GB2427524A

GB2427524A - Anonymous communications system

Info

Publication number: GB2427524A
Application number: GB0612726A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gregory Keith Mitchell; Stephen John Doyle
Original assignee: MOBESTAR Ltd
Current assignee: MOBESTAR Ltd
Priority date: 2005-06-28
Filing date: 2006-06-27
Publication date: 2006-12-27
Also published as: GB0612726D0; WO2007000460A1; GB0513167D0

Abstract

A method and system for anonymous communication between users who pre-arrange a time and date for said communication. A service node (14) for controlling communications between two or more users, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the node comprising: a first interface (207) for providing access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up; a second interface (210) for receiving signaling data indicative of a request for take up of said network resources from a first said user, said signaling data comprising a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources; processing means (203) adapted for: accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

Description

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Communications System for Anonymous Communications

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for, and method of, controlling 5 communications between parties without releasing personal contact details of the parties, and is particularly, but not exclusively suitable for use in supporting confidential information/helpline services; crime reporting hotline services; dating services; commercial survey services; betting exchanges; and auction sites.

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Background of the Invention

The processing of information is ubiquitous, taking many forms and involving many parties, be they information gatherers, information providers or information processors. Typically information is gathered as a part of 15 communications between parties, and in view of the fact that communication requires some knowledge of the identity of the parties involved in the communications, there can be a degree of tension between, on the one hand, the processes involved in gathering information from parties and, on the other hand, protecting the parties from unwanted attention in the way of unexpected 20 communication attempts.

Several workers have developed systems aimed at providing the necessary degree of protection: for example, international patent application having publication number W00131903 describes an anonymous communications architecture that operates within a chat room service. When 25 participants agree to participate in a call the originator is provided with a "call identifier" which is used when calling in to the anonymous calling system. The anonymous calling system receives this "call identifier" through an IVR system, matches it to the appropriate recipient and connects to the recipient, bridging the call between originator and recipient. The system for facilitating voice 30 connections is integrated as part of the chat room service, which makes for an

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inflexible system which is in addition costly due to the complexity of the system hardware required.

Another system is described in international patent application having publication number WOO195602, which describes a method for avoiding 5 nuisance calls from general anonymous callers. Call blocking is identified as a general way in which subscribers might prevent all anonymous or withheld/ private calls from reaching them - WOOl95602 extends call blocking into time of day based blocking to prevent unwanted calls when they are considered to be inconvenient. However, it provides no means for a recipient to specifically 10 allow communication from a party with which it has already built up a relationship.

US patent application US2002106066 describes a system in which subscribers can create generic lists of parties with whom they want to communicate, together with a means to screen incoming calls against 15 geographic location and time of day. A drawback of the system described in US2002106066 is that when an incoming call request is received by the system, a certain amount of processing has to be performed on the basis of the request -in order to determine which of the entries in the list meets the conditions of the call request. This also means that there can, potentially, be several parties with 20 whom a communications instance can be placed, requiring additional logic and processing in order to resolve potential conflicts. In addition the onus is on the recipient to establish suitable criteria for the persons they are willing to allow contact from and means that the recipient may be unsure of which party may be trying to contact them at any given time.

25 US patent US5818836 describes a system that provides a mechanism for correspondents to agree a "match" code which pairs an agreed communication between the correspondents. Users will typically agree this match code through some form of anonymous messaging through for example a chat room (either voice or text based), following which both parties can call into what is, 30 effectively, a two person conferencing bridge at an appointed time, use their touch tone keypad to enter the match code, and communicate. One drawback of

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US5818836 is that both parties must "arrive" at a pre-agreed conference bridge within a reasonable time of each other or else the communication cannot proceed. If one party is busy or unavailable there is no integrated way of communicating this to the other party - who will try and go ahead with the 5 communication in ignorance of the sudden unavailability of the other party. The other drawback is that both parties are required to pay for their leg of the call to the conference bridge - which may discourage a recipient from wanting to receive a call. In terms of system implementation, providing such a conference bridge is expensive - particularly if the conference has to support advanced 10 capabilities such as on hold music, IVR capabilities or video call bridging.

US2002027901 discloses a system in which anonymous voice communication between a first station and a second station is facilitated by providing an interface that allows input of a transaction specification from at least one of the first and second stations. A reference code associated with the 15 transaction is generated, there being a defined relationship between the reference code and the address of the second station for voice communication. The reference code is supplied to the first station. Subsequently, the first station initiates a call, in order to have a call set up to the second party. The first station is connected to the interface of the system and the reference code is received 20 from the first station. The reference code may be entered manually using the first station, or it can be received by an automated process. The reference code is used to recover said address and a channel for voice communication is opened between said first and second stations. Voice communication can thereby be established between the first and second stations without providing the address 25 of the second station to the first station.

A disadvantage of the above-mentioned systems which use codes to retrieve data associated with the parties to the communication is that they bridge the call between the different participants, rather than forwarding the call from one participant to another. This means that they require the payload of the call, 30 or other communication to be handled by the system, and require the codes to be entered in order to set up the communication. This increases the complexity and

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therefore the cost of the system. Furthermore, the systems of the prior art in which one party initiates a call to another party are concerned with anonymity of addressing, rather than anonymity of sending, and they do not teach how the anonymity of the sender is protected.

5 An object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a less costly and more flexible system for supporting anonymous communications. A further object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a system in which anonymity of the sender is protected.

10 Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a 15 second, different, type of identity, the method comprising:

providing access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up; 20 receiving signaling data indicative of a request for take up of said network resources from a first said user, said signaling data comprising a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources;

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network 25 resources; and arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a system in which 30 communications transactions proceed on the basis of pairings between an originator and recipient of a communications session, and any such

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communications session proceeds on the basis of specific and agreed communications rather than permitting any anonymous communication based on a window of time when anonymous communications per se are allowed. The communications session can be set up without the payload of the incoming 5 call being intercepted, and without the party initiating the call entering any reference number to identify the call. The first types of identities are, for example, nicknames that are managed by a third party provisioning system, while the second types of identities are, for example, network identifiers. In one arrangement the provisioning system is responsible for transmitting the data that 10 have been agreed between users for use in processing subsequently received requests from the first user.

Preferably the third party provisioning system captures temporal data indicative of a time period within which the network resources can be taken up; this is particularly advantageous when a given user has agreed several different 15 communications sessions with different recipients, since the temporal data associated with a given communications session can be used to distinguish between the potential different communications sessions when processing a request from the first user.

Conveniently the received data are stored in a look-up table such as a 20 database or in-memory storage; for the case in which a given user (as originator) arranges several communications sessions, each at different times, it will be appreciated that the look-up table can, to some extent, be viewed as providing a dynamic mapping between a given originator and recipients. Typically the data stored in the look-up table are generated by users communicating using the 25 identities of the first type (e.g. using nicknames).

