associated with this contact have registered with a service provider to access this service, that they have an account user associated with this service, and they are therefore likely to be joined by means of a terminal capable of implementing a communication link compliant with this service. This does not necessarily mean that it is present and / or available at a given time to be effectively reached via this service. For example, it will be considered that a person is reachable by telephone via the PSTN service when he / she subscribes to this service, even if he is not present near his telephone, or his line is busy or out of order. Correlatively, the invention relates to a local terminal call management method among a plurality of local terminals, which method comprises: a step of receiving an incoming call signal transmitted in accordance with a communication service by a remote terminal to a contact; a step of selecting at least one local terminal by means of which a user associated with said contact is reachable according to the communication service and a terminal selection rule taking at least account of the data relating to the capabilities that are possessed by local terminals for the implementation of communication services; and a step of sending a request to the selected local terminal via a communication interface associated with this terminal, with a view to establishing via this communication module a communication link making it possible to convey a content between the selected local terminal and the remote terminal. The call management device according to the invention can be integrated in a gateway or a server placed in a power failure between the local terminals and the communication network, and acting as a communication proxy between the local terminals and the the remote terminal (s). The invention also relates to a proxy server comprising a call management device according to the invention. The call management device according to the invention comprises communication interfaces with the local terminals, terminal selection means, session establishment means, communication modules adapted to implement each of the service units. communicating with the equivalent clients of the remote terminals brought to communicate with the device, and means for routing data and / or data flows between the communication interfaces on the one hand and the communication modules on the other hand. The communication link established between the local terminal and the remote terminal by the communication module of the call management device according to the invention comprises two portions, namely: a portion between the local terminal and the management device; and a portion between this device and the remote terminal. The call management device thus serves as a communication relay between the local terminal and the remote terminal. In a particular embodiment, the call management device according to the invention comprises means for converting - for receiving, from the communication module and via the aforementioned communication link, first data, conforming to a first protocol compatible with the communication service, 10 - converting the first data into second data, conforming to a second protocol independent of this service, and - transmitting the second data to the selected terminal, via the associated communication interface and via this communication link. Thus, each local terminal which has the capabilities required for the implementation of the types of communication of a particular service can receive calls through a communication module integrated in the terminal, said thin client, common to the different types of service. and communication possible, without the need to install a user account or a customer specific to this service in each of the terminals. The communication module of the terminal is capable of receiving and transmitting signaling data or messages in a predefined protocol, for example the SIP protocol, as well as receiving or transmitting raw data streams of the "voice" or "video" type. according to a protocol compatible with the SIP protocol. Thus, the incoming signaling data is converted in the device to conform to the SIP protocol, before routing to the users' terminals, the audio, video or text data streams being converted only if they are in a protocol. which is not compatible with the SIP protocol. For example, if the call management device receives an incoming call. to establish an instant messaging service session, he receives the message via his instant messaging client and then constructs a SIP message with the MESSAGE method (RFC3428 35 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3428.txt) and routes this SIP message to one or more user terminals.

  For more information on the SIP signaling protocol, those skilled in the art will be able to refer to the RFI 3261 of the IEI-F (Internet Engineering Task Force). As a variant, any other communication protocol may be used between the device according to the invention and the local terminals, in particular the signaling protocol used in the protocol suite H323. The data streams are therefore exchanged between the calling terminal and the destination terminal of the call with a transit at the call management device. The client communication module, specific to a service, which is installed in a call management device according to the invention, is able to manage a communication session for each user connected to this device. In a particular embodiment, the device for managing incoming calls according to the invention comprises means for, when several terminals have been selected by the selection means, sending a notification message to each of the selected terminals, the means of selection being adapted to select, for the establishment of the communication link, a terminal having responded positively to this notification. This notification is preferably established between the call management device and the thin client of each of the terminals selected in accordance with the SIP protocol. Thus, when an incoming call is received by the call management device, for example for a video call, this device can send a notification to several terminals of the user adapted to play a video, for example. example a videoconferencing system or a PC type computer. In such a scenario, the user therefore receives two call signals, and the call management device establishes the communication link with the terminal on which the user actually takes the call, this operation generating a positive response to the call. the notification, received by the device according to the invention in accordance with the SIP protocol. In another variant embodiment, the selection means are adapted, when several terminals have been selected by the selection means, to select from among the selected terminals a first terminal according to a rule of preference, the device comprising means to send a notification message to the first selected terminal, the selection means being adapted to select a second terminal, when the first selected terminal has not responded to the notification. In a particular embodiment, the call management device according to the invention comprises means for storing information on the state of availability of the terminals and / or users, the terminal selection rule using a criterion relating to this availability information. In a preferred embodiment, the various steps of the call management method according to the invention are determined by computer program instructions.

