GB2453801A

GB2453801A - Accessing audio telecommunications services via a video server

Info

Publication number: GB2453801A
Application number: GB0721951A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeffrey Wilson
Original assignee: Intellprop Ltd
Current assignee: Intellprop Ltd
Priority date: 2007-10-16
Filing date: 2007-11-08
Publication date: 2009-04-22
Also published as: GB0720217D0; GB0721951D0; WO2009050420A1

Abstract

A video server 7 for use in a telecommunications network having an audio service 5 is described. The video server is operable to provide a user of the telecommunications network with video content and also to provide the user with audio content retrieved by the video server from the audio service. The audio service may, for example, be a voice mail service. Thus a user wishing to access their voice mailbox to retrieve voice mail messages may use their video phone to establish a video call with the video server, and the video server may then establish a voice call to the voice mail service to retrieve audio content, e.g. stored messages or announcements by the voice mail audio service. The video server may then route / relay the audio content from the audio service to the user along with video content generated by the video server, or received by the video server from another source, such as a video stream or a storage medium. The video content provided in conjunction with the audio content may be provided simultaneously with the audio content or at a different time. The video server may provide a videophone user with single point of access for retrieving videomail and voicemail messages via a visual user interface and the video server may obtain up to date information about received voicemails via short message service (SMS) alerts (fig.3) or via a data connection (9, fig.2) to the voicemail server.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES APPARATUS AND METHOD

s BACKGROUND ART

The invention relates to telecommunications services apparatus and methods for use in telecommunications systems, such as fixed or mobile telephone systems, and more specifically to combining video and voice services in such systems.

Voice communication (i.e. conventional audio telephone calling) is the primary application of telecommunications systems, and various voice services are available.

Such services range from relatively simple services, such as a "speaking clock" service which tells callers the current time, to a whole raft of more complex audio services, e.g. for providing sport commentary, weather information, train timetables, dating services, and so on. Some of these services are sometimes called "premium rate" services to reflect the relatively high call charges often associated with accessing the service. However, some such services may not attract a premium tariff, or may be free, for example automated bill-paying or hotel reservation services. One common class of audio service available in many telecommunications networks are recording applications known generically as voice mail. Voice mail services have long been in use as a means of terminating a call which may otherwise have been unsuccessful. The intended recipient of such a call is alerted by text or follow-on call to the presence of a recorded message in his voice mailbox. The recorded message may then be delivered to the recipient as a voice call, or the recipient may dial in to the recording system to retrieve it. Similar systems are in use for audio-visual (or video') calls, whereby audio-visual messages may be recorded and retrieved. These systems are typically referred to as video mail.

GB2388273 describes a system whereby an audio voice services equipment is connected in-line in front of a standard voice mail system for the purpose of enhancing the scope of audio services offered to callers making voice calls to the voice mail system, particularly during message retrieval calls. However, the scheme described in GB23 88273 is unable to support video calls.

At present there is no integration between voice mail and video mail systems.

Callers may choose when initiating a call whether to make a voice call or a video call.

If a video call is unsuccessful, for example because the recipient does not have a compatible terminal or subscription, then the call may be terminated requiring a new call attempt to be made using voice only. Thus, in many networks it is not possible to place a video call to a voice-only destination, but instead a separate voice call must be initiated for connection to be successful to that destination. Thus at present there are no techniques that allow audio-visual connections to be made to a conventional audio-only voice mail system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a video server for use in a telecommunications network, wherein the video server is operable to provide a user of the telecommunications network with video content, and wherein the video server is further operable to connect to an audio service apparatus and to obtain audio content from the audio service apparatus and to provide the audio content to the user.

The audio service may, for example, be an apparatus of the telecommunications network or may be an audio service external to the telecommunications network, e.g. an internet audio service or a service on another network.

The audio service may be a voice mail service such that embodiments of the invention may provide a video server for use in a telecommunications network having a voice mail service apparatus, wherein the video server is operable to provide a user of the telecommunications network with video content, and wherein the video server is coupled to the voice mail service apparatus and is operable to obtain audio content from the voice mail service apparatus, and to provide the audio content to the user of the telecommunications network in conjunction with the video content.

