KR101177601B1 - A method and arrangement for setting up a packet-switched communication session - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for providing a personalized telephone greeting to a second communication terminal (A) as a counterpart during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. The counterpart terminal is first identified, then the file ID associated with the calling terminal and containing the telephone greeting is retrieved (3: 2). The file ID is sent to the counterpart terminal (3: 3), and the counterpart terminal can play out the corresponding file as the telephone greeting if the file is previously stored therein.

File ID, Phone Greeting, Session Initiation Message, SIP Signaling, Invitation Message, 180 Ringing Message

Description

A METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR SETTING UP A PACKET-SWITCHED COMMUNICATION SESSION}

The present invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for providing selective ring-back or ringing functionality when establishing a packet switched communication session. In particular, the present invention provides a novel solution of using the selected media content to generate "greeting" in a ring-back or ringing signal while waiting for a response during the call setup procedure.

With the advent of 3G mobile telephony, new packet-based communication technologies have been developed to support multimedia communications. For example, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) technologies provide packet exchange of data representing images, text, documents, animations, audio files, video files, etc., in addition to conventional circuit switched voice calls. Supports wireless multimedia telephony services involving communications.

Multimedia services typically involve the transmission of encoded data representing text, documents, images, audio files, and video files in different formats and combinations. The term " multimedia " generally refers to any selection of media types having certain visual content communicated using a packet-based Internet Protocol (IP) transport technology, apart from ordinary voice conversations. Will be used in. Moreover, the term "media content" will be used to denote any such encoded data used when performing a multimedia service.

A network architecture called "IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)" was developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an open standard to give operators of access networks the ability to provide multimedia services within the packet domain. It became. IMS is a platform that enables services based on IP transport that is more or less independent of the access technology used, and is basically not limited to any limited specific service set.

The specification for handling sessions in an IMS network has been defined as "Session Initiation Protocol (according to IETF RFC 3261 standard)." SIP is an application layer control (signaling) protocol that creates, modifies, and terminates sessions through packet exchange logic. Therefore, the SIP standard is used by IMS systems and SIP-enabled terminals to establish and control IP multimedia communications. For example, a message called "invite" is defined in SIP as initiating a session during session establishment. The SIP invitation message includes, among other things, information about the requested codec (s) and other communication parameters needed for the upcoming session.

1 is a simplified diagram of a basic network structure for providing a multimedia service by an IMS service network. The first mobile terminal A is connected to the first radio access network 100 and communicates with the second mobile terminal B connected to the second radio access network 102 in a communication session S involving one or more multimedia services. do. The IMS network 104 is connected to the first radio access network 100 and processes a session related to terminal A. In this figure, the corresponding IMS network 106 processes the session for terminal B, and the two IMS networks 104 and 106 can be controlled by different operators. Alternatively, two communication terminals A and B can of course be connected to the same access network and / or belong to the same IMS network.

Session S is generally managed using SIP signaling by a particular node within each IMS network, commonly referred to herein as " session management node " 108. These nodes typically include a Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF), an Interrogating Call Session Control Function (I-CSCF), and a Proxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF). Each IMS network 104, 106 also includes one or more application servers 110 to enable various multimedia services. Moreover, the main database element Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 112 stores, among other things, service information as well as subscriber and authentication data. IMS network 106 is basically similar to network 104. Various specific functions of the illustrated network elements 108-112 are generally known in the art and need not be described further herein to understand the context of the present invention. Of course, IMS networks 104 and 106 include a number of other nodes and functions not shown here for simplicity.

During the call setup between the calling terminal A and the called terminal B, a simple ring-back tone to indicate that a ringing signal has been activated at terminal B is conventionally omitted at terminal A. . Any type of ringing signal, such as a piece of music, vibration, or any recorded sound, can typically be preselected by the user of the called terminal, but the ring-back tone provided at the calling terminal is usually a tedious repetitive tone. It is composed.

In circuit-switched networks, services are available to entertain the calling party with music, sometimes called a "music ring-back tone," while the calling party waits for a response from the called party. This service is often used by telephone exchanges in organizations and enterprises where the response can be significantly delayed, for example when placed in a telephone queue. At this time, the prerecorded portion of the music or information is played to the caller while waiting for a response. According to the conventional circuit switched call setup procedure, the ring-back tone or audio portion selected by the called party is transmitted "in-band" to the calling terminal A over the channel prepared for the call being set up.

SIP also allows ring-back tones, as well as ringing signals, to be selected by the partner for multimedia sessions in the IMS context. In both SIP message 'invitation' (described above) and '180 ringing' (standard response message indicating ringing in B), the header field called 'Alert info' is an optional ringing signal or ring- respectively. It is defined to accept an ID of one hundred tons. The intention is to add a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), etc. within that field of the 'invitation' message, to direct the terminal A's network to the corresponding server that fetches the file containing the indicated ringing signal, etc. To do it. In a similar manner, the terminal B's network may add a URL within that field of the '180 ringing' message to direct terminal A to the corresponding server that fetches the file with the indicated ring-back tone. In this way, a mechanism is provided that enables personalized greeting features in either direction.

2 is a simplified diagram of a conventional packet switched call setup between a calling terminal A connected to a first IMS network 104 and a called terminal B connected to a second IMS network 106 using SIP signaling. Signaling diagram. In particular, this figure shows how a personalized greeting feature can be implemented in accordance with the prior art.

In a first step 200, terminal A sends an 'invitation' message to terminal B to initiate a multimedia session. A suitable session management node in IMS network 104 now has the opportunity to add the ID of a ringing file, such as a URL, in the alert information field described above in the 'invitation' message, as indicated in step 202. Upon receiving the invitation message, terminal B uses the ringing file ID URL to fetch the proposed call file from the corresponding server and can play it as a ringing signal during call setup. Terminal B also responds by sending a standard '180 ringing' message to terminal A, in a next step 204, to indicate activation of the ringing signal at terminal B.

Similar to step 202, a suitable session management node in the IMS network 106 now includes a ring-back file such as a URL in the alert information field described above in the '180 Ringing' message, as indicated in step 206. You can add an ID. Therefore, upon receiving this message, terminal A uses the ring-back file ID URL to fetch the proposed file from the corresponding server, and can play it as a ring-back tone during call setup while waiting for a response.

In order to enable any of the functions described above, the terminal user must configure such a function in advance by defining subscriber preferences and the like in the corresponding IMS network. Upon call establishment, the network then provides the ring-back file or ringing file ID to the counterpart terminal, for example based on the counterpart's ID and / or other factors, for example, a defined ring-back file or ringing file. You must retrieve the ID.

However, the network determines, for each session setup, whether a particular user-selected greeting (i.e., ring-back tone or ringing signal) is to be provided at the counterpart terminal and, for example, within the session setup message, as described above. The problem is that you need to run a delay routine that adds the corresponding file ID. The problem is that the called or calling terminal must fetch or download the indicated file from the server every time a session is established to enable this function, thus entailing additional consumption of valuable bandwidth. This procedure may also take some time for the called party to respond before the file is downloaded for play-out, making the entire process inappropriate.

In general, it is desirable to facilitate the feature of selectively providing " greetings " and the like to the called party or called party user during call setup. In particular, it is desirable to minimize the signaling and processing load required for this service. It is also desirable to minimize the time delay before greetings can be played out.

Applicant-owned Swedish patent application SE 0501419-6 describes a solution for providing a ring-back presentation to a calling terminal after receiving a call establishment request for a first communication session. A second packet-based communication session is established with the calling terminal to provide, through the second session, predefined media content to the calling terminal as the ring-back presentation.

It is an object of the present invention to generally avoid the problems outlined above. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to facilitate the feature of selectively providing a telephone greeting to a calling or called terminal as a counterpart during packet switched session establishment. Another purpose is to reduce the signaling and processing load required for this feature as well as the time delay before the phone greeting can be played out. Another purpose is to use this feature to minimize bandwidth consumption during the session establishment procedure.

These and other objects are obtained by providing a method and a communication terminal according to the independent claims appended below.

The method may be executed at a first communication terminal to provide a personalized telephone greeting to a second communication terminal as a counterpart during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session.

According to one aspect of the invention, after identifying the counterpart terminal, at least one file ID is defined that is predefined for the counterpart terminal and represents at least one media file containing the telephone greeting. The retrieved file ID is then sent to the counterpart terminal, which can retrieve and play out at least one corresponding file as the phone greeting if the file (s) were previously stored therein.

If the opposite terminal is a calling terminal, that terminal can be identified by receiving a session initiation message, and when SIP signaling is used, the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message. The retrieved file ID may then be sent to the counterpart terminal included in the response message to the session initiation message. When using SIP signaling, the response message is a SIP '180 ringing' message.

If the opposite terminal is a called terminal, the terminal is identified when a telephone number is entered. The retrieved file ID may then be sent to the counterpart terminal included in the session initiation message. When SIP signaling is used, the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message.

The file ID can be sent as a URN. In an alternative embodiment, the network address of the server with the file may be sent with the file ID as a URL or URI, where the counterpart terminal is configured to play out as the phone greeting if the file was not previously stored in the counterpart terminal. You can fetch the corresponding file from the server. If SIP signaling is used, the URN or URL or URI may be included in an existing header field called 'warning information' in the SIP 'invitation' message or the SIP '180 ringing' message, respectively.

The file ID is predefined for any unknown counterpart terminal and may then represent a media file containing a default telephone greeting. In addition, different file IDs may be defined for different potential counter terminals and / or depending on the current date or time, week or season, and / or depending on user status.

According to another aspect of the present invention, after identifying a counterpart terminal, a text string associated with the calling terminal and including the telephone greeting is retrieved, and the retrieved text string is sent to the counterpart terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal transmits the telephone greeting. You can display a text column as.

The present invention further includes a first communication terminal adapted to provide a personalized telephone greeting to a second communication terminal as a counterpart during the procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. The first communication terminal is provided with means for identifying a counterpart terminal, means for retrieving at least one file ID predefined for the counterpart terminal and representing at least one media file containing the telephone greeting, and the retrieved file ID. Means for transmitting to the terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal may retrieve and play out at least one corresponding file as the telephone greeting if the file (s) were previously stored therein.

If the counterpart terminal is a calling terminal, the identification means may be adapted to identify the counterpart terminal by receiving a session initiation message. When the terminal is adapted to use SIP signaling, the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message. The transmitting means may be adapted to send the retrieved file ID to the counterpart terminal included in the response message to the session initiation message. When using SIP signaling, the response message is a SIP '180 ringing' message.

If the counterpart terminal is a called terminal, the identification means is adapted to identify the counterpart terminal when its telephone number is entered. In that case, the transmitting means may be adapted to send the retrieved file ID to the counterpart terminal included in the session initiation message. When the terminal is adapted to use SIP signaling, the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message.

The transmitting means may be adapted to send the file ID as a URN. In an alternative embodiment, the sending means may be adapted to send the network address of the server with the file as a URL or URI with the file ID, if the counterpart terminal has not previously been stored in the counterpart terminal and said telephone greeting. And fetch the corresponding file from the server for playout. When the terminal is adapted to use SIP signaling, the URN or URL or URI is included in an existing header field called 'warning information' in the SIP 'invitation' message or the SIP '180 ringing' message, respectively.

In this terminal, the file ID may be predefined for any unknown counterpart terminal and may represent a media file containing a default telephone greeting. In addition, different file IDs are defined for different potential counter terminals and / or depending on the current date or time, week or season, and / or depending on the user status.

The invention further includes a first communication terminal having means for identifying a counterpart terminal, means for retrieving a text string associated with the calling terminal and including the telephone greeting, and means for transmitting the retrieved text string to the counterpart terminal; The counterpart terminal may display a text string as the telephone greeting.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be described in the detailed description below.

The invention will now be described in more detail by the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional network structure for communicating multimedia content.

2 is a signaling diagram illustrating a packet switched session establishment procedure involving a personalized greeting feature, according to the prior art.

3 is a block diagram of two terminals during a session establishment procedure involving a personalized telephone greeting in a ring-back tone manner, according to one embodiment.

4 is a block diagram of two terminals during a session establishment procedure involving a personalized telephone greeting in the manner of a ringing signal, in accordance with another embodiment.

5 is a flow chart illustrating a basic procedure for providing a personalized telephone greeting to a counterpart terminal during a session establishment procedure, in accordance with the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a basic procedure for receiving a personalized telephone greeting from a counterpart terminal during a session establishment procedure according to another embodiment.

7 is a flow chart illustrating a basic procedure for receiving a personalized phone greeting from a counterpart terminal during a session establishment procedure, according to another embodiment.

In the following description, the term "telephone greeting" will be used to indicate any type of media content presented to the user of the opposite terminal while waiting for a response during the session establishment procedure of the packet switched multimedia session. Thus, although the telephone greeting may consist of any visual and / or audio media type (s), the telephone greeting may be presented in the manner of a ringing signal at the called terminal, or in the manner of a ring-back tone at the calling terminal. It can be presented as. For example, an image of the calling person can be displayed on the called terminal, at the same time a particular audio sequence or default ringing signal is played out. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any particular media type as a telephone greeting. In this specification, the phrases "in the manner of ringing signal" and "in the manner of ring-back tone" merely indicate the direction of greeting.

The expression "playout" of a file, regardless of the file format used, presents a telephone greeting on the terminal, for example by playing an animation, video clip or audio clip, or displaying an image or icon. It is intended to represent any way of doing. Moreover, the term "file" may refer to any number of media files that make up a scheduled telephone greeting.

The solution of the present invention will first be described with reference to two basic example block diagrams of the session setup shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. In both figures, the calling terminal A and the called terminal B are involved in the procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. The basic idea is that the file ID is sent to the counterpart terminal and that the file may already be stored in it, so that it can be retrieved as a telephone greeting.

In Fig. 3, the telephone greeting will be presented to terminal A calling in a ring-back tone manner. The first step (3: 1) illustrates that terminal A generally sends a terminal initiation message, such as the SIP message 'invitation' described above, to terminal B, by means of communication entity 304, shown schematically. Terminal B likewise receives a session initiation message at communication entity 300, schematically illustrated.

Terminal B then typically identifies the calling terminal A, as provided in the session initiation message, and ascertains whether the personalized phone greeting is presented to the user of terminal A by referring to the database 302 in terminal B. . Suppose a user of terminal B previously stored a number of known potential callers in database 302 with the ID of the selected media file to be played out at the corresponding terminal during session establishment. It is also possible to define one or more files to be used as "default" telephone greetings for any unknown counterpart terminal. Moreover, different telephone greeting files may be defined depending on the current date or time, week or season, and / or depending on the user status.

It will be appreciated that in this example the files themselves do not have to be stored in the database 302, only their IDs need to be stored. The file ID may be given in any conventional manner, for example "name + file type" or similar. Therefore, step 3: 2 generally indicates that the file ID associated with the calling terminal is retrieved from the database 302.

When terminal B responds in time to the session initiation message of step (3: 1) by sending a response message, for example the SIP message '180 ringing' described above, the retrieved file ID is added to this response message, and The response message is then sent to terminal A in step 3: 3. For this purpose, if SIP signaling is used for session establishment, the above-described header field 'warning information' in the '180 ringing' message may be used. Therefore, before sending the message in step (3: 3), the terminal B can insert a universal resource name (URN) of standard file name type in the field. The URN is uniquely defined and can be embedded in the manner of "urn: song.semc.com: happysong" which can be easily accommodated in the alert information field. Alternatively, the terminal user is free to assume any more or less "normal" names of telephone greeting files that may not be unique, provided that the other terminal has a file stored under a specific name, for example a file previously received. It may have been defined.

Upon receipt of the file ID of step 3: 3, terminal A may retrieve the indicated file from database 306 containing various files in the next step 3: 4. In general, a modern terminal includes a storage unit or database containing a collection of various files that a terminal user may have previously downloaded for various reasons, or that may be stored "default" in connection with the manufacture and / or configuration of the terminal. It is common to have In the example shown, since terminal A has the marked file stored in database 306 at the end, at step 3: 5, it is roughly possible to easily retrieve the file and play out in a "ring-back tone" manner. To the “playout” entity 308 shown. Playout entity 308 of terminal A may include any components necessary for playout of the media, such as decoders, display screens, speakers, and the like.

On the other hand, it may happen that the terminal A does not have the stored file. Therefore, in an alternative embodiment, terminal B may also provide the network address of the server holding the file, along with the file ID in the message of step (3: 3). For example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) may be inserted into the alert information header field described above, including information about "location + name + file type" or similar information. In this case, terminal A may thus fetch the file from the server provided by the network address and play it out, or play the file at database 306 to play out at another time to establish a new session with terminal B. You can store at least within.

In another alternative embodiment, terminal B may provide the entire greeting as a string of text contained within the response message of step 3: 3, for example in the alert information header field described above in '180 ringing'. In that case, terminal A may display the text string "playout" immediately in step 3: 3, in this case, while steps 3: 4 and 3: 5 may be omitted accordingly. .

In FIG. 4, the telephone greeting selected by the user of terminal A will be presented to the user of terminal B in the manner of a ringing signal. When the telephone number of B is entered into the terminal A, the called terminal B can be identified. Then, by referring to the database 402 in terminal A, it is confirmed whether a personalized telephone greeting is presented when calling terminal B. As with the database 302 of terminal B of FIG. 3, a number of potential callers are pre-stored in the database 402 with the ID of the selected media file to be played on the corresponding terminal during session establishment. Here too, one or more files may also be defined to present a default telephone greeting if the other terminal is unknown.

Therefore, the first step 4: 1 generally indicates that the file ID associated with the called terminal B is retrieved from the database 402. Of course, for a counterpart terminal of a particular candidate, one phone greeting for an outgoing call (to be presented in the manner of a ringing signal) and another phone greeting for an incoming call (to be presented in the manner of a ring-back tone) can be stored in advance. have.

Next, in the next step (4: 2), terminal A generally initiates a session, such as the above-mentioned SIP message 'invitation', to be received by communication entity 400 at corresponding communication entity 404 in terminal B. Will send a message to terminal B. However, the file ID retrieved in step 4: 1 is first added to the session initiation message, for example in the above-mentioned header field "warning information" in the 'invitation' message, if SIP signaling is used for session establishment. Similar to step (3: 3) in the previous embodiment of FIG. 3, terminal A may insert a URN into the file before sending the message in step (4: 2). Again, the basic idea is that the file is stored in terminal B, in which case it can be retrieved as a telephone greeting. Otherwise, the URL or URI or text string may be inserted into the message instead, in a manner similar to the example alternative provided in FIG. 3.

When the terminal B receives the file ID of step 4: 2, it retrieves the file indicated in the next step 4: 3 from the database 406 including various files, which is the same as the database 306 of FIG. Could be. In this example as well, terminal B has finished displaying the indicated file stored in database 406, so that playout entity 408 in step 4: 4 to retrieve the file and play out in a "ringing signal" manner. Can be provided to The session establishment procedure itself is not shown here, but may continue conventionally from that point on.

5 is a basic flow chart of a procedure executed in a first terminal to provide a personalized telephone greeting to a counterpart second terminal during a procedure of establishing a packet switched session according to the present invention. In a first step 500, session establishment generally begins by receiving a session initiation message (eg, SIP 'invitation'), or when a telephone number is entered. In the next step 502, the counterpart terminal is identified by the received session initiation message or by the entered telephone number.

Then, in step 504, it is determined, for example, by checking a database such as the databases 302 and 402 described in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, whether a telephone greeting is to be provided at the counterpart terminal. If not provided, the “normal” procedure proceeds to step 506, which means that a default ringing signal or ring-back tone can be used. However, if it is determined at step 504 that a telephone greeting is to be provided, then a telephone greeting file associated with the counterpart terminal is selected at step 508. More precisely, the corresponding file ID is retrieved as, for example, in steps 3: 2 and 4: 1 described above, respectively. The file ID is then sent to the counterpart terminal at final step 510. The above-described procedure of Fig. 5 is valid for both the calling terminal providing the telephone greeting in the manner of ringing signal, and the called terminal providing the telephone greeting in the manner of ring-back tone.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a basic procedure executed at a first terminal to receive a personalized telephone greeting from a second terminal of a counterpart during a call establishment procedure of a packet switched session according to another embodiment. In a first step 600, session establishment is generally performed by receiving a session initiation message (e.g., a SIP invitation) from the other terminal, or when a telephone number is entered, at the other terminal. By sending an invitation). In a next step 602, the file ID may be included in a received session initiation message (eg, SIP 'invitation') or in a received response message (eg, SIP '180 ringing'). For example, it is received from the opposite terminal as a URN.

Then, in step 604, for example, by checking a database such as the databases 306 and 406 described in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, it is determined whether the displayed file is to be stored in the terminal. If not stored, the normal procedure can be skipped by activating the default ringing signal or ring-back tone in step 606. However, if at step 604 it is determined that the displayed file is actually stored in the terminal, then the file may be retrieved and played out in the final step 608. The above-described procedure of FIG. 6 is valid for both a calling terminal receiving a telephone greeting in a ring-back tone manner and a called terminal receiving a telephone greeting in a ringing signal manner.

Finally, an alternative procedure relates to the flow chart shown in FIG. 7 executed at the first terminal to receive a personalized telephone greeting from a second terminal of the counterpart during the call setup procedure of the packet switched session, according to another embodiment. Will be explained. In a first step 700, session establishment is generally performed by receiving a session initiation message (eg, a SIP invitation) from a counterpart terminal, similar to step 600 in the above example, or if a telephone number has been entered. Is initiated by sending a session initiation message (eg, a SIP invitation) to the counterpart terminal. In a next step 702, the file ID along with the location information from which the file can be fetched is received from the counterpart terminal, for example, as a URL as described above. Again, the received file ID and location information may be included in a received session initiation message (eg, SIP 'invitation') or in a received response message (eg, SIP '180 ringing').

Then, in step 704, for example, by checking a database such as the databases 306 and 406 described in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, it is determined whether the displayed file is stored in the terminal. Once stored, the file can be retrieved and played out in step 706, similar to step 608 in the above example. However, if at step 704 it is determined that the displayed file has not been stored in the terminal, then the displayed file may be fetched from the server by using the indicated location information at step 708. At the same time, the default ring-back tone or ringing signal may be activated as indicated in optional equivalent step 710.

If the terminal manages to fetch the file within the expiration time, for example before the session setup is completed, the file may be played out as a telephone greeting in the final step 712. However, even if session setup was completed prior to file acquisition, the file can still be played out as a telephone greeting during an ongoing session. In any case, the fetched file is preferably also stored in the terminal at step 712 for later playout at another time to establish a new session with terminal B. It will be appreciated that the above-described procedure of FIG. 7 is valid for both a calling terminal receiving a telephone greeting in a ring-back tone manner and a called terminal receiving a telephone greeting in a ringing signal manner.

When using the present invention, for example, according to the above-described embodiment, the feature of selectively providing a telephone greeting to the calling or called terminal as a counterpart during the establishment of a packet switched session becomes quite easy. In particular, the signaling and processing load required for this feature, as well as the time delay before the phone greeting can be played out, is minimized because only relatively small file IDs are communicated. The file containing the selected telephone greeting is already promising already available in the terminal where the telephone greeting can be played out immediately. The solution can be seen as suggesting by means of the displayed file a specific telephone greeting that is acceptable if the indicated file is stored in the counterpart terminal. Otherwise, no additional signaling or bandwidth is wasted and a default signal or tone is generated.

The described embodiments can be modified in several ways within the scope of the present invention. For example, two or more files can compose a telephone greeting such that multiple file IDs can be sent to the counterpart terminal to simultaneously or sequentially indicate the playout of multiple corresponding files.

In addition, conventional functionality with a default ringing signal or ring-back tone can be activated at the same time that the personalized telephone greeting is played out in accordance with the present solution. For example, it may be desirable to emit a conventional ringing signal simultaneously with the selected image or video clip being displayed on the called terminal. It may also be desirable to export a conventional ring-back tone at the same time that the selected audio clip and / or video clip is played in the calling terminal or the like.

The user can also send a particular file to another terminal, or to download its from the server, to later send the corresponding ID of the file during subsequent session setup to have the file played out as a telephone greeting according to the present invention. I can suggest.

The solution enables selective telephony greetings based on the identity of the counterpart terminal such that any preselected terminal can receive a particular telephony greeting while other terminals cannot. Certain potential caller groups may also be defined to receive different telephone greetings and the like. It is also possible to select different telephone greeting files depending on various time factors, such as current date or time, week or season. In addition, successive different telephone greetings may be presented when session establishment is gradually delayed. In addition, it is possible for a user to define different telephone greeting files depending on the user status such as "busy" and even "busy: meeting", "busy: movie", "busy: sleep" and the like.

Although the invention has been described in connection with specific exemplary embodiments, the specification is generally intended to illustrate the concepts of the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

Claims (28)

A method executed in a first communication terminal, the method for providing a personalized call greeting to a second communication terminal that is a counterpart during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. Identifying a counterpart terminal; Retrieving at least one file identity previously defined for the counterpart terminal and representing at least one media file containing the telephone greeting; And Transmitting the retrieved file ID to the counterpart terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal may search for and play out at least one corresponding file as the phone greeting if the file (s) are previously stored therein. - ≪ / RTI > The method of claim 1, wherein the counterpart terminal is a calling terminal, and the counterpart terminal is identified by receiving a session initiating message. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein SIP signaling is used and the session initiation message is a SIP 'invite' message. 4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the retrieved file ID is embedded in a response message to the session initiation message and transmitted to the counterpart terminal. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the response message is a SIP '180 ringing' message. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the counterpart terminal is a called terminal and the counterpart terminal is identified when its telephone number is entered. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the retrieved file ID is included in a session initiation message and transmitted to a counterpart terminal. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein SIP signaling is used and the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message. 9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5 to 8, wherein the file ID is transmitted as a URN. The network address of any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5 to 8, wherein the network address of the server having the file is transmitted together with the file ID as a URL or a URI, and the counterpart terminal transmits the file. And if not already stored in the counterpart terminal, fetch a corresponding file from the server to play out as the telephone greeting. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein SIP signaling is used and the URN or URL or URI is contained within an existing header field called 'Alert info' in a SIP 'invitation' message or a SIP '180 ringing' message, respectively. How to feature. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5 to 8, wherein the file ID is predefined for any unknown counterpart terminal and indicates a media file containing a default telephone greeting. How to feature. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5 to 8, for different potential counter terminals, and / or according to the current date or time, week or season, and / or Different file IDs are defined according to the user state. A method executed in a first communication terminal, the method comprising: providing a personalized telephone greeting to a second communication terminal of a counterpart during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session; Identifying a counterpart terminal; Retrieving a text string associated with the calling terminal and including the telephone greeting; And Transmitting the retrieved text string to the counterpart terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal may display the text string as the telephone greeting; Method comprising a. A first communication terminal configured to provide a personalized telephone greeting to a counterpart second communication terminal during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. Means for identifying a counterpart terminal; Means for retrieving at least one file ID predefined for the counterpart terminal and representing at least one media file containing the telephone greeting; And Means for transmitting the retrieved file ID to the counterpart terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal may retrieve and play out at least one corresponding file as the telephone greeting if the file (s) are previously stored therein; A first communication terminal comprising a. 16. The first communication terminal as set forth in claim 15, wherein said counterpart terminal is a calling terminal, and said identification means is adapted to identify said counterpart terminal by receiving a session start message. 17. The first communication terminal of claim 16, wherein the first communication terminal is configured to use SIP signaling, wherein the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message. 18. A first communication terminal as claimed in claim 16 or 17, wherein said means for transmitting is adapted to include the retrieved file ID in a response message to the session initiation message and transmit it to the counterpart terminal. 19. The first communication terminal of claim 18, wherein the response message is a SIP '180 Ringing' message. 16. The first communication terminal as set forth in claim 15, wherein said counterpart terminal is a called terminal, and said identification means is adapted to identify said counterpart terminal when its telephone number is input. 21. The first communication terminal as set forth in claim 20, wherein said means for transmitting is adapted to include said retrieved file ID in a session initiation message and transmit it to said counterpart terminal. 22. The first communication terminal of claim 21, wherein the first communication terminal is adapted to use SIP signaling and the session initiation message is a SIP 'invitation' message. The first communication terminal according to any one of claims 15 to 17 or 19 to 22, wherein said transmitting means is adapted to transmit said file ID as a URN. 23. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 17 or 19 to 22, wherein the transmitting means is adapted to transmit the network address of the server having the file along with the file ID as a URL or URI. And the counterpart terminal can fetch a corresponding file from the server to play out as the telephone greeting, if the file is not previously stored in the counterpart terminal. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the SIP signaling is to be used, and the URN or the URL or URI is included in an existing header field called 'alert information' in the SIP 'invitation' message or the SIP '180 ringing' message, respectively. The first communication terminal. 23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17 or 19 to 22, wherein the file ID is predefined for any unknown counterpart terminal and indicates a media file containing a default telephone greeting. And a first communication terminal. 23. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17 or 19 to 22, for different potential counter terminals, and / or according to the current date or time, week or season, and / or The first communication terminal, characterized in that different file IDs are defined according to the user state. A first communication terminal configured to provide a personalized telephone greeting to a second communication terminal of a counterpart during a procedure of establishing a packet switched multimedia session. Means for identifying a counterpart terminal; Means for retrieving a text string associated with a calling terminal and including the telephone greeting; And Means for transmitting the retrieved text string to the counterpart terminal, wherein the counterpart terminal may display the text string as the telephone greeting; A first communication terminal comprising a.

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