GB2362290A - Telephony device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

A telephony device is described which comprises means for communicating a device identity code, via a fixed line to which the device is connected, to a telephone service provider, thereby allowing a telephone service provider to allocate a specific required service to that telephony device. The invention allows telephone services to be sold together with a telephone.

Description

2362290 TELEPHONY DEVICE AND SYSTEM The present invention relates to a

telephony device and telephone system.

Telephone land lines are each identified via a unique telephone number. A telephone service provider connects a telephone line to a telephone network and allocates a telephone number to that line. The service provider charges a fee for the service provided to that telephone line, the fee being determined in part by the number and nature of telephone calls made from that telephone number. A fee may be charged for other services, for example 'call waiting' wherein a user is alerted if, during a telephone call, a third party attempts to telephone him or her. All of the charges are made in relation to the line number.

The choice of telephone to be used by the customer has no bearing upon the service provided by the telephone service provider. A telephone will typically be purchased from an electrical goods retailer, a transaction that is entirely divorced from the service provided by the telephone service provider.

The fact that the purchase of a telephone is entirely divorced from the provision of a telephone service limits the manner in which telephones may be marketed, and in particular prevents an electrical goods retailer from selling a telephone together with associated services as a single item.

For example, it might be desired to sell a telephone together with a free trial of a service, for example 'call waiting'. The prior art provides no way in which this can be done

In a further example of a service that may sold together with a telephone, a telephone may be arranged to provide portability between telephone land lines having different numbers and different locations. Telephone land lines are currently allocated a telephone number, which means that when a user is away from the premises associated with that line, they must change their contact number. Mobile telephones do allow the user to retain the same number, but calls to and from mobile telephones are more expensive than calls to and from land lines. In addition, mobile telephones may not work in other countries as the systems may be incompatible, for example, the US and European mobile telephone systems are incompatible. It is possible to obtain a "personal" telephone number from some telephone service providers, who register the personal number to a specific telephone land line. When the user moves, they may take the personal number with them, and re-register this to a different telephone 2 line. However, it is not possible to use this system on a short-term basis, for example, if the user is staying in a hotel or with ffiends or relatives, as calls must be billed to the telephone line on which they are made. Although it is possible to allocate more than one telephone number to a particular land line, it is necessary to use such features as call sign identification, where the telephone has different ring cadences so that the user can identify which telephone number has been dialled.

A further problem with telephone land lines is that the numbering systems have had to be changed periodically in order to keep up with the demand for greater numbers of lines to be made available. This is annoying to the user, as telephone numbers stored in memory devices have to be altered, and is expensive for telephone service providers as they have to advertise the change to the users.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one of the above disadvantages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a telephony device comprising means for communicating a device identity code, via a fixed line to which the device is connected, to a telephone service provider, thereby allowing a telephone service provider to allocate a specific required service to that telephony device.

The invention allows services to be sold together with a telephone, thereby allowing those services to be marketed at the point of sale of the telephone.

Preferably, the means for communicating the device identity code comprises a DTMF tone generator. Dialling means are also provided for dialling telephone numbers.

Preferably, the telephony device further comprises means for receiving codes ftorn the fixed line, and means to carry out instructions on receipt of such codes from the fixed line.

Preferably, the telephony device further comprises means for detecting voltage on the fixed line to which the device is connected.

Suitably, the specific required service is to direct calls addressed to a number associated with the device towards the fixed line to which the device is connected. This means that a telephone may be given a specific telephone number to which telephone calls will be routed. The telephone may thus be connected to any fixed land line, and the user does not need to change their contact telephone number.

3 Preferably, the telephony device further comprises memory means for storing a telephone number for dialling a remote location at which instructions are stored for transferring calls addressed to the number associated with the device to the fixed line, the means for communicating the device identity code being adapted to transmit the device identity code to the remote location.

Preferably, the telephony device further comprises means to store an additional identification code, means to detect an additional identification code on an incoming telephone call on the fixed line, and means to activate a ringing device in response to the telephone call only if the additional identification code matches the stored additional identification code. Different telephones may thus be connected to the same fixed line, and each telephone will only ring if the additional identification code matches a stored code.