  Consequently, the invention also relates to a computer program on an information carrier, this program being capable of being implemented in a management device or more generally in a computer, this program comprising instructions adapted to the implementation of the steps of an outgoing call management method and / or the different steps of the incoming call management method as described above. This program can use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other form desirable shape. The invention also relates to a computer-readable information medium, comprising instructions of a computer program as mentioned above.

  The information carrier may be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or a magnetic recording means, for example a floppy disk or a disk. hard.

  On the other hand, the information medium may be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means. The program according to the invention can be downloaded in particular on an Internet type network. Alternatively, the information carrier may be an integrated circuit in which the program is incorporated, the circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the method in question.

  The invention also relates to a terminal comprising a communication module able to communicate with a call management device, this call management device being able to receive an incoming call signal, transmitted in accordance with a communication service by a remote terminal to a contact associated with a user of this terminal, this terminal comprising means for receiving from the call management device a notification message for establishment, via this call management device , a communication link between the local terminal and a remote terminal and means for implementing said communication link using, for the part of the link between the terminal and the call management device, a communication protocol independent of the service.

  BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other features and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment having no limiting character. In the figures: FIG. 1 represents, in its environment, a proxy server comprising a device according to the invention in a preferred embodiment; and FIG. 2 represents, in flowchart form, the first steps of a communication management method according to the invention in a preferred embodiment.

  DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 represents a proxy server 10. This proxy server 10 comprises a call management device according to the invention.

  This proxy server 10 is connected to the switched telephone network R1 and the Internet network R2, via an ADSL modem 120. In the example described here, we will note A and B two users of the proxy server 10. We will assume that the proxy server 10 offers five communication services to users A and B: - If: telephone service on BTI; - S2: voice over IP service; - S3: first instant messaging service; - S4: second instant messaging service; and 15 - S5: GSM service. In this example, the user A is identified on two terminals T1, T2 and the user B on three terminals T2, T3, T4. These terminals are respectively a personal assistant Ti; A voice over IP device T2; a videoconferencing system T3; and a personal computer T4. .. Users A and B are also users of a T5 analog telephone adapted to RTC Ri. In the example described here, each of the four terminals T1 to T4 is adapted to implement an Internet Protocol (IP) type of communication protocol. We will assume in this example that the Internet addresses of the terminals Tl to T4 are respectively @Tl @ T2, @ T3 and @ T4. We will assume in this example that the users A e have two contacts D and E which have analog telephones T6 and T7 of the contacts D and E connected to the switched telephone network Ri. Connected to the Internet network R2, we have represented: a terminal T8 of the contact D adapted to implement the voice over IP service S2; a terminal T9 of the contact D adapted to implement the first instant messaging service S3; a terminal T10 of the contact E adapted to implement the voice over IP service S2; and a GSM terminal T12 of the user D. This device comprises communication interfaces 11 to 14 with the local terminals Ti to T4. These communication interfaces comprise hardware means (network card, connectors, transmitters / receivers) and software (drivers) adapted to each of the terminals. They may for example be constituted by means of complying with Ethernet or Wifi standards as defined by the IEEE under the name 80211. In the example described here, these communication interfaces 11 to 14 are adapted to communicate with a module of said thin client communication terminals Ti to T4 according to the SIP protocol. The call management device of the proxy server 10 comprises a plurality of CL2-CL5 communication modules, each module being able to establish with a remote terminal a communication link, compliant with a communication service via a communication network. In the context of the invention, the communication link established between one of the local terminals Ti to T4 and a remote terminal T6 or T7 accessible via the network R1 or R2, comprises two connection portions, namely: a first portion between the local terminal and the communication module considered; and a second portion between this communication module and the remote terminal, this second portion being in accordance with the communication service associated with the communication module in question.

