EP2005723A1

EP2005723A1 - Method for establishing a telephone connection

Info

Publication number: EP2005723A1
Application number: EP07723119A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter WÜNSCH
Original assignee: GO YELLOW MEDIA AG
Current assignee: GO YELLOW MEDIA AG
Priority date: 2006-04-11
Filing date: 2007-03-08
Publication date: 2008-12-24
Also published as: AU2007237575A1; CA2648954A1; US20090323674A1; WO2007118556A1; DE102006017050A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for establishing a telephone connection between a caller and a party to be called via a service provider. According to said method, the caller establishes an Internet connection to the service provider with the aid of a data processing unit and transmits information identifying both the caller and the party to be called to the service provider via the Internet connection. In response, the service provider makes available a transmission path for the telephone connection, by analysing at least the information identifying either the caller or the party to be called in accordance with a predefined criterion and by transmitting selected information, depending on the analysis result, to at least one of the parties via the Internet connection and/or the transmission path.

Description

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A TELEPHONE CONNECTION

The invention relates to a method for establishing a telephone connection between a calling and a calling subscriber by a service provider, in which the calling subscriber establishes an Internet connection to the service provider with a data processing device and to call the service provider via the Internet connection an information identifying the calling subscriber and the latter Subscriber identifying information transmitted and the service provider accordingly provides a transmission path for the telephone connection.

Such methods are used, for example, if, instead of a line switching system for establishing a telephone connection with the aid of a conventional circuit-switched technology for cost savings, a packet switching system for producing a packet-switched telephone connection is to be used. Circuit-switched techniques are used in conventional telephone connections, such as in analogue telephone connections or in "ISDN" telephone connections. Connections are synchronous, ie an information transfer from one line section to a subsequent line section takes place essentially without a time delay. A connection is made available continuously in real time with the full bandwidth of a channel between two points, even if no user messages are sent. Therefore, during a telephone conversation, the transmission channel is occupied during the entire duration of the telephone conversation. Line-switched connections are correspondingly expensive since the costs arise independently of the information actually transmitted.

In packet-switched technology, the information to be transmitted during the telephone call is packetized and transmitted as data packets. The packet switch operates with an asynchronous transfer mode, i. Information is transmitted time-delayed between two adjacent line sections with the aid of suitable packet-switched systems. In packet switching, unlike the circuit switch, no fixed connection must be maintained. Each package is treated individually and unrelated to others. The packet switching is used in particular on the Internet. The data packets are referred to there as IP packets (IP = Internet Protocol). Accordingly, methods for making telephone calls using packet-switched techniques are also referred to as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Such phone calls can be made inexpensively using the Internet. However, both on the receiver side and on the transmitter side corresponding packet switching systems are required, on the one hand to convert acoustic information into appropriate data blocks and on the other hand, these data blocks can reconstruct to the original acoustic information. Such systems are usually not available for Internet users. For this reason, in the so-called. Internet telephony method of the type described above can be used.

In these methods, the service provider makes the packet switching systems available, wherein the acoustic information possibly via a local call line as circuit-switched calls to the service provider and are also transmitted on the receiving side circuit-switched between a suitable converter station and the receiver phone or the subscriber to be called. Overall, the costs of long-distance calls can be significantly reduced because only charges for circuit-switched local calls, but not for circuit-switched transfers between see individual local networks, incurred. This transmission between the individual local networks is rather cost-effective using packet-switched techniques over the Internet.

The above-mentioned circuit-switched and packet-switched techniques are described, for example, in EP 0 929 884 B1. The disclosure of this document is expressly incorporated herein by reference for common circuit-switched and packet-switched techniques and interfaces between these techniques.

In the method described above, the information required by the service provider for the preparation of the telephone connection are also provided inexpensively via the Internet. Overall, therefore, only local tariffs for circuit-switched calls to an appropriate networking provided in connection with the implementation of appropriate telephone calls. These fees may need to be charged by the service provider to the individual service users, which is associated with additional costs.

The invention has for its object to supply the information required for the preparation of the telephone connection to a further use, which allows a cost reduction for the service user and a reduction of the administrative burden for the service provider.

According to the invention, this technical problem is solved by a further development of the known method, which is essentially characterized in that the service provider analyzes at least one of the two information identifying the calling subscriber and the subscriber to be called according to a predetermined criterion and an information selected as a function of the analysis result transmits via the Internet connection and / or the transmission path to at least one of the two participants.

According to the invention, therefore, the information required for establishing the telephone connection is used to select further information tailored to the service user and to make it available to the service users. This further information may be, for example, advertising information that can be tailored to the service user by evaluating the information required to establish the telephone connection. Therefore, in connection with the forwarding of the information requested by the providers of the selected information, such as advertising companies, higher fees in connection with the transfer of this information to the service user. These higher fees in turn can be used to cover the telephone tariffs, which on the one hand to a discharge of service users (calling subscriber and called party) and on the other hand leads to a reduction of the administrative burden on the service provider, because this no longer has to make individual bills for the service user. Rather, it is sufficient to charge the fees charged to the companies providing the selected information with the telephone charges. Overall, therefore, with the help of the invention proposed additional use of the information used to establish the telephone connection, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

As already explained, in the method according to the invention, the transmission path can be provided at least in sections, such as between the calling subscriber and the service provider, by a circuit switching system with a circuit-switched technology, for example by a conventional telephone connection with the aid of a so-called "telecommunications system" ,

Of course, in the method according to the invention, the transmission path can also be provided at least in sections, for example between the service provider and the subscriber to be called or the packet switching system to be called to the subscriber, using a packet-switched technology. It can be used on the conventional VoIP, for example using the usual "Session Initiation Protocol" (SIP).

Usually, the transmission path provided by the service provider comprises at least one circuit-switched section and at least one packet-switched transmission section. In this case, signals transmitting information transmitted on the transmission path and exchanging information between the participants pass through at least one signal converter device for converting circuit-switched-technique-transferable signals into packet-switched-transmission-capable signals and / or further signal converter means for converting signals transferable by the packet-switched technique in signals transferable with circuit switched technology. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the information selected as a function of the analysis result is transmitted via the Internet connection to the data processing device used by the calling subscriber for establishing contact with the service provider and displayed on a corresponding display of the data processing system. This ensures that the telephone connection is not disturbed by the selected information. However, in this case, the intended use of the selected information can not be ensured. For this reason, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the transmission path for the telephone connection between the calling subscriber and the subscriber to be called is automatically interrupted as soon as an interruption of the Internet connection takes place which would reliably prevent the intended use of the selected information.

In the context of the invention, it has proven to be particularly useful if the information identifying the calling subscriber and / or the information to be called the subscriber has a telephone number. Such a telephone number is not only easy to use for the production of the desired telephone connection. It also allows at least by checking or analyzing the area code of the calling party and / or the subscriber to be called a limitation of the geographical location of the calling party and / or the subscriber to be called, this location information to select the via the Internet connection and / or the transmission path to transferring information can be used. If, for example, a particular product is to be advertised with the aid of the selected information, a local provider of corresponding products can also be mentioned immediately and included in the advertisement using the area code contained in the telephone number.

To further increase the accuracy in determining the geographical location of the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called, an address of the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called can be obtained by "reverse lookup" and thus the exact geographic origin or destination With the help of the "reverse look-up", in the case of calls to tradespeople and / or companies, information about the branch of the subscriber to be called can also be determined and the information to be transmitted via the Internet connection and / or the transmission path can be correspondingly identified. D

to get voted. Such a selection is possible in a particularly simple manner when the information to be called is selected from a directory of the service provider which can be viewed by the calling subscriber via the Internet connection, for example by clicking on a window or screen section associated with the subscriber to be called. The use of the telephone switching services to be offered by the service provider can be simplified if a piece of information identifying the data processing device of the calling subscriber, such as a "cookie" left behind by the service provider in the data processing device at a previous session, is automatically transmitted to the service provider when the internet connection is established and the information identifying the calling party is automatically provided on the basis of this information identifying the data processing device.

In particular, in those cases where the selected information is advertising content, it has proved expedient if the selected information is provided by an AD server of the service provider and / or an AD server connected to the service provider. The selected information can be provided by a "streaming" method, esp. As "Flash". By "streaming" is meant the continuous transmission of data, i.e. the transmission of data streams.

As already mentioned above, the selected information can be determined on the basis of the geographical location of the calling subscriber and / or of the subscriber to be called. In this case, the geographical location can be determined on the basis of a telephone number of the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called, an IP address of the subscriber making the Internet connection and / or information from the directory of the service provider. In addition to the information identifying the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called, the information to be transmitted to at least one of the two subscribers may also take into account the time, date and / or environmental parameters, such as the temperature at the calling subscriber's location and / or of the subscriber to be called. It is conceivable, for example, that advertising content is determined vendor-specific and taking into account the time and temperature at the location of the calling party. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the information selected comprises two, three or more information blocks transmitted in succession with mutually different information contents, wherein expediently the time sequence in the transmission of the information blocks based on the information contents of the information blocks of the information identifying the calling subscriber and / or the information to be called the subscriber to be identified is specified. In this way, for example, the juxtaposition of commercials of competitors can be prevented and / or relevant to the present information for the calling party and / or the subscriber to be called product series are advertised by a predetermined sequence of information blocks.

Methods according to the invention can be used in particular for advertising-financed, web-based telephoning. However, this field of application only makes sense if the selected information is also taken note of by the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called. This is not to be expected, for example, if certain connection types are always activated only for short periods of time. For this reason, it has been found to be particularly useful in the context of the invention if telephone connection patterns are analyzed according to predetermined criteria and then the establishment of the telephone connection is denied if the analysis of previous patterns of the same connection shows an abuse, e.g. Trouble shooting or a "click fraud" is detected.

The execution of inventive method can be described as follows:

A calling party interested in establishing a telephone connection establishes an internet connection with the service provider. Via this Internet connection, potential subscribers to be called, for example, commercial enterprises, are presented on the screen of the data processing device of the calling subscriber. The calling subscriber can select a subscriber to be called from the directory offered in this way by a mouse click. The information identifying the party to call, including possibly a telephone number, is available at the service provider and used to establish the telephone connection. Thereafter, the calling party is asked via the Internet connection to forward him identifying information to the service provider over the Internet connection. The service provider then provides individual telephone connections to the calling party and the Called participants forth, which are then linked by the service provider so that a direct connection between the calling party and the caller is created. This telephone connection provided by the service provider may comprise a packet-switched-technology-based section which is connected to a calling-switched subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called-with a circuit-switched section.

During the performance of the telephone call, the service provider monitors whether the internet connection used to relay the information needed to establish the telephone connection is maintained. Once it is determined that this Internet connection, which possibly transports advertising content to the calling party, is interrupted, the telephone connection is interrupted. Via the Internet connection, the service provider may leave a "cookie" in a memory device of the calling party's data processing device. If this data processing device is later used again to establish an Internet connection with the service provider, this "cookie" can be transmitted to the service provider and automatically imported caller-identifying information, such as the phone number of the calling party. The services to be offered by the method according to the invention can also be provided via so-called "Internet portals." It is also intended to evaluate the "electronic lanes" of the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called when using the inventive method and to use them for other services , For example, advertisements could also be placed independently of telephone calls based on the "electronic track" evaluations.

In the above, methods according to the invention have been described on the basis of such exemplary embodiments in which the selected information is transmitted to the calling subscriber via the internet connection. Additionally or alternatively, the selected information can also be transmitted via the telephone connection itself to the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called.

Claims

A method for establishing a telephone connection between a calling and a calling subscriber by a service provider, wherein the calling subscriber to the service provider using an information processing device establishes an Internet connection and the service provider via the Internet connection identifying the calling subscriber information and a subscriber to be called communicating identifying information and the service provider responsively provides a transmission path for the telephone connection, characterized in that the service provider analyzes at least one of the two information identifying the calling subscriber and the subscriber to be called according to a predetermined criterion and an information selected in dependence on the analysis result transmits via the Internet connection and / or the transmission path to at least one of the two participants.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the transmission path is provided at least in sections by a line switching system with a circuit-switched technology.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transmission path is provided at least in sections by a packet switching system with a packet-switched technology.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that transmitted on the transmission and exchanged between the participants information content representing signals at least one signal converter means for converting transferable with a circuit-switched technology signals in transferable with a packet-switched technology signals and / or vice versa run through.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission path is automatically interrupted when the Internet connection.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called identifying information has a telephone number.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information to be called the subscriber identifying information is selected from a via the Internet connection of the calling subscriber accessible directory of the service provider.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an identifying the data processing device of the calling party information is automatically transmitted to the service provider when the Internet connection and the information identifying the calling subscriber is automatically provided based on this information.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the selected information is provided by an AD server of the service provider and / or an AD server connected to the service provider.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the selected information by a "streaming" method, esp. Provided as a "flash" ("Macromedia Flash").

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the selected information is determined based on a representative of the geographical location of the calling party and / or the subscriber to be called information.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the geographical location determined on the basis of a telephone number of the calling subscriber and / or the subscriber to be called, an IP address of the Internet connection producing subscriber and / or information from the directory of the service provider becomes.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the selected information in consideration of the time, the date and / or environmental parameters, such as the temperature at the location of the calling party and / or the subscriber to be called, is determined.

14. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the selected information aufeist two, three or more sequentially transmitted information blocks.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the temporal sequence in the transmission of the information blocks on the basis of the information content of the information blocks, the information identifying the calling party and / or the information to be called subscriber information is given.

16. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that telephone connection patterns are analyzed according to predetermined criteria and the production of a telephone connection is denied when the analysis of previous patterns of the same connection shows an abuse.