GB2388273A

GB2388273A - Telecommunications services apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2388273A
Application number: GB0310211A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeffrey Wilson
Original assignee: Intellprop Ltd
Current assignee: Intellprop Ltd
Priority date: 2002-05-02
Filing date: 2003-05-02
Publication date: 2003-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 2023-05-02
Also published as: GB0210100D0; GB2388273B

Abstract

A switch 10 selectively switches between a voicemail system 12 and a voice services equipment 16. An audio announcement is played to a caller on the telephone lines 14, and a detector 18 detects an input signal, such as DTMF and/or call state, from the caller. In response to the detection, the switch 10 may change connection between the voicemail system 12 and the voice services equipment 16.

Description

l I TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES APPARATUS

This invention concerns telecommunications services apparatus, and in particular to such apparatus which can be used in systems that offer a Voicemail facility.

s Many telephone system operators, particularly mobile operators, are seeking to increase their revenues per user, and most would like to do this by the introduction of

new services for users. The majority of users of telephone systems make voice calls, and a large part of the revenue to operators arises from voice traffic. A key element of 10 the voice facilities offered in most networks is voice mail, and this generates revenue for the operators by stimulating returned calls, and in some cases directly by charges levied for access to retrieve voice messages.

A typical daily figure for voice mail system usage is around 10% of the subscriber 15 base, meaning that one in ten subscribers make a retrieval call from the Voicemail system every day. In order to make revenue from a new voice service, it is first necessary to persuade customers to dial the service for the first time, and after that to dial it on subsequent occasions. Advertising and marketing to achieve this can be a huge cost, usually far exceeding the capital cost of equipment to run the service. A 20 voice service that achieved continuous 10% penetration amongst subscribers would be considered a runaway success. It can therefore be seen that voice mail is a relatively heavily used service.

Voicemail systems are well known, providing facilities for callers to deposit a message 25 for a subscriber, alerting the subscriber to the presence of a new message, and delivering the message to the subscriber. Each of these steps can be achieved in a variety of ways.

Voicemail and other audio-based systems are usually controlled by DTMF tones 30 which are typically produced from terminal equipment using a standard keypad.

Voicemail systems are often managed by the subscriber using an interactive audio

( 2 driven menu output by the voicemail system. The DTMF keys pressed by the subscriber in response to audio prompts control the behaviour of the system.

Audio services, which may be interactive or non-interactive, are often implemented 5 using equipment known as a Voice Services Equipment (VSE) or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) equipment. Such services are usually offered on particular telephone numbers, often with special or premium tariffs, that can be dialled directly by subscribers. lo According to one aspect of the invention there is provided telecommunications services apparatus for use with a voicemail system, the apparatus comprising switching means for selectively switching between a voicemail fimction provided by the voicemail system and a voice services equipment; means for playing an audio announcement to a user; and means for detecting an input signal from the user, and 15 being operable to switch between the voicemail system and the voice services equipment in response to the input signal.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of switching calls intended for a voicemail system, the method comprising selectively switching, by 20 a switching means, between a voicemail function provided by the voicemail system and a voice services equipment; playing an audio announcement to a user; and detecting an input signal from the user so as to switch between the voicemail system and the voice services equipment in response to the input signal.

25 Further aspects of the invention provide a computer program for carrying out the above method, and a storage medium on which such computer program is stored.

Preferably, the switching means is operable in response to call state and/or DTMF input signal interaction by the user.

The switching means may be operable to pass at least some input signal DTMF tones from the user to the voicemail system.

( 3 The means for playing an audio announcement to the user may be operable to play an announcement inviting the use to press one or more keys to enter another service, and the announcement may be played to the user before connection to the voicemail 5 system. Preferably, the key (or keys) to be pressed to enter the other service is (or are) not used to interact with the voicemail system.

10 The switching means may be operable to provide additional sub-menus to allow user interaction for identification to which of a range of services the user is to be connected.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention takes into account that it is necessary to get subscribers to connect to a service before revenue can be made from it, and that 15 voicemail is a heavily used service, and so makes use of the fact that when subscribers are accessing their voice mail, they are already connected to the network and are therefore a captive audience for invitations to try a new service.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the 20 accompanying single figure drawing which shows a block diagram of a telecommunications services apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, a telecommunications switch 10 is included between a voicemail system 12 and telephone lines 14 to the voicemail system 12. An incoming 25 call on the telephone lines 14 can be switched between the voicemail system 12 and a voice services equipment (VSE) 16. The switching is controlled by a detector 18 which can detect, for example, DTMF tones and/or call state of the incoming call and arrange the switching path accordingly. The VSE 16 may, for example, be a Telsis Hi Call (RTM), certain aspects of which are described in International Patent Application 30 Publication No. WO 92/22165.

( 4 In the preferred embodiment of the invention, voice services of any type may be offered to the subscriber during a call to the voicemail system 12. Since the voicemail system 12 is known to have a high usage, exposure of such services to the subscriber base will be high, and if chosen carefully such additional audio services could achieve 5 a high take-up.

Retrieval calls to the voicemail system 12, which come exclusively from the netvvork's own subscribers, are routed via the switch 10 that is capable of directing the call onward to the voicemail system 12. The switch 10 is also interactive in that it can run I O an application that causes it to perform switching functions in response to combinations of call state and/or DTMF interaction by the user. As shown in the drawing, this is the function of the detector 18. In some embodiments it may also be necessary to have some program communication between the voicemail system 12 and the switch 10 for communicating the call state of the voicemail system 12. The switch IS 10 is also operable to play audio announcements to the caller and to detect and interpret DTMF interactions from the user, by means of the detector 18. Some or all of these DTME tones may be passed transparently on to the voicemail system 12.

