CA2108223C - Continuous call forwarding to plural lines - Google Patents
Continuous call forwarding to plural linesInfo
- Publication number
- CA2108223C CA2108223C CA 2108223 CA2108223A CA2108223C CA 2108223 C CA2108223 C CA 2108223C CA 2108223 CA2108223 CA 2108223 CA 2108223 A CA2108223 A CA 2108223A CA 2108223 C CA2108223 C CA 2108223C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- telephone
- telephone line
- ringing
- group
- hunt group
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
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Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/46—Arrangements for calling a number of substations in a predetermined sequence until an answer is obtained
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/58—Arrangements providing connection between main exchange and sub-exchange or satellite
- H04Q3/62—Arrangements providing connection between main exchange and sub-exchange or satellite for connecting to private branch exchanges
- H04Q3/625—Arrangements in the private branch exchange
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Sub-Exchange Stations And Push- Button Telephones (AREA)
- Devices For Supply Of Signal Current (AREA)
- Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method of ringing a telephone subscriber comprised of (a) defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a particular telephone line associated with the subscriber, (b) receiving a call to the telephone line from a calling party, (c) seizing and ringing a telephone line contained in the group as a result of receiving the call, (d) timing an interval of answering time, (e) in the event the telephone line is not answered within the interval, releasing and ceasing ringing the telephone line and ringing another telephone line listed in the hunt group, (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a ringing telephone line has been answered, all telephone lines in the hunt group have been rung for the interval, or the calling party has hung up, and (g) in the event a ringing telephone line has been answered, routing the call to the answered telephone line.
Description
2108223 ~
1 FIELD OF THE lNV~N'l'lON
1 FIELD OF THE lNV~N'l'lON
2 This inv~ntion relates to telephony and in 3 particular to a method of directing telephone calls to a 4 subscriber who has left the vicinity of his telephone set.
6 BACKGROUND TO THE lNv~NllON
7 Telephone switching systems typically have the 8 capability of rerouting incoming calls to a telephone 9 set to another location designated by a subscriber, this capability being referred to as call forwarding. A
11 telephone number of a line at a location where the 12 subscriber expects to be is registered, and when an 13 inc. i ng call is received to the subscriber's line, the 14 line to which calls are to be transferred i5 rung in place of the called line. It is possible, however, that 16 the subscriber has not yet reached that location, has 17 left that location, or has changed his mind as to being 18 in that location. In that case the telephone line to 19 which calls are transferred will be rung, and the subscriber can miss the transferred call.
21 In case the subscriber is uncertain exactly 22 where he will be, he can establish a hunt group. All 23 calls to his line then ring all telephone lines of the 24 hunt group. With the subscriber expecting to be located 25 adjacent one of the telephone lines designated in the 26 hunt group at some time, he expects to be able to pick 27 up the call from one of the telephone lines in the 28 group.
29 This procedure, however, causes all telephone 30 lines of the, group to be rung, which is wasteful of 31 ringing current, and can be annoying to other persons 32 within earshot of the many telephones being rung.
33 Indeed, the ringing telephones may induce some other 34 party than the subscriber to answer one OI the ringing telephones, and this could restrict the ability of the '~
2 1 ~ 8 2 2 3 1 subscriber to obtain important information from the 2 caller, since for example the person answering the 3 telephone may not see the subscriber and may not give 4 the subscriber a message relating to the call; yet the caller may expect that the message is to be passed to 6 the subscriber. -~
7 Therefore the use of neither call forwarding ; -8 nor hunt group ringing is satisfactory to successfully 9 locate and transfer a call to a subscriber who is roaming from place to place, without knowing ahead of 11 time exactly where he will be and for what period of '' 12 time.
13 SUMMARY OF THE lNV~!;N'l'lON
14 The present invention is a method by which calls intended for a subscriber can be directed to that 16 subscriber, even though the subsoriber may be roaming 17 from place to place in no defined sequence and for no 18 particular period of time, without ringing all 19 telephones in a hunt group together. Further, the invention provides for alternatively ringing all 21 telephones in a hunt group at one time according to 22 normal hunt group operation.
23 In accordance with an embodiment of the 24 invention, a method of ringing a telephone subscriber is comprised of (a) defining a hunt group of teleph~ne 26 lines for a particular telephone line associated with 27 said subscriber, (b) receiving a call to the telephone 28 line from a calling party, (c) seizing and ringing a Vb ' 29 telephone line contained in the group as a result of receiving the call, (d) timing an interval of answering 31 time, (e) in the event the telephone line is not 32 answered within the interval, releasing and ceasing 33 ringing the telephone line and ringing another telephone 34 lir.e listed in the hunt group, (f~ repeating steps (d) and (e) until a ringing telephone line has been 1 answered, all telephone lines in the hunt group have 2 been rung ~or the interval, or the calling party has 3 hung up, and (g) in the event a ringing telephone line 4 has been answered, routing the call to the answ~red telephone line.
