WO1993010616A1 - Dispositif de localisation de personnel et de renvoi automatique d'appel - Google Patents

Dispositif de localisation de personnel et de renvoi automatique d'appel Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1993010616A1
WO1993010616A1 PCT/US1992/005955 US9205955W WO9310616A1 WO 1993010616 A1 WO1993010616 A1 WO 1993010616A1 US 9205955 W US9205955 W US 9205955W WO 9310616 A1 WO9310616 A1 WO 9310616A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
logic
telephone
beacon
central control
locations
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1992/005955
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Jerry R. Iggulden
Donald A. Streck
Original Assignee
Light Ideas Incorporated
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Light Ideas Incorporated filed Critical Light Ideas Incorporated
Publication of WO1993010616A1 publication Critical patent/WO1993010616A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/54—Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber
    • H04M3/546—Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber in private branch exchanges
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/006—Call diverting means
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
    • H04M1/725—Cordless telephones
    • H04M1/737—Characterised by transmission of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. infrared waves
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
    • H04M11/02—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems with bell or annunciator systems
    • H04M11/022—Paging systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/42229—Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
    • H04M3/533—Voice mail systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
    • H04M2242/30—Determination of the location of a subscriber
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
    • H04Q3/58—Arrangements providing connection between main exchange and sub-exchange or satellite
    • H04Q3/62—Arrangements providing connection between main exchange and sub-exchange or satellite for connecting to private branch exchanges
    • H04Q3/625—Arrangements in the private branch exchange
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

  • This invention relates to PBX type telephone systems and, more particularly, in a computer-controlled PBX type telephone system having a plurality of telephone extensions at associated locations which are connected to a central control and switching logic by connecting wires, to the improvement to provide automatic call forwarding and personnel location information for access on request throughout the associated locations comprising, a plurality of personnel identifiers carried by individuals throughout the associated locations, each of the plurality of personnel identifiers having a unique readable identification code associated therewith; a plurality of code reading means associated with respective ones of the plurality of telephone extensions for reading the readable identification code of ones of the plurality of personnel identifiers; a plurality of detector logic means associated with and connected to respective ones of the plurality of code reading means and connected to a central control and switching logic through the connecting wires for obtaining the readable identification code of ones of the plurality of personnel identifiers from an associated one of the plurality of detector logic means and for forwarding an obtained the readable identification code to the central control and switching logic through the connecting wires; beacon
  • the wire pairs running from each telephone extension to the PBX central computer now serve multiple functions.
  • the wire pair acts first as a data transmission line to the PBX central computer whereby the user can dial a number or accomplish a number of system parameters including resetting the system clock (such as at the change to and from Daylight Savings Time) and the like.
  • the Tip and Ring of the outside line are connected to the telephone extension through the wire pair in the normal manner.
  • wireless telephones i.e. without a cord to the handset
  • RF radio frequency
  • RF is subject to interference, however, particularly from fluorescent lighting fixtures which, unfortunately, is the most commonly used form of lighting in large installations.
  • Personal computers and other electronic apparatus which are common in most workplaces today can also cause interference with the operation of an RF wireless telephone.
  • IR infrared
  • the base IR link 10 which can be located on the ceiling 12 and is connected to the telephone line (not shown) is linked to the user's telephone 14 by IR light beams 16 emitted from and detected by the user's telephone IR link 18.
  • the outside telephone lines 20 come into a central office logic 22.
  • the central office logic 22 includes a switching matrix (not shown) connecting it to a plurality of IR emitter/detector heads 24 located in zones throughout the building. As a user telephone 14 is moved from one zone to another, its location by zone is detected and an active call on an incoming telephone line is switched, as necessary, to the IR emitter/detector head 24 located in the zone where the telephone is presently located.
  • FIG. 3 Another prior art approach to a PBX type telephone system employing IR linked telephones according to techniques of the inventors of this application is shown in Figure 3.
  • the outside telephone lines 20 again come into a central office logic 22.
  • the central office logic 22 is connected in parallel to a plurality of IR emitter/detector heads 24 located in rooms and hallways throughout the building.
  • Self-contained repeaters can also be used to pass the light signals around corners and through walls.
  • a user telephone 14 is moved from one area to another, it is always directly or indirectly within line of sight of one of the IR emitter/detector heads 24. Signals are multiplexed through the IR emitter/detector heads 24 so that more than one user telephone 14 at a time can be connected to its own telephone line through the system of parallel IR emitter/detector heads 24.
  • IR links are also employed to connect, a handset 26 to its associated telephone instrument 28.
  • the handset 26 contains only the microphone and earpiece speaker portions while the telephone instrument 28 contains the dial pad, ringer, etc. and is connected to the telephone line 20.
  • cellular telephone handsets both active and passive
  • IR links are also linked to their transceiver portions through an IR link.
  • voice mail wherein a user can put his or her extension in an answer mode (using the dial pad as mentioned earlier) whereby a caller can leave voice messages which the user can retrieve from remote locations.
  • Paging is usually accomplished by the users carrying a standard RF "beeper” or alpha-numeric pager which is operated by apparatus separate from the telephone system or by an amplified speaker system (also separate from the telephone system) throughout the building.
