GB2346510A

GB2346510A - Routing of incoming calls

Info

Publication number: GB2346510A
Application number: GB9928798A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philippe Charbonnier
Original assignee: Sagem SA
Current assignee: Sagem SA
Priority date: 1998-12-07
Filing date: 1999-12-07
Publication date: 2000-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2019-12-07
Also published as: GB9928798D0; GB2346510B; FR2786974B1; DE19958069A1; FR2786974A1

Abstract

Incoming calls directed to a mobile telephone may by diverted to a telephone of a second network in response to a user presenting an identification badge to a terminal which is in the vicinity of the second network. The second network may be a private branch exchange in a place of work. The identification badge may be an existing access control badge which is used to gain entry to parts of a building.

Description

2346510 A METHOD FOR THE ROUTING OF INCOMING CALLS INTENDED FOR A PERSON

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of tho Invention

An object of' the present invention is a method for the routing of calls intended for a person having a mobile telephone. It is aimed at reducing the overload on telecommunications networks with mobile telephones. It relates to the combined field of mobile telephony in public networks and telephony in switched or mobile networks. It can be applied both in industry and in private uses. In the latter case, the modifications to be made to a switched network are minor.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the field 6 f telephony, there have been switched networks from the very outset. In these switched networks, the p hysical lines, made of copper, reach subscribers at one end and a distribution and switching station at the other. Switching circuits set up calls between several subscribers. The cost of calls of this type is generally low owing to the depreciation already obtained on the equipment. Large-scale entities, especially big companies, also have private switched networks of this kind set up.

Mobile telephony networks have existed for some years now. In these networks, the links between telephone units are no longer achieved by copper wire lines but by RF links. Base stations are distributed from place to place over a domain or range of coverage. They may get linked with the mobile telephones that call upon their services. These base stations are furthermore connected to one another and to a central telephone call distribution circuit (which is partly decentralized). T operation is of the same type as in the case of the switched networks, but it furthermore enables the mobility of the parties to these calls. Naturally, the mobile telephony networks are connected to the switched networks in such a way that all the parties can contact one another.

The public m' obile telephone networks (namely those extending over very huge ranges of coverage on the scale of a country) are very costly to set up because of the mobility of the users. The cost of networks of this kind is essentially related to the need to provide for the 2 possibilities of communication in all the places of a range of coverage. It is therefore necessary to install corresponding equipment everywhere even if, in certain areas, this equipment is little used and never busy.

Furthermore, the performance characteristics of the equipment must correspond to its maximum use, even if this maximum use is rare.

Consequently, the mobile telephony networks are costlier and the parties are charged at higher rates for mobile telephony calls. The cost of a call with a mobile telephone is about five to ten times the cost of a local call on a switched network.

There also exist private mobile telephony networks. These networks do not have the cost problems of public mobile telephony networks because in general their area of action is limited. A limited number of base stations is then enough to cover a desired range of coverage by their radiation while leading to a reduction of the cable infrastructure to be set up in a network range of coverage to make it possible to contact any party at any place. It will be noted in this case that there is a fairly good matching between the performance characteristics of the equipment and its regular and continuous use.

There also exist private automatic branch exchanges to manage networks. Thus, in a factory, all the telephone sets of the factory may be connected to a private automatic branch exchange so that calls can be set up between them without any need to go through a public network. In the two cases of private use just mentioned, obviously the cost of the calls is zero. At most, it comes under a system of internal invoicing for cost-sharing purposes.

The existence of these different networks leads users to develop varied habits some of which can be very costly. Thus, in a firm, it is possible that a user will be provided with a mobile telephone whose subscription with a public mobile telephony operator is paid by the company. It is possible that this user will also have a second telephone set on his office desk. This second set may be fixed or mobile. In the latter case, it will be connected to a private mobile telephony network.

This user must therefore give his working colleagues both his telephone numbers: the number where he can be called on the private telephony network and the one where he can be called on the public mobile 3 telepho ny network.

Since, in principle, the user always carries his mobile telephone with him, it has been observed that his various callers will form the habit of calling him preferably on his mobile telephone set, where they are almost always sure of getting him, rather than try to get hold of him on his second telephone set where he is sometimes absent. Obviously, the cost of the calls invoiced in this case is very high whereas it could be zero in the other case. These calls furthermore block the mobile telephony network which, it may be feared, will become saturated.

Various systems have been devised to overcome this problem. In particular,. the docynent WO-A-95/01070 conceives of a.system where a user, on reaching his workstation, puts his mobile tel ephone in a recharging socket. ' The act of putting the mobile telephone down in this socket prompts a rerouting, in a private automatic branch exchange of the firm, of the calls intended for this user. This rerouting shifts the calls intended for this user from his mobile telephone number to his telephone number in the private automatic branch exchange. Thus, any one of this user's working colleagues who tries to contact him and dials his mobile telephony number 4ill be put into contact with this user but with a telephone set connected to the private telephone network. In this case, this call will not use the services of an external telephone network, and even less will it use the services of an external mobile telephone network.

It has been observed however that this approach does not suffice because, although the operation for putting the mobile telephone down on -25 the charger is very simple, it is not done with, sufficient care and consistency by the different users. This means that the private telephony network is not informed that the user concerned is near a fixed telephone set. In this case,, the calls made by his working colleagues are not rerouted. This user receives his calls through the mobile telephony network. In addition to the costs generated by use of this kind, a very great increase is seen in the traffic in the mobile telephony network. This will imply making 'modifications in the equipment already installed to make it more effective.

Naturally, if the user does not carry out an operation that seems to be natural, namely the operation in which he places his mobile telephone 4 on a charger when he reaches his workplace, it is even less possible to ask him to do any positive action to make it known that he has arrived and that he can now be contacted, preferably on his fixed telephone set rather than on his public mobile telephone set.

In the invention, it has been sought to overcome the drawbacks linked to these bad habits on the part of users in a fully effective way while at the same time not making it necessary for users to carry out specific operations prompting this rerouting of calls. In the invention, it has been realized that users, in most cases, are admitted into the area of their firm or into their workplace when they show an access control badge. Independently of any considerations-. pertaining to telephones, this access control badge is aimed at enabling personnel departments to keep accounts of hours worked, overtime and so on. Furthermore, in certain firms with sensitive areas, access control badges are designed to set up a hierarchy of access rights by which each user may or may not enter a zone of the area depending on the characteristics of the badge that he presents.

In the invention, once these control and checking operations are performed, or possibly while they are being processed, the information revealing the presence of the user in the area is used to modify the routing of the calls addressed to this user. Consequently, from the time when he is admitted into the area of the firm, his calls are sent towards his fixed telephone set. Through this procedure, a particularly valuable result is obtained wherein, even if the user has forgotten his mobile telephone at home, the calls sent by his working colleagues to his mobile telephone will be properly conveyed to him on his off ice telephone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention therefore is a method for the routing of incoming calls designed for a person wherein:

this person is provided with a first mobile telephone, this first mobile telephone being capable of getting linked with a first telephone network and this first telephone being associated, with respect to this first network, with a first number to be called, - this person is provided with an access control badge so that he can be checked during his access to a range of coverage, this badge being different from this mobile telephone, wherein - this person is called upon to present his badge to a terminal located in the range of coverage, in an environment of a second telephone that can be assigned to this person, this second telephone being connected to a second network, and this second telephone being associated, with respect to this second network, with a second number to be called, - the person is checked when he is called upon to present his badge, - the terminal is connected to the second network, - then, in switching circuits, a table of correspondence is created between the first number and the second number, and - calls that are sent by telephones to the mobile telephone and travel through these switching circuits are rerouted into calls intended for the second telephone.

BRIEF DESCPOPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The inventioa will be understood more clearly from the following description and from the appended figures. These figures are given purely by way of an indication and in no way restrict the scope of the invention. Of these figures:

- Figure 1 gives a schematic view of a mobile telephony system and a private telephony 'system enabling the implementation of the method of the invention; - Figure 2 -shows the steps of a particular variant of the method of the invention.

MORE DETAILgD DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 show's a mobile telephony system 1 and a private telephony system 2 that can be used to implement the method of the invention. In the mobile telephony system 1, a set of base stations 3, 4, 5 distributed over a region, are linked with a central communications management circuit The base stations. 3 to 5 may furthermore get linked with mobile telephones 7 assigned to persons 8. The mobile telephone 7 is recogInized in the circuit 6 by an identification ID that is put into correspondence, in a memory of the circuit 6, with a telephone 6 number MOB A. Anyonr who wishes to get linked with the mobile telephone 7 by means of the network 1 uses the number MOB A. When the central circuit 6 receives a call intended for the mobile telephone whose number is MOB A, it puts a particular base station, for example the base station 3, into operation. This base station 3 has informed the central circuit 6 that; within its range of radioelectrical coverage, it has a possibility available of communication with the mobile telephone station 7 recognized by its identification ID.

The person 8 is furthermore provided with an access control badge 10, 9 to check access in a range of coverage 10. The range of coverage 10 is for example that of the workplace of the person 8. The badge.9 may be a contact badge of the magnetic card or chip card type. In this case, in the range of coverage 10, a terminal 11 is provided with a slot to receive the badge, read it and restore or not restore it to the person 8 after checking.

The badge may also be a contactless badge 12. In this case, the badge reader is made in a contactless terminal 11. The badge 9 or 12 enables the user 8 to be checked during entry into the range of coverage 10. This access check is done by means of a computer system 13 comprising a processor 14 linked by a data, address and control bus 15 to a working memory 16, a program memory 17, a data memory 18, and various peripherals including especially a screen/keyboard pair 19. This architecture can be made differently. In particular, the memories may be combined into a single memory. The various elements may be made with a variety of technologies and techniques.

first program part 21 -25 In a program 20, the program memory 17 has & I concerning a standard access checking of persons 8 entering the range of coverage 10. According to the invention, the program 20 comprises another program part 22 pertaining to the rerouting of the calls. For example the part 22 effects recordings 23 about a person in the memory 18. These recordings 23 may comprise a first zone 24 pertaining to the name of the person 8 who has just been checked as well as, in an alternative example, a zone 25 relating to an identification code of this person at his workplace. The identification code is in principle different from the identification code ID of the mobile telephone 7. In a conventional way, these recordings 23 have other zones that are 7 administrative zones, used for personnel management, for setting up access zones hierarchies or for any other piece of information.

According to the invention, the recordings 23 are essentially complemented by a zone 26 into which there is entered a telephone number A at which the person 8 can be contacted in the range of coverage 10. The telephone number A is the telephone number of a telephone set 47 connected to a private automatic branch exchange 2 of the firm.

According to, the invention, the recordings 23 also include two other zones. One zone 27 pertains to the mobile telephone number MOB A associated with the' mobile telephone 7 of the person 8. Anotherzone 28 7 pertains to the effective presence or non-presence of the person 8 after he has passed before the terminal 11.

The principle' of the invention is as follows. The person 8 goes to the administrative services of the firm. A data entry operator with a screen/keyboard 1'9 provides the zone 27 with the recording 23 corresponding to the person 8. Then every morning, when the person reaches the area 10 or every evening when he leaves, the zone 28 receives an information of movement by means of the terminal 11, to reflect the presence or absence of the person 8 in the range of coverage 10.

The internal automatic branch exchange circuits 2 are already provided in the prior art with rerouting means. These rerouting means may generally be programmed by means of keys 29 of the telephone sets connected to the automatic branch exchange 2. The encoded sequences brought;about by the rkeys 29 are performed according to a protocol proper to 'the automatic branch. exchange 2. According to the invention, the microprocessor 14, in applying the program 22, is capable, when the zone 28 of a recording 23 is modified, of prompting the transmission of a sequence of signals simulating a rerouting of this kind.

This sequence is such that any incoming call, sent by a telephone station of the private telephone network connected to the automatic branch exchange 2 and intended for the mobile. telephone of the person 8 (because the number dialed is MOBA), is rerouted to a telephone number A corresponding to the telephone set 27 that the person 8 is supposed to contact.In other words, the program 22 comprises an automaton to act 8 on the automatic branch exchange 2 so that it performs a rerouting as a function of the modification of the zone 28 of the recording 23. To this end, the bus 15 has a link 31 that is connected to the automatic branch exchange 2 and is capable of conveying signals similar to those sent by a telephone set 30.

The present invention considers a private branch exchange 2 connected by a link 30 to the terminal 11. In the case of a domestic use by a person who does not have a private automatic branch exchange 2 of this kind at his disposal, the responsibility for the rerouting may be given to a public automatic branch exchange 44 of a public network. The signals sent on. the. link 31 then comply with a protocol accepted by the public automatic branch exchange 44. A public automatic branch exchange 44 of this kind is normally provided with rerouting faculties. It may call any telephone set whatsoever, even a telephone set connected to the private automatic branch exchange 2.

Furthermore, it is also possible to carry out the rerouting through the circuit 6 of the mobile telephony operator. This rerouting will give this operator the benefit of a less frequent use of his installations. This will help his network cope better with the traffic. In this case, the efficiency of the rerouting will be improved because the circuits 6 normally receive all the calls intended for the mobile telephone 7.

With these latter two approaches, the rerouted calls will not be only calls coming from a private automatic branch exchange but also calls coming from the switched public telephone network and also those coming from. the first mobile telephony network 1. With these latter two-- approaches, the switching circuits providing for the rerouting are not only those of an automatic branch exchange but could be those of a switched public telephone network or a public mobile telephony network.

As mentioned here above, the badge 12 will preferably be of a contactless, type, the reader terminal 11 then being also of the contactless type. One improvement of the invention uses a private base station 32 instead of the terminal 11. This private base station 32 listens to the mobile telephones that enter its area of radioelectrical coverage.

Preferably, this base station 32 is placed close to an input 33 that enables access to the range of coverage 10. In a simple version, the base station 9 32 listens to the mobile telephones that pass in the vicinity. It seeks to detect the identification ID of the mobile telephones that approach it.

When it detects an identification ID of a mobile telephone of this kind, the base station 32 sends the system 13 information on the mobile telephone detected in the same way as the terminal 11.

Several situations can then be envisaged to implement the method of the invention. I h one example, the program 22 makes a search to find out if it knows a recording 23 for which an identification ID present in the complementary zone 33 of a recording 23 is in correspondence with a mobile telephone number MOB A known in the zone 27. Indeed, it is possible that in the vicinity of the base station 32, there are visitors passing, equipped, with mobile telephones whose characteristics are unknown to the data memory 18. If an identification of a person employed in the range of coverage 10 is detected, the method of rerouting is then done in the same way as here above. The base station 32 acts as a watching unit. It applies some of the recognition procedures of the base stations 3 to 5. It is not connected to the central circuit 6.

Preferably, in this case, the employees working in the field 10 will have mobile telephones 7 provided with a SIM (Secure Identification Module) type microcircuit card 34. When the mobile telephone 7 is put into operation, a SIM card of this kind enables the holder of a secret code of the card 34 to be able to make this mobile telephone 7 work by himself.

In one improvement of the invention, the administrative information needed for checking access by the person 8 to the range of coverage 10 -25 will be indicated in the memory of the microcircuit of the card 34. In this case, the program 22;will comprise the steps shown in Figure 2.

A first step 35 is a step of detection during which the mobile telephone 7 reports itself to the base station or is recognized by the base station 32 in the same way as it reports itself to the base stations 3, 4 or any other base station. As the case may be, this detection phase may comprise the sending, by the base station 32, of an identification request that complies with the protocol implemented.in the network 1 so that this mobile telephone 7 transmits its identification ID and possibly the telephone number MOB A from which it can be called. Then, after this detection, a phase: of recognition 36 is launched during which an administration recognition of the person 8 will be performed to permit access into the range of coverage 10. To this end, the mobile telephone 7 and/or the microcircuit card 34 are provided with a recognition protocol during which the mobile telephone 7 will send the name or administrative code of the person 8 to the base station 32. This recognition protocol comprises the steps of the recognition protocol implemented by the terminal 11 in its relationship with the system 13. The particular feature here lies in the fact that the base station 32 replaces the terminal 11. To this end the base station 32 will send a specific interrogation that can be understood only by the mobile telephones that are provided with the administrative recognition protocol. Only these protocols will reply. In reception in the watching base station 32, information needed for access checking will be received. This information will also be used according to the invention to prompt the rerouting by the automatic branch exchange 2.