When the request is received from the first user, embodiments of the invention include reviewing the time of the request and, responsive to the time of the request meeting conditions associated with the temporal data, the resources are reserved.

30 It will be appreciated that data are stored in the look-up table when two or more parties have agreed details of a specific communications instance. An

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example of an agreed communications instance might be the communications between the same two (or more) users that agreed the details of the communications; another example might be communications between two (or more) users different to those who agreed the details of the communications 5 instance. For example, party A could agree with party B that A should contact party C; data indicative of the agreed communications instance are then stored in the look-up table, and, when a request for call set-up is subsequently received from party A, the call is bridged between party A and party C, not between party A and party B.

10 A particular feature of the invention is that communications resources required to facilitate communications between the first and second users are reserved under the control of a network node performing said step of responding to first said user, thereby withholding the identities of the second type from respective users. Thus a system arranged to perform the steps set out above is 15 only required to handle signaling data and not content such as voice or video The method may further comprise:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of a proposed take-up of network resources, from a proposing user, said alphanumeric message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of the proposed take-up of 20 network resources;

identifying said data indicative of said characteristic of the proposed take-up of network resources from said alphanumeric message;

arranging for the identified data to be associated with data representative of said proposing user, for use in creating appointment data. 25 The method may further comprise:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of an acceptance of said proposed take-up of network resources, from an accepting user;

arranging for data representative of said accepting user to be associated with the stored data, thereby defining said appointment data indicative of 30 optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users.

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In this way the users can request and agree to an appointment to communicate, by sending each other SMS, MMS or other messages.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling communications between two or more users through a 5 network, the method comprising:

providing a database identifying potential communications events, said database being capable of storing data indicative of users associated with each of a plurality of respective communications events;

receiving data indicative of a request for a first user to conduct 10 communication with a second user;

storing data derived from said received data in said database;

in response to receipt of signaling data indicative of a communications event set-up request from a first said user, arranging for the first user to communicate with said second user on the basis of the data stored in said 15 database.

The method may further comprise updating said signaling data indicative of a called party, so as to include a network identifier of said second user; and sending a request for a communication event between said first user and said second user on the basis of the updated signaling data. 20 The method may further comprise updating said signaling data indicative of a called party, so as to remove a network identifier of said first user; and sending a request for a communication event between said first user and said second user on the basis of the updated signaling data.

In this way the network identifier of the first and second users are hidden 25 from each other.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling signaling data in a network, on the basis of stored data relating to at least one pre-arranged communication event between a first user having a first network identifier and a second user having a second network 30 identifier, said stored data defining at least one characteristic of said prearranged communication event, said method comprising:

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receiving signaling data relating to a request for the take up of network services from a requesting user, said request data comprising at least one characteristic of said request;

accessing said stored data;

5 in response to receiving said request data, comparing said at least one characteristic of said request for the take up of network services to said at least one characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event, to determine whether the request for take up of network services from said requesting user corresponds to a request from said first user for said pre-arranged 10 communication event between said first user and said second user; and outputting a signal for use in updating said signaling data so that said signaling data includes said network identifier of a second user, in response to the request for take up of network services corresponding to said pre-arranged communication event.

15 Thus, in this aspect, request data relating to signaling data indicative of a request for the take up of network services is received. The request data comprises at least one characteristic of the request. This is matched to at least one characteristic of stored data, which comprises data relating to the prearranged communication between the users. This allows the incoming call to be 20 matched to the stored communication event, so that the signaling data can be updated in the case of a match, in order for the call to be set up.

The request data may comprise the or each at least one characteristic of said request for the take up of network services.

This means that the request data may contain the characteristic used to 25 match the incoming call with the stored data.

The characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event may comprise the network identifier of the first user.

This means that the incoming call can be matched on the basis of the user identifier of the calling party in the incoming call.

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The characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event comprises temporal data indicative of a time period within which the network resources can be taken up.

Thus, the characteristic can specify a window of time. The time of the 5 incoming call is taken into account when the incoming call is matched to a call in the stored data.

The characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event may comprise data relating to a type of network resource to be taken up.

This means that the match can be made on the basis of the type of 10 network resource to be taken up.

The method may further comprise:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of a proposal for a communication event in said communications network, from a proposing user, said alphanumeric message comprising data indicative of at least one 15 characteristic of the proposed communication event;

identifying said data indicative at least one characteristic of the proposed communication event from said alphanumeric message;

arranging for said identified data to be associated with data representative of said proposing user, for use in defining said stored data. 20 The method may further comprise:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of an acceptance of said proposed communication event in said communications network, from an accepting user;

arranging for data representative of said accepting user to be associated 25 with said stored data, thereby defining said stored data.

Thus, the data relating to the pre-arranged communication event in a communications network can be determined and entered via a message, such as an SMS, MMS or other message sent between the users.

The method may further comprise:

30 receiving data indicative that said communication event to said second user satisfies a predetermined condition and;

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controlling said requested communication event, on the basis of said received data.

The received data may comprise data indicative of a failed connection to the second user.

The received data may comprise data indicative of a diverted connection. The communication event may be a call, and in which said received data may comprise data indicative of an unanswered connection.

Thus, in the case that the call is not answered by the called party, either because the call is terminated, has not been answered after a certain number of rings, has been refused, has been diverted etc, data indicative of this fact is received and can be stored. In this case, the request for a communication event can be controlled accordingly. For example, the call set up can be terminated, so that the calling party is not transferred to the called party's voicemail service, for example.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling a communication in a communications network on the basis of stored data available in the network, wherein said stored data relates to at least one pre-arranged communication event between a first user and a second user, said stored data comprising a network identifier of said first user and a network identifier of said second user, said method comprising:

receiving to signaling data relating to a request for take up of network services from a requesting user, said signaling data including the network identifier of said requesting user;

accessing said stored data;

in response to receiving said request data, comparing said network identifier of said requesting user to at least said network identifier of said first user, to determine whether the request data corresponds to said at least one prearranged communication event; and outputting a signal for setting up said communication between said first user and said second user on the basis of said pre-arranged communication event.

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According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a 5 second, different, type of identity, wherein the network comprises a service node from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a 10 characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up, the method comprising:

receiving a service initiation request message comprising a request for take up of said network resources, the service initiation request message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for take up of 15 network resources;

requesting a service response message from the service node on the basis of data contained within the service initiation request message;

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network 20 resources;

transmitting a service response message comprising data indicative of network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the 25 basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of 30 a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, wherein the network comprises a service node

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from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a 5 characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up, the method comprising:

receiving a service response request message comprising a request for take up of said network resources, said service response request message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for take up of 10 network resources;

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources;

transmitting a service response message comprising data indicative of 15 network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and transmitting a signal for arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

20 Thus, the call set up of a call, or other communication can be controlled depending on the stored appointment data.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of 25 a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the method comprising:

receiving data indicative of optional take-up of network resources using a first network service, involving two or more users, the received data including associated user identities of the second type, wherein said data indicative of 30 optional take-up of network resources is received via a second network service,

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operable in the same network as said first network service, and being different to said first network service;

storing said received data;

in response to receipt of a request for take up of said network resources 5 using a first network service from a first said user, arranging for the first user to communicate with another user via the first network service on the basis of the stored data so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

Thus, two or more users can use two different protocols, or network 10 services for setting up an appointment in which to contact each other, and for contacting each other according to the appointment.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention there is provided a service node for controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means 15 of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the node comprising:

a first interface for providing access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network 20 resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up;

a second interface for receiving signaling data relating to a request for take up of said network resources from a first said user, said signaling data comprising a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources; processing means adapted for:

25 accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and outputting a signal for use in arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the 30 identified characteristic so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

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The processing means may be further adapted for:

outputting a signal for updating said signaling data so that said signaling data includes said network identifier of said second user, on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic.

5 According to a ninth aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, wherein the system comprises: 10 a service node from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be 15 taken up, the system further comprising:

a serving node for receiving a service initiation request message from the service node comprising a request for take up of said network resources, the service initiation request message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for 20 take up of network resources;

wherein said service node is further adapted for:

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic 25 corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and transmitting a service response message to said serving node comprising data indicative of network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and 30 wherein said serving node is further adapted for

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outputting a signal for use in arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a communications network within which embodiments of the invention operate;

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing components of an anonymous communications gateway shown in Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the invention, together with an arrangement of systems for provisioning the communications gateway;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing a database schema for storing data relating to an agreed communications instance;

Figure 4a is a schematic flow diagram showing steps involved in agreeing a communications instance according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4b is a schematic flow diagram showing steps involved in processing an agreed communications instance according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic timing diagram showing steps involved in agreeing and processing a communications instance according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an alternative arrangement between the anonymous communications gateway of Figure 1 and systems for provisioning the same.

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Detailed Description of the Invention

As described above, embodiments of the invention are concerned with a system and method of facilitating anonymous communications between parties -such as voice and video calling, and communication by SMS - and operate on the basis of permitted communications that relate to particular communications instances. Each communications instance pairs an originator and one or more recipients, or pairs a number of originators with one recipient, such as a third-party conferencing service, and specifies parameters such as a time window during which the originator may communicate with the recipient. Typically the details of a communications instance are agreed between the originator and the recipient, but they can also be agreed by parties other than those who are specified as participants in the communications instance.

Most conveniently, a system according to an embodiment of the invention is implemented as a gateway node capable of communicating with devices located in disparate networks. One such network is a cellular communications network, such as a GSM network, and is schematically illustrated in Figure 1. A set of circuit switching nodes in the form of mobile switching centres (MSCs) 2 is connected via communication links to a number of base station controller (BSCs) 4. The BSCs 4 are dispersed geographically across areas served by the switching node 2. Each BSC 4 controls one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) 6 located remote from, and connected by, further communication links to, the BSC. Each BTS 6 transmits radio signals to, and receives radio signals from, mobile terminals A, B which are in an area, referred to as a "cell", served by that BTS. The MSC 2 is connected to a Home Location Register (HLR) 12, which is a database arranged to manage data relating to mobile subscribers such as MS A, B. Other such networks include a mobile 3G network, a fixed calling network such as a PSTN or ISDN, or computer networks which enable Voice over IP calling such as the Internet or Intranets, indicated generally by part 16 in Figure 1.

In embodiments of the present invention, an intelligent network node known as an anonymous communications gateway (ACG) 14 is connected to the

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switching nodes 2, and in turn to the user terminals A, B, via circuit-switched signaling and voice links. The various components of the ACG 14 are shown in Figure 2 and described in more detail below, but in overview, the ACG 14 is an intelligent network node adapted to control anonymous communications 5 sessions involving two or more participants such as participants associated with terminals A and B. Whilst in the example shown each of the participants is shown having a separate terminal A, B, it will be appreciated that this would not be the case if one party were a service provider having several lines.

10 The ACG 14 fulfils the function of a service control point SCP. In essence the ACG 14 controls the routing decision made by the MSC 2. Further, the ACG 14 controls the signaling traffic sent on to a succeeding switch (i.e. the next switch in the call path), and the signaling traffic subsequently sent back from the called party's network to a preceding switch 15 (i.e. the previous switch in the call path, from which the original set up data was received by the ACG 14). The preceding and succeeding switches thus form two nodes of a call path which has a plurality n of switches between the calling and called parties). The ACG 14 controls the signaling traffic so that the call is not handled by any intermediate nodes or systems. 20 More specifically, the ACG 14 is capable of setting up voice or video circuits with each of the participants in a communications session involving two or more participants. The ACG 14 sets request report BCSM (RRB) messages during call set up; the messages contain instructions for how the MSC 2 is configured to respond to certain events occurring during the call. For example, 25 the messages may instruct the MSC 2 to query the ACG 14 on whether to terminate or continue a call set up request. These messages are sent according to the SS7 protocol and effectively comprise signaling data relating to a request for the take up of network services.

Each MSC 2 is connected via communications links to other of the 30 switching nodes 2 in the remainder of the mobile communications network, and to other networks such as the public service telephone network (PSTN) via a

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Gateway switching node (GMSC) 10. For convenience, members A and B and ACG 14 have been shown as being in communication with the same MSC. Obviously, embodiments of the invention can be implemented where this is not the case. The ACG gateway 14 can also be connected to a packet-switched 5 network infrastructure, such as a 3G network, which includes GPRS support nodes interconnected by packet switched links, or to conferencing systems. In planned developments to mobile or fixed telephony services the user terminals A, B are adapted to receive and transmit voice or video data via the packet-switched network infrastructure.

10 When processing voice calls, call set up is typically negotiated by means of signaling messages, which, for the example of a mobile network, are embodied as so-called Signaling Units. As is known in the art, signaling units contain a plurality of fields, one of which is called the Signaling Information Field (SIF), which contains Signaling Control Part (SCCP) messages. SCCP 15 messages contain the source and destination information re: signaling messages; these are referred to as Calling Party Number (CgPN) and Called Party Number (CdPN) respectively. In addition the SCCP portion of the Signaling Information Field comprises Transaction Capability Part (TCAP) messages.

Typically TCAP messages are for use by applications running within the 20 network - such as the ACG 14 shown in Figure 1 - and are routed to the ACG 14 by means of appropriate setting of the source and destination data in the SCCP messages. Once a signaling unit has been received by the ACG 14, applications running thereon can extract data from the TCAP messages and process the same.

