GB2356522A

GB2356522A - Graphical user interface in a telephony application

Info

Publication number: GB2356522A
Application number: GB9926182A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Janusz Janulewicz
Original assignee: Mitel Corp
Current assignee: Microsemi Semiconductor ULC
Priority date: 1999-11-04
Filing date: 1999-11-04
Publication date: 2001-05-23
Also published as: GB9926182D0

Abstract

A graphical user interface wherein a first icon is provided showing an initial status of a telephone line, an activation event is sensed and the first icon is changed to a second icon to show an updated status of the telephone line which is implemented in a computer-based telephony system. The system can be controlled via the clicking, either left clicking or right clicking, a computer mouse.

Description

2356522 COMPUTER TELEPHONY APPLICATIONS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to a graphical user interface and more specifically to a graphical user interface which simplifies telephony applications by providing status of telephone lines.

Background of the Invention

The graphical user interface (GUI) is one of the many components of a lo computer application. The graphical user interface is what a user of the computer application sees when the application is being run. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the graphical user interface is one of the most important components of the computer application.

A graphical user interface generally simplifies the actions necessary for a user 1S to perform different functions within the computer application via the use of graphical icons.

Prior art graphical user interfaces rely on being aesthetic and simple to use in order to suit any level of computer user. It will be understood by those skilled in the art of user interface creation that constant changes are necessary in order to further simplify user interfaces, not solely in the telephony field but with respect to computer applications in general.

It is an aspect of an object of the present invention to provide a graphical user interface which simplifies telephony applications by providing status of telephone lines and a set of user friendly icons.

Summa!:y of the Invention 2S It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a method of simplifying telephony actions in a telephony application graphical user interface comprising the steps of:

a) providing a first icon showing an initial status of a telephone line; b) sensing an activation event; c) changing said first icon to a second icon to show an updated status of said telephone line.

It is a second aspect of the present invention to provide a telephony application graphical user interface which simplifies telephony actions comprising:

a first icon showing an initial status of a telephone line; a second icon showing an updated status of a telephone line; means to change said first icon to said second icon when an activation event is sensed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the present invention is described below with references to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a computer- based telephony system.

Figure 2 is a table showing a graphical representation of a set of icons indicating status of a telephone line; Figure 3 is a table showing transformation of each icon shown in the table of Figure 2 following selection thereof by a left mouse click; Figure 4 is a table showing transformation of each icon shown in the table of Figure 2 following selection thereof by a right mouse click; Figure 5jis a schematic diagram outlining a telephony system of the present invention; Figure 6 is a screen print of a single telephone line telephony agent window; Figure 6a is a screen print of a,two telephone line telephony agent window; Figure 7 is a screen print of the telephony agent window of Figure 6 when a telephone call is received on one of the telephone lines; Figure 7a is a flowchart detailing the actions of a telephony agent application when a telephone call is received on one of the telephone lines; Figure 8 is a screen print of the telephony agent window of Figure 6 after the telephone call has been answered; Figure 9 is a screen print of telephony agent window of Figure 6 when a telephone call is placed on hold; Figure 10 is a screen print of the telephony agent window of Figure 6 when a telephone call is received on the second telephone line; 2 Figure 1 Oa is a flowchart detailing the actions of the telephony agent application when a telephone call is received on the second telephone line; Figure I I is a screen print of the telephony agent window of Figure 6 after the telephone call on the second telephone line is answered; Figure 12 is a screen print of the telephony agent window of Figure 6 when the call on the first telephone line is re-established; Figure 13 is a screen print of a telephony agent Transfer/Conference window; Figure l3a is a flowchart detailing the actions of the telephony agent] application when a telephone call is transferred or placed in a conference call; Figure 14 is a screen print of the telephony agent Transfer/Confrence window of Figure 13 after a call has been transferred; and Figures 15 to 18 are screen prints showing graphical user interfaces displayed to a user for dialing via regular dialing, speed call dialing, dial number location, and called party call back, respectively and a flowchart detailing the actions of the telephony agent application during these dialing scenarios.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

The present invention is implemented in a computer-based telephony system as shown in Figure 1. The telephony system comprises a telephone set 100 connected to a telephone switching system 102 (e.g. central office) via a telephone line 104. The telephone set 100 is also connected to a personal computer 108 via a serial link 110. The personal computer 108 includes a monitor or display 112 as well as a mouse pointer 114 and keyboard 116, in a well known manner. The computer 108 executes a software application for communicating with the telephone set 100 to implement various telephony functions, as discussed in greater detail below.

