GB2380095A

GB2380095A - Centrally recording telephone calls in encrypted format at the instigation of the calling party

Info

Publication number: GB2380095A
Application number: GB0229452A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kane Nicholas Kramer
Original assignee: MONICALL SYSTEMS Ltd
Current assignee: MONICALL SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date: 2001-12-19
Filing date: 2002-12-18
Publication date: 2003-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2022-12-18
Also published as: GB2380095B; GB0229452D0

Abstract

Apparatus (2) for monitoring and recording telephone calls, which apparatus comprises conference bridge means (4), incoming interface means (6) for providing an interface which is for incoming telephone calls and which is between a public switched telephone network (8) and the conference bridge means (4), outgoing interface means (10) which is for providing an interface for outgoing telephone calls and which is between the conference bridge means (4) and the public switched telephone network (8), encryption means (12) for encrypting the telephone calls, a database (14) which automatically stores the encrypted telephone calls, and control means (16) for causing the permanent storage or the erasure of each individual telephone call on the database (14), the control means (16) being such that it operates consequent upon an input from the calling party of each individual telephone call before the calling party becomes disconnected from the public switched telephone network (8) in relation to that individual telephone call.

Description

APPARATUS FOR MONITORING AND RECORDING TELEPHONE CALLS This invention relates to apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls.

There are often occasions where it is desirable to record a telephone call in order to provide a record of that telephone call. The possibility of a calling party or a called party themselves recording a telephone call has long been available. However, because the recording is made by the calling party or the called party, the recording is always open to an allegation that the recording has been tampered with and thus does not provide a true record of the telephone call. It has also been known for a very long time for telephone lines to be tapped by security organizations in order to obtain a recording of a telephone call between a calling party and a called party Such telephone tapings are generally illegal and they are only usually allowed by Government organizations. Still further, these organizations will not automatically provide a copy to the party making the telephone call It is an aim of the present invention to provide apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls which does not suffer from the above mentioned disadvantages.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls, which apparatus comprises conference bridge means, incoming interface

means for providing an interface which is for incoming telephone calls and which is between a public switched telephone network and the conference bridge means, outgoing interface means which is for providing an interface for outgoing telephone calls and which is between the conference bridge means and the public switched telephone network, encoding means for encoding the telephone calls, a database which automatically stores the encoded telephone calls, and control means for causing the permanent storage or the erasure of each individual telephone call on the database, the control means being such that it operates consequent upon an input from the calling party of each individual telephone call before the calling party becomes disconnected from the public switched telephone network In relation to that individual telephone call.

The apparatus of the present invention is able to operate simply and automatically from any telephone, but nevertheless to provide a secure and accurate recording of telephone calls on the database. The recording can thus be provided as and when required, for example at times of a dispute, or in a Court of law. Advantageously, the calling party does not require their own equipment, and the calling party can control the recording of a call entirely by remote control A complete conversation can be recorded accurately and without Interruption, In contrast to known tape recordings which often run out before the end of a conversation The apparatus of the present invention may be regarded as providing in a simple, accurate and efficient way, the service and facility of a third party witness.

The apparatus of the invention may include back-up means for providing a back-up recording of stored telephone calls on the database.

Thus, if anything should go wrong with the recording on the database, the back-up recording will always be available. The back-up means can be arranged to operate to provide a secure and accurate recording to the same standard as the database.

The apparatus of the invention may include clearing means for clearing the called party from the public switched telephone network before the calling party, and for giving the calling party a sufficient time to make the input to the control means. If desired, other means may be employed for obtaining the required signal from the calling party.

Preferably, the control means includes an interactive voice response device which operates consequent upon receipt of a line release signal from the called party, and which plays a recording to the calling party requesting the calling party to make the input to the control means. Thus, for example, the interactive voice response device may request the calling party to key the No. 1 if the individual telephone call is to be permanently stored in the database, or the No. 2 if the individual telephone call is to be erased from the database. Other numbers and/or symbols may be used to obtain the permanent storage or the erasure as may be desired.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the control means may operate to call back the calling party after completion of recording of a

telephone call, and to ask the calling party for confirmation or otherwise that the recorded telephone call should be stored.

The apparatus of the invention may include output means for the transmission of the permanently stored calls.

The output means may transmit the permanently stored calls In any suitable and appropriate way. Thus, for example, the output means may be able to transmit the stored calls as an e-mail to an e-mail address and/or as an instruction to a user name-and-password-protected web page and/or as a recording sent by post to a pre-arranged address. The recording may be on any suitable media so that, for example, the recording may be an audio cassette, a compact disc, or a minidisc.

As mentioned above, the apparatus of the present invention overcomes the long existing problems with known apparatus for recording and monitoring telephone calls. Nevertheless, the apparatus of the present invention is extremely advantageous in that it basically uses a plurality of known components Thus research and development work with its consequent costs IS not required in order to produce the apparatus of the present Invention. The apparatus of the present invention brings together known components but in a hitherto un-thought of way, and in a manner which overcomes the longstanding problems of the existing apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows first apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls ; and Figure 2 shows part of second apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown apparatus 2 for monitoring and recording telephone calls. The apparatus 2 comprises conference bridge means 4. Incoming interface means 6 is provided as shown for providing an interface which IS for incoming telephone calls and which is between a public switched telephone network 8 and the conference bridge means 4 Also provided as shown is outgoing interface means 10 which IS for providing an interface for outgoing telephone calls and which is between the conference bridge means 4 and the public switched telephone network 8 The public switched telephone network 8 may include the ability to deal with calls routed via the public switched telephone network 8 from landlines, mobile telephones, ships, aircraft and satellites.

The apparatus 2 includes encoding means 12 for encoding the telephone calls. A database 14 automatically stores the encoded telephone calls. The database 14 may be a hard disc or any other suitable and appropriate memory means. Encoding is necessary to translate the audio data into a format that can be stored in the database 14. The encoding means 12 also acts as a compression means to compress signals The encoding means 12 may include encryption means.

Control means 16 causes the permanent storage or the erasure of each individual telephone call on the database 14. The control means 16 is a control computer and it may be such that it operates consequent upon an input from the calling party of each individual telephone call before the calling party becomes disconnected from the public switched telephone network 8 in relation to that individual telephone call.

The apparatus 2 includes clearing means (not shown) for clearing the called party from the public switched telephone network 8 before the calling party, and for giving the calling party a sufficient time to make the input to the control means 16.

The control means 16 includes an interactive voice response device 18 which operates consequent upon receipt of a line release signal from the called party, and which plays a recording to the calling party requesting the calling party to make the input to the control means 16. The interactive voice response device 18 requests the calling party to key in No 1 if the individual telephone call is to be permanently stored in the database 14, or the No. 2 if the individual telephone call is to be erased from the database 14.

The apparatus 2 includes an input/output unit 20 for the onward transmission of the permanently stored calls in the database 14. The unit 20 has a firewall safety device for ensuring that there is no unintentional transmission of information from or to the database 14. The unit 20 is connected to one or more of a web page 22, an e-mail address 24, an audio

tape production unit 26 or any other format for recording sound including label production, a line audio output 30, a fax message output 32, a local area network (LAN) 34, and a billing system 36. The live audio output 30 may be sent anywhere if desired. The fax message output 32 may be used to confirm details of a recorded call and/or invoice or account details etc. The unit 20 may be provided with a buffer. The local area network 34 may be used for connecting a modem or direct to other computers. The live audio output 30 and/or the local area network 34 may form a database such that the calling party may listen back to the call directly after the recording has been made. The unit 26 may be used for producing confirmation documentation to be sent by post or other means. The confirmation documentation may include, for example, address labels and envelopes.

The unit 26 can provide back-up, in addition to the tape production.

A call centre 28 is connected as shown to the database 14 and also to the interactive voice response device 18. The database 14 may also receive data inputted manually by keyboard or other suitable means.

In order to facilitate a full understanding of the operation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, reference will now be made to the following Example of a mode of operation of the apparatus 2.

EXAMPLE The apparatus 2 may be under the control of an approved organization. A customer of the organization connects to the apparatus 2 by dialing an access code, for example 1875.

On arrival of the call, the calling line identity of the calling party is checked against the database 14. If the number is found, the service proceeds to the next stage. If the number is not found, the calling party may be connected to a sales call centre.

Assuming the number is on the database 14, the interactive voice response 18 plays a welcome prompt to the calling party, asking the calling party to enter their personal identity number.

After keying in their personal identity number, the calling party is requested to enter the telephone destination number for the called party On receipt of the destination number by the interactive voice response device 18, the outgoing interface means 10 sets up a call Into the public switched telephone network 8 as required.

On receipt of the answering message from the called party, the apparatus 2 starts to write to disk the data stream relating to the speech generated by both parties. A temporary recording is thus made in the database 14.

At the end of the call, the calling party stays on the line until the called party has hung up. Clearing sequences are modified from the normal United Kingdom standard of calling party release in so much as the called party is cleared from the connection as soon as they hang up. The calling party however retains the connection to the apparatus 2.

On receipt of the called party release message, the interactive voice response device 18 plays a prompt to the calling party, requesting the

calling party to key the No. 1 if the calling party wishes the temporarily recorded conversation in the database 14 to be stored permanently, or to key in the No. 2 if the temporarily recorded conversation in the database 14 is to be erased. The interactive voice response device 18 then confirms the choice of the calling party, and the calling party is then completely released If the calling party has chosen to store the conversation permanently in the database 14, or made no choice, then the apparatus 2 stores the conversation on hard disc, and backs up the recording via output 26, together with a time and date stamp, duration, calling and called party numbers, personal identification number code used, and any other relevant information. Recordings may also be backed up directly from the database 14.

Depending upon how the calling party has pre-arranged their settings, an audio file can be generated and can either be e-malled to a nominated e-mail address, left on a user name and password protected web page, or sent as a recording by post to a pre-arranged address. The recording can be on any suitable media so that, for example, the recording may be an audio cassette, a compact disc, or a minidisc.

The various parts of the apparatus 2 are basically all known individual parts. They are of course connected together in a completely novel manner to give the above mentioned advantages over the known apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls. Thus, for example, the interactive voice response device 18 plays voice announcements to the calling party,

and is able to detect and decode DTMF tones generated by the calling party. The results of the decodes are presented to the database 14 The choice of voice announcements will normally be controlled by the database 14 and the control means 16.

The incoming interface means 6 interfaces with the conference bndge means 4 and handles call control and signaling.

The conference bridge means 4 enables audio data streams from either or both of the calling party and the called party to be monitored, and for audio digital data streams from other sources to be merged with the original audio digital data streams.

The outgoing interface means 10 deals with the setting up an outgoing call in accordance with data collected by the interactive voice response device 18. The outgoing interface means 10 also operates call control functions in a similar way to the incoming interface means 6 The encoding means 12 may operate to compress a 64 kbit audio data stream into a format for efficient storage on a storage medium such for example as a hard disc. The encoding means 12 may also encode the data in another form.

The database 14 initially stores information on registered users, for example their calling line identity, their personal identity number codes, their e-mail address, their preferences etc. The database 14 also records all details of calls made and actual audio files. The database 14 also deals with billing information. A back-up of the data on the database 14 can be

provided, for example using automatic back-up means. The back-up may be on another database or on separate floppy discs. Preferably, the back- up is at a location remote from the database 14 in order to avoid double loss by anything such for example as fires or explosions.

The output means 20 deals with interfacing the web page, the e-mail and the tape production via the lines 22,24, 26. The output means 20 also provides a barrier between the apparatus 2 and the Internet.

The control means 16 has overall control of the apparatus 2 and the operation of the apparatus 2.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a conference bndge 38, which can be used instead of the conference bridge 4 In the conference bridge 38, the connections are such that there are only two ports 40,42 Instead of three ports as shown in the conference bridge 4 Also shown In Figure 2 is the connection of the conference bndge 38 to the encoding/compression means 12.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings and the Example have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. The calling party will normally telephone from a touch tone telephone but other telephones giving digital signals may be employed. If desired, the encoding means 12 may provide an encryption facility for enhancing security.

The apparatus of the invention may accommodate persons who do not have web access. In this case, everything could be set up on the telephone, and then the call could be sent to a dedicated web page. The persons would then receive confirmation of each call by post with reference to the call which will be logged and will have a pin number assigned. Only if a copy is ordered would it need to be retrieved from library archives or a server. This postal information could also include billing information The database 14 may Include one or more full database failsafe or back-up systems. Multiple sets or systems comprising the conference bridge 4 and other components may be connected to the database 14 for the purpose of handling multiple connections simultaneously

Claims

1. Apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls, which apparatus comprises conference bridge means, incoming interface means for providing an interface which is for incoming telephone calls and which is between a public switched telephone network and the conference bndge means, outgoing interface means which is for providing an interface for outgoing telephone calls and which is between the conference bridge means and the public switched telephone network, encryption means for encrypting the telephone calls, a database which automatically stores the encrypted telephone calls, and control means for causing the permanent storage or the erasure of each individual telephone call on the database, the control means being such that it operates consequent upon an input from the calling party of each individual telephone call before the calling party becomes disconnected from the public switched telephone network in relation to that individual telephone call.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 and including back-up means for providing a back-up recording of stored telephone calls on the database.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 and including clearing means for clearing the called party from the public switched telephone

network before the calling party, and for giving the calling party a sufficient time to make the input to the control means.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims In which the control means includes an interactive voice response device which operates consequent upon receipt of a line release signal from the called party, and which plays a recording to the calling party requesting the calling party to make the input to the control means.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which the interactive voice response requests the calling party to key the No. 1 if the individual telephone call is to be permanently stored in the database, or the No. 2 If the telephone call is to be erased from the database.

6 Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims and including output means for the transmission of the permanently stored calls

7 Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the output means is able to transmit the stored calls as an e-mail to an e-mail address and/or as an instruction to a user name and password protected web page and/or as a fax and/or as an audio cassette sent by post to a pre-arranged address

8. Apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings