GB2367707A - Internet activated telephone alert - Google Patents

Abstract

An alert on a recipient's telephone that is activated by a sender's request over the Internet. The recipient defines the telephone number used and filtering rules (such as sender, subject and acceptable times and dates) to stop unwanted alerts. The sender may be provided with feedback status information to confirm that the recipient has received the alert and when they may be expected to respond. The alert may consist of a single ring, a voice message or a distinctive ringing tone.

Description

Internet activated telephone alert Background The Internet presents many opportunities for fast and efficient communication such as e-mail, voice messages, Instant messaging and Internet telephony, allowing interactive and collaborative working.

However, many users only have dial-up (temporary) Internet connections and if they are currently off-line, they remain ignorant of attempts to contact them via the Internet until they next go on-line. The current options are: * Permanent connection (e. g. leased line, ADSL) provides a continuous link to the Internet, so any urgent messages can be handled immediately. However, this will probably remain expensive for some time to come so for many users it is not a viable option.

* Fixed Fee dial-up (no per minute rate) Internet connections are now available but they are not designed for continuous connections, require an expensive second line (or will interfere with voice calls) and incur a fixed monthly charge which may not suit many low/medium volume Internet users. For single-line use, the Internet connection must be shared with voice calls, making continuous connections frustrating for voice callers. In theory Internet Call Waiting (ICW: a service that detects a busy line and forwards notification of the call to the recipient via the Internet) can be used to allow voice callers to get through via the Internet. However. this costs the recipient extra for every call made to them (the forwarded part of the call) and is impractical for many users as it requires the PC to be used for all phone calls. Also, because it uses Call Forwarding (also known as Call Diversion), ICW is will not work with conventional voice Call Waiting. As such, if the recipient is on a voice call, the caller can only be sent to voice-mail unless the line is re-programmed for each call. In short there is a serious conflict between the use of the line for Internet and voice calls, making it a compromise between frustrating voice callers and providing a semi-permanent Internet connection.

* Pager or Mobile SMS (Short Messaging Service) notification is usually free for the caller but involves a monthly charge for the recipient. It generally only works in the users home country or

.. is even more expensive.

* Phone Message using a voice synthesiser. This only ties up the line (briefly) when a message is actually received, so does not interfere with normal use. There are existing phone notification services, but these are charged for (directly or via advertising) and/or limited to use in the USA.

Use in most other countries would involve call charges.

* Phone Trigger using various ring/timing protocols (or Caller ID) where the call is unanswered but triggers the recipient's PC to dial-up to collect messages. These are often unreliable due to timing issues and/or require special hardware. In any case they either require special systems for the Internet Service Provider (to dial-up the user) or the caller has to use their own PC to dial the recipient first. This has disadvantages: they must have a dial-up connection themselves (it cannot be done from a LAN or cable modem connection) and, assuming they have a single-line dial-up link, they have to disconnect from the Internet, ring the number and go back on the Internet. This method may also generate redundant calls for the recipient by causing the PC to automatically collect messages when the user is not there and may happen at unsociable hours.

In summary the current methods are either quite expensive (Permanent, Pager/Mobile SMS, Phone Message, Dual-line Fixed Fee dial-up) or impractical (Phone Trigger, Single-line Fixed Fee dial-up).

This will remain an issue until permanent Internet connections become the norm or other methods are available at reasonable prices, which may not be for some time.

Invention This invention provides a method for someone who is on-line to alert someone who is off-line that there is an urgent communication for them and that they should go on-line. Example benefits of this are: an e-mail can be sent with confidence that the recipient knows about it (they can personally acknowledge it within minutes) ; someone in an Internet Cafe or University across the world (without direct access to a phone). can initiate a live exchange with someone at home; a PC to PC Internet phone call can be initiated when the recipient is off-line; a web site enquiry (clicking a button that sends the alert) to a small company can be notified so they can interact with the customer on-line giving an immediate response to their questions. A recipient who does not own a PC could register for the service at a local Internet Cafe and then be alerted when there are important messages. This avoids them pointlessly visiting to check e-mail and allows them to join in on-line live exchanges.

The essential features are : 1. A computer server that is connected to the Internet that can accept a command (e-mail or Instant Message of any type) which may be initiated by another computer or indirectly (e. g. by a telephone call to a gateway) to cause it to make a single ring on a telephone over the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). This single ring does not cause the recipient's computer to automatically connect. It is solely to provide an alert signal for the recipient to indicate that they should manually go on-line. The advantage of this is that there is normally no charge for such unanswered calls.

2. A filter between any request from a caller using the recipients unique ID and the above computer such that it can only be activated when certain rules are satisfied. Specifically: who (e. g. valid e-mail address, password or digital signature), when (e. g. home : 6pm-l 1pm ; office: 9am-5pm) and which alert method is used (e. g. home: only friends/family ; office: business colleagues).

These rules include"follow-me"routing that can be easily overridden so the recipient can tell the server what their current phone number is.

3. It is the recipient that defines the rules for the above mentioned filter and has secure control over the actual phone numbers such that the caller may only know the recipient's unique ID. This allows the recipient full control over who by, when, and where they are called. If they cancel a caller's authorisation, any requests would automatically be refused.

Preferable features 1. Alternative alert methods (e. g. Pager/Mobile SMS, automated Phone Message) may be activated as a recipient defined alternative for situations where a single ring signal would be inappropriate.

2. It has a real-time feedback mechanism such that the caller knows what is happening e. g. available now; busy-try again at a specified time; alerted but waiting for response; no response; incommunicado, and so on. This allows the caller to make an informed choice about how to proceed.

3. An optional modem monitoring program on the recipient's computer could register the single ring call and time visually and/or audibly. As such, if they miss the single ring, they will still get the alert and know when it was.

4. If the alert happens"out of hours"it could be set to ring immediately a valid time period arrived (e. g. at 8am for any received during the night) 5. If the alert call is accidentally answered or the country concerned charges for unanswered calls, the account would be disabled to avoid risk of further costs or the user would agree to indemnify the operator for such charged calls.

6. The e-mail password (e. g. in the subject line) could also act as a sender defined"urgent"flag, so they could send a non-urgent e-mail without the password to the same address without triggering the paging request as a courtesy to the recipient.

7. Configuration of an expected response time. This would allow a recipient who doesn't have a PC sufficient time to go to an Internet Cafe ; or someone in a University office, time to go to the computer room.

8. A facility to respond to the alert signal by calling a voice gateway to check who the alert was from and sending a range of standard replies (using numbered options) or a voice message (if audio is acceptable to the caller's system). This would be useful to at least acknowledge the caller so they know it will be dealt with, perhaps arranging another time to call or specifying the expected response time.

9. The ID could be a number that would act as a universal access method that could be used as a "phone"number via voice gateways to access them (subject to the verification of valid caller ID or password PIN to stop unwanted calls).

10. The phone number used for signalling could be verified by requiring the recipient to call in to the server (via a gateway) to identify it using Caller ID. This is important to avoid generating calls to the wrong number either due to typing errors or abuse. Other numbers would only be allowed upon registration of their credit card or other means to prove their identity.

Previous patents involving the use of single ring unanswered calls have focused purely on alerting a remote computer or similar apparatus to go on-line or take a specific action. This invention specifically excludes this: its purpose is to alert the person, not the computer. Other known embodiments have been for very specific and limited purposes (e. g. some taxi services use a single unanswered ring to indicate the arrival of a booked taxi) rather than as a generalised, but filtered, Internet activated alert.

A crucial element is that the recipient is the client of the service and they define the rules. Note that the caller need not even know the recipients real phone number: their only access may be via the filtered alert request allowing the recipient full control over who alerts them. The recipient can give out an ID with a password and easily block anyone they no longer wish to be contacted by. This has many benefits: it allows for informal contact (such as on-line chat) with security in the hands of the recipient; it allows privacy from commercial contacts-especially important with the increase in unsolicited e-mail and telephone calls. It also means that the recipient (obviously) knows exactly what the single ring means-if manual ringing methods were thoughtlessly used by callers. it could irritate people very easily.

I consider that it is the specific combination of the essential features that constitutes the invention rather than the individual elements.

Example This consists of 4 main components: 1. Server-a server computer with a permanent connection to the Internet that runs the main program.

2. Gateway-a gateway allowing the above server to make phone calls on the PSTN automatically.

3. Alert Monitor-a program on the recipient's computer (or other means) that allows the above server to ascertain if the recipient is currently on-line and alert them. This can be done in a variety of well known ways including: a program on the recipient computer that automatically registers with the above mentioned Server to indicate that it is on-line. It would send the recipient's ID and IP (Internet Protocol) address so the server could then contact it when a validated alert is received.

The program would preferably be platform independent and secure (e. g. Java) so it can run on any system without the need for supervised installation. Alternatively, the user could login to a web page which would allow similar functionality using polling techniques (a script could check for alerts every minute) to avoid firewall restrictions.

4. Database-a database defining the rules of acceptable callers. times, contact phone numbers and so on.

The Server is programmed to accept c-mails (e. g. in the form ID@xyz. com) as a paging request. The e-mail must be from a specified address, contain an agreed password (defined by the recipient), digital signature or other proof of origination or it is automatically rejected. This is be done by verifying these e-mail details with those in a Database maintained by the recipient.

Once the message has been verified as acceptable, it first checks if the recipient is already on-line using the Alert Monitor described above. If they are on-line, a message would be displayed indicating the caller's name. The recipient would then have a short period to respond with a range of directly selectable

options (e. g."busy","ignore","reply") to provide immediate feedback to the caller. Failing this it would default to"ignore"and advise the caller that they could not be reached.

If the user was not found on-line, the Database rules are used to indicate to the server how to find the recipient according to the time of day or as last manually set by the recipient. If this required a phone alert, the server would use the above Gateway to ring the appropriate number with a single ring.

If the recipient hears this, they dial-up the Internet as normal and communicate with the caller with confidence that it is someone they wish to be contacted by. They would then respond selecting an option in the Alert Monitor program as above.

During this wait (which may be several minutes) the caller would be advised of the progress and alerted themselves once the recipient's connection has been made. This allows them to get on with other things while they wait. This would be achieved using the same Alert Monitor mentioned above.

Claims (14)

1. Claims 1. A personal alert signal consisting of ringing a telephone number, which is defined by the recipient, activated by a sender's request sent over the Internet where this request satisfies filtering rules of acceptable time periods, dates, senders and subjects as defined by the recipient of the alert.
2. 2. An alert as in claim 1 where the number of rings is always a fixed quantity, such as one ring, to avoid triggering an answering machine or allowing time for a person to answer the call.
3. 3. An alert as in claim 1 where the telephone number has a distinctive ringing tone to indicate that it is not a normal telephone call and should not be answered.
4. 4. An alert as in claim 1 where Caller ID apparatus (indicating the telephone number of the caller) may be used to indicate that the call is from a defined alert generating Internet to PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) gateway telephone number such that the recipient knows the call is an alert rather than a normal call.
5. 5. An alert as in claim 1 where the Caller ID apparatus or telephone service provider's"1471" (or similar"last caller number") service may be used to indicate that an alert was previously received, even if it was missed.
6. 6. An alert as in claim 2,3 or 4 where if the alert call is answered, subsequent calls to that number may be disabled to avoid call charges.
7. 7. An alert as in claim 1 where an extended ringing period is allowed and the call may be answered so the recipient can hear a message to indicate that it is an alert.
8. 8. An alert as in claim 1 where if the request is received outside the defined acceptable time periods or dates, the alert is delayed until the start of the next acceptable time period and date.
9. 9. An alert as in claim 1 where if the alert is not acknowledged by the recipient after a defined number of alert attempts within a defined time period, subsequent alerts are disabled to avoid repeated alerts to a telephone where the intended recipient is not present or does not wish to be disturbed further.
10. 10. An alert as in claim I where the recipient's telephone number is kept private from the sender to avoid unfiltered alerts (e. g. directly dialed calls) or personal telephone calls.
11. 11. An alert as in claim 1 where the sender may optionally be sent recipient status messages over the Internet to indicate the response or a lack of response by the recipient such that the sender may know if their request was received.
12. 12. A recipient status message as in claim 11 where the recipient may optionally define the expected time the sender may have to wait to cater for recipients that always have to travel to get access to the Internet in order to respond (e. g. because they do not have a home computer and must go to an Internet Café).
13. 13. A recipient status message as in claim 11 which the recipient can generate using a telephone to call a PSTN to Internet gateway by entering numeric codes or sending a voice message.
14. 14. An alert as in claim 1 where the defined recipient telephone number may be altered by the recipient using a PSTN to Internet gateway by entering numeric codes or by the gateway using Caller Line ID.