WO2003013118A1

WO2003013118A1 - A call completion system

Info

Publication number: WO2003013118A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/001009
Authority: WO
Inventors: Graham Milton GOEBY; Robyn Ann BATTY; Vladimir Fredrick PESKA; Gregg Macky FRANCIS; Mark Leonard VAN ECHTELD; Joy Anne WILLIAMS
Original assignee: Telstra Corporation Limited
Priority date: 2001-07-27
Filing date: 2002-07-26
Publication date: 2003-02-13
Also published as: AUPR664801A0

Abstract

A call completion system, including a call completion facility allowing selection between a call back facility and a leave message facility, and a switch system for receiving a call request from a calling party terminal for a call to a called party terminal, and being adapted to invoke the call completion facility for the call in response to an unavailable state corresponding to the called party terminal.

Description

A CALL COMPLETION SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The present relation relates to a call completion system and a method of completing a call.

Background of the Invention

In a communications network, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a high percentage of requested calls between parties are not completed, normally due to the called party being either busy or unable to answer the call. If the call is not completed by establishing a connection, this represents a loss of revenue to the carrier responsible for the connection, notwithstanding the inconvenience and frustration that can be experienced by calling parties. When a called party is unavailable and the calling party receives a "busy" or "no answer" indication, the calling party needs to attempt completion of the call at a later time, which can lead to significant waste in resources and introduce delays in productivity. In many cases, the calling party may not attempt to place the call at another time. Accordingly, it is desired to provide a method and system which assists call completion, or at least provides a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with the present invention there is provided a call completion system, including: a call completion facility allowing selection between a call back facility and a leave message facility; and a switch system for receiving a call request from a calling party terminal for a call to a called party terminal, and being adapted to invoke said call completion facility for said call in response to an unavailable state corresponding to said called party terminal.

The present invention also provides a method for completing a call, executed by a switching system of a telecommunications network, including: receiving a call request from a calling party terminal for a call to a called party terminal; and directing said call to a call completion process in response to an unavailable state corresponding to said called party terminal.

Brief Description of the Drawings Preferred embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a call completion process; and Figure 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a call completion system.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

A call completion system, as shown in the Figures, is part of a communications network, such as the PSTN, that is able to establish call connections between customers. The system provides customers with the ability to always be able to terminate calls on the network. The calls to a called party, if they cannot be terminated on the terminal of the called party, are terminated on a call completion facility that allows the calling party to select components of the facility. The components include: (i) an automatic call back facility to the called party, when the called terminal is available; and (ii) a leave message facility which allows a name and return number message to be stored for subsequent retrieval and delivery to the called party.

If the calling party does not accept one of the above, then a calling line identity (CLI) for the calling party is stored and retrieved as a missed call by the called party when desired. Additionally, unanswered calls that are abandoned by the calling party before the expiration of a "no answer" timer, discussed below, also have the CLI stored and presented as a missed call to the called party.

The calling party A is able to use a telecommunications terminal 50 to initiate a call into the public switched telephone network (PSTN) by lifting the handset of the terminal 50 at step 10 of Figure 1. The calling party can then key a called or B party's telephone number, and any number keyed causes generation of DTMF tones at the terminal 50 that are received by a local exchange 52 of the network, as shown in Figure 2. Normal call processing within the local exchange and other switches of the network occurs at step 12, and if the B party answers at its destination terminal 54, normal call completion occurs at step 14. If the calling party dials predefined service codes, such as "1#" or "*10#", the call is terminated on an interactive voice response platform (IVR) 56 to invoke a call assistance process 16 or a message retrieval process 18, respectively. If the exchange detects at step 12 that the call is not answered within a predetermined period of time, a no answer state is determined and the call is redirected to invoke a call completion facility for a "no answer", at step 20. The facility involves execution of a process that prompts users for selections that are recognised by the switch 52. On the basis of the selection, the process may invoke a call completion on no answer (CCNR) facility of the exchange 52 at step 22 or a leave message facility of the IVR 56 at step 24. If the switch 52 receives a busy signal from the called party terminal 54, a busy state is determined and the call is redirected so as to invoke a call completion assistance "busy" facility at step 28. This facility involves execution of a process to prompt the calling party to select between a call completion to busy subscriber (CCBS) facility available at step 26 or the leave message facility of the IVR 56 executed at step 24.

When a calling party selects the leave message facility, at step 24, the calling party incurs a normal call charge as if they had been connected to the desired party (subject to the available capacity in the called party's message mailbox), for the duration of the interaction of the calling party with the IVR 56. If the CCNR or CCBS facilities are invoked at steps 22 or 26, then the calling party only incurs surcharges plus any normal call charges once these facilities establish a successful return call, as discussed below.

The call completion system uses an intelligent network (IN) architecture, as shown in Figure 2, to establish connections to the IVR 56 when the appropriate triggers occur. The switch 52 acts as a service switching point (SSP) of the architecture and may be provided by a digital local exchange, such as Ericsson's AXE exchange. The SSP is able to communicate via a signalling transfer point (STP) 58 with a service control point (SCP) 60, and the IVR 56, using CCS7 signalling to determine routing for call connections. The STP 58 is a signalling network component, such as Tekelec's Eagle 5 STP, and the SCP 60 may be provided by an IN platform, such as Ericsson's SCP. The IVR is a messaging platform, such as the Nortel Networks' Periphonics IVR, and includes modules for speech recognition, delivery of prompts, and natural language processing, such as that provided by Nuance 7.0 produced by Nuance Communications.

When the A party uses the terminal 50 and requests a call connection to the B party terminal 54, the SSP 52 analyses the conditions of the call further if a busy or no answer trigger occurs thus indicating an unavailable state. The busy trigger occurs if the SSP 52 receives a busy signal returned through the network, indicating that the B party terminal already has another call connection established to it. A "no answer" trigger occurs when a supervisory timer in the SSP 52 expires a predetermined period of time after receiving a call setup request and attempting to establish a connection to the B party terminal 54. Expiry of the time may indicate that no party is present to answer the ringing terminal 54 or that they have chosen not to answer it, or may not have heard the alerting signal at the terminal 54. When either of these triggers occur, the SSP 52 analyses the call to determine whether the requested destination 54 is capable of being the subject of a call back invoked by the CCNR or CCBS facilities, whether the terminal 54 is able to receive a message waiting indication (MWI) and whether it has any active call forwarding in place. If there is no active call forwarding for the terminal 54 and it can be subject to a CCNR or a CCBS facility or a MWI, then the call completion facility can be invoked, otherwise normal processing of the call is continued. For example, before triggering the SCP the initiating SSP may test the capabilities of the destination party 54 on the basis of:

1. Can MWI be set on the B-party? By association this assumes that they are CCBS or CCNR capable.

2. Does the B party have Call Forwarding Fixed set? This may be taken to mean they have a permanent alternative messaging facility in the network that should not be interfered with.

3. Was any form of Call Forwarding involved in the call attempt? For instance, was the call to the B party and then forwarded to a C party. This is indicated in signalling responses associated with the unavailable state. 4. Is the A party CCBS or CCNR capable?

A party may be determined as not being capable of being subjected to CCBS or CCNR if the party is included on a "black" list of customers who wish or need to be excluded from the CCBS, CCNR or the call completion facility itself. A party may be offered the leave message and CCNR or CCBS if (i) an MWI can be set for the B party, (ii) there is no call forwarding set for the B party, (iii) no call forwarding has been invoked for the B party and (iv) the A party is CCBS or CCNR capable. The A party may only be offered the leave message facility if the first two conditions are the same but call forwarding has already been invoked for the B party, or the A party is flagged as not being CCBS or CCNR capable. Otherwise, normal call processing occurs.

The analysis of the call information contained in an address complete message (ACM) of the call is executed by the SCP or in part by SSP and SCP or entirely by the SSP. Following the analysis and determination that the call completion facility can be invoked, the SSP is instructed by the SCP to play an announcement for the calling party, at steps 20 or 28, offering the call completion facility components. The caller is able to make a selection using their terminal 50 and the DTMF signals sent are processed in the SSP 52 and the selection relayed to the SCP 60. If the CCBS or CCNR facilities are selected, the SCP instructs the SSP to invoke the facilities at step 22 or 26.

For the CCNR facility, at step 22 the SSP monitors the destination terminal 54, and when that terminal 54 is next detected as going "on-hook" after going "off hook", the SSP notifies the A party terminal 50 and automatically attempts to establish a connection between the terminals 50 and 54 when terminal 50 answers. Similarly for the CCBS facility, at step 26, the SSP establishes monitoring of the terminal 54 and when it is no longer busy, ie it is detected as going "on-hook", it invokes a call to the calling party terminal 50 and when the calling party terminal answers, attempts connection to the called party terminal 54. The common trigger to detect the available state is the next "on-hook" detection once CCNR or CCBS is invoked. If the leave message facility is selected, the SCP instructs the SSP to connect the calling party to the IVR 56. The IVR 56 interacts with the calling party to obtain their name and number, and offers to use the network supplied CLI, if available, or to accept an alternative return number supplied by the calling party. The number is stored in the IVR in the called party's list of missed calls and the MWI indication is set on the called party's line to the terminal 54.

The CLI obtained by the SSP, as discussed previously for early release of non answered calls, is provided to the IVR 56 in a missed call record (MCR) over a data link that is separate to the speech path connection to the IVR 56. The CLI obtained by the SCP, for callers encountering busy but not selecting any of the options, is provided to the IVR 56 in a signalling message from the SCP to the IVR 56.

A party is able to retrieve their messages and review missed call details, at step 18, by keying a predefined code, eg "*10#", when desired or after receiving a MWI at the terminal 50 or 54. The party's terminal is connected to the IVR 56 and they are presented with a summary of the missed calls and messages and guided through these lists. The IVR

56 is responsive to voice commands, and a customer can simply request that a returned call be made to any one of the parties that have attempted to call the terminal. On receiving this request, the message retrieval is suspended by the IVR, and the IVR 56 forwards the return call terminal address details to the SCP 60. The SCP 60 then requests the local exchange SSP 52 of the message retrieving party to initiate the return call to the original calling party. This is done from the message retrieving party's SSP so as to preserve any carrier selection or call barring that the retrieving party has invoked. When the returned call has been completed, the retrieving party is then returned to the IVR 56 by the SCP 60 so as to continue the message retrieval session 18.

To assist a party in setting and altering the line features for the lines to which they may connect the terminals 50 and 54, the feature assistance process 16 can be invoked in the IVR 56 when the party dials another predetermined DTMF code, eg "1#". On connecting the party to the IVR 56, under the direction of the SCP 60, the caller is guided through various options and they can make various selections by speaking natural language commands. The options may include setting up features such as call waiting, call forwarding etc. When the caller makes a selection by entry of a speech command, the IVR echoes the request and seeks confirmation. When confirmed, the IVR translates the request into a DTMF string that is required to invoke/alter the feature, and this string is passed to the SCP 60 for relay to the SSP 52 of the line. The string is presented on behalf of the calling party at the SSP and establishment /alteration of the feature is advised to the calling party by a voice announcement from the SSP. On completion of the announcement, the caller is reconnected to the IVR 56 to process any further requests.

The call completion system is particularly advantageous, and provides a mechanism allowing calling parties to invoke a call back to the called party or leave a message that the call has been made for the called party, when the called party is unavailable, regardless of whether the called party has established a personal messaging facility. The system also allows the simple retrieval of messages from the network and the invocation of returned calls on the basis of those messages. The system also provides a caller with access to a simple control for a number of line features, such as call forwarding and call waiting.

Many modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A call completion system, including: a call completion facility allowing selection between a call back facility and a leave message facility; and a switch system for receiving a call request from a calling party terminal for a call to a called party terminal, and being adapted to invoke said call completion facility for said call in response to an unavailable state corresponding to said called party terminal.

2. A call completion system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said unavailable state includes a busy state or a no answer state.

3. A call completion system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said switch system on detecting said unavailable state determines whether said terminals meet predetermined conditions before invoking said call completion facility.

4. A call completion system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said predetermined conditions include a message waiting indication can be set for said called terminal, call forwarding has not been set or invoked for said called terminal and the calling terminal can access said call completion facility.

5. A call completion system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said call back facility monitors said called terminal and attempts to establish a connection between the terminals when an available state is detected.

6. A call completion system as claimed in claim 5, wherein for said no answer state, the call back facility detects an available state when said called party terminal is next, detected as going on hook after going off hook.

7. A call completion system as claimed in claim 5, wherein for said busy state, said call back facility detects said available state when said called terminal is detected as going on hook.

8. A call completion system as claimed in claim 1, wherein an interactive voice response unit (IVR) is connected to said call on selection of said leave message facility, said IVR being adapted to store a message and set a message waiting indication for said called party terminal.

9. A call completion system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said switch system and said call completion facility include a digital local exchange and a service control point of a telecommunications network.

10. A call completion system as claimed in claim 9, wherein said telecommunications network is a fixed telecommunications network, such as the PSTN.

11. A method for completing a call, executed by a switching system of a telecommunications network, including: receiving a call request from a calling party terminal for a call to a called party terminal; and directing said call to a call completion process in response to an unavailable state corresponding to said called party terminal.

12. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 11, wherein the call completion process initiates a call back process or a leave message process in response to a selection signal from the calling party terminal.

13. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 12, wherein the call back process includes attempting to establish a connection between said terminals on detecting an available state for said called party terminal.

14. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 13, wherein said available state is detected after termination of a busy state for said called terminal.

15. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 13, wherein said available state is detected when said called party terminal is detected as going off hook and on hook after a no answer state.

16. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 11, wherein said unavailable state includes a busy state or no answer state.

17. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 12, wherein said leave message process includes storing a communications address, such as a telephone number, for said calling party terminal.

18. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 12, wherein said leave message process includes storing a message and setting a message waiting indication for said called terminal.

19. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 17, wherein said call completion process includes retrieving the address using said called party terminal, and establishing a connection to a terminal corresponding to said address.

20. A method for completing a call as claimed in claim 1, wherein said telecommunications network comprises the PSTN.