6 In accordance with another embodiment, a 7 telephone line of the hunt group is registered, and the 8 registered line is rung first of all those listed in the 9 hunt group. Steps (f) and (g) as described above are then performed.
11 In accordance with another embodiment, a 12 method of ringing a telephone subscriber is comprised of 13 defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a a 14 telephone line associated with the subscriber, and in the event of receipt of a telephone call to the 16 subscriber, ringing each telephone line in the hunt 17 group in sequence for a period of time until one 18 telephone line has been answered or until a caller of 19 the received call has hung up.
BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS
21 A better understanding of the invention will 22 be obtained by reference to the description below, in 23 conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
24 Figure l is a block diagram of a telephone system in which the invention may be used, 26 Figure 2 is a block diagram of the content of 27 a memory used in the telephone system and used in the 28 process of the invention.
29 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE lNV~NllON
Figure l is a block diagram illustrating 31 a telephone switching system, o~ the type described in 32 U.S. patents 4,615,028 issued September 30th, 1986, 33 invented by Conrad Lewis and Gino Totti and 4,616,360 34 issued October 7th, 1986, invented by Conrad Lewis. It ;
~- 21~8223 1 should be understood that other telephone switching 2 systems could be used in place thereof.
3 In the system of Figure l, station sets l such 4 as telephone sets are interconnected with each other and with trunks 2 via at least one circuit switch 3, ~-6 telephone lines 4 connected to the station set being 7 switched to circuit switch links via peripheral controls 8 5 which interface the telephone lines and trunks via 9 peripheral inter~ace circuits (PICs) 6. Ringing generators 7 are connected to the peripheral controls 5 11 in order to provide ringing signals to the telephone ~
12 lines. Random access memories (RAMs) 8 are also ;
13 connected to the peripheral controls 5, which store 14 control signals for operation of the peripheral controls.
16 A processor (main control) ~0 is connected via 17 a main bus 12 to the circuit switch 3, in order to 18 control it's operation. A message switch 12 is also 19 connected to bus 12 and to peripheral controls 5, to receive control messages from processor lO and to route 21 them to peripheral control 5, for storage in memories 8 22 or for transmission to telephone lines 4, destined for 23 the station sets l. A system memory 14, connected to bus 24 12, contains control programs and data used by the processor for controlling tha operation of the system.
26 An operator console 16 is connected to the main bus 12, 27 which is used to configure and test the system when 28 required.
29 In accordance with the present invention, a hunt group memory 17 is connected to bus 12, for read 31 and write access by processor lO. This memory is used 32 to store hunt group tables. These hunt group tables are 33 used in a particular way. ;
34 In addition, a timer l8 is as~ociated With the processor lO, for timing ringing intervals.
2~8223 1 Turning now to Figure 2, the details of an the 2 present invention will be described.
3 Using the operator console 17, for example, an 4 operator who has been asked to prepare a hunt group as a result of a subscriber request prepares a hunt group 6 such as hunt group list 18 with members designated by 7 the subscriber. The hunt group is headed by a pilot 8 number, which can be either a special number looked 9 stored in a table and associated with the subscriber n~ h~r, or can be the subscriber number itself. The 11 hunt group list will also cont~in the subscriber numbers 12 of the other members of the hunt group, as shown. This 13 list is converted, if necessary, to a hunt group table 14 20, which is headed by the pilot number of the subscriber, and lists information designating each of 16 the stations (telephone lines and numbers associated 17 therewith) of the other members oP the hunt group.
18 Contained within system memory are station 19 tables 22. ~ach station table retains information used by the switching system about the characteristics of the 21 station number, for example the classes of ser~ice 22 allocated $o the station number. In a preferred 23 embodiment of the invention, one of the characteristics 24 stored in a station tables 22 corresponding to the hunt group pilot number (which can be the telephone number of 26 the subscriber who is to be located), is a hunt group 27 option code, as will be described below.
28 Each of the station identifiers stored in the 29 hunt group tables 20 contains a pointer to a particular station table 22.