  The communication module considered here acts as a communication relay between the communication module (thin client) of the Ternilai Tl to T4 and the remote terminal T6 or T7, insofar as the data and / or communication flows exchanged via this communication link passes through the proxy server by the communication module of the device.

  The call management device comprises conversion means for converting the incoming data and / or data flows via a communication module, data which is in accordance with a first protocol specific to the communication service associated with the communication module, data and or SIP-compliant data streams, which are then transmitted to the destination terminal of the call via the interface associated with the terminal. Symmetrically, the call management device comprises conversion means for converting the data and / or incoming data stream via a communication interface associated with a terminal, data that conform to the SIP protocol, data and / or stream data corresponding to a second protocol specific to the communication service associated with the recipient communication module, the latter data being then transmitted to this communication module. Preferably all exchanged signaling data sent between a terminal and the device according to the invention are exchanged in accordance with the SIP protocol. Other data or data streams (raw data, audio, video, ...) are converted only if their format or their protocol is not compatible with signaling via the SIP protocol. The various communication modules are as follows: a client communication module, said CL2 adapted to implement the VoIP service S2, and in particular to establish a session with a remote terminal allowing access to this service; a client communication module, said CL3 adapted to implement the first instant messaging service S3 and in particular to establish a session with a remote terminal allowing access to this service; a client communication module, said CL4 adapted to implement the second S4 instant messaging service and in particular to establish a session with a remote terminal allowing access to this service and - a client communication module, said CL5 adapted to implement the GSM S5 service and in particular to establish a session with a remote terminal allowing access to this service.

  The call management device also comprises a connection interface, in the form of an RJ11-type input to which the RTC T5 analogue telephone can be connected, and an interface 21 to the switched telephone network, so as to enable establishing a session between the analog phone T5 and another analog telephone connected to the network RTC. In the example described here, the port associated with this RJ11 input is noted @ T5. The call management device comprises a functional layer made in the form of a middleware and allowing the interface between the communication modules CL2 to CL5 and 21 on the one hand, and the communication interfaces 11 to 15 on the other hand . Each client module CL2 to CL5 and 21 fulfills the same functionalities as a client module installed on a stand-alone terminal. In the context of the invention, each client module cooperates further with the middleware for implementing, at the level of the call management device, the following functionalities: the management of the recording functionalities vis-à-vis the communication service associated with each of the communication modules of the device, - the management of the state of availability of each terminal and / or of each user via the associated communication service, - the management of contact lists by user and by communication service, and global contact lists per user, - management of incoming and outgoing communications.

  The middleware 18 centrally manages and records contact lists as well as information on the state of availability of the users on each of the terminals, for each of the communication services and the state of availability of the terminals.

  Middleware 18 also participates in registration procedures with registration servers when creating a user account for access to a communication service. It records user account data for each user / communication service pair. , for which a user account has been created.