Preferably, the telephony device further comprises means for storing a pre-dial number and an identification code and means for dialling the predial number and predial identification code before every telephone number dialled from the telephony device. The telephony device may thus be set up to route calls automatically to an alternative telephone service provider.

Suitably, the required service is a call waiting service.

Suitably, the required service is a call minder service.

Preferably, the device comprises means to disconnect a telephone call, and means for indicating an error condition.

The device may be a DECT handset.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a telephone system comprising a telephone network including a plurality of fixed lines between which calls can be exchanged and a plurality of telephony devices each of which can be connected to any one of the fixed lines to communicate via the network, wherein each device comprises means for storing a code identifying that device and means for communicating the device identity code to a fixed line to which the device is connected, the network being arranged to provide a required service to a given identified device.

Suitably, the required service is storing a call number for each device in association with the identity code of the respective device, and the telephone network includes means for storing a line identity code identifying a fixed line from which a device identity code is communicated to the network in association with the 4 communicated device identity code, and means for directing calls addressed to a number associated with a device identity code to the fixed line the line identity code of which is stored in association with the device identity code of that device.

Suitably, the required service is a call waiting service.

Suitably the required service is a call minder service.

Preferably the network comprises a DTMF tone generator for communicating with each device.

Preferably, the network further comprises a telephony device in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention.

Telephone numbers may be allocated to telephone lines that would not normally be available, as codes that are inaccessible to ordinary telephone number keypads may be used for the number. This is because the telephone number of the fixed land line will only be dialled by the telephone service provider if the line is to be used with a telephony device according to the present invention. This means that the telephone service provider has a much greater range of numbers available to them, and is also able to change the telephone numbers allocated to land lines at any time, without needing to inform users or interrupting the telephone service.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

A first embodiment of the invention comprises a telephone having a microprocessor, a memory device storing a telephone identity code in the form of a serial number, and a registration centre telephone number, dialling means, a DTMF tone generator and means to detect a voltage on a telephone line. These are all standard components and will not be described further. The telephone is supplied to the customer ready programmed to be able to register with a telephone service provider. The customer is given a call number to be used by anyone wishing to telephone them.

In order to connect to the telephone service, the telephone is first connected to a line socket. The telephone detects the telephone line voltage and after a short pause, automatically dials the telephone number of the registration centre that is stored within its memory. Alternatively, the telephone may indicate to the user that registration should be initiated manually, prompting the user to press a key to dial the number. The registration centre automatically answers the call by means of an automated answering system. The calling line identification (CLI) of the telephone line to which the telephone is connected is stored by the registration centre. The telephone may force the CLI to be sent in advance of the call, by the use of suitable DTMF tones.

Appendix 1 shows example data that may be stored at the registration centre to enable the registration process, and telephone calls, to take place.

The registration centre sends a DTMF "DW code to the telephone. The microprocessor in the telephone recognises this code and replies with a DTMF "DD" code and its serial number (consisting of 32 tones), also using DTMF tones. The registration centre looks up the serial number of the telephone in a database, and accesses the security tag assigned to that telephone. The registration centre randomly picks a 4 byte sequence from the telephone's security tag, and sends a DTMF "DC" code to the telephone followed by two DTMF tones representing the start of the 4 byte sequence from the security tag, followed by two DTMF tones representing the encoding algorithm to be used during authentication of the telephone.

The telephone accesses its own database to look up the 4 byte sequence requested by the registration centre, and applies the specified encoding algorithm to it. The telephone then sends a DTMF "DW code to the registration centre plus four DTMF tones representing the 2 bytes (4 nibbles) of the encoded security tag. If the 2 birtes do not match the return value expected by the registration centre, the j.v e registration centre sends a DTMF "CW code to the telephone and disconnects the call. When the telephone receives the DTMF "CW code, it drops the telephone line and displays an error message. If the 2 bytes transmitted by the telephone match the expected return value, the registration process continues.