31 The system memory 14 contains a table which is 32 looked up as a result of an incoming call, referred to 33 herein as a digit tree table 24. ~his table contains 34 re~erence to the station associated with each incoming 35 telephone number, and in particular a pointer to the ~;
S
2~82~3 ~:
1 station table 22 containing the station characteristic~ ~ -2 so that the processor can avail itself of the 3 information stored in the station table for a particular 4 incoming call and properly process the call. For example, incoming dialed digits 5110103 has an entry in 6 digit tree table 24, and a cross-reference to station y.
7 This cross-reference is a pointer to the station table 8 carrying the characteristics of station y.
9 Depending on the characteristics of the switching system, the seven digit number could have 11 fewer (e.g. four) or more digits which designate the 12 called line.
13 In the present invention, the digit tree 14 replaces the cross-reference to a particular station table of a particular subscriber for which the hunt 16 group is set up, with reference to a corresponding hunt 17 group table 20. Each of the members of the hunt group 18 in the hunt group table has its own pointer to a 19 particular station table 22.
Thus for an incoming call to a number which is 21 the pilot number, or designates the pilot number of one 22 hunt group table, the pilot number will point from the 23 hunt group to a particular station table. The data 24 relating to that station number is retrieved by the processor, and is transmitted to the peripheral control 26 for controlling the ringing of stations in the hunt 27 group in accordance with the particular data stor~d in 28 the pointed-to station table.
29 When a subscriber wishes to use the present invention, he establishes a hunt group of telephone 31 lines at locations where he expects to be from time to 32 time during a desired interval. The operator, or th~
33 person inputting the hunt group list, places an option 34 aode in the ~tation table related to the station number (which can be the pilot number of the hunt group), which 1 option code specifies th~t the hunt group ringing should 2 be "continuous". "Continuous~ ringing designates that 3 each telephone line corresponding to the numbers in the 4 hunt group should be seized and rung one at a time, rather than all at once.
6 Upon receipt of an incoming call to the 7 subscriber's telephone line number, the main processor, 8 accessing the station table for that telephone line 9 (which has the "continuous" option code stored in the associated station table), recognizes the option code, 11 and as a result seizes only the first listed telephone 12 line in the hunt group, instead of all lines in the hunt 13 group. The processor sends a messaye to the peripheral 14 control to cause a ringing generator to ring the first listed telephone line, timing the ringing using timer 16 18. If the rung telephone line has not been answered ~
17 during the timed interval, the processor causes release --;
18 o~ the rung telephone line and thus stops ringing it. ;
19 The processor then reads the hunt group table again, and causes seizure and rinying of the second listed 21 telephone line in the hunt group. Again the timer times 22 the ringing, and if the rung telephone line has not been 23 answered within the timed interval, the processor causes 24 release of the rung telephone line and thus stops ringing it. The steps are repeated for all telephone 26 lines in the hunt group list, until a telephone has been -27 answered, or until the calling party has hung up.
28 In case all of the telephones have been rung 29 without any being answered, as long as the calling party has not hung up, the main processor, recognizing that 31 all of the telephones in the list have been rung, ceases 32 ringing any of them. Alternatively, the entire seguence 33 of ri.nging each line of the list in sequence may be 34 repeated for as many cycles as desired, for a particular interval, or until a predetermined clock time has bePn " 21~22~
1 reached, as long as the calling party has not hung up, .
2 The alternative steps described above can allow the 3 subscriber who has not reached any of the telephone 4 lines, or who may be travelling between stations, to reach a station associated with one of the lines and 6 pick up the call.
7 Thus with each telephone line in the hunt 8 group rung in sequence for a prQdeteL ;ne~ time period 9 (which can be programmed into the main processor operation programs~, all telephones in the hunt group 11 are not rung at the same time, avoiding the deficiencies 12 of the prior art hunt group ringing mode as described 13 earlier. Indeed, in effect each telPphone in the hunt 14 group is rung in a manner so as to seek the location of ;~
the roaming subscriber. The result is a form of 16 sequential call transfer that is timed per subscriber 17 line, and in case the call transfer is unsuccessful, 18 another line is selected for call transfer. The 19 possibility of locating the subscriber is thus obtained, with ; n; annoyance to others who may be within 21 earshot o~ other telephone lines of the hunt group, and 22 with minimum possibility of missing the call due to 23 mishap, such as answer by a a child or the like.
24 In accordance with another embodiment, when the subscriber reaches a line where he expects to stay 26 for a period of time, he can register his location.
27 This can be e~fected by him dialing the operator, and 28 providing his location. The operator can then access 29 the systPm, and keying in control digits and a designation of the pilot number of the hunt group, or if 31 dif~erent, the base line number of the subscriber. The 32 switching system controller, recognizing the control 33 digits, places a mark against that telephone line in the 34 hunt group table associated with the basQ telephone line number.