  In addition, middleware 18 is responsible for the centralized management of incoming and outgoing communications. It manages the strategies for sending notification to terminals and the processing of responses or non-responses. It has information on the capabilities of different terminals to implement a communication service. It implements service and terminal selection rules, in particular according to the preferences of the users of terminals Ti to T5. The middleware 18 also has a function of routing incoming and outgoing calls. In the case of an incoming call, the middleware selects the leterminal to which the incoming call is to be routed and redirects the call to the communication interface with that terminal. In the case of an outgoing call, the middleware selects a communication service and redirects the call to the communication client module 15 associated with the communication service selected for the establishment of the call. The process will be described in more detail below. In addition to its call routing function, the middleware 18 is adapted to perform a conversion between the SIP protocol and each of the protocols implemented by the CL2 to CL5 communication clients or the inverse conversion. The middleware 18 is adapted to establish a communication using the SIP protocol with the thin client terminals T1 to T4. It is adapted to obtain from each client CL2 to CL5 data or a data stream (voice message, text, video, etc.) issued by this client, and to construct a SIP message encapsulating this content. It is also adapted to obtain from each of the thin clients of the terminals Tl to T4, via the communication interfaces 11 to 14, data or a data stream sent by the thin client and to convert this stream into a protocol-compliant stream. protocols used by the client module CL2 to CL5 to which this stream is redirected. The communication services S1 to S5 implement different types of communication. Each of the terminals T1 to T5 can implement a communication service or a type of communication only if it has the necessary capabilities for this implementation. In the example described here, it will be considered that: the PTC telephony service Si can be accessed by any terminal having capabilities to manage the types of voice communication; the S2 service, operating on an IP network, can be accessed by any terminal having capabilities to manage the voice, text or video communication types; - the S3 instant messaging service can be accessed by any terminal with capabilities to handle voice, text or video communication types; The S4 instant messaging service can be accessed by any terminal having capabilities to handle Text communication types; and - the S5 GSM service can be accessed by any terminal with capabilities to handle voice and text communication types. In the preferred embodiment described here, the device according to the invention comprises means 16 for storing data (memory, hard disk, etc.), in which data useful for call management are stored. The storage means 16 comprise in particular a terminal table U describing, for each of the terminals Ti to T5, the capabilities of these terminals, their addresses, their availability, and information according to which they are or are not used by the users A and B. In the example described here, this table TT has the following content: AB Available Capacities Voices SMS Video Ti 0 1 0 0 T T2! 1'1 1 1 0 0 0 T2 f T3 0 1 '1 1 0 0 1 T3 T4 1 1 0 0 1 @ T4 T5 1 0 1 0 T5 Terminal table H This table has five lines, one for each of the terminals T1 to T5 of the users A and B. In each of these lines the following information is found : the name of the terminal (Ti to T5); a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal is used by the user A and equal to 0 in the opposite case - a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal is used by the user B and equal to 0 in the opposite case - a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal is available and equal to 0 in the opposite case; a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal supports the type of voice communication and equal to o in the opposite case; a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal supports the type of communication IM and equal to 0 in the opposite case; a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal supports the type of SMS communication and equal to o in the opposite case - a binary value equal to 1 if this terminal supports the type of video communication and equal to o in the opposite case; and an address enabling the proxy server 10 to join this terminal. Alternatively, the state of availability of a user on a terminal is not binary coded, but with different levels as is practiced for instant messaging tools: "available", "present", "not Not to disturb "," not connected ", etc. ... Alternatively, the state of availability of a user is encoded by taking into account the different communication services for which he has an account. A user may be available on one service and not on another. Any other variant or combination between these variants is conceivable. Preferably, this user and / or terminal availability information is automatically updated by the device according to the invention, according to the established communications, changes in the state of availability in the communication services (in particular instant messaging ) and connection management information obtained from the communication modules CL2 to CL5.

  In the example described here, the storage means 16 comprise a service table TS storing, for each of the users A and B, and for each of the contacts D and E of these users, at least one account of these users A and B associated with a communication service. In the example described here, this table TS is the following: IF S2 S3 S4 S5 A A-S1 1 A-S2 1 A-S3 0 A-S4 1 B B-Si 1 B-S2 i 0 BS D D- S1 1 D-S2 D-S3 0 D-S5 1 E 1E-Sl 1 E-S2 0 TS service table

  When a user A, B or a contact D, E has an account to access one of these services S1 to S5, this account is stored in the table TS. For example, those skilled in the art will understand from reading this table that the contact D has a D-S1 account for the S1 service, a D-S2 account for the S2 service, a D-S3 account for the service. S3, a D-S5 account for the S5 service but does not have an account for the S4 service. In the preferred embodiment described here, the TS table also stores a binary value equal to 1 if a user is reachable on a service and equal to 0 otherwise. For example, a person skilled in the art will understand that the user B is reachable on the services S1 and S3 but not reachable via the service S2.