The exchange between the base station 32 and the mobile 7 is of the type performed by the mobile telephone with a base station of the network 1. It corresponds for example to a resumption of a link that occurs between a mobile telephone and a base station of the network 1 when, for reasons of propagation, the link between this mobile telephone and this base station or the link by which the mobile telephone is monitored by the base station has been lost. Or else, it corresponds to the steps implemented when the mobile telephone is put into operation in the network 1. The particular feature of the invention herein lies in the fact that the watching base station 32 is connected by means of the central management circuit 13 only to the automatic branch exchange 2.

It is not connected to the network 1.

This procedure requiring intervention in the microcircuit card 34 can be replaced by a cell broadcast procedure. A procedure of this kind is standardized in the GSM field. It is open to all the private users. It is set up on a protocol different from the GSM protocol. It uses conventional means of the mobile telephone and not means secured by the mobile telephony operator. During a procedure of this kind, the base station 32 sends appropriate interrogations to which the mobile telephone 7 responds by sending information elements characteristic of the badge.

It is furthermore possible to provide the mobile telephone 7 with an independent radipelectrical communications unit located on another frequency band, for example the 433 MHz band. In this case, the badge which is also incorporated into the mobile telephone 7 is acted upon in this frequency band, which is external to that of the network 1, so that it too transmits administrative information on the identity and mobile telephone number MOBA of its carrier. If need be, the base station 32 is simplified. It Is not capable of interrogating the independent communications unit. In this case, the user positively prompts his administrative recognition by means of a combination of keys on his mobile telephone.-., This procedure prompts a radioelectrical transmission equivalent to the showing of the badge. Furthermore, there are known protocols for the transmission of checking information, whether this transmission is done at the request of the carrier of the badge or automatically. Should the mobile telephone be of a combined public/private type, iand should the standard of operation in the private mode be of the DECT or CTS type, the base station 32 could be a interrogation base station according to these DECT or CTS standards respectively.

After the step 36, the program 22 as here above launches a search 37 in the memory 18 to retrieve the recording 23 corresponding to the name or to the administrative code of the person whose access has been checked. As soon as this recording 23 is found, in a step 38 the program 22 prompts the recording of the presence of the person by a piece of information carried in the zone 28. The step 38 is followed by a time delay- step 39. The step 39 is for example designed to stop the correlation between the telephone number A and the mobile telephone number MOB A at the end of the day, in order to take account of the departure of the person 8 out of the range of coverage 10. Either this departure can be measured by the terminal 11 and/or by the base station 32 or, if this departure is not measured in this way, it can be planned that, at the end of the day, all the zones 28 of the recordings 23 will be reset at zero.

The automatic branch exchange 2 is connected to the fixed telephone sets 47 and 30. It can furthermore be connected to private base stations 40 and 41.These base stations can get linked with mobile 12 telephones 42 and 43 working on private networks. The telephone number A that is the object of the rerouting will then be that of a fixed telephone set 47 or that of a mobile telephone set 42 associated with a private base station 40. The working of the invention is then as follows. A work colleague inside the range of coverage 10 seeks to call the person 8 and, with his telephone set 30 or 41, dials the telephone number MOB A of the mobile telephone 7 of the person 8. The automatic branch exchange 2, applying rerouting signals received from the central circuit 13, reroutes the call to the mobile telephone 7 into a call to the fixed telephone 47 or the mobile telephone 42 to which the telephone number A is assigned.