1 In this ~ase, when there is an incoming call 2 to the base telephone number, the controller detects the 3 mark against the telephone number in the hunt group, 4 where the subscriber is located. The main controller then seizes and rings that number ~irst, instead of the 6 first number of the hunt group. Assumin~ that the 7 subscriber is still at that location, he will answe~ the 8 ringing telephone. This process makes the transfer of 9 calls very efficient. Only one telephone line in the hunt group is rung, thus relieving use of the telephone 11 system equipment, and the call is answered with minimum 12 possibility that the caller will hang up before the call 13 is answered, or that the call will be answered by some ~' 14 other party on another telephone listed in the hunt -group before the call is answered by the subscriber.
16 It should be noted that the hunting option ~"
17 that is stored in the station table associated with any 18 particular subscriber can be changed to "simultaneous", 19 instead of "continuous". In this case, instead of ringing each telephone in the hunt group in sequence, 21 the controller detects the "simultanPous" option, and it 22 proceeds to ring all telephones in the hunt group 23 simultaneously, in the normal manner of the prior art.
24 The use of the hunt group option allows the subscriber to select which form of hunting he wishes to 26 use, depending on how he wishes to use the telephone 27 system, and how and when he sxpects to travel between 28 locations.
29 A person skilled in the art understanding this invention may now design other embodiments using the 31 principles described herein. For example, the method is 32 not restricted to hunt groups using fixed telephone 33 lines, but can be used with hunt groups designating 34 cellular or other wireless telephones.. Thus there is no restriction that the method be used in association ';'':, ~ ' ' ', , ' '~' ' . ' ' ' 3 ~
~ 21Q8223 1 with a PABX, but it may be used in association with 2 general telephone switching systems and networks. All 3 such designs are part of the present invenkion if they .~:
4 fall within the scope of thP claims appended hereto S
6 .
' ~,''' ' ,:
6 BACKGROUND TO THE lNv~NllON
7 Telephone switching systems typically have the 8 capability of rerouting incoming calls to a telephone 9 set to another location designated by a subscriber, this capability being referred to as call forwarding. A
11 telephone number of a line at a location where the 12 subscriber expects to be is registered, and when an 13 inc. i ng call is received to the subscriber's line, the 14 line to which calls are to be transferred i5 rung in place of the called line. It is possible, however, that 16 the subscriber has not yet reached that location, has 17 left that location, or has changed his mind as to being 18 in that location. In that case the telephone line to 19 which calls are transferred will be rung, and the subscriber can miss the transferred call.
21 In case the subscriber is uncertain exactly 22 where he will be, he can establish a hunt group. All 23 calls to his line then ring all telephone lines of the 24 hunt group. With the subscriber expecting to be located 25 adjacent one of the telephone lines designated in the 26 hunt group at some time, he expects to be able to pick 27 up the call from one of the telephone lines in the 28 group.
29 This procedure, however, causes all telephone 30 lines of the, group to be rung, which is wasteful of 31 ringing current, and can be annoying to other persons 32 within earshot of the many telephones being rung.
33 Indeed, the ringing telephones may induce some other 34 party than the subscriber to answer one OI the ringing telephones, and this could restrict the ability of the '~
2 1 ~ 8 2 2 3 1 subscriber to obtain important information from the 2 caller, since for example the person answering the 3 telephone may not see the subscriber and may not give 4 the subscriber a message relating to the call; yet the caller may expect that the message is to be passed to 6 the subscriber. -~
7 Therefore the use of neither call forwarding ; -8 nor hunt group ringing is satisfactory to successfully 9 locate and transfer a call to a subscriber who is roaming from place to place, without knowing ahead of 11 time exactly where he will be and for what period of '' 12 time.
13 SUMMARY OF THE lNV~!;N'l'lON
14 The present invention is a method by which calls intended for a subscriber can be directed to that 16 subscriber, even though the subsoriber may be roaming 17 from place to place in no defined sequence and for no 18 particular period of time, without ringing all 19 telephones in a hunt group together. Further, the invention provides for alternatively ringing all 21 telephones in a hunt group at one time according to 22 normal hunt group operation.