  Management of outgoing calls 25 The call management device of the proxy server 10 is adapted to receive, via the communication interfaces 11 to 14, from the analog telephone T5 or the thin client SIP of a terminal Ti to T4, a request to join a selected contact D, by means of an appropriate user interface by a user of the terminal transmitting the request, in the contact list stored in the table TS, according to the invention, the call management device the proxy server 10 comprises means for selecting a communication service by means of which the selected contact is reachable. In the embodiment described here, these selection means are implemented in the functional layer 18 of the proxy server 10. These selection means use to select a service a rule SSS, called service selection rule for outgoing call. The SSS rule uses one or more of the following criteria: a criterion of priority between several communication services by means of which the selected contact is reachable, a criterion of availability of the contact via the selected communication service, a cost criterion of communication services by which the selected contact is reachable. The priority criterion is defined for example in a priority table TP, stored in the memory means 16. This TP table has four columns depending on the type of communication required, namely the types Voice, TM, SMS and Video.

  Voice Text Video, SI 3 S2 1 2 2 S3, S4 4 S5 Priority Table: TP

  This priority table TP summarizes the priorities for the user A. Of course, the proxy server 10 according to the invention may comprise an identical or similar table for the other user B and for each of the contacts D and E. This table must be read as follows: when a service initiated by the user A requires a voice type of communication, the proxy server 10 according to the invention selects priority service S2 voice over IP, if the first impossibility S3 instant messaging service, then the PST telephony service, and then the S5 GSM service. These priorities which constitute the outgoing call service selection rule may themselves be dependent on cost criteria. In the preferred embodiment described here, the outgoing call service selection rule SSS further uses a criterion relating to the state of availability of the contact D, a binary information representing this state of availability being recorded in a table for each contact of the contact list. Thus, if in the scenario mentioned above, the contact is the individual D, the proxy server 10 according to the invention will select, in case of failure on the S2 service voice over IP, the service Si telephony on RTC then the S5 GSM service, the contact D being unreachable by the first S3 instant messaging service. When the service selection uses priority criteria to select the service from among the different services by which the contact recipient of the call is reachable, that is to say the services for which the contact recipient of the call has an account, the selection of the service can be managed automatically by the call management device according to the invention, the initiating user of the call having only to select a contact. According to a first alternative, the user initiating the call can manually select, by means of an appropriate user interface, implemented on the local terminal T1 to T4, the service by means of which he wishes to join a contact. According to a second alternative, the user initiating the call indicates his preferences on the choice of the service, indicating for example the type of communication desired or an order of preference, the call management device trying first to contact this contact. by means of a user account associated with a service of the preferred type of communication, for example an instant messaging service, then in case of failure by means of a voice over IP account, then in case of a new failure on a GSM phone.

  For example, the user can set the proxy server according to the invention so that it tries, on reception of an outgoing call signal, to direct this voice call on one of the communication modules supporting communications of type "voice", then, in case of failure, to another communication module supporting communications type "voice". In a particular embodiment, the outgoing call service selection rule uses communication services communication cost criteria by means of which the selected contact is reachable. These cost criteria may in particular take into account the time at which the outgoing call signal is received by the call management device according to the invention. In a particular embodiment, the outgoing call service selection rule may prohibit the use of a given communication service during a given range.

  In a particular embodiment of the invention, the outgoing call service selection rule uses criteria relating to the state of availability of the contact to select the service. Information on the availability of a contact in the contact list on each of the communication services can be obtained by the middleware by querying the communication module which is associated with each of these services and manages information on the state of availability. and / or connection of the contact. Services such as "instant messaging" in particular, permanently manages the availability statuses of the different contacts.

  Incoming Call Management The call management device of the proxy server 10 is adapted to receive, from a contact, a call signal sent by a remote terminal T6 to T12 in accordance with a communication service, destined to a contact associated with at least one user A of at least one of the terminals T1 to T5. According to the invention, the call management device of the proxy server 10 comprises means for selecting, as a function of the communication service by means of which the call signal is received, and of a selection SST rule, least one terminal among the terminals having as user the user or users associated with the contact A. In the embodiment described here, these selection means are implemented in the functional layer 18 of the proxy server 10. These selection means are suitable to select at least one terminal according to the communication service by means of which the call signal is received, in particular according to the type of communication required by the service associated with the call, and according to the SST rule of selection of terminal. This SST rule takes into account at least U data relating to the capabilities of said terminals for the implementation of communication services.

  In a particular embodiment, the server 10 stores information on the state of availability of the users on each of the terminals, and the terminal selection SST rule uses a criterion relating to said information on the state of availability of the users. In the embodiment described here, this terminal selection SST rule is implemented by the TS and H terminal service tables. For example, if an incoming call for contact A is received via a service S2 requiring a voice communication type, the call management device of the proxy server 10 will first select a terminal having the ability to receive a call from Voice type (see terminal table W.

  He will then select a terminal, among the three terminals Tl, T2 and T5 supporting a voice type call, by means of which the user A is reachable (see table TT terminals). An incoming call by the PSTN may be treated in the same way as if it were a user of an Internet telephony communications service, except that the user is unique and is treated as registered on the Internet. all terminals simultaneously. A behavior profile for incoming calls associated with this user can be defined.

  The server is adapted to, when multiple terminals have been selected on the basis of the SST selection rule, send a notification message to each of the selected terminals, and then select, for the establishment of said communication link, a terminal having responded positively to the said notification.

  As an alternative, the server is adapted for, when several terminals have been selected, selecting among the selected terminals a first terminal according to a preference rule, then sending a notification message to the first selected terminal, then selecting a second terminal, when the first selected terminal has not responded to said notification. We will now describe with reference to Figure 2 the main steps of the call management method according to the invention. We will assume in this example that this method is implemented by the proxy server 10 described above.

  During a first step E10, the proxy server 10 receives a call (request or call signal) and tests whether this call is an incoming call or an outgoing call. If it is an incoming call, the proxy server 10 selects, during a step E30 of the call management method according to the invention, at least one available terminal having the capabilities to make this service, from the SST terminal selection rule already described. This selection can be made using the terminal table H described above. When the terminal is selected, the middleware transmits a notification or request message to the selected local terminal via the communication interface associated with this terminal, for the purpose of establishing via the communication module a communication link between the terminal and the terminal. selected terminal and the remote terminal. When several terminals are selected, the middleware sends a notification message to each of the selected terminals, then selects, for the establishment of said communication link, a terminal that has responded positively to said notification. Alternatively, when multiple terminals are selected, the middleware selects among the selected terminals a first terminal according to a preference rule, then sends a notification message to the first selected terminal, and if necessary, selects a second terminal when the first selected terminal did not respond to the notification. If, following an action by a user of a selected terminal, the latter responds to the notification received, the call is transferred to the terminal that has responded. A communication link is then established in step E40 between the remote terminal sending the call and the selected local terminal, via the call receiver communication module and via the communication interface associated with the selected local terminal. This communication link makes it possible to convey a content (voice, video, text, etc.) between these two terminals. If in step EIO, it is a request, intended to establish an outgoing communication with a contact D or E selected in the contact list of the device, the device selects, during a step E50 of the method outbound management system according to the invention, according to a SSS rule of service selection, a communication service. This selection is made using the tables TP and Tr described previously. When the communication service is selected, the middleware identifies among the communication modules of the device, a communication module capable of establishing a communication link compliant with the selected service. It then sends a request to the identified communication module, for the establishment via the identified communication module of a communication link between the terminal of the user sending the call signal and another remote terminal by means of from which the selected contact can be reached using the selected service.