In the present invention, the software application is stored and executed within the personal computer 108 to provide a graphical user interface which simplifies telephony applications by providing the status or state of connected telephone lines. The graphical user interface helps to simplify the actions necessary to perform functions relating to the telephone set 100. The graphical user interface involves the use of a set of icons which help a user understand ftinctions being performed by the computer application and clearly 3 display the status or state of the telephone line. The communication between the telephone set 100 and the software application is realized via a serial, USB or LAN connection.

Turning to Figure 2, a table is provided showing a set of icons 9 indicating status of a telephone line. Since the graphical user interface of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is related to telephony applications, the set of icons 9 utilizes only two telephone pictures: 10 (receiver on hook) and 12 (receiver off hook). The use of different coloured backgrounds (as shown by the shading) for the pictures 10 and 12 reduces the need for more pictures to distinguish between icons.

The set of icons 9 are used to show the status of a telephone line in relation lo to a telephony application. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, use of a white background 16 with the receiver on hook picture 10 produces an idle state icon 21 and with the receiver off hook picture 12 produces a call originated state icon 22. Use of a blue background 18 with the receiver on hook picture 10 produces a call ringing state icon 24 and with the receiver off hook picture 12 produces a call established state icon 26. Use of a red background 20 with the receiver off hook picture 12 produces a call on hold state icon 28 and use of a yellow background 23 with the receiver off hook picture 12 produces a call delivered state icon 30. The call delivered state icon 30 is utilized when a call is being initiated or when the telephone set 100 is in a ringing state.

Tun-Ling to Figure 3, a table is provided showing an updated status of the telephone line after each icon has been selected by a left mouse click. It will be understood that keyboard strokes may be used in place of the left mouse click button without affecting the operation of the present invention as well as other mouse button clicks. These actions are generally referred to as activation events.

When the telephone line is in an idle state (i.e. when the idle state icon 21 is shown) and the icon 21 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the idle state icon 21 is changed to the call originated state icon 22. Meanwhile, a dialing function is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call ringing state (as shown by icon 24) and the icon 21 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the call ringing state icon 24 is changed to the call established state icon 26. Meanwhile, an answering function is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call established state (i.e. when the call established state icon 26 is 4 shown) and the icon 26 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the call established state icon 26 is changed to the idle state icon 21. Meanwhile a hang-up ftmction is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call on hold state (i.e. when the call on hold state icon 28 is shown) and the icon 28 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the call on hold state icon 28 is changed to the call established state icon 26. Meanwhile, a retrieve call function is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call originated state (i.e. when the call originated state icon 22 is shown) and the icon 22 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the call originated state icon 22 is changed to the idle state icon 21. Meanwhile, the hang-up function is called and run. Finally, when the telephone line is in a call delivered state, (i.e. when the lo call delivered state icon 30 is shown) and the icon 30 is clicked upon by the left mouse button, the call delivered state icon 30 is changed to the idle state icon 22. Meanwhile, the hang-up function is called and run.

Turning to Figure 4, a table is provided showing an updated status of the telephone line after each icon has been selected by a right mouse click. It will be understood that keyboard strokes may be used in place of the right mouse click button without affecting the operation of the present invention. These actions are generally referred to as activation events.

When the telephone line is in an idle state (i.e. when the idle state icon 21 is shown) and the icon 21 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the idle state icon 21 is changed to the call originated state icon 22. Meanwhile, a speed dialing ftmction is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call ringing state (as shown by icon 24) and the icon 21 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call ringing state icon 24 is not effected. When the telephone line is in a call established state (i.e. when the call established state icon 26 is shown) and the icon 26 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call established state icon 26 is changed to the call on hold state icon 28. Meanwhile, put on hold function is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call on hold state (i.e. when the call on hold state icon 28 is shown) and the icon 28 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call on hold state icon 28 is changed to the idle state icon 21. Meanwhile, an add held call to conference in multi-line environment or split calls function is called and run. When the telephone line is in a call originated state (i.e. when the call originated state icon 22 is shown) and the icon 22 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call originated state icon 22 is not effected. Finally, when the telephone line is in a call delivered state, (i.e. when the call delivered state icon 30 is shown) and the icon 30 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call delivered state icon 30 is not effected.