23 In accordance with an embodiment of the 24 invention, a method of ringing a telephone subscriber is comprised of (a) defining a hunt group of teleph~ne 26 lines for a particular telephone line associated with 27 said subscriber, (b) receiving a call to the telephone 28 line from a calling party, (c) seizing and ringing a Vb ' 29 telephone line contained in the group as a result of receiving the call, (d) timing an interval of answering 31 time, (e) in the event the telephone line is not 32 answered within the interval, releasing and ceasing 33 ringing the telephone line and ringing another telephone 34 lir.e listed in the hunt group, (f~ repeating steps (d) and (e) until a ringing telephone line has been 1 answered, all telephone lines in the hunt group have 2 been rung ~or the interval, or the calling party has 3 hung up, and (g) in the event a ringing telephone line 4 has been answered, routing the call to the answ~red telephone line.
6 In accordance with another embodiment, a 7 telephone line of the hunt group is registered, and the 8 registered line is rung first of all those listed in the 9 hunt group. Steps (f) and (g) as described above are then performed.
11 In accordance with another embodiment, a 12 method of ringing a telephone subscriber is comprised of 13 defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a a 14 telephone line associated with the subscriber, and in the event of receipt of a telephone call to the 16 subscriber, ringing each telephone line in the hunt 17 group in sequence for a period of time until one 18 telephone line has been answered or until a caller of 19 the received call has hung up.
BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS
21 A better understanding of the invention will 22 be obtained by reference to the description below, in 23 conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
24 Figure l is a block diagram of a telephone system in which the invention may be used, 26 Figure 2 is a block diagram of the content of 27 a memory used in the telephone system and used in the 28 process of the invention.
29 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE lNV~NllON
Figure l is a block diagram illustrating 31 a telephone switching system, o~ the type described in 32 U.S. patents 4,615,028 issued September 30th, 1986, 33 invented by Conrad Lewis and Gino Totti and 4,616,360 34 issued October 7th, 1986, invented by Conrad Lewis. It ;
~- 21~8223 1 should be understood that other telephone switching 2 systems could be used in place thereof.
3 In the system of Figure l, station sets l such 4 as telephone sets are interconnected with each other and with trunks 2 via at least one circuit switch 3, ~-6 telephone lines 4 connected to the station set being 7 switched to circuit switch links via peripheral controls 8 5 which interface the telephone lines and trunks via 9 peripheral inter~ace circuits (PICs) 6. Ringing generators 7 are connected to the peripheral controls 5 11 in order to provide ringing signals to the telephone ~
12 lines. Random access memories (RAMs) 8 are also ;
13 connected to the peripheral controls 5, which store 14 control signals for operation of the peripheral controls.
16 A processor (main control) ~0 is connected via 17 a main bus 12 to the circuit switch 3, in order to 18 control it's operation. A message switch 12 is also 19 connected to bus 12 and to peripheral controls 5, to receive control messages from processor lO and to route 21 them to peripheral control 5, for storage in memories 8 22 or for transmission to telephone lines 4, destined for 23 the station sets l. A system memory 14, connected to bus 24 12, contains control programs and data used by the processor for controlling tha operation of the system.
26 An operator console 16 is connected to the main bus 12, 27 which is used to configure and test the system when 28 required.
29 In accordance with the present invention, a hunt group memory 17 is connected to bus 12, for read 31 and write access by processor lO. This memory is used 32 to store hunt group tables. These hunt group tables are 33 used in a particular way. ;
34 In addition, a timer l8 is as~ociated With the processor lO, for timing ringing intervals.
2~8223 1 Turning now to Figure 2, the details of an the 2 present invention will be described.
3 Using the operator console 17, for example, an 4 operator who has been asked to prepare a hunt group as a result of a subscriber request prepares a hunt group 6 such as hunt group list 18 with members designated by 7 the subscriber. The hunt group is headed by a pilot 8 number, which can be either a special number looked 9 stored in a table and associated with the subscriber n~ h~r, or can be the subscriber number itself. The 11 hunt group list will also cont~in the subscriber numbers 12 of the other members of the hunt group, as shown. This 13 list is converted, if necessary, to a hunt group table 14 20, which is headed by the pilot number of the subscriber, and lists information designating each of 16 the stations (telephone lines and numbers associated 17 therewith) of the other members oP the hunt group.
18 Contained within system memory are station 19 tables 22. ~ach station table retains information used by the switching system about the characteristics of the 21 station number, for example the classes of ser~ice 22 allocated $o the station number. In a preferred 23 embodiment of the invention, one of the characteristics 24 stored in a station tables 22 corresponding to the hunt group pilot number (which can be the telephone number of 26 the subscriber who is to be located), is a hunt group 27 option code, as will be described below.
28 Each of the station identifiers stored in the 29 hunt group tables 20 contains a pointer to a particular station table 22.