  • Speaker systems are typically loud and obnoxious and, therefore, are only employed where paging is necessary and the use of virtually silent paging through individually-carried pagers is impossible or impractical.
  • 2,499,475 which describes a personnel locater system employing a cross-bar switching circuit activated by personnel inputs of identification codes at pre-established locations.
  • 4,399,330 (Kuenzel) - which describes a mobile telephone system which transmits to fixed stations and charges according to user identification code numbers.
  • 4,225,953 (Simon et al.) - which describes an RF or ultrasonic transmitting beacon personnel locater system which identifies individuals by the preprogrammed timing sequence of transmitted signals.
  • 4,752,951 (Konneker) - which describes a system in which personnel locater system location information is provided to a telephone switching network for switching incoming calls to a destination associated with the present location of a subscriber.
  • 4,225,953 (Simon et al.) - which describes an RF transmitting beacon personnel locater system for use with a telephone switching network which identifies individuals . by a bi-directional polling sequence in which the personal beacons respond to polling signals from the local transmitters.
  • the plurality of personnel identifiers comprises a plurality of transmitting beacons carried by individuals throughout the associated locations, each of the plurality of transmitting beacons comprising, a case, an identifier carried by the case and having a unique binary number associated therewith which is also associated with one of the plurality of telephone extensions, a battery carried by the case and connected to supply power to components of an associated transmitting beacon, a signal-emitting element carried by the case, and beacon logic carried by the case for causing the signal- emitting element to periodically transmit a signal including the unique binary number; and additionally, the plurality of code reading means comprises a plurality of signal detectors associated with respective ones of the plurality of telephone extensions.
  • the signal-emitting element of each of the plurality of transmitting beacons comprises an infrared light-emitting element and each of the plurality of signal detectors comprises an infrared light detector outputting an electrical signal.
  • the beacon logic table means includes a present location table containing a last reported location for each of the plurality of personnel identifiers. Additionally, the beacon logic means includes logic for not forwarding calls to a new location reported by one of the plurality of transmitting beacons until the new location has been reported twice whereby calls are not forwarded to locations reported during movement of ones of the plurality of transmitting beacons and only forwarded to locations where ones of the plurality of transmitting beacons have remained for a period of time.
  • the beacon logic table means may also include a forwardable-to table designating ones of the plurality of telephone extensions which can be forwarded to and ones which cannot and the beacon logic means may include logic for not forwarding calls to a new location designated in the forwardable-to table as one which cannot have calls forwarded thereto.
  • the beacon logic table means may also include an extensions status table designating ones of the plurality of telephone extensions for which calls can be forwarded from and ones which cannot and the beacon logic means may include logic for not forwarding calls for ones of the plurality of telephone extensions designated in the extensions status table as ones which cannot have calls forwarded therefrom.
  • An additional improvement to the personnel identifiers comprises, receiver means for receiving transmitted multiplexed signals; annunciator means for advising a user of a signal receipt; and, paging logic means for recognizing received multiplexed signals received by the receiver means intended for an associated one of the plurality of personnel identifiers and for activating the annunciator means in response thereto.
  • the receiver means is an infrared light detector outputting an electrical signal;
  • the annunciator means comprises an alpha-numeric display; and
  • the paging logic means includes logic means for retrieving alpha-numeric data from the received multiplexed signals and for displaying the alpha-numeric data on the alpha-numeric display.
  • the plurality of personnel identifiers comprises a plurality of passive reflecting beacons carried by individuals throughout the associated locations, each of the plurality of passive reflecting beacons comprising, a case, an identifier carried by the case and having a unique binary number associated therewith which is also associated with one of the plurality of telephone extensions, a battery carried by the case and connected to supply power to components requiring power, a spatial light-modulating element carried by the case, reflector means for receiving incoming light beams, for directing the incoming light beams through the spatial light-modulating element, and for re-directing light beams modulated by the spatial light-modulating element back towards a source of the incoming light beams, and beacon logic carried by the case for causing the spatial light-modulating element to modulate light beams passing therethrough with the unique binary number; and wherein additionally, the plurality of code reading means comprises a plurality of light beam emitters and a plurality of signal detectors associated with respective ones of the plurality of telephone extensions.
  • a light amplifier can also be
  • the plurality of personnel identifiers comprises a plurality of readable smart badges carried by individuals throughout the associated locations, each of the plurality of readable smart badges having a unique readable identification code; and, the plurality of code reading means comprises a plurality of readers including means for reading the unique readable identification code associated with respective ones of the plurality of telephone extensions.
  • beacon apparatus for advising central control and switching logic of a cellular telephone system central control and switching site of present locations of respective ones of a plurality of users comprising, a plurality of transmitting beacons carried by respective ones of the plurality of users, each of the plurality of transmitting beacons comprising, a case, an identifier carried by the case and including a binary number being an identification number of an associated user, a battery carried by the case and connected to supply power to components of an associated transmitting beacon, a signal-emitting element carried by the case, and beacon logic carried by the case for causing the signal- emitting element to periodically transmit a signal including the unique binary number; and, a plurality of detector/transmitters located at various known locations, each of the plurality of detector/transmitters comprising, a signal detector, detector logic means connected to the signal detector for detecting signals from ones of the plurality of transmitting beacons, and transmitter logic means connected to the detector logic means for receiving detected signals and for transmitting to the central control and
  • beacon apparatus for advising central control and switching logic of a wide area computer network central control site of present locations of respective ones of a plurality of users comprising, a plurality of transmitting beacons carried by respective ones of the plurality of users, each of the plurality of transmitting beacons comprising, a case, an identifier carried by the case and including a binary number being an identification number of an associated user, a battery carried by the case and connected to supply power to components of an associated transmitting beacon, a signal-emitting element carried by the case, and beacon logic carried by the case for causing the signal- emitting element to periodically transmit a signal including the unique binary number; and, a plurality of detector/transmitters located at various known locations, each of the plurality of detector/transmitters comprising, a signal detector, detector logic means connected to the signal detector for detecting signals from ones of the plurality of transmitting beacons, and transmitter logic means connected to the detector logic means for receiving detected signals and for transmitting to the central control and switching logic
  • Figure 1 is a simplified drawing of a prior art approach to linking a telephone to the telephone lines by using an infrared link.
  • Figure 2 is a simplified drawing of a prior art approach to linking a telephone to a telephone line by using an infrared link wherein the location of the phone is sensed and the telephone line is switched to be connected to an emitter/detector head in the zone where the telephone is located.
  • Figure 3 is a simplified drawing of a prior art approach to linking a telephone to a telephone line by using an infrared link wherein a plurality of duplicate emitter/detector heads are in located throughout an area of service and the telephone uses the emitter/detector head where it is presently located.
  • Figure 4 is a simplified drawing of a prior art approach to linking a telephone handset to the telephone instrument itself by using an infrared link so as to only replace the connecting cord.
  • FIG 5 is a simplified drawing of a PBX installation according to the present invention in a basic embodiment wherein a transmitting coded beacon carried by each user is sensed by telephone instruments in various locations so that the user's calls can be forwarded automatically to the telephone instrument at the user's present location.
  • Figure 6 is a functional block diagram cross section of a beacon as can be used in the system of Figure 5.
  • Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of a telephone instrument as can be used in the system of Figure 5.
  • FIG 8 is a simplified flowchart of logic implemented in the beacon of Figure 6.
  • Figure 9 is a functional block diagram of the PBX control logic of the system of Figure 5.
  • FIG 10 is a functional block diagram of the beacon logic tables of the system of Figure 5 including support for optional features.
  • FIG 11 is a simplified flowchart of beacon logic implemented in the system of Figure 5.
  • Figure 12 is a functional block diagram cross section of a beacon as can be used for bidirectional information flow in the system of Figure 5 as upgraded to provide optional additional features.
  • Figure 13 is a functional block diagram of a telephone instrument as can be used with the beacon of Figure 12.
  • Figure 14 is a functional block diagram of retrofit apparatus which can be employed with a standard telephone instrument to be used with the beacons of the present invention.
  • Figure 15 is a drawing of a wide area communications system with automated user location advisement employing the IR beacons of the present invention.
  • Figure 16 is a functional block diagram cross section of a passive, reflecting beacon as can be used in a first alternate approach to the preferred infrared transmitting beacon
  • Figure 17 is a functional block diagram of a telephone instrument as can be used with the passive beacon of Figure 16.
  • Figure 18 is a functional block diagram of a telephone instrument as can be used with a registration approach to the present invention
  • Figure 19 is a functional block diagram cross section of a passive, reflecting beacon as can be used in the first alternate approach to the preferred infrared transmitting beacon with the addition of an optical signal amplifier.
  • a PBX type telephone system 30 is shown in simplified form in Figure 5.
  • the system includes PBX control logic 32 into which the outside telephone lines 20 are connected.
  • the PBX control logic 32 is connected to a plurality of extension telephones 34 by individual wire-pairs 36.
  • the wire-pairs 36 could be replaced by optic fibers or an RF or IR link. Since the manner of connecting the individual extension telephones 34 to the PBX control logic 32 is not a point of novelty of this invention per se, the wire-pairs 36 are being employed because of their simplicity and to avoid detracting from the points of novelty being described herein.
  • extension telephones 34 which are of the standard cord-connected variety or of the wireless variety employing IR or RF linking.
  • IR-linked extension telephones 34 according to the techniques of the inventors of this application are preferred as they give superior performance and flexibility.
  • IR is not subject to the various interference problems of a workplace that can effect RF wireless telephones, as mentioned above.
  • an active IR handset i.e. one having the dialing capability therein
  • a user can carry the handset from place to place and use those features whenever calls are made.
  • the active IR-linked handset can also be used as a "universal" and personal handset into any IR-b ' nked telephone system including public telephone access systems, private cellular, cellular boosting, and vehicular telephone system (including in-flight systems).
  • IR-linking by its unique line-of-sight performance characteristics, allows one to accomplish results not attainable using RF.
  • each extension telephone 34 is located in its own area 38.
  • each extension telephone 34 has an associated IR beacon 40 which is carried by a person or persons associated with the extension telephone 34.
  • the IR beacon 40 can be made part of a badge or other employee recognition system.
  • the IR beacon 40 periodically sends out a coded IR beam 42 which is detected by an IR detector 44 on the closest extension telephone 34 and transmitted to the PBX control logic 32.
  • the PBX control logic 32 knows the present location of each person wearing an IR beacon 40.
  • the PBX control logic 32 can automatically forward calls to the extension telephone 34 where each user is presently located and, additionally, can advise authorized requestors as to anyone's location on request.
  • the manner in which location information is requested and provided is a matter of choice and can be accomplished by any of a number of ways well known in the computer art. A preferred way would be for the requestor to input the desired person's employee ID or telephone extension number through the Touch Tone pad of any extension telephone 34 and for the PBX control logic 32 to then employ a voice response unit to advise the caller of that person's present location. If more than one person shares a particular extension telephone 34, the IR beacon 40 would have to transmit the person's employee ID number in each case for location purposes.
  • the PBX control logic 32 can, of course, include a cross-reference table associating each employee ID number with an associated extension telephone 34. Only one employee (if any) could be associated with call forwarding in such case, however, or there would be confusion to callers. Where automatic call forwarding is desired, it is preferable to associate an extension telephone 34 with each individual who is to have calls forwarded.
  • One possible configuration for the IR beacon 40 is shown in Figure 6.
  • the IR beacon 40 is housed in a pen-sized case 46 having a clip 48 thereon for securing the IR beacon to the user's pocket or clothing.
  • the IR beacon 40 is powered by one or more batteries 50 which are preferably of the rechargeable type.
  • the batteries 50 can be recharged by placing them in a recharging receptacle (not shown) provided for the purpose in the users extension telephone 34.
  • a recharging receptacle not shown
  • Other number setting apparatus or methods known in the art could also be employed.
  • logic 54 Connected to the DIP switches 52 is logic 54 which, in turn, is connected to drive an IR emitter such as a light emitting diode (LED) 56.
  • the top 58 of the case 46 is preferably of an IR transmissive plastic so as to protect the LED 56 while letting emitted IR beams 42 to pass therethrough.
  • the logic 54 is relatively simple.
  • a timer in the logic 54 periodically reads the DIP switches 52 and causes the LED 56 to output a binary number sequence on the IR beams 42 representing the number sequence set into the DIP switches.
  • the timer should only cause transmission every thirty seconds or so - or even less frequently if desired.
  • the caller can also be given the option of silently paging the called party.
  • An extension telephone 34 to be employed with the IR beacon 40 is shown in functional block diagram form in Figure 7.
  • the logic 62 is also simple and operates as depicted in Figure 8. If the IR detector 44 is separately wired to the PBX control logic 32, the logic 62 is unnecessary. In most instances, however, the wire-pairs 36 will be the only connection available to the extension telephones 34. Any inputs from an IR beacon 40 are always stored by the logic 62 into the memory 65.
  • the memory 65 will hold several numbers for the case when several people are in a forwardable office at one time for a meeting or the like.
  • the storage portion of the logic 62 will have to check the incoming numbers and store different numbers in different locations of the memory 65. After that, the logic 62 checks to see if the extension telephone 34 is off hook (i.e. in the process of using the associated wire-pair 36 for a call in progress. If it is, the handset 26 and dial pad 64 are connected to the associated wire-pair 36. If not, the handset 26 and dial pad 64 are disconnected from the associated wire-pair 36. The "ringing" portion of the extension telephone 34 is always connected to the wire-pair 36 so that the extension telephone 34 can be called by the PBX control logic 32.
  • the logic 62 watches for a query signal from the PBX control logic 32.
  • the logic 62 transmits the contents of the memory 65 to the PBX control logic 32 and then clears the memory 65.
  • the PBX control logic 32 is depicted in functional block diagram form in Figure 9. It goes without saying that as with virtually all contemporary telephone systems, all control and switching logic is binary in nature under the control of one or •more microprocessors as well known and understood by those skilled in the art.
  • the outside telephone lines 20 are connected into telephone logic 66 which is substantially the normal switching and control logic employed in conventional computer- controlled PBX telephone systems.
  • the telephone logic 66 is, of course, modified as necessary to interface with the capabilities provided by the present invention. The necessary modifications to the telephone logic 66 to effect such interface will be apparent to those" skilled in the art and will depend in each case upon the configuration of the telephone logic 66. No attempt will be made to address the modifications to the telephone logic 66 herein therefore.
  • the telephone logic 66 is also connected to the wire-pairs 36 leading to the extension telephones 34 in the usual manner.
  • beacon logic 68 is connected in parallel to the wire- pairs 36 to receive the incoming signals from the IR beacons 42.
  • the beacon logic 68 is connected to a memory containing the beacon logic tables 70.
  • the telephone logic 66 can also query the beacon logic 68 before taking any action over the data/control transfer connection 72.
  • beacon logic 68 only has to send a signal over the data/control transfer connection 72 which is received and interpreted by the telephone logic 66 as a call forwarding request from the particular extension being forwarded by the beacon logic 68.
  • the telephone logic 66 could check with the beacon logic 68 before ringing any incoming calls to allow the beacon logic 68 to make any last minute changes effecting the incoming call.
  • Such techniques would be trivial to those skilled in the art and could be accomplished without undue experimentation.
  • Typical contents of the beacon logic tables 70 are depicted in Figure 10.
  • the beacon logic tables 70 would include the cross- reference table (not shown) mentioned above. To effect some of the features to be discussed hereinafter, the beacon logic tables 70 might include a present location table 74, an extensions forwardable to table 76, an extensions status table 78, and a voicemail received table 80. These various tables will be referred to in the descriptions which follow.
  • a possible implementation for the call forwarding portion of the beacon logic 68 is depicted in flowchart form in Figure 11.
  • the logic 68 starts at extension number 1 (i.e. the first extension telephone 34 in the scanning sequence).
  • extension number 1 i.e. the first extension telephone 34 in the scanning sequence.
  • the logic 68 looks for a beacon input response from the memory 65 of the extension telephone 34.
  • the logic 68 goes to the present location table 74 and obtains the last known and stored present location of each extension number transmitted from the ' queried extension telephone 34 (i.e. each IR beacon 40 presently in the area of that extension telephone 34).
  • the logic 68 stores the present locations into the present location table 74 and flags those locations which are a repeat. Without the flagging, a person walking down the hall could have his/her location falsely reported if picked up by an extension telephone 34 that is passed as the IR beacon 40 transmits its IR signal.
  • the personnel location logic can report a passed location as the last known location; but, calls should not be forwarded except to a stable new location.
  • the logic 68 at query block 11.07 determines if the last extension telephone 34 has been queried. If it has, the logic 68 proceeds to block 11.08. If not, it goes to block 11.09 to set up to query the next extension in the query sequence and then returns to query block 11.02. If the logic 68 at query block 11.02 finds that the extension telephone 34 to be queried is off hook (i.e.
  • query block 11.07 the logic 68 at query block 11.04 gets no response from a queried extension telephone 34 (i.e. there is no IR beacon 40 transmitting at that location), it again proceeds to query block 11.07.
  • the beacon logic 68 begins its forwarding update sequence at block 11.08 by starting at extension number 1 which, in this case, is the first entry of the present location table 74.
  • the logic 68 gets the present location of the extension telephone 34.
  • it checks to see if the IR beacon 40 for that extension telephone 34 has reported in from a location other than the location of the extension telephone 34 (i.e. the user is "away" from the extension telephone 34). If yes, at query block 11.12 the logic 68 checks to see if the present location is flagged as described above (indicating a non-transient situation).
  • the logic 68 at block 11.13 checks the extensions status table 78 to see if this extension telephone 34 can have its calls forwarded.
  • the entries of the extensions status table 78 can be updated automatically by the system logic or by user inputs from a Touch Tone pad according to techniques well known in the art. Thus, users who do not want calls forwarded automatically can set that status either permanently or temporarily when desired.
  • the logic 68 then goes to query block 11.14 to see if the present location is a forwardable location.
  • the logic 68 checks the forwardable to table 76 (which is also updateable and settable by the user of that extension telephone 34 through the Touch Tone pad thereof). Key executives, for example, may not want to have the calls of others forwarded to their office. Likewise, conference rooms with multiple people in attendance may be locked out from annoying interruptions from multiple calls being forwarded for the duration of a meeting. If this is a forwardable location, at block 11.15 the logic 68 forwards the call to the new location. As mentioned above, this can be accomplished by the logic 68 sending an appropriate signal on the data/control transfer connection 72 to "fool" the telephone logic 66 into thinking that the user of that extension telephone 34 is implementing call forwarding through the Touch Tone pad thereof.
  • the logic 68 then proceeds to query block 11.16.
  • the logic 68 also proceeds to query block 11.16 in the event of a NO answer from any of the query blocks 11.11, 11.12, 11.13, or 11.14.
  • the logic 68 exits if the last extension telephone 34 in the present location table 74 has been updated. If not, the logic 68 moves to block 11.17 to move to the next entry in the present location table 74 and then returns to block 11.10.
  • the sensing aspects of extension telephones 34 should be placed at entrances and exits.
  • the most practical implementation would be to have the beacon logic 68 automatically place the extension telephone 34 of a departing user in the voice mail answering mode by an appropriate signal to the telephone logic 66 over the data/control transfer connection 72 as described above to implement call forwarding.
  • the present location table 74 provides the last known location of each IR beacon 40.
  • Conventional techniques well known in the computer can be used to access this information and provide it to a requestor. All these techniques form no part of the novelty of this invention and, therefore, will not be addressed herein.
  • IR beacon 40 for such use is shown in Figure 12.
  • the components of the basic IR beacon 40 of Figure 6 are the same.
  • an IR detector 82 such as a phototransistor
  • LCD liquid crystal display
  • buzzer 86 connected to the logic 54'. Broadcast information from the PBX control logic 32 received by the IR detector 82 can be employed by the logic 54' to create an appropriate display on the LCD 84 or sound the buzzer 86.
  • the contents of the voicemail received table 80 could be broadcast periodically to those IR beacons 40' having waiting voicemail and the number displayed on the LCD 84 for periodic checking by the wearer. Broadcast information from the PBX control logic 32 to the IR beacons 40' would, of course, have to be transmitted in parallel to all emitting sites and employ multiplexing techniques well known to those skilled in the art which form no part of the points of novelty of this invention.
  • a user could be paged by simply sending a multiplexed signal recognized by the logic 54' causing the logic 54' to sound the buzzer 86. In such case, as with RF pagers, the user would have to know who to call when the buzzer 86 is activated (typically the local operator).
  • the IR beacon 40' could also be operated as an alpha-numeric pager by having the extension number of a calling/paging extension telephone 34 be sent as part of the multiplexed signal from the PBX control logic 32 so that the logic 54' in the receiving IR beacon 40' can display the caller's extension number on the LCD 84.
  • the present invention can provide both virtually silent paging (both advisory and alpha-numeric) and voicemail status information to users away from their base location as part of an overall IR- linked PBX telephone system.
  • An extension telephone 34 configured for bi-directional communications with the IR beacons 40' is depicted in Figure 13.
  • the IR emitting LEDs 56' could also be connected in parallel to a single wire pair running through the building(s) and connected back to the PBX control logic 32.
  • an interface unit 92 is associated with each telephone 14. While the above-described integral implementations most likely derive their power from the telephone system power source, the interface unit 92 can be powered by one of the plug-in transformer type power supplies commonly used with transistorized electronics devices. A convenient implementation for the interface unit 92 would be to make it of a size so as to provide a base upon which the telephone 14 can sit as shown in Figure 14. While a bi-directional interface unit 92 will be described, a detect and forward only implementation could, of course, be employed if only the automatic call forwarding and personnel locating benefits were desired.
  • the beacon logic 68 aspects of the invention as described above would have to be connected to the existing telephone logic 66. Since this principally involves paralleling each wire-pair 36 into the beacon logic 68 and providing a data/control transfer connection 72 by which to "fool" the telephone logic 66, that aspect could be accomplished by those skilled in the art without undue experimentation. Other than that, the interface units 92 would have to be installed -- which is a matter of plug-exchange as when installing an answering machine to a telephone.
  • the RJ-11 plug 90 connected to the wire-pair 36 of the telephone 14 is removed from the telephone 14 and plugged into the INPUT RJ-11 jack 88 of the interface unit 92 and a jumper wire pair 94 plug-connected between the OUTPUT RJ-11 jack 88 of the interface unit 92 and the RJ-11 jack 88 of the telephone 14.
  • the interface unit 92 operates like the telephones of Figures 7 and 13. Since the interface unit 92 controls the connection of the wire-pair 36 to the telephone (and not just the connection to the handset 26 and dial pad 64) the interface unit 92 should include a ringer 96 to signal an incoming call.
  • the logic 62 can detect the on/off status of the telephone 14 through the jumper wire pair 94.
  • the interface unit 92 as shown in Figure 14 including the IR detector 82 connected to the logic 62 can also be employed to add other IR- linked telephone features to the existing computer-controlled PBX type telephone system and/or the standard telephones 14.
  • any IR-linked telephone apparatus could be connected to the wire-pair 36 through the interface unit 92. This could include IR-linked handsets, telephones, cellular telephones, "universal" handsets, facsimile devices, and computer modems.
  • IR is preferred because the line-of-sight characteristics of light transmission limits detection of signals emitted from the IR beacons 40 to locations (such as rooms) where they are located whereas an RF transmitter in the beacon could transmit through walls and lead to confusion unless complex and costly specialized shielding and/or directional antennas were employed.
  • IR is also preferred for the transmission of the paging and voicemail signals as well so as to completely eliminate any RF transmissions being required; however, if desired RF could be used for such purposes within the scope and spirit of the present invention since the multiplexed signals with that data are being broadcast in general throughout the entire area of telephone service.
  • the transmitting IR beacon 40 could be employed outside of a localized PBX to provide the same personnel locating and tracking capabilities on a large scale — i.e. even nationally and internationally.
  • a system is depicted in simplified form in Figure 15.
  • next generation computers and computer systems are being designed which will include intra-computer networks wherein telephonic transmissions will be just another form of digital data transmission along with packetized computer data and messages.
  • each user is assigned a unique identification code. By logging onto the network and telling the network where he/she is (or will be), all messages to the user will be routed automatically to his/her location.
  • each user By providing IR input units 98 at various sites connected by cables 100 to the telephone lines 20 (or connected cables 102, microwave links 104, or the like) and from thence to the central switching and control computer site 106 along with each user carrying one of the small and easily transportable IR beacons 40 of this invention as described above, each user would automatically and periodically advise the large-scale communications network of his/her location so as to receive incoming calls and other data transmissions at the nearest appropriate equipment site to the last reported location. In that case, of course, the IR beacons 40 would each be assigned (and transmit) each user's unique identification code which could then be cross-referenced against any other numbers associated with the user by the central switching and control logic in the manner described above. For such uses, the replacement of the
  • DIP switches with an EPROM for containing the user's unique identification code as mentioned above is a preferred approach.
  • the caller in the present mode of operation, for a caller to call a party via cellular telephone two things are required — (1) the caller must know the telephone number (area code + telephone number) of the cellular telephone of the called party and (2) the called party must have his/her cellular telephone on and in a stand-by mode so that the present location of that cellular telephone is known to the cellular system. This, of course, causes battery drain and loss of in-use transmit time from the periodic transmissions of the cellular telephone for location advisory purposes. To try other calling modes (electronic mail, voice mail, standard telephone, etc.), the caller must know the separate numbers or calling sequences of the called party for those other communications systems.
  • the call can still be routed to any type of communications device designed to handle the call as appropriate to the called party's present location.
  • the call from the telephone booth may be routed to the called party at a telephonic-compatible computer terminal connected to a wide area network (WAN) and be handled by local digital voice mail if the called party is not there to accept the incoming call in person.
  • WAN wide area network
  • the called party can, of course, access his/her voice mail from anywhere according to the same techniques regardless of where it is stored.
  • the passive reflective beacon and the readable smart badge to be described hereinafter can also be used as the personal identification input device in the above application in place of the transmitting beacon, if desired, within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
  • the IR beacons 40 in combination with the IR input units 98 at various locations can still be put to good use outside of the localized PBX environment described in detail hereinbefore.
  • the IR beacons 40 can be set up to periodically transmit several identification numbers associated with the user in the absence of a "universal" identification number.
  • a work telephone number and extension identifier or employee ID number
  • the IR beacons 40 can be set to transmit the ESN of a cellular telephone of the user and the logic 62' of the IR input sites 98 adapted to forward the information (directly or indirectly) to the nearest cellular central office site (in place of the central switching and control computer site 106 of Figure 15) just as if the cellular telephone itself were transmitting its location in the stand-by mode.
  • the IR beacon 40 By including an RF paging "beeper" in the IR beacon 40 in the manner described above which is responsive to the transmitted call identifier of the associated cellular telephone, the normal problems of battery drain in the stand-by mode with loss of in- use transmit time can be eliminated (along with the requirement of having the cellular telephone out in the open).
  • the cellular telephone could be left in a briefcase or purse in the off condition while the IR beacon 40 transmitted the ESN and responded to (but did not answer) incoming calls.
  • the pager buzzer 86 associated with the cellular telephone sounded to indicate an incoming call, the cellular telephone could be taken out and turned on so as to answer the call in progress in the usual manner.
  • the IR beacons 40 could, of course, be implemented to transmit their ESN signals as RF signals at the cellular frequencies so as to directly advise the nearest cell site of the cellular telephone's presence.
  • FIG 16 a passive, reflecting beacon 108 is depicted.
  • the passive, reflecting beacon 108 can operate according to the preferred techniques described in Letters
  • the plastic case 46 of the beacon 108 includes a compartment 110 having a transparent front surface.
  • a pair of reflectors 112 are disposed at opposite ends of the compartment 110 at 45° angles to the longitudinal axis of the compartment 110 so as to reflect incoming IR beams 42 striking one reflector 112 along the length of the compartment 110 to strike the other reflector 112 and be reflected back towards the source thereof.
  • the reflectors are parabolic-like in shape so as to gather incoming IR beams 42 from various incoming angles and reflect them along the length of the compartment 110 to strike the other reflector 112.
  • a spatial light modulator 114 as described in the above-referenced '296 patent is disposed within the compartment 110 so as to have IR beams 42 from one reflector 112 to the other reflector 112 pass therethrough.
  • the spatial light modulator 114 is connected to and driven by the logic 54' which, in turn, is connected to the DIP switches 52 designating the extension (or other) number associated with the beacon 108.
  • the IR beams 42 reflected back to the source are modulated by the spatial light modulator 114 with the identification information supplied to the logic 54' in the manner of the transmitting beacon described earlier herein.
  • modulated IR beams 42 entering the beacon 108 and containing paging information can be detected and the signal developed therefrom conducted to the logic 54' so as to have the logic 54' activate the buzzer 86 and display 84 substantially as described with respect to the earlier embodiment.
  • Figure 17 depicts an extension telephone 34 configured to interface with the beacon 108.
  • the telephone 34 of Figure 17 is substantially identical to the telephone 34 of Figure 13.
  • the detector 44 detects the reflected IR beams 42 which were emitted by the emitter 56' and reflected back by the beacon 108 after modulation.
  • the emitter 56' can also emit paging information for detection by the beacon 108 as described above.
  • Figure 18 The other alternate approach to the present invention is depicted in Figure 18.
  • Figure 18 it is shown incorporated into an interfacing unit 92' used with a telephone 14 in the manner of the interfacing unit 92 of Figure 14.
  • this embodiment could also be built into a telephone as with the embodiment of Figure 17 and the embodiment of Figure 17 could also be built into an interfacing unit 92.
  • this "registration" approach the user must register his or her presence at a location by inserting the readable smart badge 116 into the reader 118 of the interfacing unit 92'. Again, it is preferred that the readable smart badge 116 and the reader 118 be according to techniques described in the above-referenced '296 patent.
  • the readable smart badge 116 can comprise a light-modulated smart card which is powered by light (not shown) passing therethrough within the reader 118, which light is also modulated by the smart card.
  • the readable smart badge 116 can include a magnetic strip or punched holes which are read by the reader 118 according to techniques well known in the art. This latter embodiment when employed to initiate call-forwarding does have the advantage that call-forwarding to a new location is only initiated when the user desires it by registering the readable smart badge 116 at the desired location for call- forwarding.
  • a power-boosted, passive, reflecting beacon 108' is depicted therein.
  • the preferred beacon 108' also operates according to the techniques described in the '296 patent and generally in the manner of the beacon 108 of Figure 16.
  • the incoming IR beams 42 after passing through the spatial light modulator 114 are then boosted in power by a light amplifier 120 before being directed back towards the emitting source (e.g. the telephone 34) as, by example, by the other reflector 112.
  • Light amplifiers and methods of light amplification are well known to those skilled in the art and, therefore, will not be described in any particular detail herein.
  • the modulated light beam 42 * may stike a light detector to create an electrical output which is connected to drive a light-emitting source at a higher power output.
  • the light detector can also be employed to detect modulated IR beams 42 entering the beacon 108' containing paging information as described above used by the logic 54' to activate the buzzer 86 and display 84.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Appareil de localisation de personnel, servant à aviser un système logique de commutation et de commande central des endroits où se trouvent actuellement des utilisateurs respectifs parmi une multiplicité d'utilisateurs. L'appareil peut être utilisé pour effectuer une commutation automatique relative à l'endroit où se trouve un destinataire, dans des systèmes téléphoniques du type à standard privé (32), des systèmes téléphoniques cellulaires et des réseaux d'ordinateurs longue portée. L'appareil produit également des données relatives aux endroits où se trouvent des membres du personnel. Chaque dispositif porté par l'utilisateur peut être une balise émettrice à infrarouge, une balise à infrarouge réflechissante passive, ou un dispositif pouvant être lu, qui doit être introduit dans un lecteur pour enregistrer l'endroit où se trouve l'utilisateur. Ces dispositifs portés par l'utilisateur peuvent également comprendre un appareil de recherche de personne silencieux et peuvent être utilisés pour aviser un utilisateur d'appels entrants sur un téléphone cellulaire, afin de prolonger la durée d'utilisation des batteries de téléphones cellulaires (40).
PCT/US1992/005955 1991-11-20 1992-07-16 Dispositif de localisation de personnel et de renvoi automatique d'appel WO1993010616A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US79588791A 1991-11-20 1991-11-20
US795,887 1991-11-20
US86127792A 1992-03-31 1992-03-31
US861,277 1992-03-31

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GB2283389A (en) * 1993-10-12 1995-05-03 Mitel Corp Telephone subscriber presence detector
WO1995034985A1 (fr) * 1994-06-13 1995-12-21 Alcatel Sel Aktiengesellschaft Procede de selection d'un parmi au moins deux terminaux de telecommunications et terminal de telecommunication approprie
EP0893904A1 (fr) * 1997-07-22 1999-01-27 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Procédé et dispositif de transfert d'appels
WO2000051320A1 (fr) * 1999-02-22 2000-08-31 Stefan Bachmann Procede et circuit pour un systeme de telecommunication
GB2355133A (en) * 1999-10-06 2001-04-11 Mitel Corp Automatic configuration of communication endpoints in response to detection of identificaton badges
CN112714219A (zh) * 2019-10-24 2021-04-27 成都鼎桥通信技术有限公司 号码转接的方法及装置

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US4602129A (en) * 1979-11-26 1986-07-22 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with versatile message delivery
US4757525A (en) * 1982-09-29 1988-07-12 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with voice command features
US4761807A (en) * 1982-09-29 1988-08-02 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with voice authentication features
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US4580012A (en) * 1979-11-26 1986-04-01 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with automatic user access features
US4602129A (en) * 1979-11-26 1986-07-22 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with versatile message delivery
US4757525A (en) * 1982-09-29 1988-07-12 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with voice command features
US4761807A (en) * 1982-09-29 1988-08-02 Vmx, Inc. Electronic audio communications system with voice authentication features
US5003583A (en) * 1989-05-15 1991-03-26 Iggulden Jerry R Facsimile printer broadcast exchange (PBX)

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5596633A (en) * 1993-10-12 1997-01-21 Mitel Corporation Charger/detector for cordless telephones
GB2283389B (en) * 1993-10-12 1998-08-12 Mitel Corp Charger/detector for cordless telephones
GB2283389A (en) * 1993-10-12 1995-05-03 Mitel Corp Telephone subscriber presence detector
US6128502A (en) * 1994-06-13 2000-10-03 Alcatel N.V. Method of selecting one of at least two communications terminals, and a communications terminal therefor
WO1995034985A1 (fr) * 1994-06-13 1995-12-21 Alcatel Sel Aktiengesellschaft Procede de selection d'un parmi au moins deux terminaux de telecommunications et terminal de telecommunication approprie
AU701203B2 (en) * 1994-06-13 1999-01-21 Alcatel N.V. Method of selecting one of at least two communications terminals, and a communications terminal therefore
AU701203C (en) * 1994-06-13 2001-10-11 Alcatel N.V. Method of selecting one of at least two communications terminals, and a communications terminal therefore
FR2766643A1 (fr) * 1997-07-22 1999-01-29 Philips Electronics Nv Procede et dispositif de transfert d'appels
EP0893904A1 (fr) * 1997-07-22 1999-01-27 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Procédé et dispositif de transfert d'appels
WO2000051320A1 (fr) * 1999-02-22 2000-08-31 Stefan Bachmann Procede et circuit pour un systeme de telecommunication
GB2355133A (en) * 1999-10-06 2001-04-11 Mitel Corp Automatic configuration of communication endpoints in response to detection of identificaton badges
CN112714219A (zh) * 2019-10-24 2021-04-27 成都鼎桥通信技术有限公司 号码转接的方法及装置
CN112714219B (zh) * 2019-10-24 2023-03-21 成都鼎桥通信技术有限公司 号码转接的方法及装置

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