  A communication link is then established in step E60 between these two terminals, via the identified communication module and via the communication interface receiving the call signal. This communication link makes it possible to convey a content (voice, video, text, etc.) between these two terminals.

Claims (11)

  1. Call management device for at least one local terminal (T1-T4) among a plurality of local terminals (T1-T4), the device comprising: a communication interface (11-15) with each of said terminals; local (T1-T4) - a communication module (CL2-CL5), able to receive an incoming call signal, transmitted in accordance with a communication service by a remote terminal (T6-T10) to a contact (AT) ; selection means (18) able to select at least one local terminal (T1-T4) by means of which a user associated with said contact (A) is reachable according to said communication service and a rule (SST) 15 of terminal selection taking into account at least data (TT) relating to the capabilities of said local terminals (T1-T4) for the implementation of communication services; and means (18) for transmitting a notification message to the selected local terminal via the communication interface (11-15) associated with this terminal, for the purpose of establishing via said communication module a link communication for conveying a content between the selected local terminal and said remote terminal.   2. Call management device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (18) for converting - to receive from the communication module and via said communication link, first data, conforming to a first protocol compatible with said communication service; - converting the first data into second data conforming to a second protocol independent of said service, and transmitting the second data to the selected terminal via the associated communication interface (11-15); via said communication link. 35   3. Call management device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises means for, when several terminals have been selected by the selection means, send a notification message to each of the terminals (T1, T2 ) selected, said selection means (18) being adapted to select, for the establishment of said communication link, a terminal having responded positively to said notification.   4. Call management device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said selection means (18) are adapted to, when several terminals have been selected by the selection means, select from the selected terminals a first terminal according to a preference rule, the device comprising means for sending a notification message to the first selected terminal, said selection means (18) being adapted to select a second terminal, when the first selected terminal has not 15 responded to that notification.   5. Call management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises means (16) for storing information on the state of availability of the terminals, said rule (SST). ) terminal selection using a criterion relating to said information on the state of availability of the terminals.   6. Call management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises means (16) for storing information on the state of availability of users on each of the terminals, said terminal selection rule (SST) using a criterion relating to said information on the state of availability of the users. 30   7. A method for managing local terminal calls (Tl-T4) among a plurality of local terminals (T1-T4), the method comprising: - a step (EIO) for receiving an incoming call signal transmitted in accordance with to a communication service by a remote terminal (T6-35 T10) to a contact (A); - a step (E30) of selecting at least one local terminal (T1-T4) by means of which a user associated with said contact (A) is reachable according to said communication service and a terminal selection rule (SST) taking at least into account data (U) relating to the capabilities of said local terminals (T1-T4) for the implementation of communication services; and a step (E60) for sending a request to the selected local terminal via a communication interface (11-15) associated with this terminal (Ti-T4), with a view to establishing via this communication module a communication link for conveying a content between the selected local terminal (T1-T4) and said remote terminal (T6-T10).   A computer program comprising instructions for performing the steps of the call handling method of claim 7 when said program is executed by a computer.   9. A computer-readable recording medium on which a computer program is recorded including instructions for executing the steps of the incoming call handling method according to claim 7.   A proxy server (10) having an incoming call handling device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   11. Terminal (T1-T4) comprising a communication module able to communicate with a call management device, the device being able to receive an incoming call signal transmitted in accordance with a communication service by a terminal (T6 -T10) remote to a contact (A) associated with a user of said terminal, said terminal comprising: - means for receiving from said call management device a notification message for the establishment via said device of call management of a communication link between said terminal and said remote terminal (T6); and means for implementing said communication link using, for the portion of said link between said terminal and said call management device, a communication protocol which is independent of said service.