31 The system memory 14 contains a table which is 32 looked up as a result of an incoming call, referred to 33 herein as a digit tree table 24. ~his table contains 34 re~erence to the station associated with each incoming 35 telephone number, and in particular a pointer to the ~;
S
2~82~3 ~:
1 station table 22 containing the station characteristic~ ~ -2 so that the processor can avail itself of the 3 information stored in the station table for a particular 4 incoming call and properly process the call. For example, incoming dialed digits 5110103 has an entry in 6 digit tree table 24, and a cross-reference to station y.
7 This cross-reference is a pointer to the station table 8 carrying the characteristics of station y.
9 Depending on the characteristics of the switching system, the seven digit number could have 11 fewer (e.g. four) or more digits which designate the 12 called line.
13 In the present invention, the digit tree 14 replaces the cross-reference to a particular station table of a particular subscriber for which the hunt 16 group is set up, with reference to a corresponding hunt 17 group table 20. Each of the members of the hunt group 18 in the hunt group table has its own pointer to a 19 particular station table 22.
Thus for an incoming call to a number which is 21 the pilot number, or designates the pilot number of one 22 hunt group table, the pilot number will point from the 23 hunt group to a particular station table. The data 24 relating to that station number is retrieved by the processor, and is transmitted to the peripheral control 26 for controlling the ringing of stations in the hunt 27 group in accordance with the particular data stor~d in 28 the pointed-to station table.
29 When a subscriber wishes to use the present invention, he establishes a hunt group of telephone 31 lines at locations where he expects to be from time to 32 time during a desired interval. The operator, or th~
33 person inputting the hunt group list, places an option 34 aode in the ~tation table related to the station number (which can be the pilot number of the hunt group), which 1 option code specifies th~t the hunt group ringing should 2 be "continuous". "Continuous~ ringing designates that 3 each telephone line corresponding to the numbers in the 4 hunt group should be seized and rung one at a time, rather than all at once.
6 Upon receipt of an incoming call to the 7 subscriber's telephone line number, the main processor, 8 accessing the station table for that telephone line 9 (which has the "continuous" option code stored in the associated station table), recognizes the option code, 11 and as a result seizes only the first listed telephone 12 line in the hunt group, instead of all lines in the hunt 13 group. The processor sends a messaye to the peripheral 14 control to cause a ringing generator to ring the first listed telephone line, timing the ringing using timer 16 18. If the rung telephone line has not been answered ~
17 during the timed interval, the processor causes release --;
18 o~ the rung telephone line and thus stops ringing it. ;
19 The processor then reads the hunt group table again, and causes seizure and rinying of the second listed 21 telephone line in the hunt group. Again the timer times 22 the ringing, and if the rung telephone line has not been 23 answered within the timed interval, the processor causes 24 release of the rung telephone line and thus stops ringing it. The steps are repeated for all telephone 26 lines in the hunt group list, until a telephone has been -27 answered, or until the calling party has hung up.
28 In case all of the telephones have been rung 29 without any being answered, as long as the calling party has not hung up, the main processor, recognizing that 31 all of the telephones in the list have been rung, ceases 32 ringing any of them. Alternatively, the entire seguence 33 of ri.nging each line of the list in sequence may be 34 repeated for as many cycles as desired, for a particular interval, or until a predetermined clock time has bePn " 21~22~
1 reached, as long as the calling party has not hung up, .
2 The alternative steps described above can allow the 3 subscriber who has not reached any of the telephone 4 lines, or who may be travelling between stations, to reach a station associated with one of the lines and 6 pick up the call.
7 Thus with each telephone line in the hunt 8 group rung in sequence for a prQdeteL ;ne~ time period 9 (which can be programmed into the main processor operation programs~, all telephones in the hunt group 11 are not rung at the same time, avoiding the deficiencies 12 of the prior art hunt group ringing mode as described 13 earlier. Indeed, in effect each telPphone in the hunt 14 group is rung in a manner so as to seek the location of ;~
the roaming subscriber. The result is a form of 16 sequential call transfer that is timed per subscriber 17 line, and in case the call transfer is unsuccessful, 18 another line is selected for call transfer. The 19 possibility of locating the subscriber is thus obtained, with ; n; annoyance to others who may be within 21 earshot o~ other telephone lines of the hunt group, and 22 with minimum possibility of missing the call due to 23 mishap, such as answer by a a child or the like.
24 In accordance with another embodiment, when the subscriber reaches a line where he expects to stay 26 for a period of time, he can register his location.