An example of code which recognizes mouse button events is shown below (with respect to a righi mouse button click):

Private Sub cmdTel-MouseDown (Index As Integer, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single) Dim Recount As Integer Dim I As Integer If Button = vbRightButton and gState(Index) "EstablishedState" Then HoldCall (Index) Exit Sub End If If SpeedCalIsRS.RecordCount > 0 Then SpeedCallsRS.MoveLast SpeedCalIsRs.MoveFirst End IF If Button = vbRightButton And gState ((Index + 1) Mod 2) "IdleState" Then If gState((Index + 1) Mod 2) = "IdleState" Then IbIStatus(O) = IblStatus(l) = SetHeight End IF gDIndex = Index FrmSpeedNum. Show I End If End Sub It will be understood that code similar to the above sample code is used to recognize mouse button events with respect to a left mouse button click. As discussed above, 3 0 when the call established icon 26 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the call established state icon 26 is changed to the call on hold state icon 28. Also, when the idle state 6 icon 21 is clicked upon by the right mouse button, the idle state icon 21 is changed to the call originated state icon 22. Meanwhile, a speed dialing function is called and run. This is executed by providing a Speed Call form as described later with reference to Figure 15.

In order to change the icons to constantly display the telephone line state, the following sample code may be utilized:

Public Sub SetState (Station As String, State As String, PicID As Ineger) Dim I as Integer I = 0 If Station gStation(l) Then End If If State <>.... Then gState(l) = State End If If PicID <> TEL-NOCHANGE Then CmdTel(l). Picture = Picture(PicID) End IF End Sub The above code checks the state of the telephone line and updates the icon displaying the state of the telephone line accordingly. This means that when the state of the telephone line changes, a new PiclD is provided and the icon corresponding to the new state of the telephone line is shown.

Turning to Figure 5, the present example involves a telephony agent application. The application is installed on a workstation 118, preferably Windowe 95- based, which is connected to a TCP/IP network 120. The application communicates with a PBX 122 via a Telephony Gateway 124.

Turning to Figures 6 - 18, screen prints of TAPI compliant computer application windows are provided to illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention. The screen prints are the interactive displays which a telephone operator sees when the telephone operator is using the telephony agent application.

In operation, the telephone operator sees the screen print of Figure 6 as an 7 initial start up screen. Figure 6 shows a telephony agent application window 31 which is configured to handle one telephone line 33. It will be understood that the number of lines is only restricted to the telephone line capabilities of the computer. A Locate button 32 provides access to a corporate directory database while a Contacts button 34 provides access S to a contact manager. The Locate button 32 and the Contacts button 34 will be well known to those skilled in the art as means to invoke a database search of all stored phone numbers and a listing of all personal phone numbers used respectively. The Locate and Contacts buttons 32 and 34 are known in the art of graphical user interfaces and are simply used in Figures 6 - 18 to help illustrate the telephony agent application and are not a part of the disclosed io invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that for multiple line telephone sets, the graphical user interface has separate telephone icons representing the status of each individual line with full call control functionality.

Figure 6a provides a screen print of a telephony agent application window 41 is configured for two telephone lines 40 and 42. As with the single telephone line configuration, the application window 41 provides a Locate button 32 and a Contacts button 34.)XThile waiting for a call to be received, the status of the two telephone lines 40 and 42 are shown as idle via the idle state icons 21.

Figure 7 shows the two-telephone line telephony application window when a call is received on one of the two telephone lines. In the present example, the call is received on telephone line 40. Figure 7a is a flow chart showing the actions of the application when the call is received.

When the telephone call is received on telephone line 40 (step 130) by the telephony agent application, the application proceeds to change the idle state icon 21 (Figure 2s 6a) for the telephone line 40 to the call ringing state icon 24 (step 132) and searches configured databases for call information (step 134). This is implemented via the SetState sample code provided above. In operation, after the SetState code is executed, the new state of the telephone line is acknowledged and the call ringing state icon 24 replaces the idle state icon 21. This is achieved using If-Then statements in the software application. If the caller information is found in the database, a status bar window 43 corresponding to telephone line displays the caller information (step 136) otherwise, a message stating that a call has been 8 received is displayed (step 138). It will be understood that the idle state icon 21 for the second telephone line 42 does not change since the call was received on telephone line 40.

To answer the telephone call, the telephone operator left-clicks on the call ringing state icon 24 and the application, at step 140, changes the call ringing state icon 24 to the call established state icon 26 (shown in Figure 8). The application proceeds to send a message to the PBX allowing communication between the caller and the operator to commence (step 142). The state of the icon is driven buy messages received from the PBX.

Once the call established state icon 26 appears, the application window 41 is extended to include a Transfer icon 45. The status bar window 43 displays the "Call Established" state lo and the party name (similar to Call Display) found in the database.

To put the telephone call on hold, the telephone operator left clicks on the call established icon 26 to change the call established icon 26 to the call on hold icon 28 (as shown in Figure 9). The application sends a message to the telephone corresponding to telephone line 40 indicating that the call has been placed on hold. The status bar window 43 is updated to reflect the latest status of telephone line 40.

Figures 10 - 12 provide an example of how to handle simultaneous calls using the telephony agent application of the present invention while Figure I Oa provides a flow chart of the status of the telephone lines during the handling of the simultaneous calls. In the present example, telephone line 40 is currently in a call established state (step 144) and telephone line 42 is in an idle state (step 146).

Actions similar to the actions discussed above with respect to telephone line are required when a call is received on the second telephone line 42. As can be seen in Fig. 10, a call has previously been established on telephone line 40. This is shown by the call established state icon 26 representing telephone line 40. A telephone call is received on telephone line 42 (as seen by the call ringing state icon 24 with respect to telephone line 42).

A status bar window 47 provides the status of telephone line 42.

As with Figure 7a, when the telephone call is received on telephone line 42 (step 130) by the telephony agent application, the application proceeds to change the idle state icon 21 for the telephone line 42 to the call ringing state icon 24 (step 132) and searches configured databases for call information (step 134). If the caller information is found in the database, a status bar window 47 corresponding to telephone line 42 displays the caller 9 information (step 136) otherwise, a message stating that a call has been received is displayed (step 138). It will be understood that telephone line 40 continues to display the call established icon 26 (step 144).

To answer the telephone call on telephone line 42, the telephone operator must left click on the call ringing state icon 24. This causes the call ringing state icon 24 to change to the call established state icon 26 (step 140) as shown in Figure 11. When the call ringing state icon 24 is left clicked by the operator, the application proceeds to send a message to the telephone corresponding to telephone line 40 stating that the call has been placed on hold. Subsequently, the call established icon 26 (Figure 10) for telephone 40 automatically changes to the call on hold icon 28 (step 148), as shown in Figure I I and the telephone call for telephone line 40 is put on hold (step 150).

In order to retrieve the held call on telephone line 40 (Figure 12), the telephone operator left clicks on the call on hold icon 28 (step 151) for telephone line 40 and re-establishes the call (step 152). The application sends a message to the telephone corresponding to telephone line 40 and re-establishes the call and sends a message to the telephone corresponding to telephone line 42 to put the call on hold (step 154). Therefore, when the telephone call on telephone line 40 is re-established (step 156), the telephone call on telephone line 42 is put on hold (step 158). The call on hold icon 28 for telephone line 40 is changed to the call established icon 26 (step 160) while the call. established icon 26 for telephone line 42 is changed to the call on hold icon 28 (step 162). This is shown as the call on hold icon 28 for telephone line 42. Status bar windows 43 and 47 provide the status of the telephone lines 40 and 42.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that similar actions (i. e.

clicking on the icons with right mouse button) performs the actions as set out in Figure 4.

Figures 13 - 14 provide an example of how to transfer calls and enable a conference call using the telephony agent application and the present invention. Figure 13a provides a flowchart showing the actions of the telephony agent application with respect to transferring calls.

By clicking on the Transfer icon 45 (step 164), a Transfer/Conference form 50 appears (step 166). The Transfer/Conference form 50 includes a telephone number window 52, a Locate button 54, a Contact DB button 56, a Transfer button 58, a Voice Mail button 60 and a Cancel button 62.

If the telephone operator knows the transfer destination, the operator types the telephone number into the telephone number window 52 (step 168) and clicks on the Transfer button 58 (step 170). Alternatively, if the voice mail button 60 is clicked (step 172), the telephone call is transferred directly to a voice mail box (step 174).

The Locate button 54 and the Contact DB button 56 are used when the transfer destination is to be found in a database. The telephone operator may also decide to cancel the lo transfer by clicking on the Cancel button 62 (step 176). The operator then exits (step 178) the Transfer/Conference form.

Once the call transfer is initiated and the call delivered, the transfer form 50 expands to include two additional buttons: a Complete Transfer button 64 and a Conference button 66. The Complete Transfer button 64 is initially enabled while the Conference button 66 is initially disabled. The Complete Transfer 64 (step 180) releases the telephone operator from the telephone call (step 182) while the Conference button 66 (step 184)allows the telephone operator to join in the conversation (step 186).

Figures 15 - 18 provide examples of how to initiate telephone calls using the telephony agent application. Figure 15a provides a flow chart of the actions of the telephony agent application during the initiation of a telephone call.

In the present example, a telephone call is initiated (step 190) in one of four ways:

1. By clicking the left mouse button on the call originated state icon 22 - regular dial out (Figure 15); 2. By clicking the right mouse button on the call originated state icon 22 - speed dialing (Figure 16); 3. By clicking the left mouse button the Locate button 32 or Locate button 54 to dial from a Locate window(Figure 17); and 4. By clicking the left mouse button on the Contacts button 34 or Contact DB button 56 to dial from a Contact database window (Figure 18).