The registration centre associates the CLI of the telephone line with the telephone number of the telephone for call routing purposes and sends a DTMF "DB" code plus 2 bytes representing a local identifier code to the telephone and then sends a DTMF "AA" code indicating successful registration and disconnects the call. The telephone stores the local identifier code on receipt of the DTMF "DW code and drops the telephone line on receipt of the DTMF "AA" code. If a CLI was not available for the telephone line, the registration centre instead transmits a DTNE "CW code and connects the call to an operator. On receiving a DTW "CW code, the telephone indicates an error condition and causes the ringer to operate. This encourages the user to lift the handset and speak to the operator. The operator then requests the telephone number of the telephone line, and manually associates the 6 telephone to the telephone line. Once the operator has entered the number of the telephone line, the registration centre sends a DTMF "DW code to the telephone plus 2 bytes representing a local identifier code as before, and the caller is asked to replace the handset.

The telephone is then ready to make and receive telephone calls.

When the telephone number of the telephone is called, the telephone service provider automatically re-routes the call to the telephone line at which the telephone is installed. When an outgoing call is made from the telephone, the telephone service provider recognises that the call is to be billed to the owner/renter of the telephone. The outgoing call may be routed to a different telephone service provider to that used by the telephone line.

If the telephone service provider is operating a "pre-pay" system, the registration process may also cheek if the user of the telephone has credit available to them to be able to make telephone calls. The registration centre may prompt the user to top up their account if necessary. Alternatively, the pre-pay system may include a smart card or other device containing information as to the number of credits available, the smart card being insertable into the telephone before it is useable.

A pre-pay system may include a pre-dial telephone number to be added before the telephone number for every call, to route the call to an alternative telephone service provider. The pre-dial number and a PIN code for billing purposes may be transmitted to the telephone during the registration process to be stored in the telephone's memory. In order to do this, the registration centre sends a DTMF "DA" code plus 2 bytes representing the start of a PIN code selected from the security tag of the telephone, plus DTMF tones representing a least cost routing (LCR) code, followed by a DTMF "DA" code. The telephone stores the LCR and PIN codes in its pre-dial memory and then sends a DTMF "DA" code plus the PIN code plus the LCR code and a final DTMF "DA" code back to the registration centre. The telephone then adds the pre-dial number and the PIN code before every telephone number that is dialled.

As more than one telephone may be connected to the telephone line, the local identifier code is allocated to each telephone on a "first come first serveW basis. The telephone service provider may attach the local identifier code for the telephone before the CLI of incoming calls, so that the telephone will only ring if it detects its local identifier code at the beginning of the caller identification code. Alternatively, 7 an additional message type may be created within the caller display protocol to allow for transmission of local identifier codes. In this way, calls may still be made to the owner/renter of the telephone line, and these will not cause the newly connected telephone to ring. If a CLI is not present, or is corrupted on the incoming call, all telephones connected to the line will ring. A switch may be provided on the telephone to alter this behaviour, for example, if it is desired that the telephone rings for all incoming calls on the line at all times.

The telephone may be automatically de-registered from the telephone line when it is registered to a different telephone line, or alternatively, a de-registration procedure may be used to disassociate the telephone from the line. Incoming calls to the telephone could then be routed to an answering service to await re-registration of the telephone to a different telephone line. The user of the telephone would then be alerted that there were messages awaiting him/her once the re-registration process had been completed.

The telephone may be in the form of a DECT handset that may be registered with a compatible base station that is attached to the telephone line. The DECT base station stores the number of the local registration centre. To start the registration process, the telephone handset sends a registration request to the base station to cause the base station to initiate the call to the local registration centre. The base station may also perform the function of routing calls to the appropriate handset, using the local identifier code attached to the CLI of the incoming call.

The telephone may be connected to telephone lines in other countries. In this instance co-operating telephone service providers in each country keep a selection of telephone numbers that are designated as roaming numbers. When a user wishes to use the telephone in a different country, his/her own telephone service provider issues a designated roaming number on behalf of the service provider in the other country, and provides that service provider with the user's telephone number, security tag and serial number in order for the foreign service provider to associate them with the roaming number. The user purchases call time with the foreign telephone service provider at the same time, or a billing arrangement with the home telephone service provider is operated. The user is then free to register the telephone in the other country. During registration, the international part of the serial number of the user's telephone instigates a look up on the foreign service provider's database and completes the association from the land line to the roaming number and thence to the telephone.

Calls made to the telephone from the country of origin are automatically routed to the foreign telephone service provider by the home telephone service provider, to enable the foreign telephone service provider to complete the call. As the telephone is programmed to recognise that it is no longer in its home country, outgoing calls made from the telephone are automatically prefixed with the international access code and the country code of the home country. This means that the user may still use numbers that are stored within the telephone's memory, without having to amend the telephone numbers.

Calls made in the foreign country to telephone numbers for the country of origin always start with a search of the database of roaming numbers to see if the telephone has been registered so that the call may be routed without leaving the country. Since the roaming database will always be small, the search time will be negligible.

Once the telephone has been re-registered in the home country (or deregistered from the foreign country), the roaming association is cleared and becomes available for another user. Any credits remaining for call time in the foreign country are transferred back to the user's local account.

With a DECT handset that is registered in another country, it is the compatible base station that makes the registration call to the local registration centre, so that there is no need for the user to find out the local registration centre number and manually dial it.

Hotels, leisure clubs and employers, etc may provide suitable sockets or DECT base stations to enable guests or employees to be able to connect their own telephones to the telephone system.

It should be appreciated that the unique serial number may be assigned to a telephone number card such as an electronic card or chip that may be inserted into a telephone, rather than to a telephone itselL In addition, the present invention is not limited to use in a telephone. Suitable telephony devices include pagers, mobile or paIrntop computers, computerised personal organisers, etc.

The registration and de-registration processes need not be carried out using DTMF tones, but could use another signalling method.

9 A second embodiment of the invention comprises a telephone having a microprocessor, dialling means, a DTMI7 tone generator and a memory device storing a registration centre telephone number, and a telephone identity code in the form of a serial number. The telephone is configured to operate in the same manner as a conventional telephone, and in addition to allow a user to register for additional telephone services.

To register for the additional services the user lifts the telephone handset and then presses and holds the star button for two seconds. The handset of the microphone is automatically temporarily muted, and the telephone dials the registration centre telephone number stored in the memory, for example 1470 0800 123 4567. The telephone number includes the code '1470' which activates in the United Kingdom the 'Caller ID' service, whereby a recipient of a telephone call may determine the number of origin of the telephone call.

If the user hears a busy tone then he or she hangs up the telephone and attempts to register later.

Once connected to the registration centre, the caller's telephone number, as determined using the 'Caller ID' service is stored in a database at the registration centre. A recorded welcome message is played to the user.

If it was not possible to determine the caller's telephone number using the 'Caller ID' service, then a recorded message will ask the user to enter the telephone number including area code from which they are calling. The telephone number may then be automatically verified against a British Telecommunications plc database. If the telephone number is invalid, then a recorded message will ask the user to end the call and to ring a help-line where an operator will register the telephone number for the required additional services.

Following a delay sufficient to allow the recorded messages to be played from the service provider, the serial number is automatically sent to the service provider via the DTMF. If the serial number is not recognised, the user is requested to ring the help-line, and the call is then disconnected.

If the serial number is recognised, then it is saved at the service provider's database, and is passed on to British Telecommunications together with the caller's number. A recorded message is played to the user telling the user that the request for services has been registered, The user may be requested to press the square (hash) key on the telephone keypad. This will cause a flag or fuse to be set within the telephone to prevent future registration. The registration procedure is thereby ended, and the call is automatically disconnected.

The second embodiment of the invention may be used to provide a user with a free trial of an additional telephone service when he purchases a telephone. For example, a telephone may be sold with a 3 month free trial of the 'call waiting' service. When a purchaser of the telephone connects it to a telephone socket at his or her home, the telephone automatically telephones the service provider, as described above, and registers the 3 month trial of the call waiting service (the service to be required will be identified via the serial number). The purchaser of the telephone is provided with the call waiting service for 3 months, and at the end of that time may choose to pay for the service to continue or may chose to end the service. The telephone may be programmed to alert the user (purchaser) when the 3 month free trial is about to end, to allow the user to renew the service. The service may be renewed by the purchaser pressing an allocated button on the telephone, which causes the telephone to instruct the telephone service provider to begin monthly debits from the purchaser's account in respect of the call waiting service.

It will be appreciated that trials of other services, for example the call minder service may be provided in the same manner.

The operation of the invention is illustrated as a flow diagram in the accompanying drawing.

A1212endix I Registration Centre Database Country Service Serial number Security tag Request start Decode code provider maximum 02C 001 A62FCO098B (256 Bytes) (256 Bytes) (list) Telephone Extra Line Local ID Credit number number number 01001 0 +44(0)161 A 360 123456 8743500 Country code:

A hexadecimal representation of the standard international country code for the country in which the telephone number was issued.

Service provider:

A unique number issued to the telephone service provider or manufacturer of the telephone in the country designated in the country code (a manufacturer may have different codes in different countries).

Serial number:

A number that when taken with the country code and service provider code is unique in the world for the telephone or telephone number card. The unique number is made up of 3 nibbles representing the country of origin (04095), 3 nibbles representing the service provider/manufacturer (04095) and a 10 nibble serial number (01,099,511,627,520) Security tag:

An array of 256 randomly generated bytes of which an exact copy exists in the telephone or telephone number card.

Request start:

An array of 256 randomly generated bytes. The first byte in the list is used to request the start position in the security tag for authentication then the array is rotated so as to 12 place the byte just used at the end of the list and move the next byte in the list to the start. This ensures that the return code is not the same within 256 registrations. Decode list: Available encoding/decoding algorithms available in the telephone for use during authentication. Telephone number: The number that is dialled to initiate a connection to the telephone or telephone number card. Extra number: An additional telephone number that must follow the routing of this telephone number. This allows the user to have more than one number. for example for business and personal uses. Line number: The telephone land line that the telephone is connected to. Local ID: The local ID given to the telephone, which is extracted from a second database, to allow complete routing of the call when available. Credit: The number of minutes of call time available to the user (for use with pre-pay systems).

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Claims (15)

1. A telephony device comprising means for communicating a device identity code, via a fixed line to which the device is connected, to a telephone service provider, thereby allowing a telephone service provider to allocate a specific required service to that telephony device.

2. A telephony device according to claim 1, wherein the means for communicating the device identity code comprises a DTMF tone generator.

3 A telephony device according to claim 1 or claim 2, comprising means for receiving codes from the fixed line, and means to carry out instructions on receipt of such codes from the fixed line.

4 A telephony device according to any of claims 1 to 3, comprising means for detecting voltage on the fixed line to which the device is connected.

5. A telephony device according to any preceding claim, wherein the specific required service is to direct calls addressed to a number associated with the device towards the fixed line to which the device is connected.

6. A telephony device according to claim 5, comprising memory means for storing a telephone number for dialling a remote location at which instructions are stored for transferring calls addressed to the number associated with the device to the fixed line, the means for communicating the device identity code being adapted to transmit the device identity code to the remote location.

7. A telephony device according to claim 5 or claim 6, comprising means to store an additional identification code, means to detect an additional identification code on an incoming telephone call on the fixed line, and means to activate a ringing device in response to the telephone call only if the additional identification code matches the stored additional identification code.

8. A telephony device according to any of claims 5 to 7, comprising means for storing a pre-dial number and an identification code and means for dialling the pre-dial number and pre- dial identification code before every telephone number dialled from the telephony device.

9. A telephony device according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the required service is a call waiting service.

10. A telephony device according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the required service is a call minder service.

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11. A telephony device substantially as hereinbefore described.

12. A telephone system comprising a telephone network including a plurality of fixed lines between which calls can be exchanged and a plurality of telephony devices each of which can be connected to any one of the fixed lines to communicate via the network, wherein each device comprises means for storing a code identifying that device and means for communicating the device identity code to a fixed line to which the device is connected, the network being arranged to provide a required service to a given identified device.

13. A telephone system according to claim 12, wherein the required service is storing a call number for each device in association with the identity code of the respective device, and the telephone network includes means for storing a line identity code identifying a fixed line from which a device identity code is communicated to the network in association with the communicated device identity code, and means for directing calls addressed to a number associated with a device identity code to the fixed line the line identity code of which is stored in association with the device identity code of that device.

14. A telephony device according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the required service is a call waiting service.

15. A telephone system according to any of claims 12 to 16, comprising a telephony device in accordance with any of claims 1 to 11.

15. A telephony device according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the required service is a call minder service.

16. A telephone system according to any of claims 12 to 15, wherein the network comprises a DTMF tone generator for communicating with each device.