25 The ACG 14 may be arranged to broker call set up between participants by means of signaling messages; more specifically, and as will be described in more detail below, signaling messages are routed between MSCs 2 and the ACG 14 on the basis of the called number entered by MS A. The MSC 2 receives a request for call set up to a number associated with the ACG 14, and, in 30 accordance with standard methods, sends a signal to the ACG 14. Upon receipt of such a signal from the MSC 2, the ACG 14 queries a database to determine

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the call set up should be allowed, and to determine the identity of the called party, and forwards a signal to the MSC 2 if it deems the call to be allowable. The ACG 14 forwards the identifier of the called party (member B) to the MSC 2. The MSC 2 then attempts to set up a connection with a party related to MS 5 B. So far as the called party is concerned, this latter call set-up request appears to originate from the ACG 14, since the MSC 2 updates the source address of the signaling message associated with the called party to the network address of the ACG 14 (and not of MS A). In this way communications between parties are facilitated whilst maintaining anonymity by effectively forwarding a call 10 between the calling (A) and called (B) parties, without intercepting the payload of the call.

Figure 2 shows an arrangement of the ACG 14 embodied as a gateway in the network 1; the gateway 14 comprises signaling interface and controller 201 that is arranged to support protocols including Camel and Intelligent Network 15 events (CAP, INAP and MAP), and SIP events such as those carried by MSCML, VXML, CCXML, and NET ANN. This functionality therefore enables the ACG 14 to communicate with a range of disparate network devices. In addition, the ACG 14 comprises a processing system 203 that receives call set-up request data from the network (via the signaling interface 201), and, on 20 the basis of the content of the data, identifies how a call set-up request should be processed. This involves accessing storage system 205, which holds a connection table storing data specifying details of previously agreed communications instances. Having identified how a call set-up request should be progressed, the gateway 14 attempts to continue with call set-up, transmitting 25 data to various devices accessible therefrom.

In a first arrangement of the present invention the connection table 205, shown in Figure 2, is populated by means of data received from, for example, mobile and video application servers 211, 213, 215, these servers being responsible for receiving details of proposed and agreed communications 30 sessions between parties. It should be appreciated that the process of populating the connection table 205 is preferably entirely separate from that of processing a

call set-up request. It might be expected, for example, that two parties communicate via an application running on the network - such as mobile application server 211 - in order to schedule a communications instance (e.g. in this example a call), and that this application server 211 subsequently transmits data indicative of the agreed communications instance to the ACG 14 for use if and when one of the participants attempts to contact the other. The parties can schedule a communications instance on the mobile application sever 211 by entering data relating to the communication, or of several agreed communications. The data may be temporal data, relating to the agreed time and/or date of the or each communication. This data can be entered by using drop down boxes, or by inputting text into pre-allocated fields. The user may choose time/date details such as "3pm Monday 22nd May 2006" or "next Tuesday morning" or "anytime". In addition to specifying the temporal parameters of the agreed communications instance users can limit the duration of the call, and specify whether they are prepared to conduct a voice or video call etc.

The ACG 14 may be configured to prevent more than one appointment from being made for a given calling party or a given called party at any one time, so that the users do not become "double booked".

In the case in which the called party is a service having more than one line, such as a confidential information/helpline service, crime reporting hotline service, or a commercial survey service, for example, the ACG 14 can take this into account, so that appointments with different calling parties can be made with the service at the same time; obviously, the number of concurrent appointments is limited to the number of lines by which the service is contactable.

Alternatively, the ACG 14 can be configured to dynamically update the network identifier of the called party in the case where the called party is a "multi-line" service, so that the connection table is populated with a network identifier of a line that is not in use (for example, a preferred line). The

connection table can be updated shortly before the scheduled time for the call, or as and when a line becomes free.

The data stored in the connection table may specify which of the parties is the proposed calling party, and which is the proposed called party. Alternatively the connection table can specify that either party can initiate the call.

In the case where the called party is a conference service, the connection table may make sure that each of the calling parties who are intending to attend the conference have appointments with the same called party at the same time.

The second arrangement of the present invention may be implemented using a SMS messaging server 20, such as a known SMS messaging server 20 which allows users to correspond anonymously by SMS.

The operation of a known system using the SMS messaging server will now be described with reference to Figure 1. The SMS messaging server 20 has access to a database of network identifiers of service subscribers or users, such as member A and member B, together with an alias for any given user. The users know each other by their respective aliases, and wish to keep their network identifiers secret. A user of the service can send an SMS message to the SMS messaging server 20, containing the alias of the other user. For example member A could send an SMS message, containing the alias of member B, to a network identifier associated with the SMS messaging server 20. The SMS message will be received by the MSC 2, and forwarded to the SMSC 18, which routes the SMS to the SMS messaging server 20. The identifier of member B can either be entered in a certain format in the SMS message, or the SMS messaging server 20 may parse the content of the SMS message to determine the requested recipient. Once the SMS messaging server 20 has determined the alias of the requested recipient (in this case member B) from the incoming SMS, the network identifier of the requested recipient is determined by looking up the alias in the database. The destination address of the SMS is then set to that of the requested recipient (member B), and the source address of the SMS is then set to that of the SMS messaging server 20, thereby avoiding revealing the

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network identifier of the sender (member A). In this way each user remains anonymous to the other user.

The operation of the second arrangement of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 2. The second arrangement of the 5 present invention provides a way in which such anonymous SMS communication can be used for two users to arrange to have a further anonymous communication, such a voice or video call, for example. In order to implement the present invention the SMS messages sent between users comprise additional information, namely data indicative of the request for further 10 communication between the users or an acceptance of a request for further communication between the users. This additional information is used to populate the connection table 205. The additional information can be presented in a certain format so that the request or acceptance is recognized, or the content of the SMS can be parsed to determine the request or acceptance. The 15 information can be extracted by the SMS messaging server 20, and forwarded to the ACG 14, where the connection table 205 is populated. Alternatively, the SMS messaging server 20 can forward the SMS to the ACG 14, where the ACG 4 extracts the information and updates the connection table 205 accordingly. The additional information in the SMS messages can contain a proposed and/or 20 a confirmed time for the communication.