Should the mobile telephone 7 be a. combined type of mobile telephone, i.e. should it be capable of working with as many public base stations 3, 4 (even 32) as with private base stations 40, the protocol of communications with one (3) or other (40) of these base stations is different. The working is then as follows. When the mobile telephone 7 reaches the vicinity of the base station 40, it recognizes the presence of this station and goes into private mode automatically. Procedures already exist to prompt this switch-over. Furthermore, the calls sent from the telephones 30 or 43 which, through the telephone number MOB A, are designed to reach the mobile telephone 7, are rerouted in the mobile telephone 7 but by the telephone number A, namely in practice by using the base station 40. In both cases, the call network 1 will be less busy and the cost to be bome will be lower.

Rather than alternating, the working of the mobile telephone 7 may be a permanently combined operation. In this case, it will also receive the calls rerouted by the private automatic branch exchange 2 through the base station 40.

When the base station 32 is in exchange with the mobile telephone 7, it simulates the working of a base station 3 close to itself. Namely, it sends power, on the beacon channel which is that of the base station 3, having a value that is locally greater than that of the base station 3, with control signals prompting the identification of. the mobile telephone 7. As the case may be, the coverage zone of the base station 32 is confined to a lock chamber in such a way that the transmissions from this base station 32 do not disturb the working of the network 1.

13 The rerouting furthermore preferably depends on the place of the detection. Thus it is possible that, in the field 10, a certain number of terminals 11 are spread out controlling access to various places and each being connected to different mobile telephones. In this case, the rerouting will be modified as follows. The terminal 11 that carries out the detection is associated with the telephone whose number is A. When thebadge 9, 12 or the one contained in the mobile telephone 7 is detected by a terminal 11 then,. at the same time as the zone 28 of the recording 23 is activated, the zone: 26 is modified to indicate the telephone number A that corresponds to a telephone station attached to the place to which the access is controlled by the terminal 11 or to a private base station 40 associated with this place.

14

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for the routing of incoming calls designed for a person wherein:

- this person is provided with a first mobile telephone, this first mobile telephone being capable of getting linked with a first telephone network and this first telephone being associated, with respect to this first network, with a first number to be called, - this person is provided with an access control badge so that he can be checked during his access to a range of coverage, this badge being different from this mobile telephone, wherein - this person is called upon to present his badge to a terminal located in the range of coverage, in an environment of a second telephone that can be assigned to this person, this second telephone being connected to a second network, and this second telephone being associated, with respect to this second network, with a second number to be called, - the person is checked when he is called upon to present his badge, - the terminal is connected to the second network, - then, in switching circuits, a table of correspondence is created between the first number and the second number, and - calls that are sent by telephones to the mobile telephone and travel through these switching circuits are rerouted into calls intended for the second telephone.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

- a table of correspondence is created in the switching circuits of the second network.

3. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 2, wherein:

- calls sent by telephones of the second network are rerouted.

4. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 3 wherein, for the showing of the badge, a contactless badge is used and is made to enter into a link with a contactless type of terminal

5. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein:

- a protocol of recognition between the terminal and the mobile telephone is recorded in the mobile telephone, - the presence of the badge is noted by a radioelectrical exchange, according to this protocol, between the mobile telephone and a watching base station playing the role of a-terminal, - the watching base station is connected only to the switching circuits of the second network.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein:

- the exchange is of the type made by the mobile telephone with a base station of the first network, and SIM card of the individual, - the recognition protocol is recorded in the SIM card.

7. A method according to one of the claims 5 or 6, wherein:

- the exchange is a low-powered exchange and/or ouside a frequency band dedicated by this first network.

8. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein:

- the second network comprises a base station for communication with mobile telephones, - the first telephone can work according to two modes, a first mobile telephone mode to communicate with the first network and a second mobile telephone mode to communicate with the second network, the- second telephone is constituted by the first telephone working according to the second mode.

9. A method according to one of the claims I to 8,wherein:

----25 - the rerouting depends on the place of the detection.

10. A method for the routing of incoming calls designed for a person substantially as hereinbefor.e described with reference to the drawings.