In order to initiate a regular dial out, a left mouse click on the call originated state icon 22 (step 192) causes a Dial window 70 to appear (step 194). By clicking a redial button 72 (step 196), the telephone operator may re- dial the last number (step 198), shown in a last number dialed window 71. The telephone operator may also type a telephone number into a new number to dial window 74 (step 200) and clicking a dial button 76 (step 202). The telephone number is then dialed (step 204). The user may also decide to initiate a database lookup by clicking on the Locate button 54 or the Contact DB button 56 (step 206). It will be understood that Locate button 32 and Locate button 54 perform the same function. This is also true for the Contacts button 34 and the Contact DB button 56. The user may also decide to cancel the telephone call by clicking on the Cancel button 80 (step 208). The telephone operator is then exited from the Dial window (step 210).

In order to initiate a speed dialing call, a right mouse click on the call originated state icon 22 (step 212) causes a speed call numbers window 82 to appear (step 214). The speed call numbers window comprises a list 84 of telephone numbers 83. By selecting one of the numbers 83 (step 216) displayed in the list 84, a telephone call is initiated (step 218).

In order to initiate a telephone call using the locate button 32 or 54, when the telephone operator left clicks on the locate button 32 or 54 (step 220), a locate directory window 85 appears (step 222). The telephone operator then selects a search field by clicking on the arrow 87 beside the select field list 86 (step 224). In the present example, the telephone operator has decided to search by name. The telephone operator then proceeds to enter a search term into a search text window 88 (step 226). In the present example, the telephone operator is searching for people with the letters "kav" at the beginning of their name. The telephone operator then selects the target person from a display window 90 (step 228) by left clicking the mouse on the person's name and then, by left clicking on idle state icon 21 (step 230), initiates a call (step 232).

Finally, in order to initiate a telephone call using the Contacts button 34 or the Contact DB button 56, when the telephone operator left clicks on the Contacts button 34 or Contacts DB button 56 (step 234), a Contacts Database window 90 appears (step 236). In order to initiate the call, the telephone operator finds the target person in the database, left clicks on the phone text box to select the number to dial (step 238) and then left clicks the idle state icon 21 (step 240). The call is then initiated (step 242) 12 The user may also add or delete contacts in the database by clicking on the Add and the Delete buttons 92 and 94 respectively.

It will be appreciated that, although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, various changes and modifications may be made.

For example, the style and size of the picture 10 or 12 used may be selected by a developer of the graphical user interface. Also the choice of colours for the different backgrounds are not restricted to the colours described above. Also, the changes associated with the activation events do not have to be the same as detailed above. All such changes and modifications are believed to be within the sphere and scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended lo hereto.

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Claims

1. A method of simplifing telephony actions in a telephony application graphical user interface comprising the steps of- a)providing a first icon showing an initial status of a telephone line; b) sensing an activation event; c) changing said first icon to a second icon to show an updated status of said telephone line.

i o

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein said mouse activation event is a mouse button click or a keyboard stroke.

3. The method of Claim I wherein said first predetermined icon and said second predetermined icon are selected from a set of icons.

4. A telephony application graphical user interface which simplifies telephony actions comprising:

a first icon showing an initial status of a telephone line; a second icon showing an updated status of a telephone line; means to chan2e said first icon to said second icon when an activation event is sensed.

5. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 4 wherein said activation events are mouse button clicks or keyboard strokes.

6. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 5 wherein said mouse button clicks are either a right mouse button click or a left mouse button click.

7. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 6 wherein said first icon is one of an idle icon, a call ringing icon, a call established icon, a call on hold icon, a call originated icon and a call a call delivered.

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8. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said idle icon changes to a call originated icon when said left mouse button click is sensed.

9. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call 5 ringing icon changes to a call established icon when said left mouse button click is sensed.

10. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call established icon changes to an idle icon when said left mouse button click is sensed.

11. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call on hold icon changes to a call established icon when said left mouse button click is sensed.

12. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call originated icon changes to an idle icon when said when said left mouse button click is sensed. 15

13. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call delivered icon changes to an idle icon when said when said left mouse button click is sensed.

14. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said idle icon 20 changes to a call originated icon when said right mouse button click is sensed.

15. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call established icon changes to a call on hold icon when said right mouse button click is sensed.

16. The telephony application graphical user interface of Claim 7 wherein said call on hold icon changes to an idle icon when said right mouse button click is sensed.

17. A method according to claim 1 and/or the interface according to any of claims 3 to 16 substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

is