An example of how an anonymous text service can be used in the second arrangement of the present invention will now be described. Member A and member B are users of such a system who have exchanged a few SMS messages, and they now wish to have an anonymous telephone call with each 25 other. In this case member A sends an SMS message to member B with the text content data <request call now>, where the content is in a pre-determined format. The SMS is intercepted by the SMS messaging server 20, and the server recognizes the format, and the fact that member A has sent a request to member B for the purposes of arranging a call. The SMS messaging server 20 extracts 30 the data from the SMS, and uses it to populate the connection table 205 in the ACG 14 with the identifier of user A, and the time for the call as "now", i.e.

meaning that the call can be initiated in a window of approximately 10 minutes from now, for example. In addition, and as described earlier, the server 20 changes the source address from that of member A to that of the service, so that the SMS is received anonymously by member B. Member B then replies with an SMS with the content data <call now ok>. In view of the fact that user B will reply to the address of the SMS messaging server 20 the message will be received by the SMS messaging server 20, and the data extracted in the same way. This data is used to populate the connection table 205 of the ACG with data relating to the fact that member B has agreed to the communication. This SMS will be forwarded to member A by the SMS messaging server 20. The connection table 205 has therefore been populated with data relating to the network identifiers of member A and member B, and with temporal data relating to the communication. This means that member A or member B can initiate communication with the other by contacting the ACG at the correct time, and the ACG will set up a communication between member A and member B in an anonymous fashion as described above.

Instead of requesting a call "now", member A may send a request to member B to have the call at a later time, or later date, for example.

In the first or second arrangement of the present invention the data contained in the connection table can be subsequently be updated by member A or member B. For example, member B may no longer wish to be contacted by member A, and they may opt to block member A, or merely cancel the prearranged call.

Referring to Figure 3, data records relating to an agreed and processable communications instance are stored in the connection table 205 in a plurality of fields, so that each record corresponds to a previously agreed communications instance that might be requested by means of the ACG 14. At a minimum, a given record holds data in the following fields: a first field corresponding to an identifier 300 for a given potential communications instance; a second field corresponding to the identities of a party to the communications instance (e.g. MSISDN, IP address) 303, 305; and a third field corresponding to the status of

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the parties 307 (e.g. call requested, accepted, live, completed); the status of a given party can subsequently be updated in response to a call set-up requests (e.g. one of the parties accepting a request for a call with another of the parties), and call processing events (e.g. a voice circuit having been connected between 5 parties to the communications instance). In addition, the connection table can include a field corresponding to a service owner specification 301 which allows an anonymous communications gateway to service different customers, each of which may be contacted by calling parties by calling a specific network identifier (calls to each of these network identifiers are then processed by the 10 MSC 2 in the same way as described above, since the MSC 2 is configured to alert the ACG 14 to the presence of the incoming call, and to update the signaling data and forward the call to the relevant party accordingly); an optional field specifying a time window 315 within which the communications instance must start; an optional field specifying a retry period 317 in the event of 15 an interruption to the communications session (due to, e.g. temporary loss of signal during the communications session); an optional field specifying call control options 321 (including, but not limited to, permitting the connection table entry to be used for an unlimited or specific number of occasions; permitting recipient and/or originator identity to be anonymous or disclosed; 20 conference name allowing multiple callers to be joined together); an optional field specifying a set of incoming service numbers 311 allowing the ACG 14 to service one or more parties on different service numbers; an optional field specifying an outgoing service indicator 313 used as the originator sent by the system when making a call to a recipient; an optional call time limit 323; an 25 optional field specifying a call sequence number 325 that allows an originator to stack up a series of successive anonymous calls that will be made in sequence order; and an optional field specifying a call reference 327 specifying a description of the call without revealing originator/ recipient address details.

It will be appreciated from the passages above (summarizing the various 30 aspects of the invention) that embodiments of the invention rely on two or more parties having agreed details of a specific communications instance. An

25

example of an agreed communications instance might be the communications between the same two (or more) parties that agreed the details of the communications; another example might be communications between two (or more) parties different to those who agreed the details of the communications 5 instance. For example, party A could agree with party B that A should contact party C (e.g. by transmitting the appropriate data to the mobile application server 211, which handles acknowledgement of the communications instance having been agreed); the server 211 then transmits data indicative of the agreed communications instance to the gateway 14, which updates data stored in the 10 connection table 205. When a request for call set-up is subsequently received from party A, the ACG 14 instructs the MSC 2 to forward the call from party A to party C, and not from party A to party B. This latter scenario has many applications: for example, party C might be a provider of an external service, such as a conferencing service, and party B might be an administrator of a 15 service of which party A is a member. Party B could invite party A (possibly together with other members of the service) to call service C between given times (to take dating as an example, to participate in a 'speed dating session' facilitated by the provider C of conferencing services). In this case, the ACG 14 would instruct the MSC 2 to forward calls from a number of specific calling 20 parties to the provider C at the same time. The provider C can then connect two or more of the callers together. More specifically, service administrator B, who operates mobile service application 211, can invite members A1...AN to call service C during a specified timeframe, and, using the interface 201 to the ACG 14, can create entries in the connection table 205 with status 'call requested' for 25 each member A1.. .AN, including the MSISDNs of A1 to AN as originators and party C as the recipient in each case. Each member subsequently accepting the invitation (via the interface 201) will cause the status data corresponding thereto to be changed to "call accepted"; as a result, upon receipt of a call setup request from any of those members who have accepted the invitation within the 30 specified timeframe (i.e. whose status is marked as "call accepted"), the requesting party/parties will be connected to the service C by the ACG 14.

26

Turning now to Figures 4a and 4b, operation of an embodiment of the invention will now be described, for the example of a voice call between two parties. Turning firstly to Figure 4a, at step 401 member A requests an appointment live call with member B within a particular time period using a 5 mobile browser (e.g. WAP) interface. In step 403 member B accepts the request for the appointment, which is coordinated by the mobile application server 211. This causes the server 211 to insert an entry into the relevant fields of the connection table 205 of the Anonymous Communications Gateway 14 (step 407). Alternatively, the request for the appointment may be accepted 10 automatically by the client application associated with member B. Furthermore, member B may be given the option of always accepting requests for appointments from this party or from all parties. This data may be set on the connection table 205, so that if any party or a certain party requests an appointment, the appointment is always made. In this case a notification may be 15 sent to member B. Alternatively, the option of always accepting a request for an appointment may be made manually or automatically at the client terminal.

The entry contains details of the members A and B (for example their network identifiers), together with a time scheduled for the communication, and any other data relating to the proposed communication (such as a limit to the 20 duration). The ACG 14 sends a calling code (in this example 5555) to member A (step 409), which, when dialed by member A (possibly facilitated by integrated browser capabilities such as provided by WAP), will cause the call request (i.e. embodied as signaling messages) to be routed to the ACG 14 by the MSC 2, as described above. The calling code is a non-user specific code, which 25 is typically a telephone number associated with a service operated by the ACG 14.

For example, the ACG 14 may be configured to facilitate anonymous communication for a number of different services. The servers corresponding to the different services may be separate entities from the ACG 14, or may be 30 connected to or integral with the ACG 14. The servers may be run by different companies, and may be based in different countries, or different geographical

locations from said ACG 14. Each of the services may have a different associated calling code, or each may have a number of different calling codes. Further, each of the calling codes may correspond to a service having more than one line, for example.

A first calling code may relate to a service by which two users can communicate anonymously with a voice call. A second calling code may relate to a service by which two users can communicate anonymously with a video call. A third calling code may relate to a service by which two users can communicate anonymously by SMS, MMS or other messaging service. A fourth calling code may relate to a conference line, where a number of parties can dial in to the "conference room". Different operating parameters and tariffs may be associated with the different lines.

Accordingly, the calling code for the service associated with the communication previously agreed by member A is sent in step 409. When the user initiates contact with this number the MSC 2 is configured to query the ACG 14 with the signaling data, as discussed above.

Turning now to Figure 4b, at a later time the MSC 2 receives a call to code 5555 from member A. The RRB messages in the MSC 2 specify that if a call is made to this number the MSC 2 must notify the ACG 14. Thus, the MSC 2 notifies the ACG 14 accordingly, and sends the network identifier of member A to the ACG 14, causing the ACG 14 to query the connection table 205 in respect of member A (step 414). As will be appreciated, since the payload data of the call is not passed to the ACG 14 it is not necessary for member A to input any data for the ACG 14 to identify the call. The processing system 203 of the ACG 14 determines the current time, and uses this to look up entries in the connection table corresponding to parties who have agreed to have a communication at approximately this time in step 412. The processing system 203 thus obtains a list of communications which have been scheduled for this time. The identifier of the calling party (member A), which is contained in the signaling data of the incoming call, and forwarded to the ACG 14 by the MSC 2

is then extracted in step 413 and used to determine whether there is a call scheduled for approximately this time which involves member A in step 414.

If no communications involving member A are scheduled for that time, or if no communications at all are scheduled for that time the call request is terminated. For example, the ACG 14 can send a call reject message to the MSC 2, which then terminates the call. This call reject message may contain information about why the call was rejected, so that this information can be passed back to member A by way of feedback, so that they can place the call again at the correct time, or so that they can arrange a time to call member B.

However, if a match is made in step 414, the ACG 14 extracts the network identifier for member B from the connection table in step 415, and sends a signal to the MSC 2 requesting the MSC 2 to dynamically update the signaling data contained in the incoming call in step 416, so that the field relating to the calling party is replaced with a network identifier associated with the ACG 14, or with the service mediated by the ACG 14. Further, the field relating to the called party is replaced with the network identifier of member B (as shown in step 416). In this way the ACG 14 effectively forwards the incoming call to member B.

The ACG 14 then requests a circuit of the appropriate type (for example, a voice or video) connection to member B. If member B does not answer the call in step 418 the terminating MSC (MNO B MSC in Figure 5) sends a signal to the MSC 2 and, in accordance with the RRB settings previously specified by the ACG 14, the MSC 2 will forward a signal to the ACG 14 indicative of the fact that member B has not answered. The ACG 14 sends a response message to the MSC 2 comprising an instruction to terminate the connection, and the MSC 2 terminates the call accordingly. However, if member B answers the call, the connection (which has been forwarded from the MSC associated with member A on the basis of data received by the ACG so as to make a connection with the MSC associated with member B) can then be used to conduct a conversation in the normal way.

Similarly, if the pre-arranged call relates to a call agreed between members A and B for a call to take place between members A and C, the field relating to the called party is replaced with the network identifier of member C, so that the ACG 14 effectively sets up a call to member C.

Further, this system has the advantage that member A, who is setting up the call, does not have to enter any reference code; the ACG 14 interrogates the connection table based on the call time, for example. This means that the system is simpler for the user to use, since they do not have to remember or have access to a reference code, and also allows the system to be cheaper, since there is no need to provide the system with a system (such as a DTMF system) for recognizing a code entered by a user.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that because the communication instances are parameterized on an individual, rather than generic, basis (via the connection table), the amount of information transmitted between the respective parties and the ACG 14 can be considerably reduced compared to known systems, and in fact the ACG 14 has no need for storing user preferences such as call screening options as common in known systems. Moreover, this means that call handling can be processed at the signaling layer, meaning that the ACG 14 is only required to comprise functional parts to handle signaling and not actual voice or video traffic, this instead being handled by conventional mobile, fixed or IP switching components.

In addition to extracting data from, and updating the network identifiers of the calling and/or called party, embodiments of the present invention may use the transmission parameters in the signaling data associated with the incoming call from member A.

For example, data relating to the transmission data can be used to determine whether the call set up matches a protocol specified by member B. If member A initiates a video call to member B, but the data contained in the connection table indicates that member B only wishes to accept voice calls, or is only able to accept voice calls, the ACG 14 may reject the request for call set up between member A and member B. This feature may be important for

30

preserving anonymity in the case where member B does not wish to be seen by member A. Further, if the calling code called by member A is for a voice service, and they initiate a video call the ACG 14 may reject the request for call set up.

5 As an alternative, the transmission parameter of the incoming call could be updated so that it corresponds to the transmission parameter in the connection table 205, i.e. the video call is stepped down to a voice call. This effectively means that the incoming call is changed from being a video call to being a voice call, if the protocol supports it.

10 The fact that embodiments of the present invention utilise signaling data associated with an incoming call, rather than the payload of the call confers a number of advantages, which are not present in systems which merely handle the payload of the call in order to confer anonymity on the parties to the call.

A significant advantage of handing the signaling data becomes apparent 15 in the situation where the call is successfully routed to member B, but where member B does not answer the call for some reason (for example, they may not "pick up" the phone, may reject the call, or their phone may be switched off of out of range of network coverage). In this case and with prior art systems it is likely that the call will be diverted to a voicemail system associated with 20 member B. As is well known in the art, voicemail systems often contain a personalized message, and/or the network identifier of member B. Therefore, in the situation where the call from member A is routed to member B's voicemail, member A may be able to obtain personal information about member B. This is clearly undesirable, since member B wishes to remain anonymous. Further, the 25 user may have set up a call divert feature, to another party. In this case, the call from member A will be diverted to the subject of the call divert set up by member B, which is clearly undesirable.

In prior-art systems, which merely handle the payload of the call between member A and member B, there is little, if any scope for preventing 30 any of the above happening. However, in embodiments of the invention, when the call is diverted to voicemail (or to another user) a signaling message is sent

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back to the calling party (in this case the ACG 14). The ACG 14 recognizes that the call will be diverted, and can terminate the call, by sending a call termination message to the MSC 2 of member A.

Further, the call termination message sent by the ACG 14 may contain 5 data relating to why the call was not set up to member B. For example if member B rejected the call, member A may decide not to try calling member B again.

The signaling messages may be useful to the provider of the ACG 14, and may be used for marketing purposes (for example, in relation to the number 10 of calls which were successfully set up) and for reconciliation purposes (for example so that the records of the provider of the telephone number for the ACG 14 can be matched with the actual call records).

Further, having control of the signaling messages is useful for terminating the call. For example, one of member A or member B may have set 15 a call-time limit of 10 minutes. When the call has been in progress for 10 minutes the ACG 14 can terminate the call by preventing the call being connected to certain one or more of the parties in the call.

Further, if the call is a "premium rate" call line there may be restrictions on the maximum duration of the call (this may be imposed by a regulation body, 20 for example). The restriction on the maximum duration of the call may be different for different calling codes processed by the ACG 14.

Controlling the call on the signaling level has the advantage that a signal can be sent from the ACG 14 with data relating to the reason for terminating the call.

25 Turning back to Figure 4b, steps 421a and 421b illustrate this point - in that while members A and B participate in a call the ACG 14 merely handles signaling messages passing between the networks in which the members are located. Of course this means that when the call terminates - again, by means of call signaling - the ACG 14 automatically and advantageously identifies the end 30 of the call, updating the connection table 205 accordingly (in particular the status information stored in field 307).

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A second embodiment will now be described for a communications instance involving communication of video data, wherein the initial negotiation phase between participants in the video call is controlled by means of a video application server 215. Turning to Figure 5, as for the first example, steps 501 -5 511 involve the participants communicating so as to agree on a scheduled call window in which to conduct a video call. Accordingly, party A tries to book a communication slot via the video system 215, which contacts the ACG 14 and party B in order to identify a mutually convenient time to hold the video conversation. As can be seen from the annotation on the Figure, anonymity is 10 preserved by means of nicknames coordinated on the part of the video application server 215.

Alternatively, instead of storing the new appointment data in step S209, the new appointment may be created, with the status of 'requested', immediately after the connection table 205 has been queried to avoid call clashes (i.e. after 15 step 503, and before step 505). When party B responds to the call request indicating acceptance in step 507, the status of the appointment is updated to 'accepted'.

Once a convenient time slot has been identified, the ACG 14 waits for receipt of a call set up request, which is eventually received from party A (step 20 513). This call set up request is processed in the same way as that described in the first and second arrangements of the first embodiment discussed above. Figure 5 clearly articulates the various signaling messages that are passed between components in the network, which, in accordance with ISUP signaling involve the sending of IAM (Initial Address Message - steps 515, 519), ACM 25 (Address Complete Message - steps 523, 525), CPG (Ring Alert - steps 529, 531), ANM (Answer Message - steps 537, 539), REL (Release - steps 545, 549) and RLC (Release Complete - steps 555, 557) messages.

Specifically, in steps S513 and S515 a call is set up from member A to the ACG 14. In step S517 the ACG 14 queries the connection table for a pre-30 agreed communication at the current time involving member A. Once data relating to such a call has been found, the ACG 14 forwards the call to member

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B in steps S519 and S521, by updating the fields relating to the called party and calling party.

Again, this shows how the ACG 14 is implemented so as to ensure that party B only sees a call incoming therefrom, and not from Party A. Once a live 5 call has been successfully completed (i.e. either the originator or recipient terminated the call rather than any "fault" such as handover failure) party A (the originator) cannot use redial facilities on their mobile to re-try the call because the corresponding entry has been removed from the connection table and the ACG 14 would reject any call attempt which does not have a current entry for 10 the relevant caller. Furthermore, as mentioned above, if member B does not answer the call for any reason the ACG 14 will receive a signaling message (typically a CPG (call progress) message) indicative of this, and can terminate the call before member A is connected to a voicemail service of member B.

15 Implementation Details

The connection table 205 can be managed by inserting, reading and removing records either directly through a software application program interface (API) 207, by transactions onto the connection table database, or, using a technology such as Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI). 20 Whilst the above embodiments describe the connection table 205 being populated by means of data received from mobile application servers via the interface 207, it will be appreciated that ACG 14 is usable by a broader number of applications and customers when there is the possibility of third parties being able to manage connection table entries that they "own". This allows service 25 providers to offer anonymous calling functions to a broad range of customers and applications. Most conveniently, entries in the connection table 205 can be inserted, read and deleted using a family of related web services. Web services are functions that are published at a web server for remote invocation via the Intranet or Internet, using Extensible Markup Language (XML) messaging 30 based on Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description

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Language (WSDL) and Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) standards.

Whilst in the above embodiment the ACG 14 is shown as being directly connected to application servers 211, 213, 215 for provisioning the connection 5 table 205, the (or several) provisioning system(s) could alternatively be remote from the ACG 14, as shown in Figure 6. This means that data could be input into the connection table 205 from disparate and somewhat unrelated sources, which are arranged so as to collectively gather information indicative of agreed communications between parties, and transmit the data to the ACG 14. 10 As another alternative, the ACG 14 could be provided as a single logical system implemented using multiple physical server machines providing redundancy, scalability and separation of functions.

As a further alternative, a number of ACG 14 instances could be provided to operate the calling codes associated with a given service and/or 15 client application. Such a set up may confer the benefit of lowering calling costs, for example by allowing the numbers associated with national branches of an international service to be operated upon locally.

Whilst in the above embodiments the ACG 14 is described as creating connections between users that transmit and receive data having one and the 20 same format (e.g. both communicate via circuit switched voice links), the ACG 14 can include means for translating between, for example, circuit switched and packet switched data so as to connect Voice over IP packets with circuit switched traffic.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of 25 the invention. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above 30 may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

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Claims

1. A method of controlling communications between two or more 5 users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the method comprising:

providing access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data 10 comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up;

receiving signaling data indicative of a request for take up of said network resources from a first said user, said signaling data comprising a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources; 15 accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic so 20 as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the received data comprise temporal data indicative of a time period within which the network resources can be taken up.

25

3. A method according to claim 2, including reviewing the time of the request and, responsive to the time of the request meeting conditions associated with the temporal data, arranging for the resources to be taken up.

1

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4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the received data are generated by users communicating using identities of the first type.

5 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the received data comprise data indicative of a user with whom the first user is to be connected.

6. A method according to claim 5 when dependent on claim 4, in

10 which the user with whom the first user is to be connected is not identifiable by means of a first type of identity.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, including allocating an identifier in respect of the optional take up of network

15 resources and storing the allocated identifier in association with the received data, in which the method includes identifying the other user on the basis of an identifier present in said request.

8. A method according to claim 7, in which said second user is

20 identified from the stored data by means of the received identifier.

9. A method according to claim 7 or claim 8, in which the identifier is a network identifier corresponding to the first user, said network identifier being for use outside of the network to route communications to other users

25 within the network.