At an appropriate point in the retrieval service, e.g. at the start before connection to the 20 voicemail system 12, the user may be played an announcement by the switch 10 inviting the user to press a particular key or keys at any time to enter another service.

The ability to offer the service directly to a large proportion of the customer base while already connected to the network can greatly reduce the cost of advertising the new service. The DTMF key chosen to activate the new service or services should 25 preferably be one that is not used in the voicemail service. Use of a key that is not used at all by the voicemail service is preferable because it avoids the need for any communication between the voicemail system 12 and the program running on the switch 10. This key, if pressed by the user, is then detected by the switch 10 causing the call to be disconnected from the voicemail system 12, and re-routed to the 30 appropriate audio service, such as that provided by the VSE 16. Additional sub-menus may be implemented on the switch 10 to allow farther user-interaction to identify to which of a range of services the user is to be connected. These audio services may be

s themselves running on the switch 10, or may be running elsewhere, such as on the VSE 16, and just be routed-to by the switch 10.

An example service that makes use of the invention is now described from the 5 perspective of the caller. The caller either makes a retrieval call to his normal voice mail number, or is outdialled by the voice mail system, according to normal operation of the voice mail system, with the difference that in either case the call is routed via the switch, so that the switch is in-line with the call. In the former case, the initial call is terminated on the switch and an additional call is made by the switch to the voice 10 mail system. In the outdial case, the voice mail system outdials to the switch, and the switch makes a second call to the subscriber.

In a preferred embodiment, when the call leg between the subscriber and the switch is answered, the switch plays an audio announcement, preferably using the same voice 15 that the voice mail system uses. For example the announcement may say: Welcome to <operator's> new advanced voice mail service. This is a free of charge announcement. Accessing voice mail will continue to be charged according to your current price plan while new audio services can be selected from the following menu 20 and will be charged at 20 pence per minute.

To continue to voice mail Press O at any time.

For the latest news press I For the latest weather press 2 For business news press 3 25 For sports news press 4 For the latest on science and technology press 5 For lifestyle and health press 6 For the latest on the pop scene press 7 For today's interview with <personality> press 8 30 For today's opinion on <topic> from <presented press 9 All items are less than 10 minutes long.

Press * for help or # to return to this menu at any time.

( 6 Preferably the * and # or equivalent keys are chosen to be DTMF digits that are ignored and not used by the voice mail system.

5 If the caller does not select anything during a configurable timeout period, then the system plays an announcement and connects the caller directly through to voice mail.

Preferably the content server which carries the audio content is an Interactive Voice Response (or VSE) unit or units with disk capacity to carry many hundreds or 10 thousands of hours of content material.

Once the caller makes a selection, or is connected through by default to voice mail, then charging starts at the appropriate rate. If the caller selects an audio service topic to listen to instead of selecting to connect directly to voice mail, then the switch makes an 15 outdialled call to the content server, preferably with the dialled number indicating the content identity. Preferably at any time the caller presses #, during content play or even during voice mail retrieval, the switch takes control of the outgoing audio path, and resumes playing the option menu. Preferably, pressing 0 or an equivalent alternative key at any time when the caller is not already connected to voice mail, 20 causes the switch to initiate an outdial to the voice mail system. The audio path from the caller is then bi-directionally connected to the voice mail system. However at all times the DTMF detector on the switch is listening to the incoming audio from the caller in order to detect at least * or # or equivalent keys.

25 In an alternative embodiment, a single key such as #, that is preferably ignored and not used by the voice mail system, is allocated as a trigger for activating the voice service menu. This key function is announced by the introductory message, and then voice mail is invoked in the usual way. There is then no change required in user behaviour to simply access voice mail, as no key press or timeout period is required.

A key advantage of the invention is that it may be applied to any voice mail system, including legacy systems, without any changes being required to the operation of the

voice mail system, and without requiring any changes in behaviour on the part of the user. In so far as the embodiment of the invention described above may be implemented, at 5 least in part, using software-controlled processing apparatus, it will be appreciated that a computer program providing such software control and a storage medium by which such a computer program is stored are envisaged as aspects of the invention.

Claims

1. Telecommunications services apparatus for use with a voicemail system, the apparatus comprising: 5 switching means for selectively switching between a voicemail function provided by the voicemail system and a voice services equipment; means for playing an audio announcement to a user; and means for detecting an input signal from the user, and being operable to switch between the voicemail system and the voice services equipment 10 in response to the input signal.

2. Apparatus according to claim l, wherein the switching means is operable in response to call state and/or DTMF input signal interaction by the user.

15

3. Apparatus according to claim l or claim 2, wherein the switching means is operable to pass at least some input signal DTMF tones from the user to the voicemail system.

4. Apparatus according to claim l, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the means for 20 playing an audio announcement to the user is operable to play an announcement inviting the user to press one or more keys to enter another service.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the announcement is played to the 25 user before connection to the voicemail system.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 or claim S. wherein the key or keys to be pressed to enter the other service is or are not used to interact with the voicemail system.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the proceeding claims, wherein the switching means is operable to provide additional sub-menus to allow user

interaction for identification to which of a range of services the user is to be connected.

8. Telecommunications services apparatus for use with a voicemail system, the 5 apparatus being substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

9. A method of switching calls intended for a voicemail system, the method comprising: 10 selectively switching, by switching means, between a voicemail function provided by the voicemail system and a voice services equipment; playing an audio announcement to a user; and detecting an input signal from the user so as to switch between the 15 voicemail system and the voice services equipment in response to the input signal.

10. A method substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

11. A computer program for implementing a method according to claim 9 or claim 10.

12. A storage medium storing a computer program according to claim 1 1.