MXPA97005111A

MXPA97005111A - Service of messages deferred, better

Info

Publication number: MXPA97005111A
Application number: MXPA/A/1997/005111A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Francis Lieuwen Daniel
Original assignee: At&T Corp
Priority date: 1996-07-12
Filing date: 1997-07-08
Publication date: 1998-01-01

Abstract

A deferred, enhanced message service ensures that a message is received even when an answering machine is connected to a line and receives the call. In such a case, the service records the number of n-rings needed to activate the answering machine of the receiver. The service then resumes the task of dialing again and lets the telephone ring sound n-1 times for each call attempted until the telephone is answered or an end of interval occurs. If the answering machine of the receiver, however, is in the interurban economizer mode, then the answering machine can answer a second time in less than n-1 ring. If the interurban economizer feature is active, then the service notes the number of m-rings that caused the answering machine to reach the interurban economizer mode. The service then resumes the task of dialing again and lets the ring of the phone ring m-1 times for each call attempted until the phone is off-hook or an end of interval occurs. In this way, even after leaving a message on an answering machine, the service will try to reach a human

Description

SERVICE OF MESSAGES DEFERRED, IMPROVED BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to communication services. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved, delayed telephone message service. Without the help of a message service, a subscriber who - after finding a busy signal or repeatedly ringing the unanswered telephone could repeatedly dial a desired number, often for several hours, until the telephone line is busy becomes available or the unattended telephone line is answered. There are message services that automate this dialing procedure several times and provide a pre-specified message, recorded by the calling subscriber, when the desired telephone line becomes available. The message services therefore obviate the need for a subscriber who calls near a telephone and frees the calling subscriber to continue with other tasks, such as boarding a flight without telephone services. One such "existing message" service is service # 123 currently offered by AT &T, service # 12 multiple times the desired telephone number every thirty minutes until the telephone is answered or issued a predetermined time period, REF : 24272 for example, six hours Each call attempt ends when the phone is answered and the prespecified message can be displayed again, or when a specific period of time has expired or a specific number of rings has occurred The pre-specified message is displayed again only when the phone is answered for the first time After this first message is provided, the existing message services cease any further attempts to have access to the message again With the existing message services, the message is displayed again no matter if the call is answered by a human or by an answering machine, even if the to provide the message differs in each case. If the phone is answered by a human, the message is played immediately; if the telephone is answered by an answering machine, the message is played after the pre-recorded greeting message and the conventional recording tone of the answering machine are completed. In general, it is known how to differentiate if a call is answered by an answering machine or by a person. For example, as discussed in U.S. Patent No. 5,475,738 to Penzias et al., This determination can be made with the use of conventional voice frequency recognition techniques. In particular, a predetermined "registration" can be recognized in the pre-recorded greeting message of the answering machine. The existing message services wait for the conventional recorded tone and then transmit the message to the answering machine which records the message. The existing message services, however, have disadvantages. If a human does not answer the telephone and an answering machine is connected when an existing message service attempts to give a message, the existing message service reproduces the message to the answering machine which records the message. Because people typically check their answering machines, only infrequently, a very important message requires an answer as soon as possible (for example, no progress can be made in a project until the response is received, expecting to contact someone whose mother is dying) can remain unheard for long periods of time. Given the uncertainty of existing message services, manual repeated dialing is the only way to ensure that the message is heard as soon as possible by the intended recipient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the deferred message service, improved of the present invention is to improve existing message services, to dramatically reduce the time it takes for a message to be received and eliminate the need to manually dial multiple times as the only alternative to existing message services. The enhanced, deferred message service of the present invention ensures that a message is received by a human as soon as possible even when an answering machine is connected to the telephone line. In such a case, the service of the present invention notes the number of rings needed to activate the answering machine of the receiver. The service then summarizes the action of redialing and lets the phone ring n-1 times for each call attempted until any telephone is answered or an end of interval occurs. If the answering machine of the receiver, however, is in the interurban economizer mode, then the answering machine can answer a second time in less than n-1 rings. The interurban economizer mode is a feature of many answering machines where the number of rings needed to activate the answering machines is reduced, for example, from four rings to two rings, when the messages have been recorded but are not yet heard. If activated in the interurban economizer feature, then the service notices the number of rings that cause the answering machine to be reached in interurban saver mode. The service then resumes the action of dialing again and allowing the phone to ring n-1 times for each call attempted until the phone is off-hook or an end of interval occurs. In this way, even after leaving a message on an answering machine, the service will try to reach a human. To identify an answering machine, the message is played briefly after the phone is off-hook (approximately half a second to one second later). If the other party continues talking while the message is played for several seconds, then there is likely to be an answering machine at the other end. 3i then a conventional recording tone is detected in the line, it is concluded with certainty that an answering machine has been detected. The first time an answering machine is detected, the service waits until the greeting of the answering machine concludes and then reproduces the message from the beginning. In this way, the service ensures that the message is recorded by the answering machine once; the service continues then dialing again the telephone number to reach a human. Once the message has been recorded by the answering machine, there is no need to leave the same message again. Therefore, the next time the service reproduces the message, a human will receive the message. In the case where it is desired that the receiver verify the answering machine before the service attempts to dial the telephone again, the desired recipient will receive the message as soon as possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the system of a system for providing an improved deferred message service. Figures 2 (a) - (c) show a flowchart of an exemplary process for providing an improved deferred message service.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 illustrates a possible configuration of the system for the present invention. The communications device 10, which can be any of a variety of types, such as a telephone, personal computer, etc., is connected to an external communication network 20 in a well-known manner. A calling subscriber can initiate a call, for example by dialing a desired telephone number whereby the conventional DTMF "tone selection" audio signals are transmitted to the communication network 20. The communication network 20 detects the DTMF signals and through several switches, computer processors and computer programs and systems connects the communication device 10 of the calling subscriber to the communication device 30 of the desired call receiver. Although Figure 1 shows two communication devices 10 and 30, any number of communication devices can be connected to the communication network 20. For the purposes of the following discussion, the calling subscriber is located on the communication device 10 and the desired call receiver is located in the communication device 30. The message service system 40 provides message services for the desired receiver by the communications device 30. The communication device 10 is connected to the service system of messages 40 via the external communication network 20. The external communication network 20 may comprise private networks, public networks or both. The communication devices 10 and 30 can be connected to the external communication network 20 through a private exchange connected to the public network (PBX), a local exchange carrier (LEC), etc. The message service system 40 includes the light storage devices, processors, and computer programs and systems necessary to perform the message service of the present invention. The message service can be configured in a variety of ways to provide the calling subscriber and the desired recipient with several ways of accessing the messaging service. The caller who seeks to leave a message from the communication device 10 could call the message service system 40 directly, for example, by a telephone number 1-800, through the external communication network 20. The subscriber call could enter in the message service system 40 the desired number or telephone numbers to where the message should be delivered, leave the message and then end the call. The message service system 40 could then deliver the message to the communication device of the receiver 30, as described below in connection with Figure 2. Alternatively, the calling attorney could directly call the desired recipient from the receiving device. communication 10 using a credit card or a calling card through a credit card server / calling cards within the external communication network 20. When the call is not answered, the credit card server / credit card calls may ask the calling subscriber if he wishes to use the service of the present invention. If the calling subscriber disconnects the call without indicating that he wishes to use the service of the present invention, the credit card / calling card server could immediately call the calling subscriber in the communication device 10 and again ask if the subscriber calling party wishes to use the service of the present invention. This question could also give the subscriber calling the options of other services, such as existing message service # 123. The subscriber calling from the communication device 10 could enter the desired number or telephone numbers to where the messages should be delivered, leave the message and then end the call. The message service system 40 could then deliver the message to the communication device of the receiver 30 as described below in connection with Figure 2. As another alternative, the calling party from the communication device 10 could call the receiver directly. desired in the communication device 30 through the external communication network 20. When the call is not answered, the communication network 20 could then change the call to a network answering service that is part of the message service system 40. The calling party can then leave a message and end the call. The message service system 40 could then deliver the message to the receiver in the communication device 30 as discussed below or retain the message in the message service system 30, acting as a network answering machine. The decision to deliver the message via the present invention or leave the message in the message service system 40, act as a network answering machine, could be based on priority schemes predetermined by the calling subscriber and the subscriber of the machine. network tester, as is generally known in the art. For example, in EP 588,101 to Goldman et al., The service end can designate the specific call telephone numbers whose messages will receive prioritized processing when appropriate, and the calling party can designate the calls he wishes to be. prioritized as urgent. Figure 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for providing an improved, deferred message service in accordance with the principles of the invention. The process begins at step 100 in which the service dials the desired telephone line. The conditional branching point 110 tests whether the dialed telephone line is busy. If the telephone line is busy, the process proceeds to step 120, in which the service waits for a specified period of time. Next, the control goes to step 100 and the telephone line is dialed again. If the telephone line is not busy, then the value n of the first register is set to zero in step 130 and the process proceeds to step 140. In step 140, the service waits for a ring or detects that the call was answered. Next, the conditional branch point 150 tests whether the telephone line was indeed answered. If the telephone was answered, then the control goes to step 160. If the telephone line was not answered, then the process advances to step 180 in which the value n of the first record is increased therein. In step 190, n is compared to a predetermined maximum ring value, the number of rings that the service will attempt before aborting its current attempt to connect to the telephone line. The maximum value of the rings represents the maximum number of rings beyond which it is unlikely that the telephone will be answered. For example, a person probably will not answer the phone after allowing it to ring more than ten times. If n is less than the maximum number of rings, then control goes back to step 140. If n is less than the maximum number of rings, then the service ends the call, waits a predetermined period of time and restarts the entire process in step 100. In step 160, the case where the telephone line was answered, the message is reproduced while the telephone line is verified until the reproduction of the message is complete or the hum of a machine is detected. The conditional branch point 170 tests whether an answering machine activated on the side of the part is connected and responds. An answering machine that is connected when the detection system detects a voice on the side of the answering party of the telephone line that continues to speak through the playback of the service message or detects a buzzing similar to that of the machine. If an answering machine activated was not detected, then the process proceeds to step 900, in which the call is terminated, and then proceed to step 1000, where the process ends. If an activated answering machine was detected, then the process advances to step 197 in which the message is returned to the beginning and reproduced again. The message is reproduced again to ensure that the answering machine of the responding party records the message in case the receiver wishes to check the answering machine before the service calls again. The process proceeds to step 199 in which the call concludes. The process then continues to step 200. In step 200, the desired telephone line is called again. The conditional branch 210 tests whether the telephone line is busy. A busy telephone line indicates that the answering machine of a responding party is still active and the service must wait before trying again. Thus, if the telephone line is busy, the process advances to step 220 in which the service waits for a predetermined period of time and then step 200 returns. If the telephone line is not busy, then the process progresses towards step 230 in which the m value of the second register is reset to zero. The process then proceeds to step 240. In step 240, the service waits for a ring or detects that the call has been answered. Next, the conditional branching point 250 tests whether the telephone line was indeed answered. If the telephone line was answered, then the control goes to step 260. If the telephone line was not answered, then the process proceeds to step 280 in which the value n of the second register is increased by one. In step 290, m is compared to n-1. The m value represents the number of required rings before the answering machine of the answering party is activated when the answering machine is in the interurban economizer mode. If the value of m is less than n-1, then the control goes back to step 240. If the value m is not less than n-1, then the service ends the call, waits a predetermined period of time and restarts everything the process in step 200.

In step 260, the case where the telephone line was answered, the message is reproduced while the line is checked until the reproduction of the message is concluded or the buzzing of the machine is detected on the side of the answering party. The conditional branching point 270 test if an answering machine has been activated, on the side of the answering machine. An answering machine that is connected when the detection system detects a voice on the side of the answering party on the telephone line that continues to speak through the playback of the service message or detects a buzzing similar to that of the machine. If an activated answering machine was not detected, then the process proceeds to step 900, in which the call concludes, and then proceeds to step 1000, where the process ends. If an activated answering machine was detected, then the process proceeds to step 199 in which the call ends. The process then proceeds to step 300. In step 300, the desired telephone number is called again. The conditional branch 310 tests if the telephone line is busy. A busy telephone line indicates that the answering machine of the responding party is still active and the service must wait before trying again. Thus, if the telephone line is busy, the process proceeds to step 320 in which the service waits a predetermined period of time and then returns to step 300. If the telephone line is not busy, then the process advances to step 330 in which the p value of a third register is reset to zero. The process then proceeds to step 340. In step 340, the service waits for a ring or detects that the call was answered. Then, the conditional branching point 35"; test without effect if the phone was answered.If the phone was answered, then the control goes to step 360. If the phone was not answered, then the process proceeds to step 380 in which p value is incremented by 1. In step 390, the value of p is compared to m-1. The value of p represents the number of required rings before the answering machine of the answering party remains. activated when the answering machine is in the interurban economizer mode.If p is less than m-1, then the control returns to step 340. If p is not less than m-1, then the service ends the call, waits a period of predetermined time and restarts the entire process of step 300. In step 360, the case where the phone was answered, the message is played back to the receiver who, in this last point in the process, must be online. that the message is reproduced , the process then proceeds to step 900 in which the call concludes and then proceeds to step 1000 where the process concludes. The present invention improves upon existing message services to dramatically reduce the time it takes for a message to be received by a human and to eliminate the need to manually mark back as the only alternative to existing message services. The present invention ensures that a message is received by a human as soon as possible even when an answering machine is connected to the telephone line. Therefore it should be understood that although the present invention has been described with reference to particular applications and configurations, other arrangements could be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the message service of the present invention may be offered in conjunction with other communication services, such as # 123. It could also be used to improve the answering machines in the network, and allowing them to be active instead of passive for important calls (where the importance determined by indication of the calling subscriber, directives of the calling subscriber or both of the preceding ones). These implementations may only require modifications to the external communication network 20 and the programs and computing systems of the message service system 40.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims

1. A method used by a message service system to provide a recorded message to a person in a specified communication device, which is served by a specified answering machine, within a communication system, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a) repeatedly dial the telephone line for at least a predetermined number of rings, maximum number of rings, until it is answered; (b) when the telephone line is answered, detect whether the telephone line is answered by a person or the answering machine; (c) when the telephone line is answered by the answering machine: (i) determine the number of rings, n, necessary to activate the answering machine; (ii) leave the message on the answering machine; and (iii) repeatedly dial the telephone line for at least n rings until it is answered by a person; and (d) when the telephone line is answered by a person, provide the message.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises the step of: (e) when the telephone line is answered by the answering machine in the interurban economizer mode: (i) determining a number of rings, m, necessary for activate the answering machine in the interurban economizer mode; and (ii) repeatedly dial the telephone line for at least several hours until it is answered by a person; and wherein step (c) (iii) includes repeatedly dialing the telephone line for at least n rings until it is answered by the answering machine in the interurban economizer mode.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected to the message service system by dialing it directly.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected to the message service system after the connection with the specified telephone line through a credit card server or calling cards has failed.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected through a switch to the message service system after the connection with the specified telephone line has failed.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that step (b) includes the following substeps: (i) reproducing the message once the telephone line is answered; (ii) detect whether the conversation of the called party continues during sub-step (i); and (iii) conclude if an answering machine is activated when a conversation is detected in sub-step (ii).

7. A message service system for providing or delivering a recorded message to a person on a specified telephone line to which an answering machine may be connected, within a communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a ring detector, the detector of Ring determines a number of rings, n, needed to activate the answering machine when it is connected and when the person does not answer; a device to dial, the device dials, until the telephone line is answered, repeatedly dial the telephone line for at least a predetermined number of rings, maximum of rings, when an answering machine has not been detected by the detector, and less of n rings when the answering machine has been detected by the detector; and a message player device, the message player device integrates the message after the detector first detects the answering machine and after the detector detects the person answering the telephone line.

8. The message service system according to claim ", characterized in that: the ring detector determines a number of rings, m, necessary to activate the answering machine in the interurban economizer mode when it is connected and when the person does not answer; and the device dials, until the telephone line is answered, repeatedly dial the telephone line for at least mms when the answering machine in the interurban economizer mode has been detected by the detector.

9. The message service system according to claim 7, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected to such a message service system by dialing it directly.

10. The message service system according to claim 7, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected to such a message service system after the connection with the specified telephone line through a credit card server or calling cards has failed. .

11. The message service system according to claim 7, characterized in that a calling subscriber is connected through a switch to the message service system upon failure of the connection with the specified telephone line.