Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/64—Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations
• • 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
  • H04M3/46—Arrangements for calling a number of substations in a predetermined sequence until an answer is obtained
  • H04M3/465—Arrangements for simultaneously calling a number of substations until an answer is obtained
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
  • H04M7/006—Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M2203/20—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to features of supplementary services
  • H04M2203/2027—Live party detection
• • 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
  • H04M3/42314—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers in private branch exchanges
  • H04M3/42323—PBX's with CTI arrangements
• • 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
  • H04M3/53366—Message disposing or creating aspects
  • H04M3/53375—Message broadcasting

Definitions

• the present invention relates to automated call processing systems and, more particularly to an automated call processing system allowing for reducing time consumption while attempting to establish contact between a caller and a called party as well as a method for such reduced time consumption.
• This object is achieved through providing means for preparing a message while waiting for a connection to be established.
• Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method for reducing time consumption while attempting to establish contact between a caller and a called party.
• This object is achieved through a method of preparing a message while waiting for a connection to be established.
• Fig. 1 discloses two parallel calls according to the present invention
• Fig. 2 discloses two parallel calls where a message is created while waiting for a connection
• Fig. 3 discloses two semi-parallel calls where a message is created while waiting for a connection
• Fig. 4 discloses a general embodiment of an inventive autocall server
• Fig. 5 discloses an autocall server according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 6 discloses a block diagram of a basic traffic system
• Fig. 7 discloses a block diagram of an autocall server setup at a customer site
• Fig. 8 discloses a block diagram of autocall as a hosted service
• FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the inventive automated call process
• Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the inventive autocall process.
• the caller is the person who wishes to establish contact
• the called party is the person or service (such as a hairdresser or a dentist) the caller whishes to establish contact with and
• the catalogue is a database holding information on called parties.
• the basic idea of the present invention is to call all known numbers or a subset of all known numbers of the called party simultaneously.
• Figure 1 shows an illustrative example of a konceptual inventive calling process, where a called party is being called at his work 10 and on his mobile phone 15 simultaneously on two separate channels. The caller picks up his phone, i.e. initiates the call, when time (t) equals zero and says the name of the called party into the telephone, if a voice recognition system is used.
• the automated call processing system simultaneously calls 11 the called party's work number 10 and mobile number 15 at ti.
• the system has to wait approximately five signals 12 if there is no answer ending at t 2 , listen 13 to the voicemail of the called party and, simultaneously leave a message 14 at t 3 . Then the caller can make a new call 16 to another person at t 4 .
• While calling (or before calling) the caller can decide and prepare what message to leave for the called party. This can be recorded on the fly, be automatically generated using information about the called party and the caller or a combination of the two.
• the automatic creation and leaving of messages is an important part of the inventive automated call processing system, and can as an illustrative example be seen in figure 2.
• the calling process is done in the same way as in figure 1.
• a called party is being called at his work 10 and on his mobile phone 15 simultaneously on two separate channels.
• the caller initiates the call, when time (t) equals zero.
• the automated call processing system simultaneously calls 11 the called party's work number 10 and mobile number 15 at t]..
• the system has to wait approximately five signals 12 if there is no answer ending at t 2 .
• the difference is that the content of the message to be left is prepared 17 while waiting for connection. Therefore, the caller can make a new call 16 to another person while the message is left at t 2 and, thus, save time.
• FIG 3 In figure 3 is shown two semi-parallel calls, where a called party is being called at his work 10 and on his mobile phone 15 on two separate channels.
• the first call 11 is initiated when time equals zero and is made, in this example, to the called party's work 10 at ti.
• the second call 18 is initiated at t a and is made to the called party's mobile phone 15 at t 2 .
• the message to be left is prepared 17 while waiting for connection 12 and 19, whereby the prepared message is left on both channels at t 2 and t b respectively.
• the caller can, thereafter, make a new call 16 to another person.
• Messages can be of a variety of types, such as: Voicemails SMS/MMS/Paging
• the message to be left to an individual may be created by input from the catalogue, the reason for the call and user additions made on the fly. Template messages may be stored and used by a simple user interface.
• Voicemail messages can be selected from a library of pre recorded standard messages like"This is Eric Anderson at Icepeak, I'd like to talk to you, please call me at 555 123 4567 or
• Text to speech may be used to transform a text message to a voice message automatically.
• the automated call processing system leaves the different messages automatically, the voicemails are left when either a voicemail system has been detected or a person has accepted to take a message.
• the text-based messages are submitted when an autocall request has failed or when a person has accepted to take a message.
• the automated call processing system handles automatically multiple messages which together form an announcement, such as "Icepeak, a Swedish company, has developed a product called Icepeak Attendant, which is an automatic operator".
• the first time the caller seeks a new contact the message “ Hello, this is Eric Anderson working at Icepeak which is a Swedish company” is delivered.
• the second time the caller seeks the contact the message "Hello, this is Eric Anderson from Icepeak, we have developed an automatic operator which we call Icepeak Attendant" is delivered.
• An important part of the present invention is to handle the call after someone (the called party or somebody else) has picked up the call.
• the aim is to identify whether it is the called party that picks up the phone or not, as fast as possible.
• the caller may monitor and/or listen to the call progress on each separate channel. This makes it possible for the caller to perform different kinds of commands, such as a manual pick up, a manual abort or an automatic completion.
• Manual pick up means that the caller picks up the call, whereby a connection is established between the caller and the called party and they may start a dialogue.
• Manual abort means that the caller disconnects the call on all or some channels.
• An automatic completion (or auto complete) means that automail, i.e. leaving a message, is initiated or terminated automatically.
• the system needs to find out if the connected person is the called party or someone else, such as an operator. This is done by means of a control question "Eric Andersson calling for Bob Johnson. Are you Bob Johnson?". The answer can now be yes or no with an explanation.
• the system uses speech recognition to detect the answer and fuzzy logic, large number of synonyms to yield a high hit ratio. If the system has reached the called party, the operation is successful and the call will be connected. If the answer is no, the system will initiate a dialogue with the person. The goal of the dialogue is to establish if the called party can be connected or not. If not, the system leaves a message, otherwise the system is transferred to the called party. When the transfer is done, the dialogue is started from the top.
• the inventive call processing system may also have a multicall management tool.
• This tool handles callbacks, reconnects when the line is busy and such.
• a management list of the called parties is established.
• Great time consumption may be saved if the calls or callbacks are scheduled after what time to call the called party.
• any planning tool may be used, such as voicemail, reference record system or time record system, where the called party might have left a message when available again and/or the reason why he is unavailable.
• internet references which is a service provided by a service provider.
• the called party publish information of his availability on the Internet. This information may include what time he is back, the reason for unavailability, if the line is busy, where to reach him, etc.
• the information is taken from any planning tool that may be used at the called party's organization or company, such as voicemail, reference record system or time record system, where the called party might have left a message when available again and/or the reason why he is unavailable. Even the audio track from the voicemail system may be published.
• An implemented software publishes the information, enabling for an external company or organization to via the Internet see why a called party is unavailable and the estimated time for his return.
• These publications could either be made locally on each company or organization or be sent to a center where the publications is made for several companies or organizations.
• To identify a called party may be made through creating an internet address based e.g. on the called party's phone number, such as "www.icepeak.se/15556667777" for the example of Eric Anderson at Icepeak AB.
• the Internet references system function will not only save time but also save money, since it is not necessary to initiate a call over the telephone network.
• the callback may be scheduled in the management list, as described above. If the call is answered by voicemail or a reference, the autocall process can interpret the answer via a speaker independent recognition (SIR) system and find out the best time for a callback and optionally where to reach the called party. Finally, if the answer is made by an operator or other human being, a dialogue is performed via SIR in order to find out the best time for a callback and optionally where to reach the called party. In this way, a voicemail may be delivered to the voicemail of the called party without using the telephone network.
• SIR speaker independent recognition
• the automated call processing system is implemented as a search service, henceforward called an autocall.
• An autocall is ordered by sending a request.
• the request will contain information of the called party, how messaging is to be done, parameters for interaction with voicemail, other persons etc.
• the concept that a request is sent for an autocall is of importance. It gives a great flexibility for use.
• the automated call processing system can reside at the customer site but can also be a hosted service.
• a request can also be issued from other systems, like a speech recognition system. This means that autocall requests can be made while traveling from basically any phone or place using any type of device.
• a user that not has contact with the catalogue needs to build a request with the aid of an other system, for instance an automated attendant. system, that can interact with the caller, access any catalogue and build a request.
• an automated attendant system, that can interact with the caller, access any catalogue and build a request.
• the caller When issuing the autocall request, the caller has a phone connection to the autocall server and is ready to be connected. During the wait, messages can be recorded and constructed.
• the telephony part of the autocall server 20 comprises in a general embodiment of the present invention three basic hardware types. These are extension cards 21, trunks 22 and interactive voice respons (IVR) resources 23.
• the extension cards 21 are used to terminate the phones of the callers and can be of any suitable type, such as ISDN, ISDN User Part (ISUP) or ALOG. These are well-known to the person skilled in the art and is not further discussed herein.
• the trunks 22 are basically the same type of cards as the extensions and are the outgoing lines of the autocall server 20.
• IVR resources 23 are the calls connected and the IVR resources 23 holds e.g. a resource like a digital signal processor (DSP).
• DSP digital signal processor
• FIG. 5 A preferred embodiment of an implementation of the automated call processing system according to the present invention is shown in figure 5.
• the autocall server 20 comprising extension cards 21 and trunks 22.
• the trunks 22 are the outgoing lines. These are used to place the calls and in the preferred embodiment ISDN trunks are used. They can be dedicated lines for autocall or lines on a connected Private branch Exchanger (PBX). In the latter case analogue ports may also be used.
• PBX Private branch Exchanger
• analogue ports may also be used.
• the initiators are connected in the extension cards 21 and is preferably of the same type as trunks 22, i.e. ISDN or analogue in the preferred embodiment of the invention. They can be connected to a PBX or autocall trunks 22 may be used to have initiators connected remotely.
• the autocall server 20 further comprises an IVR unit 23 where all the calls are connected.
• the IVR unit 23 is also used for monitoring call-progress, sample voice input and deliver voice output.
• a voice input that needs to be interpreted will be transferred to a speaker independent recognition (SIR) unit 25, which is a voice recognition engine that interprets the utterances in dialogues.
• SIR speaker independent recognition
• a Text-to-speech (TTS) unit 26 is used to transform a text message to a voice message.
• a messaging unit 27 sends messages, such as text messages, pre-recorded voice messages or voice messages created from text (via the TTS unit 26).
• e-mail 28 which obviously sends e- mails
• SMS/MMS/paging 29 which sends short message services (SMS), multimedia message services and pager messages
• voicemail 30 which in reality is implemented in the IVR unit 23 and sends voicemails automatically either as a pre-recorded message or transformed from text to speech. Fax and other medias may easily be added as well, which the skilled person realizes.
• FIG. 7 shows a basic traffic case of the inventive automated call processing system.
• the normal traffic case is that the autocall server 20 is only connected while doing the autocall.
• the call is setup only between the caller 31, the PBX 33 of the caller in most cases and the called party 32.
• the autocall server 20 and the PBX 33 of the caller 31 is preferably connected via a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 34.
• PSTN public switched telephone network
• the connection between the caller 31 and the autocall server 20 needs to be re-established when a new autocall request is being placed. This can be accomplished by some different means, such as using ECT on ISDN lines, ISUP lines directly or ISUP lines controlled by INAP.
• FIG. 6 shows the autocall server 20 setup at the customer site, where the autocall server 20 is connected to a caller either via the PBX to a telephone 36 of any kind or over any computer network to a computer 37.
• the autocall server 20 is connected to the PBX 33 as extensions. Further, the autocall server 20 may either use the PBX trunks to access the PSTN 34 or have its own dedicated trunks to access the PSTN 35.
• the autocall server 20 utilizes a computer telephony integration (CTI) link to the PBX 33, but does not require one to operate.
• CTI computer telephony integration
• FIG 8 shows an example of when the autocall is run as a hosted service.
• the hosted service means that an organization, such as an operator, offers autocall as a service. No additional hardware needs to be installed at the customer site.
• autocall When autocall is run as a service it will use dedicated lines and can transfer calls to the initiator 36 and 37 either by an external transfer to the initiators direct number or have the initiator remotely connected on one of the autocall trunks. This can be done either through the office PBX or any other phone, even a mobile.
• the initiator sends an autocall request package over the IP line to the autocall server 20.
• the package contains the autocall task, including any messaging info like text to be used as message, what message types to use, pointer to pre-recorded file and customer specific parameters.
• a phone connection is established with the autocall server 20 either from a mobile phone, a PBX connected phone or a regular POTS phone to the called party 32.
• the autocall request is sent over any suitable computer network, such as the internet or the extranet.
• the functionality of the autocall server 20 is the same as the customer placed.
• Autocalls may be done by calling in to the system. This can be supported in both a hosted and a customer placed setup. There are two basic uses for a voice driven autocall, namely to call own personnel and to support external users.
• the caller is not dependent on that the called party has done any registration or other action.
• the called party sets up how he wants incoming calls to be rerouted according to different rules. Also, if the called party wants to make it easier for people to reach him, he can give out only one number and then let the autocall system do the management and connect the caller when call arrives.
• autocall client In order to implement an efficient autocall setup, there is a need to do some integration between the customer's catalogues and the automated call processing system. This is accomplished in the preferred embodiment of the invention by creating small pieces of software called autocall client.
• the purpose of the autocall client is to be a liaison between the autocall server and the customers catalogue application.
• the catalogue may be any system well-known, such as CRM, ERP, Exchange or any other system that holds data on persons and organizations.
• the autocall server communicates preferably with the autocall client with a protocol, such as TCP/IP. This design makes it totally transparent for the client of the customer's system.
• the called party is identified by dialing a phone number on the telephone.
• the autocall service monitors the telephone and will translate the dialed number into the called party and, thereafter, make an autocall.
• an intelligent telephone is created.
• the phone number 555 123 4567 is dialed, which identifies Eric Anderson.
• the autocall server retrieves following contact data from the catalogue: mobile 555 666 7777 and eric.Anderson@icepeak.se, whereby an autocall is made based on the mobile phone number and the e-mail address of Eric Anderson.
• One example of how this may be implemented is by having a software which monitors the telephone and identifies the called party from the dialed number, after which an autocall request according to the present invention is sent. Another example of how this may be implemented is by connecting the call to the autocall server when the telephone has been picked up before the number has been dialed, whereby the dialed number will identify the called party.
• an autocall request is initiated via a computer telephony integration (CTI) system.
• CTI computer telephony integration
• an automail prepared while waiting to be connected, may be composed of a standard message completed with additional data collected from a database, a calender etc.
• An example of such a message could be "call me today”.
• Automail will translate the message into: "Hello, Eric Anderson from Icepeak has tried to reach you and I want you to call me today.
• the general procedure for building an autocall request (pre-processing), the autocall request and postprocessing of the autocall request, is as follows: i) The caller selects the called party he wants to contact, collects and finds data of the called party in the catalogue (step 91);
• the caller selects parameters for messaging etc (step 92);
• the caller selects outgoing message (s) (step 93) and initiates the autocall process;
• the autocall server performs the autocall process (step 94), which is showed in greater detail in figure 10; and,
• step 95 data gathered from voicemail system or a dialogue is returned to the caller (step 95).
• step 101 The caller places a call to the called party (step 101) and autocall detects if there is an answer (step 102). If there is no answer , the call is terminated (step 103); ii) If autocall gets an answer, it detects if the answer is made by a human being (step 104). If the answer is made by a machine, autocall delivers message, confirm that the answer was made by a machine and interprets messages on the called party's voicemail etc. (step 105). Optionally the results are returned to the called party (step 106);
• next step is to detect if it is the right person (the called party) that answered (step 107). If it is the called party, the call is connected (step 108); iv) if the answer is made by another person, autocall asks if the other person can connect the called party or take a message (step 109). If yes, the call is either connected (step 110) or a message is left; v) If the other person can't connect or leave a message, optionally, the results are returned to the caller (step 111).
• a method for reducing time consumption while attempting to establish contact between a caller and a called party comprising the steps of: providing a database comprising information of contacts; receiving a contact request designating the called party; retrieving from said database at least one contact data associated with the called party; initiating contact with the called party based on the at least one contact data; waiting for the connection to be established; preparing a message while waiting for the connection to be established; and, leaving said message at a message receiving service associated with the retrieved contact data when the called party is unavailable.
• the method further comprises the steps of wherein at least two contact data associated with the called party is retrieved from said database,: simultaneously initiating contact with the called party based on the at least two contact data; and, simultaneously leaving said message at message receiving services associated with the retrieved at least two contact data when the called party is unavailable.
• the method further comprises the step of detecting if an answer of an initiated contact is made by a human being or an answering machine.
• the method further comprises the steps of: detecting if the answer is made by the called party when the answer is made by a human being; initiating a dialogue with the answering human being when the answer is made by a person other than the called party; and, leaving a message to the called party, when the called party is unavailable.
• the method comprises either of the steps of: leaving said message when the answer is made by an answering machine; confirming that the answer is made by the answering machine while leaving the message by listening for utterance; and, switching to human answer if such utterance is received, or confirming that the answer is made by the answering machine by listening for an alert signal from the answering machine.
• the method further comprises the step of using voice recognition to detect if the answer is made by the called party and to initiate the dialogue with the answering human being when the answer is made by a person other than the called party.
• the method further comprises the steps of: supervising the connect establishment; and, manually controlling the connection process.
• the method further comprises the steps of: before initiating contact with the called party, receiving from a planning tool published on a communication network, what time to initiate contact with the called party; and, scheduling the received time in a management tool.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 2003
  • 2003-05-05 SE SE0301309A patent/SE525858C2/sv unknown
• 2004
  • 2004-04-27 WO PCT/SE2004/000640 patent/WO2004100514A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2004-04-27 EP EP04729786A patent/EP1621002A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (5)

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