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, including sending a request for reservation of communications resources to a network node associated with said second user, said request originating from a

30 network node performing said step of responding to said first user, thereby withholding the identities of the second type from respective users.

2

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11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the network resources include one or some resources required to transmit voice, video and/or multimedia traffic.

5

12. A method according to any preceding claim, in which said method further comprises:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of a proposed take-up of network resources, from a proposing user, said alphanumeric message 10 comprising data indicative of a characteristic of the proposed take-up of network resources;

arranging for the identified data to be associated with data representative 15 of said proposing user, for use in creating appointment data.

13. A method according to claim 12, in which said method further comprises:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of an acceptance of said 20 proposed take-up of network resources, from an accepting user;

arranging for data representative of said accepting user to be associated with the stored data, thereby defining said appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users.

25

14. A method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, the method comprising:

30 receiving data indicative of a request for a first user to conduct communication with a second user;

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storing data derived from said received data in said database;

in response to receipt of signaling data indicative of a communications event set-up request from a first said user, arranging for the first user to communicate with said second user on the basis of the data stored in said 5 database.

15. A method according to any of claims 1 to 14, including: updating said signaling data indicative of a called party, so as to include a network identifier of said second user; and

10 sending a request for a communication event between said first user and said second user on the basis of the updated signaling data.

16. A method according to any of claims 1 to 15, including:

updating said signaling data indicative of a called party, so as to remove

15 a network identifier of said first user; and sending a request for a communication event between said first user and said second user on the basis of the updated signaling data.

17. .A method of controlling signaling data in a network, on the basis 20 of stored data relating to at least one pre-arranged communication event between a first user having a first network identifier and a second user having a second network identifier, said stored data defining at least one characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event, said method comprising:

receiving signaling data relating to a request for the take up of network 25 services from a requesting user, said request data comprising at least one characteristic of said request;

accessing said stored data;

in response to receiving said signaling data, comparing said at least one characteristic of said request for the take up of network services to said at least 30 one characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event, to determine whether the request for take up of network services from said requesting user

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corresponds to a request from said first user for said pre-arranged communication event between said first user and said second user; and outputting a signal for use in updating said signaling data so that said signaling data includes said network identifier of a second user, in response to 5 the request for take up of network services corresponding to said pre-arranged communication event.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein said signaling data comprises the or each at least one characteristic of said request for the take up of

10 network services.

19. A method according to claim 17 or 18, in which the characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event comprises the network identifier of the first user.

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20. A method according to any of claims 17 or 18, in which the characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event comprises temporal data indicative of a time period within which the network resources can be taken up.

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21. A method according to any of claims 17 to 20, in which the characteristic of said pre-arranged communication event comprises data relating to a type of network resource to be taken up.

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22. A method according to any of claims 17 to 21, in which said method further comprises:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of a proposal for a communication event in said communications network, from a proposing user, said alphanumeric message comprising data indicative of at least one

30 characteristic of the proposed communication event;

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arranging for said identified data to be associated with data representative of said proposing user, for use in defining said stored data.

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23. A method according to claim 22, in which said method further comprises:

receiving an alphanumeric message, indicative of an acceptance of said proposed communication event in said communications network, from an 10 accepting user;

arranging for data representative of said accepting user to be associated with said stored data, thereby defining said stored data.

24. A method according to any of claims 15 to 23, in which said 15 method further comprises:

receiving data indicative that said communication event to said second user satisfies a predetermined condition and;

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25. A method according to claim 24, in which said received data comprises data indicative of a failed connection to the second user.

26. A method according to claim 24 or 25, in which said received 25 data comprises data indicative of a diverted connection.

27. A method according to any of claims 24 to 26, in which said communication event is a call, and in which said received data comprises data indicative of an unanswered connection.

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28. A method of controlling a communication in a communications network on the basis of stored data available in the network, wherein said stored data relates to at least one pre-arranged communication event between a first user and a second user, said stored data comprising a network identifier of said

5 first user and a network identifier of said second user, said method comprising: receiving signaling data relating to a request for take up of network services from a requesting user, said signaling data including the network identifier of said requesting user;

accessing said stored data;

10 in response to receiving said signaling data, comparing said network identifier of said requesting user to at least said network identifier of said first user, to determine whether the signalling data corresponds to said at least one pre-arranged communication event; and outputting a signal for setting up said communication between said first 15 user and said second user on the basis of said pre-arranged communication event.

29. A method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, wherein the network comprises a service node from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up, the method comprising:

receiving a service initiation request message comprising a request for take up of said network resources, the service initiation request message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources;

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accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network 5 resources;

transmitting a service response message comprising data indicative of network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the 10 basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

30. A method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one 15 another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, wherein the network comprises a service node from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the 20 appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up, the method comprising:

receiving a service response request message comprising a request for take up of said network resources, said service response request message 25 comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources;

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transmitting a service response message comprising data indicative of network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and transmitting a signal for arranging for the first user to communicate with 5 a second user on the basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

31. A method of controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one 10 another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the method comprising:

receiving data indicative of optional take-up of network resources using a first network service, involving two or more users, the received data including associated user identities of the second type, wherein said data indicative of 15 optional take-up of network resources is received via a second network service, operable in the same network as said first network service, and being different to said first network service;

storing said received data;

in response to receipt of a request for take up of said network resources 20 using a first network service from a first said user, arranging for the first user to communicate with another user via the first network service on the basis of the stored data so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

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32. A service node for controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, the node comprising: a first interface for providing access to appointment data indicative of 30 optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the

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appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up;

a second interface for receiving signaling data relating to a request for take up of said network resources from a first said user, said signaling data 5 comprising a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources; processing means adapted for:

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and

10 outputting a signal for use in arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.

33. A service node according to claim 32, wherein said processing means is further adapted for:

34. A system for controlling communications between two or more users through a network, at least some of the users being identifiable to one another by means of a first type of identity and being identifiable to the network by means of a second, different, type of identity, wherein the system comprises:

a service node from which a user is able to receive service during processing of a network event and the service node has access to appointment data indicative of optional take-up of network resources involving two or more users, the appointment data comprising data indicative of optional take-up of network resources and a characteristic of said network resources that might be taken up, the system further comprising:

a serving node for

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receiving a service initiation request message from the service node comprising a request for take up of said network resources, the service initiation request message comprising data indicative of a characteristic of said request for take up of network resources;

wherein said service node is further adapted for:

accessing the appointment data so as to identify a characteristic corresponding to said characteristic of the request for take-up of network resources; and transmitting a service response message to said serving node comprising data indicative of network resources corresponding to the identified characteristic that are to be taken up; and wherein said serving node is further adapted for outputting a signal for use in arranging for the first user to communicate with a second user on the basis of the service response message so as to withhold the identities of the second type from respective users.