Thus access to a conventional audio service, e.g. voice mail, may be provided through a video call and this allows additional video-related services and enhancements to be offered. For example, the video content may comprise menu information to assist the user in navigating the audio service, or photographs or movie clips, e.g. adverts or personalised video content. (It will be understood that the term "video content" and related terms are used here to refer to content that includes one or more images, e.g. images that may be displayed on a display screen of a telephone, and which may or may not be accompanied by sound (audio). Thus video content may comprise a single static image, or a series of images presented as a moving image, and in either case, may or may not include an accompanying soundtrack. The images may, for example, be photographic images, live video images, blank images, or images representing a graphical user interface or instructions to a user.) The video server may be operable to obtain the audio content from the audio service apparatus by establishing a conventional voice call connection with the audio service apparatus. Thus it may be transparent to the audio service apparatus that the video server is being used, and so embodiments of the invention may be used with existing audio service apparatus without modification.

The video server may be operable to provide the audio content and the video content to the user through a conventional video call established between a telephone handset of the user the video server, e.g. by the user dialling into the video server, or the video server dialling out to the user.

The video server may be operable to determine that a user has pressed a key of the telephone handset. This may be determined in accordance with existing signalling protocols. The video server may be operable to interpret a determination that a user has pressed a key of the telephone handset as a control instruction. This provides the user with a ready mechanism for controlling the video server. On determining that a user has pressed a key of the handset, the video server may also be operable to communicate an indication of the key pressed by the user to the audio service apparatus. Thus conventional key-control instructions intended for the video mall service apparatus may be appropriately routed from the user to the video mail service apparatus.

In the event the audio service apparatus is a voice mail service apparatus, the video server may be operable to obtain information from the voice mall service apparatus regarding voice mail messages stored in the audio service apparatus, and to present the information to a user as a part of the video content. For example, the user may be provided with a displayable list of messages in the mailbox with an indication of which ones have not been retrieved. The video server may be operable to obtain this information from the voice mail service apparatus by intercepting notification messages conventionally sent by the voice mall service apparatus to the user. Alternatively, the video server may be coupled to the voice mail service apparatus by a data-link (data channel) and be operable to obtain the information from the audio service apparatus through the data-link.

The video server may be operable to generate the video content itself (e.g. menu lists), or may be operable to obtain the video content from an external source (e.g. a storage medium coupled to the video server or a video stream provided to the video server).

The video content may include a sound component, and the video server may be operable to replace the sound component of the video content with the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus. In other examples where the original video content includes a sound component, the video server may be operable to add the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus to the sound component of the video content so that both may be heard by a user.

The video content may be provided to the user simultaneously with, or at a different time to, the audio content.

The video content may include a sound component and the video server may be operable to replace the sound component of the video content with the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus or to add the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus to the sound component of the video content.

The video server may be operable to identify the user and may be further operable to select video content to provide to the user in dependence on the determined identity.

This allow for targeted advertising for example. The video server may be operable to identify the user based on a calling line identifier (CLI) associated with a telephone apparatus used by the user to connect to the video server, or based on the user entering a user ID or similar to access the system, for example.

The video server may further be operable to receive a signal instigated by the user, e.g. a key press, as an expression of interest associated with the video content presented to them, and on receipt of such a signal the video server may be operable to establish a connection between the user and a party associated with the video content, e.g. using a patched telephone connection between the user and the party associated with the video content. This may be particularly useful if the video content comprises advertising material since it can provide a ready mechanism for connecting the user to the provider of the service / product being advertised in the video content.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a telecommunications network comprising a video server according to the first aspect of the invention. The telecommunications network may further comprise a routing switch operable to detennine if a telephone call from a user of the telecommunications network that is addressed to the audio service apparatus is a voice call or a video call, and to route the call to the audio service apparatus if the call is a voice call and to route the call to the video server if the call is a video call. Thus the same service number may be used for both voice and video calls.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of providing audio and video content to a user of a telecommunications network comprising obtaining audio content from an audio service apparatus, obtaining video content from a source of video content, and providing the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus and the video content obtained from the source of video content to the user.

Thus embodiments of the invention provide a method of providing audio content from an audio service of a telecommunications network to a user of the telecommunications network, comprising obtaining audio content from the audio service apparatus, obtaining video content from a source of video content, and providing the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus to the user of the telecommunications network in conjunction with the video content.

Thus embodiments of the present invention allow for audio-visual connections to an audio service such as a voice mailbox to be supported, thereby not only allowing audio-visual services to be offered to callers, but also allowing either voice or video calls to be made to the voice mail system that would otherwise be voice only. This also permits the audio service to be enhanced to that visual feedbaèk can be provided to the caller to improve the audio service experience.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of allowing access to and control of a voice mail system for a caller making an audio-visual call wherein audio from the voice mail system is transmitted to the caller as part of an audio-visual call.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of allowing access to and control of a voice mail system for a caller making an audio-visual call to a video server wherein the video server can make a voice connection to the voice mail system and relay audio from the voice mail system to the audio-visual caller.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of allowing control of an audio-visual application and control of a voice mail application by using keystrokes on the caller's terminal, wherein keystroke information may be pre-processed and/or filtered by the audio-visual application before being passed to the voice mail application.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of allowing control of a video server and control of a voice mail system by using keystrokes on the caller's terminal, wherein keystroke information passed to the voice mail system may be pre-processed and/or filtered by the audio-visual application.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller according to the status of the voice mailbox of the caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of notifying an audio-visual application about the status of the voice mail box of a caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting, for the purpose of selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of notifying a video server about the status of the voice mail box of a caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting, for the purpose of selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of intercepting alert messages about the status of the voice mail box of a caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting, for the purpose of selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of offering other video services in addition to voice or video mail retrieval to a caller accessing his voice or video mailbox.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of receiving signalling information representative of keystrokes on a caller's terminal, pre-processing and/or filtering this information, using at least some of the received information to control an audio- visual application and passing pre-processed and/or filtered information to a voice mail application.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of receiving signalling information representative of keystrokes on a caller's terminal, pre-processing and/or filtering this information, using at least some of the received information to control a video server, converting pre-processed and/or filtered information to DTMF audio tones and passing the DTMF audio tones to a voice mail system.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for receiving an audio-visual call wherein access to and control of a voice mail system is provided to a caller making the audio-visual call and wherein audio from the voice mail system is selectively transmitted to the caller as part of the audio-visual call.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a video server apparatus for receiving an audio-visual call wherein access to and control of a voice mail system is provided to a caller making the audio-visual call and wherein the video server can make a connection to the voice mail system, and wherein audio from the video server and audio from the voice mail system may be selected andJor combined and transmitted to the caller as part of the audio-visual call.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a video server apparatus capable of receiving keystrokes from a caller's terminal, and a voice mail system which may be either separate from or integrated with the video server apparatus, wherein the video server has means to pre-process and/or filter keystroke information before passing it to the voice mail system.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a video server apparatus comprising means for selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller according to the status of a voice mailbox of the caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided means for notif'ing a video server apparatus about the status of a caller's voice mailbox in a voice mail system, wherein the voice mail system may be either separate from or integrated with the video server apparatus, the notification for example comprising the number of new and saved messages waiting, and means for accordingly selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided means for intercepting alert messages about the status of the voice mail box of a caller, for example the number of new and saved messages waiting, and means for accordingly selecting audio-visual announcements to be played to the caller.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a video server apparatus, and means for providing video services in addition to voice or video mail retrieval to a caller accessing his voice or video mailbox.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a video server apparatus, which has means for receiving information representative of keystrokes on a caller's terminal, means for pre-processing and/or filtering this information and means for passing the pre-processed andlor filtered information to a voice mail system.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a video server apparatus, which has means for receiving information representative of keystrokes on a caller's terminal, means for pre-processing andlor filtering this information, means for converting the pre-processed and/or filtered information to DTMF audio tones and means for passing the DTMF audio tones to a voice mail system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect reference is now made by way of example to the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1 to 3 schematically show telecommunications networks in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like parts are referred to by like references.

Figure 1 schematically shows a telecommunications network according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 1 shows a voice call being made by an originator (caller) using an originator mobile terminal 1 A. The caller wishes to contact a recipient using a recipient mobile terminal lB. However, the call is terminated on a voice mail system (voice mail service apparatus) 5, for example because the intended recipient lB was unavailable, or had diverted all his calls to voice mail, or because the originator had dialled a number that allowed direct access to voice mail recording. This aspect of the telecommunications network may be conventional. E.g. the call is conventionally routed from mobile handset 1 A through basestation 2 and mobile switching centre (MSC) 3. On being connected to the voice mail system 5, the originator may then leave a voice message for the intended recipient. This voice mail message is stored in a voice mall storage 6, again in accordance with conventional techniques. Subsequently the intended recipient is alerted to the presence of a voice mail message, e.g. by a text or voice call notification sent to his mobile terminal (handset) 18.

Embodiments of the present invention allow a user to access the voice message using either a voice call or an audio-visual (video) call.

If a user places a voice call to the voice mail system 5, this is dealt with in a largely conventional manner. The voice mail system 5 may typically be distributed across a number of physical platfonns, each holding the mailboxes of a subset of subscribers. Access to the correct voice mall platform in a mobile network is typically achieved using a database lookup. This may be implemented in a component of the voice mail system itself 5, or in a home location register (HLR) or equivalent mailbox location register (MLR) 4, for example.

The voice mail system S is normally configured to be controlled during a voice call by keystrokes on the terminal keypad, for the purposes of message selection, rewind, deletion etc. In the case of message retrieval by a mobile terminal IB, key press information is sent over the air using an out-of-band control channel. During a voice call, these are converted to in-band dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) audio -12 -tones in the MSC 3 and detected in the voice mail system 5. (It is noted that during a video call for message retrieval, as described further below, key press information is not normally converted to audio, but is passed end to end using a control channel.) Figure 1 also shows how the intended recipient (using mobile terminal I B) can retrieve a voice mailbox message with a video call (as opposed to a straight audio/voice call) in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The video call is routed to a video server 7. In a basic implementation this may be achieved by the recipient simply dialling a specific number of the video server for video calls which is different from the number he would use for voice calls to the voice mail service. The video call would then be routed to the video server 7 in accordance with conventional routing techniques. However, preferably the network is configured to use a single number (e.g. an existing well-know voice call number for the voice mail service, e.g. 901) for both voice and video calls as this is simpler for the subscribers. Thus the network may be configured to selectively route calls made to this single number in dependence on whether they are voice calls or video calls. Voice calls are routed to the voice mail service 5 as normal, video calls are routed to the video server 7. This could be achieved, for example, by including a simple routing switch in-front of the voice mail service 5 to intercept incoming calls and route them accordingly.

On receipt of a video call from the mobile terminal 1 B, the video server 7 connects to the voice mail system 5 that holds the mailbox of the voice mail message recipient. The connection may be established immediately or after some delay during which video content may be presented to the user, e.g. as explained further below. The video server 7 may then provide an audio-visual service as a front-end to the voice mail system 5 to the message retriever. Key press information may be received by the video server as control channel data from the mobile terminal lB in accordance with conventional video call protocols. The key press information may be pre-processed by the video server and used to control video server functions such as menu selection, and file playback. The video server may then generate corresponding DTMF control information to pass to the voice mail system 5 for controlling voice mail in the normal way. The audio received by the video server from the voice mail system 5 may be combined with or substituted for video or audio-visual information stored in a video server storage 8 associated with the video server 7 and transmitted to the message -13 -retriever as a combined audio-visual signal. The video component may comprise static or moving images stored on the video server in audio-visual storage 8, and may comprise for example: * images or video loaded by the user, and optionally related by calling line identifier (CLI) to the message sender * images or video provided by the operator * images or video designed to assist with service usage, e.g. menus This allows the caller to receive his voice mail messages from the voice mail system 5 but in the context of a video call to the video server 7.

Figure 2 shows how video and audio-visual material may be loaded onto the video server 7, and how live feeds may be provided from external audio-visual sources. Figure 2 also shows an optional data connection 9 between the video server 7 and the voice mail system 5, which can provide a further stage of integration between the two systems, This would allow for example information about the mailbox status to be conveyed to the video server so that the number of messages waiting could be seamlessly notified to the caller as part of the audio-visual greeting message.

As an alternative to a data connection, Figure 3 shows another way to provide the information to the video server to allow the number of messages waiting to be notified to the caller as part of the audio-visual greeting message. This could operate by intercepting notification messages 11 such as may be conventionally sent by the voice mail service 5 by SMS via the SMS infrastructure (SMS INF.) 10 of the network. Information 12 representative of the number of messages waiting could then be conveyed to the video server and stored for each subscriber in the video server storage 8.

Although the concepts of voice mail and video mail are in themselves known, (although video mail not a very prevalent service), what is described here is firstly video access to voice mail in order both to provide a richer more useful experience, and secondly to allow dipping into other audio-visual information such as latest news, in a simple and easy way. This second aspect is equally applicable to video mail systems, so the presently described schemes may also be applied to systems supporting voice mail, video mail or both.

-14 -If a user is provided with a choice of making a voice mail retrieval call as either a voice or video call, it is expected they will in many cases be inclined to make the video call, because then they could then readily check news or sport, and so this would provide an enhanced experience.

* 5 The development of colour screens has shown that when colour became available on test equipment, and then later to personal computer screens, people wanted to make the move to colour and therefore looked for rational reasons as to why they should upgrade or pay a slightly higher price for the colour capability. So there would seem to be some emotional or psychological distinction between accessing services where there is a visual colour element and where there is no visual element.

Historical precedent would also suggest that colour visual access to a service, once available would naturally become the norm, and would displace the more restricted forms of access. Furthermore manufacturers and networks are seeking to promote the uptake of video-capable handsets on 3G networks, and embodiments of the invention provide a service that could potentially benefit the whole subscriber base.

A preferred embodiment of the invention may be implemented initially as a front-end add-on to existing voice mail systems. Voice calls to voice mail would work in the normal way, but if the user made a video call to voice mail, preferably to the same number as for voice retrieval, then the video call instead of being rejected as it is currently, would be terminated on the video services platform 7. This can then provide an attractive and operator-branded welcome message in audio-visual format. The video server would then automatically connect to the voice mailbox of the caller, using existing techniques for identifying the correct platform and dial-up number for the required mailbox.

At the very simplest when there is no integration between the video and voice mail systems, the user could be greeted personally by a selected image or moving video and then be connected to the voice mail system where he could use the keystroke controls normally. During a 3G video call according to the 3G-324M standards, pressing the buttons on the terminal is signalled using the H.245 protocol rather than by using in-band audio tones and therefore the video server would convert, after any appropriate pre-processing, these signals to DTMF in order to control a legacy voice mail platform. -15-

At any one time, audio being played to the user as part of the audio-visual call could be sourced from the video server, the voice mail system or a combination of the two. Preferably, when playing a prompt or greeting message, the video server audio would be used, while during voice mail message playback, audio from the voice mail system would be used. The video greeting could be something the user has loaded himself, like a family picture or potentially a moving image, to give the user a feel- good factor. A static or moving video display could also be transmitted alongside audio from the voice mail system, and this could be used for example to provide assistance with the menu of available options. Preferably, the video server is capable of sourcing video still or moving images combined with audio from either the video server or the voice mail system. The video or audio visual material that can be played by the video server may be from stored files, or may be from a live feed or other external source connected to the video server.

This means is that there is scope for additional functionality, as keystrokes other than those accepted by the voice mail system may be accepted by the video server plafform, and used for additional operations. Alternatively, keystrokes may be interpreted and/or mapped by the video platform, so that alternative or more complex menu structures may be supported by the video server than are supported by the voice mail platform. Furthermore the video server may be operable to accept textual input from the terminal to control its operation. This could for example use the techniques described in GB 2317982. Additionally, menu options may be presented visually to assist the user with operating the system.

This provides a key distinction between embodiments of the present invention and existing voice or video mail systems. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, whilst accessing voice mail the caller can be offered a number of video clips and so, as we are in the world of impulsive purchase, the concept is that the caller's preference would be to use the video access mode rather than voice access mode because while he is in that video call he can access the latest news, latest fashion, sports news, business news or just look at a clip that has been recently loaded from some third party who has an interest in providing the information and promoting themselves.

Further developments of the invention would allow closer integration of the voice mail and video functions. For example, in some cases it may be preferable for the number of new and saved messages to be made available to the video server, so that this information can be relayed promptly to the caller as part of the audio-visual greeting. This could be achieved initially by intercepting signalling messages, such as SMS messages, in the network that are intended to cause the user to be notified of messages waiting (as schematically shown in Figure 3). These messages normally contain information about the number of messages stored. Alternatively the video server may be able to interrogate the voice mail system via a dedicated data connection / data-link (as schematically shown in Figure 2).

So it is the richness of the access mechanism that would make this an attractive option for users and hence for network operators, plus of course it is a very slick and potentially imposing enhancement to a simple service.

Moving forward, with full integration between the voice mail and video functions it would be possible to show on the screen of the user's handset who the messages were from with the associated names, the length of the messages, and potentially a still or moving picture associated with the caller, and of course access to other audio-visual information.

So for users who continue to make voice calls for voice mail retrieval things will continue as normal but for those who make video calls they will have a richer experience with more information and more capabilities that can be developed over time to meet a wider range of needs. In summary it is the rich access technology that allows an improved user experience and a new set of features to enhance the value of such access.

Similar techniques could be applied to fixed line video terminals, though it is noted that if the fixed line terminal transmits keystroke information as DTMF audio tones, then, if it is desired to pre-process andlor filter the keystroke information before it anives at a voice mail system, then suitable steps may need to be taken to ensure that the DTMF from the terminal is not directly received by the voice mail system, for example by breaking the forward audio path (from the terminal to the voice mail system) in the video server. Desired DTMF information may then be generated in the video server and passed to the voice mail system.

In future, when video mail and voice mail systems may be combined, it will be important for the user to have the capability to make a video call in order receive his messages, because at the time of making the call the user may not know whether he has voice messages, video messages or a combination of the two. Embodiments of the present invention will help give the user the flexibility to choose to make a video call, and hence retain the option to receive video messages as well as voice messages, or to make follow-on video calls without having to redial.

Furthermore, when suitably interconnected personal computers become connected to the telephone network as virtual mobile devices, it will be possible by means of this invention to use an audio-visual interface on a computer to access a voice and/or a video mailbox.

The above described embodiments have primarily focussed on applications of examples of the invention to voice mail service platforms. However, it will be appreciated that there are many other voice I audio service platforms that may also benefit from embodiments of the invention. For example, an audio service such as a conventional speaking clock service may be accessed through a similar video server front end to that described above in a scheme having an architecture similar to any of those shown in Figures 1 to 3 (with a speaking clock service platform being used in place of (or in addition to) the voice mail service 5 in these figures). In networks supporting multiple audio services, e.g. voice mail, speaking clock, and/or any other of the wide range of premium / non-premium rate audio services that may be available, any or all of these audio-only services may be provided with an audio-visual front-end interface using a video server in accordance with the above described techniques.

Separate video server platforms may be provided to interface with each audio service or a single video server platform may provide a common front-end interface for multiple audio services. E.g. a user may contact the video server, perhaps using a specifically assigned short code number, and then select from a presented audio-visual menu which service he requires, e.g. speaking clock or voice mail. As noted above, in some embodiments it may be preferred for the same number to be used for both audio-visual access via a front-end video server to a particular audio application and for conventional audio access to the service. Thus if a single video server platform is used to provide a gateway to multiple audio services, the network may be configured to -18-route audio calls to the numbers associated with the various service directly to the respective audio service platforms, and to route video calls to any of these numbers to the video server platform, e.g. using conventional call routing switching techniques.

As well as allowing for the provision of an enhanced user interface for a given audio service, embodiments of the invention may also be used to provide a user with additional services, which may to some extent be separate from the audio service they wish to access. For example, a user accessing their voice mail (or other audio service) through a video server such as described above may be presented various options, e.g. using an audio and/or visual menu. One option may be to proceed directly to the audio service they desire. They may then interact with the audio service in the normal way via the video server, perhaps using an enhanced audio-visual interface provided by the video server such as described above. However, another option for the user may be to choose to view a video, for example summarising latest news or weather, instead of, or before/after/simultaneously with proceeding to the audio service of interest. In other cases, rather than present the user with options to chose from, the video server may be configured to proceed automatically once a video call is connected to it. For example, in some embodiments the video server may be configured to automatically play an audio-visual clip, such as a welcome clip or advert clip, before proceeding automatically to the audio-service. This approach does not require the video service to receive or act on any form of key-press signal from the user (if the audio service that is connected to also does not require any user input, i.e. it does not require any user key-presses to function, there may be no need to provide for any key-press detection flmctionality in the video server at all).

It is foreseen that one application of embodiments of the invention will be as a means of providing a mechanism for audio-visual advertising. For example, a service provider who provides an audio service, for example a speaking clock service, may provide audio-visual adverts to a user of the audio service who chooses to access it via an audio visual call. This provides a potential additional revenue source from third party advertisers, or a ready means for advertising one's own products / service. To encourage take up, adverts may be provided to users in exchange for a reduced fee for using the service (or where the service is included in a user's subscription, for a reduced tariff). For example, a user may be charged a fee for accessing the speaking clock service directly by an audio call in the normal way, but may be provided with free or cheaper access if they access the service using a video call via a video server that presents an advert to the user before they are connected through to the speaking clock service. The user may be forced to receive the advert before continuing, or may S be provided with the option of "skipping" the advert. Alternatively, or in addition, video-only and/or audio-video advert(s) may be presented to the user while they are provided with access to the audio service. For example, a video advert could be displayed in combination with the audio content retrieved from the audio service provider. Potentially an audio track associated with the video advert could also be mixed in with the audio service content, e.g. at a relatively low volume level.

The audio service provider and the video server provider need not be related entities or have entered into any agreement regarding the use of the video server as a front end for users of the audio service. This is because in many cases the video server could simply establish a connection with the audio service platform ma manner which so far as the audio service platform is concerned is indistinguishable from a conventional audio call direct from a user. The operator of the video server would thus incur the charges (if any) for the connection to the audio service platform. The charges could be absorbed by the video server operator (e.g. such that they are partially or fully offset against advertising revenue) so that the user gets reduced cost or free access to the service. Equally, the charges could be passed on to the end user, at cost or with a premium for providing the audio-visual interface enhancement.

Adverts presented to a user in this way may be targeted, both in terms of the user identity, and in terms of the audio service requested. For example, for a speaking clock service, the adverts may be related to time, e.g. adverts for a watch manufacturer. Targeted advertising could also be based on user identity. For example, the video server may be operable to identify the user based on the Calling Line Identifier (CLI) associated with their video call and determine an appropriate advert.

Appropriate adverts may be based on a previously determined caller profile. E.g.

user's of the service may be provided with the opportunity of pre-registering their interests so that specific adverts can be provided to them. For example a user may have previously registered an interest in a band X, and so be presented with adverts for concert dates / album releases by band X, and so on. Similar techniques for non-advert -20 -based enhancements could be used. For example, a user of a video server front end to a voice mail service such as shown in Figure 1 may have previously registered an interest in sports team Y so that when they access their voice mail through the video server they are simultaneously presented with recent news about the sports team as messages in their voice mail inbox are played back to them.

Adverts may be targeted based on a record of previous user interactions or service choices or demographics for example. For example, if the video server has access to the network customer records (e.g. because the user has agreed to their details being used in this way, perhaps in exchange for a cheaper tariff), the advert io could be selected appropriately. E.g. a teenage caller may be presented with an audio- visual clip of a new popular music track, whereas an older caller may be presented with an advert for a new car. The video server may also build up a record of a particular user's previous use of the service. Thus the network may store a record of which adverts have previously been played to a caller with a given CLI, and play a different, or the same, advert when they next call depending on a desired marketing strategy.

A video server presenting adverts in this way may be operable to receive an indication from the user that they are particularly interested in a given advert, and in response to this the video server (or coupled equipment) may be configured to patch the user through to another service associated with the advert. The other service may, for example, be more audio-visual material, e.g. further advertising material or product/service information, or a simple audio call. For example, a user placing a video call to a speaking clock service may be presented with an advert for a watch made by company A. The advert may invite the user to press a key of their handset for more information. If the user wishes more information, they can press the key. The video server may then be responsive to the key press (as determined using conventional techniques) to connect the user to a customer telephone number of company A. This may be done before or after or instead of connecting the user to the audio service they initially intended to access, for example.

Although some features of the invention have been described above with particular reference to a speaking clock audio service, it will be appreciated that this is merely a simple example of one audio service that might be available in many networks, and embodiments of the invention may equally be applied to other types of audio service.

In so far as the embodiment(s) of the invention described above may be implemented, at least in part, using software controlled processing apparatus, it will be appreciated that a computer program providing such software control and a storage medium by which such a computer program is stored are envisaged as aspects of the invention.

Thus a video server for use in a telecommunications network having a voice mail service is described. The video server is operable to provide a user of the telecommunications network with video content in conjunction with audio content retrieved by the video server from the voice mail service. Thus a user wishing to access his voice mailbox to retrieve voice mail messages may establish a video call with the video server, and the video server may then establish a voice call to the voice mail service to retrieve audio content, e.g. stored messages or announcements by the voice mail service. The video server may then route / relay the audio content from the voice mail service to the user along with video content generated by the video server, or received by the video server from another source, such as a video stream or a storage medium. The video content provided in conjunction with the audio content may be provided simultaneously with the audio content or at a different time. Thus an enhanced user experience which allows for the provision of additional services to the user when he accesses his voice mail is provided.

Claims

-22 - CLAIMS

1. A video server for use in a telecommunications network, wherein the video server is operable to provide a user of the telecommunications network with video content, and wherein the video server is further operable to connect to an audio service apparatus and to obtain audio content from the audio service apparatus and to provide the audio content to the user.

2. A video server according to claim 1, wherein the video server is operable to obtain the audio content from the audio service apparatus by establishing a voice call connection with the audio service apparatus.

3. A video server according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the video server is operable to provide the audio content and the video content to the user through a video call established between a telephone handset of the user and the video server.

4. A video server according to claim 3, wherein the video server is operable to determine that a user has pressed a key of the telephone handset.

5. A video server according to claim 4, wherein the video server is operable to interpret a determination that a user has pressed a key of the telephone handset as a control instruction.

6. A video server according to claim 4 or 5, wherein on determining that a user has pressed a key or keys of the handset, the video server is operable to communicate an indication of a key press selection to the audio service apparatus based on the key or keys determined to be pressed by the user.

7. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the audio service apparatus is a voice mail service apparatus.

-23 -

8. A video server according claim 7, wherein the video server is operable to obtain information from the voice mail service apparatus regarding voice mail messages stored in the voice mail service apparatus, and to present the information to a user in the video content.

9. A video server according to claim 8, wherein the video server is operable to obtain the information from the voice mail service apparatus by intercepting notification messages sent by the voice mail service apparatus to the user.

10. A video server according to claim 8, wherein the video server is coupled to the voice mail service apparatus by a data-link and is operable to obtain the information from the voice mail service apparatus through the data-link.

11. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the video server is operable to generate the video content itself.

12. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the video server is operable to obtain the video content from a storage medium coupled to the video server.

13. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the video server is operable to obtain the video content from a video stream provided to the video server.

14. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the video server is operable to provide the audio content simultaneously with the video content.

15. A video server according to claim 14, wherein the video content includes a sound component, and the video server is operable to replace the sound component of the video content with the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus.

16. A video server according to claim 14, wherein the video content includes a sound component, and the video server is operable to add the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus to the sound component of the video content.

-24 -

17. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the video server is operable to provide the audio content separately from with the video content.

18. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the video server is operable to identify the user and is further operable to select video content to provide to the user in dependence on the determined identity.

19. A video server according to claim 18, wherein the video server is operable to identify the user based on a calling line identifier (CLI) associated with a telephone apparatus used by the user to connect to the video server.

20. A video server according to any of claims 1 to 19, wherein the video server is operable to receive a signal instigated by the user as an expression of interest associated with the video content presented to the user, and on receipt of such a signal to establish a connection between the user and a party associated with the video content.

21. A video server according to claim 20, wherein the connection between the user and a party associated with the video content is a patched telephone connection between the user and the party associated with the video content.

22. A video server according to claim 21, wherein the video content comprises advertising material and the party associated with the video content is a provider of a product and/or service that is a subject of the advertising material.

23. A telecommunications network comprising a video server according to any of claims 1 to 22.

24. A telecommunications network according to claim 23, further comprising a routing switch operable to determine if a telephone call from a user of the telecommunications network addressed to the audio service apparatus is a voice call or a video call, and to route the call to the audio service apparatus if the call is a voice call and to route the call to the video server if the call is a video call.

-

25 - 25. A method of providing audio and video content to a user of a telecommunications network comprising obtaining audio content from an audio service apparatus, obtaining video content from a source of video content, and providing the audio content obtained from the audio service apparatus and the video content obtained from the source of video content to the user.

26. A video server substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

27. A telecommunications network substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings

28. A method of providing audio content from an audio service substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.