27 This can be e~fected by him dialing the operator, and 28 providing his location. The operator can then access 29 the systPm, and keying in control digits and a designation of the pilot number of the hunt group, or if 31 dif~erent, the base line number of the subscriber. The 32 switching system controller, recognizing the control 33 digits, places a mark against that telephone line in the 34 hunt group table associated with the basQ telephone line number.
1 In this ~ase, when there is an incoming call 2 to the base telephone number, the controller detects the 3 mark against the telephone number in the hunt group, 4 where the subscriber is located. The main controller then seizes and rings that number ~irst, instead of the 6 first number of the hunt group. Assumin~ that the 7 subscriber is still at that location, he will answe~ the 8 ringing telephone. This process makes the transfer of 9 calls very efficient. Only one telephone line in the hunt group is rung, thus relieving use of the telephone 11 system equipment, and the call is answered with minimum 12 possibility that the caller will hang up before the call 13 is answered, or that the call will be answered by some ~' 14 other party on another telephone listed in the hunt -group before the call is answered by the subscriber.
16 It should be noted that the hunting option ~"
17 that is stored in the station table associated with any 18 particular subscriber can be changed to "simultaneous", 19 instead of "continuous". In this case, instead of ringing each telephone in the hunt group in sequence, 21 the controller detects the "simultanPous" option, and it 22 proceeds to ring all telephones in the hunt group 23 simultaneously, in the normal manner of the prior art.
24 The use of the hunt group option allows the subscriber to select which form of hunting he wishes to 26 use, depending on how he wishes to use the telephone 27 system, and how and when he sxpects to travel between 28 locations.
29 A person skilled in the art understanding this invention may now design other embodiments using the 31 principles described herein. For example, the method is 32 not restricted to hunt groups using fixed telephone 33 lines, but can be used with hunt groups designating 34 cellular or other wireless telephones.. Thus there is no restriction that the method be used in association ';'':, ~ ' ' ', , ' '~' ' . ' ' ' 3 ~
~ 21Q8223 1 with a PABX, but it may be used in association with 2 general telephone switching systems and networks. All 3 such designs are part of the present invenkion if they .~:
4 fall within the scope of thP claims appended hereto S
6 .
' ~,''' ' ,:
Claims (10)
1. A method of ringing a telephone subscriber comprising:
a) defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a particular telephone line associated with said subscriber, b) receiving a call to said telephone line from a calling party, c) seizing and ringing a telephone line contained in said group as a result of receiving said call, d) timing an interval of answering time, e) in the event said telephone line is not answered within said interval, releasing and ceasing ringing said telephone line and ringing another telephone line listed in the hunt group, f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a ringing telephone line has been answered, all telephone lines in the hunt group have been rung for said interval, or the calling party has hung up, and g) in the event a ringing telephone line has been answered, routing said call to the answered telephone line.
a) defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a particular telephone line associated with said subscriber, b) receiving a call to said telephone line from a calling party, c) seizing and ringing a telephone line contained in said group as a result of receiving said call, d) timing an interval of answering time, e) in the event said telephone line is not answered within said interval, releasing and ceasing ringing said telephone line and ringing another telephone line listed in the hunt group, f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a ringing telephone line has been answered, all telephone lines in the hunt group have been rung for said interval, or the calling party has hung up, and g) in the event a ringing telephone line has been answered, routing said call to the answered telephone line.
2. A method as defined in claim 1 in which a first telephone line to be rung is a first in a sequence of telephone lines listed in the hunt group, and in which other telephone lines listed in the hunt group are seized and rung in sequence of listing in the hunt group.
3. A method as defined in claim 1 including registering a telephone line of said group, ringing the registered line first, then performing steps (f) and (g).
4. A method as defined in claim 1, including maintaining a characteristic table relating to said particular telephone line, storing a hunting option, and upon receiving a call to said telephone line, retrieving said hunting option and in the event the hunting option designates continuous hunting, carrying out steps (c) - (g).
5. A method as defined in claim 4, including in the event the hunting option designates simultaneous hunting, ringing all telephone lines listed in the hunt group instead of carrying out steps (c) - (f), and carrying out step (g).
6. A method as defined in claim 5 in which, in case the hunting option designates continuous hunting, a first telephone line rung is a first in a sequence of telephone lines listed in the hunt group, and in which other telephone lines listed in the hunt group are seized and rung in sequence of listing in the hunt group.
7. A method as defined in claim 5 including, in case the hunting option designates continuous hunting, registering a telephone line of said group, ringing the registered line first, then performing steps (f) and (g).
8. A method of ringing telephone subscriber comprising:
a) defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a telephone line associated with said subscriber, and b) in the event of receipt of a telephone call to said subscriber, ringing each telephone line in the hunt group in sequence for a period of time until one telephone line has been answered, or until a caller of the received telephone call has hung up.
a) defining a hunt group of telephone lines for a telephone line associated with said subscriber, and b) in the event of receipt of a telephone call to said subscriber, ringing each telephone line in the hunt group in sequence for a period of time until one telephone line has been answered, or until a caller of the received telephone call has hung up.
9. A method as defined in claim 8, including ceasing ringing the telephone lines in the hunt group after each in said group has been rung and no telephone line has been answered.
10. A method as defined in claim 8, including ringing the group of telephone lines in the hunt group in sequence a predetermined number of times, and ceasing ringing after each in said group has been rung plural times and no telephone line has been answered.
Priority Applications (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2108223 CA2108223C (en) | 1993-10-12 | 1993-10-12 | Continuous call forwarding to plural lines |
| DE19944430343 DE4430343A1 (en) | 1993-10-12 | 1994-08-26 | Procedure for calling a subscriber |
| GB9420594A GB2282938B (en) | 1993-10-12 | 1994-10-12 | Continuous call forwarding to plural lines |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2108223 CA2108223C (en) | 1993-10-12 | 1993-10-12 | Continuous call forwarding to plural lines |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2108223A1 CA2108223A1 (en) | 1995-04-13 |
| CA2108223C true CA2108223C (en) | 1997-12-23 |
Family
ID=4152434
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2108223 Expired - Fee Related CA2108223C (en) | 1993-10-12 | 1993-10-12 | Continuous call forwarding to plural lines |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2108223C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE4430343A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2282938B (en) |
Families Citing this family (8)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2290003B (en) * | 1994-05-26 | 1998-05-13 | Best Direct | Telephone system |
| CA2132610C (en) * | 1994-09-21 | 1998-04-28 | Deborah L. Pinard | Delayed seizure on associated devices |
| GB9624723D0 (en) * | 1996-11-28 | 1997-01-15 | Plessey Telecomm | Private circuits |
| GB2329791A (en) * | 1997-09-25 | 1999-03-31 | Dsc Telecom Lp | A call routing system for routing calls to or from subscriber terminals in a telecommunications system |
| US6473501B1 (en) | 1999-06-11 | 2002-10-29 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Concurrent hunt group searching methods and arrangements |
| DE10108824A1 (en) | 2001-02-23 | 2002-09-12 | Siemens Ag | Procedure for operating a private telecommunications network |
| US20070118627A1 (en) * | 2005-11-18 | 2007-05-24 | Timucin Ozugur | System and method for implementation of instant messaging hunting groups |
| ES2565255B1 (en) * | 2014-09-30 | 2017-01-25 | Javier RODRÍGUEZ DE LA RUBIA LÓPEZ | Fixed telephone management system from smartphones and tablets |
Family Cites Families (8)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2937134C2 (en) * | 1979-09-13 | 1982-06-09 | Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München | Circuit arrangement for a small telephone exchange (home telephone system) with parallel calls for incoming exchange connections |
| GB2082421B (en) * | 1980-08-06 | 1984-05-02 | Gen Electric Co Ltd | Telephone exchanges |
| IE54733B1 (en) * | 1983-09-08 | 1990-01-17 | Lake Electronics Ltd | Provate automatic branch exchange |
| GB2250400B (en) * | 1990-10-19 | 1995-01-18 | David Brown Mcdougall | Automatic repertory dialler control systems |
| CA2055170A1 (en) * | 1991-02-08 | 1992-08-09 | Manivakkam P. Krishnan | Call forwarding system |
| AU2160392A (en) * | 1991-06-05 | 1993-01-08 | Auto Ex | Hunt and seek telephone system |
| US5369695A (en) * | 1992-01-06 | 1994-11-29 | At&T Corp. | Method of redirecting a telephone call to an alternate destination |
| US5475748A (en) * | 1992-09-18 | 1995-12-12 | Boston Technology, Inc. | Automatic telephone system with function for multiple out-dialed calls per caller |
-
1993
- 1993-10-12 CA CA 2108223 patent/CA2108223C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
1994
- 1994-08-26 DE DE19944430343 patent/DE4430343A1/en not_active Ceased
- 1994-10-12 GB GB9420594A patent/GB2282938B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB9420594D0 (en) | 1994-11-30 |
| CA2108223A1 (en) | 1995-04-13 |
| GB2282938A (en) | 1995-04-19 |
| DE4430343A1 (en) | 1995-04-13 |
| GB2282938B (en) | 1998-09-30 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |