Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
  • H04L47/50—Queue scheduling
  • H04L47/62—Queue scheduling characterised by scheduling criteria
  • H04L47/621—Individual queue per connection or flow, e.g. per VC
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
  • H04L47/50—Queue scheduling
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L49/00—Packet switching elements
  • H04L49/90—Buffering arrangements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
  • H04L65/1066—Session management
  • H04L65/1069—Session establishment or de-establishment
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
  • H04L65/1066—Session management
  • H04L65/1083—In-session procedures
  • H04L65/1094—Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
  • H04Q3/64—Distributing or queueing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/24—Negotiation of communication capabilities
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
  • H04M7/0024—Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services
  • H04M7/0033—Notification or handling of incoming calls by a computer
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
  • H04M7/12—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
  • H04M7/1205—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal where the types of switching equipement comprises PSTN/ISDN equipment and switching equipment of networks other than PSTN/ISDN, e.g. Internet Protocol networks
  • H04M7/128—Details of addressing, directories or routing tables
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/13072—Sequence circuits for call signaling, ACD systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/13103—Memory
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/13176—Common channel signaling, CCS7
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/13196—Connection circuit/link/trunk/junction, bridge, router, gateway
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/13389—LAN, internet

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an apparatus for media independent call control when managing real-time communications in a network, especially for managing telephone calls within a computer network using existing protocol, for instance internet protocol (IP) .
• IP internet protocol
• the invention also relates to a system and method for media independent call control.
• a telephone network normally operate with a dedicated server as an exchange or switch and a network which is separated from a computer network. Managing and controlling such a telephone network is difficult and unique solutions for different traffic cases makes this type of telephone network expensive and complex. This is especially true when managing a plurality of different types of calls, for example voice calls (telephony) , video calls (video conference) and/or computer calls (chat) .
• voice calls telephony
• video calls video conference
• chat computer calls
• a telecommunication system is disclosed in US Patent 5,802,058, by Harris et al . , comprising communication terminals, such as multimedia workstations, a communication server and a computer network.
• the communication protocol over the computer network may be TCP (transfer control protocol) .
• the computer network interconnects the terminals and the server.
• the server comprising a media manager, handles a requested call to marshal resources in the network to establish connection between two multimedia terminals in the network.
• a transaction processing system and method is disclosed in US Patent 5,793,861 by Haigh, comprising a memory for storing transactions in a queue and a processor.
• the processor includes an identifier generator for generating an identifier for each transaction in the queue.
• the system may handle transactions including inbound and outbound calls as well as electronic mail, voice mail, video calls and facsimile.
• a problem with the prior art is how call control or call management are to be implemented, taking into account the diversity of different kind of calls, different types of endpoints and a rising demand for more advanced and complex call control services, such as call forwarding and automatic call distribution.
• the call control and call management area is expanding in complexity and importance.
• Traditional technology solves this problem with a wide range of specialised switches, routers and other telephony equipment, resulting in inefficient and very expensive solutions.
• the invention of an unified and general apparatus for media independent call control makes the task, mentioned above, more cost effective and flexible, allowing easy creation of advanced call control services and implementation of unified monitoring functions for management.
• the above mentioned problem is solved by managing all real- time communication in an apparatus within a network, where said apparatus comprises input/output means, which are connectable to a plurality of endpoints, each endpoint being associated with at least one terminal, via said network.
• the apparatus further comprises means to check the status and availability of said endpoint terminals through a signalling network, means to receive a request for establishing a realtime communication link from a first endpoint terminal to a second endpoint terminal, at least one queuing means comprising at least one queue for each endpoint, where said request is stored, and means to perform actions associated with the content of said request from said first endpoint, the status and the availability of said first and second endpoint terminals and changes in said queuing means.
• An advantage with the present invention is that it may be implemented at a low cost.
• Another advantage with the present invention is that it is possible to manage different types of endpoints within the same apparatus.
• Still another advantage with the present invention is that any type of call may be managed by the same apparatus.
• Fig. la shows a schematic layout of an computer network with a server comprising said inventive apparatus.
• Fig. lb shows an overview of the parts of the server in fig la.
• Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for establishing a connection between two endpoints according to the invention.
• Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method for establishing a connection between an external phone and a call center according to the invention.
• endpoint is used to indicated a logical address, such as a person registered in the network, a group of persons (call center) , a specific terminal or a group of specific terminals (e.g. terminals in a room) .
• a terminal having a physical address within the network, is a communication equipment with connectivity to the network.
• Figure la shows a computer network 100, interconnecting a plurality of terminals, such as a telephone A via an adapter 106, multimedia terminals 107 with a telephone B and E, a standard computer terminal C connected to internet 108 via a first gateway 101 or a telephone D connected to the public telephone network PSTN via a second gateway 102.
• terminals are shown as an example and the computer network could of course include several terminals of one type and/or other types of terminals.
• the operation and construction of the gateways 101, 102 are known to a person skilled in the art, and are not disclosed in this application since it is not a part of the present invention.
• the network 100 may communicate with any type of protocol, but is preferably based on an internet protocol (IP) .
• IP internet protocol
• a server 103 is also interconnected with each network 100 and comprises a control unit 104 and a queuing arrangement 105.
• the queuing arrangement 105 comprises a number of queues corresponding to the registered number of endpoints in the network.
• An endpoint being a logical address as described above, could be a person, a group of persons (Call center) , a location with several terminals (room) or a specific terminal, where a terminal may be associated with several endpoints.
• a person registered in the network as an endpoint also have at least one associated queue. When this person log into a network, that person will be associated with a specific network terminal, i.e. a physical address, in the network 100, thus activating the endpoint.
• a table is created in the server with cross-references for the associated terminals, physical addresses, and the persons, logical addresses, logged into the network.
• FIG lb shows an overview of the parts of the server in figure la, and how they interact with the endpoints in the system.
• the server 103 comprises a queuing arrangement 105, having at least one queue for each endpoint in the network. In this example there is a first queue 110 associated with a first endpoint at terminal A and a second queue 111 for a second endpoint at terminal B.
• the server also comprises a control unit 104, which in turn comprises several event handlers 112. Each event handler is associated with a specific action which event handler is trigged by an event taking place in the system. These events may take place in the queuing arrangement 105 or at the endpoint terminals A, B.
• the control unit 104 is in connection with all terminals in the network through a signalling network 114, which is a part of the network 100.
• the control unit 104 is also in contact with the queuing arrangement 105 via a queue control connection 115, within the server 103.
• An event occurs when there is changes in the queuing arrangement 105, for instance when a first terminal A requests a link to a second terminal B by entering this request into the second queue 111 as an object 113.
• the action performed by an event handler is also associated with the content of the request from the first endpoint terminal A, the status and the availability of the terminals A, B of said first and second endpoint .
• the request is stored in the second queue 111 as an object 113.
• the object contains information regarding the identity of the first endpoint A, the identity of the second endpoint B, the type of call (e.g. phone call, video conference, chat) . It may also contain information about subject related information, call priority, create time information etc.
• the subject related information may be entered via a web-site or by using keyset code receivers.
• Information regarding call priority may be used to reprioritise pending calls in the queue, if a new request for real-time communication has a higher priority than older pending requests.
• the create time information may be used for extracting statistics about waiting time before a communication link is established. Other types of statistics are possible for measuring traffic conditions within the network.
• An event handler trigged by the entry of the object in the second queue performs actions associated with the type of call, the identity of the first and second endpoint.
• the event handler also checks the status and availability of the terminals A, B of the first and the second endpoint.
• the performance of the event handler is also dependent on the status of the queuing arrangements, e.g. are there any other pending calls for the second endpoint.
• Other event handlers are involved to deal with e.g. time-out and termination of a call.
• the communication link 116 is set up between the terminals of the first and second endpoint.
• the object is kept in the queue as long as the link is in use.
• the control unit may also comprise a logging function 117 where a history of all events and the time they occurred are stored. This information can be used to optimise the performance in the network. It can also be used for debiting purposes and maintenance of the system.
• the second endpoint B may comprise a group of terminals, either in a specific room or as a call center. The terminals of a call center does not have to be geographically situated, in order to belong to the same group. Examples of such groups are support or helpdesk for banking, computers, etc. Whenever a terminal in the group is available the requested communication link is set up with that terminal, or if there is additional subject related information the request may be redirected to a specialist within a call center to deal with that specific matter, e.g. to a loan department in a bank.
• a first person wants to make a phone call to a second person, named Bert, and picks up the phone A, which is automatically connected to the network 100 via the adapter 106, having a first physical address.
• Adam dials Bert's phone number, the logical address to Bert, and thereby sends a request to open a real-time connection to Bert, being logged into the network at a terminal having a second physical address, box 201.
• the server receives the request and creates an object describing the type of call, box 202, e.g. voice call or video call, and record the object into Bert's queue, box 203.
• Bert In order to be able to establish this connection Bert have to be registered as an active endpoint in the server, having his own queue .
• Any change in the status or the content of the queue, or the status or the content of each pending object will initiate an event which starts a generic event handler, adaptive to present statuses and conditions.
• a such event is entry of an object into Bert's queue, as shown in box 204.
• the event handler checks the status of Bert, i.e. the state of Bert's terminal B (e.g. busy or not) and the conditions for the call to be connected (e.g. forwarding of calls to another terminal) .
• the event handler also checks if Bert is available in the network and at which terminal he is logged into the network 100. In this example Bert is logged into the network 100 at terminal B.
• This terminal also have a telephone which means that a connection for a phone call, between phone A and terminal B, may be established.
• the object is recorded in the queue after any other pending object. If there are previous pending objects in the queue, they may be handled chronologically. Other suitable ways of determining which order the pending objects, in a queue to an endpoint, should be handled may be used, such as arranging the incoming requests on a priority basis.
• the event handler performs actions depending on the events that occur in the system due to present status and conditions for the request and the status and condition of the different queues.
• the event handler is a generic handler which can perform several actions independent of each other instead of having a pluralities of event handlers.
• B does not send an acceptance signal back to A
• several other actions may be initiated, such as terminating the call by removing the appropriate object from Bert's queue, box 208, transferring the call to a new queue if Bert has forwarded incoming calls to another andpoint within the network, box 209, or redirecting the call to a location outside the network, box 210.
• a link for real- time communication is requested with the helpdesk, being a registered endpoint in the system, comprising in this example of terminals A and B, see box 301.
• An object is created describing the request in box 302, and in this case the identity of the caller is the gateway 101, being itself an endpoint in the system, and the identity of the receiving terminal may be any of a plurality of different terminals, all belonging to the receiving endpoint (helpdesk) .
• Additional information regarding subject related information may be entered by the caller D by using keyset codes, directing the call to appropriate support personnel.
• the person being at terminal A or B may be the most appropriate person to talk to depending on which type of problem D wants to have support.
• This information is also stored in the object, which object is placed in a helpdesk endpoint queue associated with terminals A and B, box 303.
• the queue entry trigs a generic event handler to perform actions associated with present statuses and conditions as previously described, box 304.
• the event handler checks the status of terminals A and B, for instance if the person associated with terminal A is selected depending on previously entered information by keyset codes only the status of terminal A is checked. The event handler also checks the conditions for the call to be connected the appropriate terminal .
• Actions associated with the present statuses and conditions of the request is performed in box 306, as described in connection with box 206 in example 1 above.
• Another feature with a call center solution is that if there is a long waiting time to establish a communication link for a pending request it is possible for the control unit 104 to ask for the telephone number of the calling party and register it in the object. The calling party can now hang up the phone D and the control unit redials to D when a terminal belonging to the endpoint (helpdesk) is available, box 309.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

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Family Applications (1)

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Family Cites Families (6)

• 1999
  • 1999-05-26 SE SE9901909A patent/SE517736C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2000
  • 2000-05-22 EP EP00935785A patent/EP1186180A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-05-22 WO PCT/SE2000/001023 patent/WO2000074398A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-05-22 AU AU51193/00A patent/AU5119300A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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