WO2007148037A1

WO2007148037A1 - Communications terminal with preference information relating to a messaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2007148037A1
Application number: PCT/GB2007/002004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ian Richard Matthews
Original assignee: British Telecommunications Public Limited Company
Priority date: 2006-06-19
Filing date: 2007-05-30
Publication date: 2007-12-27
Also published as: GB0612127D0

Abstract

In a method of operating a communications terminal (11), a call request is transmitted to a communications network, for example an IP-based communications network (5) or a conventional switched circuit network. The call request includes data identifying a destination terminal (13). In response to the call request, the terminal (11) receives from the network (5) a return signal which includes data indicating the time period for which the identified destination terminal (13) will signal the call before connecting it to a voicemail system. The time period information is output by the communications terminal on a graphics display (37) and then begins to count down to indicate the time remaining before the destination terminal connects the call to the voicemail system. The voicemail system can be network based or provided at the location of the destination terminal.

Description

COMMUNICATIONS TERMINAL WITH PREFERENCE INFORMATION RELATING TO

A MESSAGING SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a communications terminal and operating method thereof. In particular, the invention relates to a communications terminal for making calls to a destination terminal and for receiving preference information relating to a messaging system of the destination terminal.

Background of the Invention It is common to provide a voicemail or answerphone facility as part of a telecommunications system. The facility will usually comprise a computer program for detecting incoming calls. If after a predetermined period of time the call is not accepted by the called party, the voicemail facility will connect the call and output a brief message inviting the caller to leave a voicemail message. Any speech received in the call is then recorded in memory for subsequent playback by the called party. Voicemail facilities may be located at customer premises or may be network-based. Cellular networks usually provide network-based voicemail facilities, as do some public switched telephone network (PSTN) providers such as British Telecommunications pic (BT).

A disadvantage associated with voicemail is that an incoming call will be connected after a predetermined amount of time and so the user will be often be charged for the call whether or not they wish to leave a message. This is particularly a problem where the network provider makes a minimum call charge, even if the call lasts just a few seconds.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a communications terminal, the method comprising: (a) transmitting a call request to a communications network, the call request including data identifying a destination terminal; (b) receiving a return signal from the communications network, the return signal including data associated with the destination terminal from which is derivable the time period for which the destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to an associated messaging system; and (c) outputting an indication of the time period at the communications terminal.

A user of the communications terminal is therefore aware of how much time is left before their call will be connected to the messaging system, e.g. voicemail. If they do not wish to leave a message, they can cancel the call request before connection takes place and so they will not be charged by the network operator.

Step (c) can comprise providing an indication of said time period counting down. The preference information can indicate the time period in terms of the number of rings, in which case step (c) comprises providing an indication of said number of rings counting down. Step (c) may comprise providing a graphical, non-numerical, indication of said time period counting down, for example a graphical clock displayed on a computer screen or television screen.

The communications terminal may be a VoIP terminal and step (a) may comprise transmitting a call request to an IP network.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of operating a communications terminal arranged to divert incoming call requests to a messaging system after a predetermined time period, the method comprising: (a) receiving a call request from a communications network; (b) in response to receiving said call request, accessing a set of preference data indicating the time period for which the terminal signals received call requests prior to diverting the caller to the messaging system; and (c) outputting the time period at the communications terminal.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of operating a communications network, comprising: (a) receiving a call request from a calling terminal, the call request including data identifying a destination terminal; (b) signalling said call request to the identified destination terminal; (c) accessing a set of preference information for a messaging system associated with the destination terminal, the preference information indicating the time period for which the identified destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to its associated messaging system ; and (d) sending a return signal, including the preference information, to the calling terminal.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a communications terminal, comprising: a transmitter for transmitting a call request to a communications network in which the call request includes data identifying a destination terminal; a receiver arranged to receive a return signal from the communications network and to identify therein data associated with the destination terminal from which is derivable preference information indicating the time period for which the identified destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to its associated messaging system; and output means for outputting the preference information at the communications terminal.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a communications terminal, comprising: a receiver arranged to receive call requests from a communications network; diversion means arranged to divert incoming call requests to a messaging system after a predetermined time period; a controller arranged, in response to receiving call requests, to access a set of preference data indicating said time period; and an indicator arranged to provide an indication of said time period.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications network according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is schematic diagram indicating the hierarchy of a computer program provided in terminal apparatus connected to the network shown in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a screen capture of a voicemail preferences menu provided as part of a VoIP application; Figure 4 is a flow diagram indicating steps performed by each of a calling terminal, a called terminal and the network during a typical call request that is diverted to voicemail by the called terminal;

Figures 5a-5c are schematic diagrams showing different ways in which voicemail preference data can be displayed to a calling party; Figure 6 is a block diagram of a switched circuit communications network according to a third embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 7 is a flow diagram indicating steps performed by each of a calling terminal, called terminal and the network during a typical call request that is diverted to voicemail by the network.

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Figure 1 , in a first embodiment, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) link between two remote locations 1 , 3 is shown. The link makes use of an IP- based communications network 5, in this case the Internet itself, to route a call from a calling party to a called party. The network may also be a dedicated IP- based network such as the so-called 21^st Century Network (21CN) proposed for launch by British Telecommunications pic (BT) in 2008.

At the first location 1 , a laptop computer 7 provides a first terminal through which voice calls can be transmitted and received using a VoIP application installed thereon. As will be appreciated, a user will use a microphone and loudspeaker

(not shown) to send and receive audio signals over the Internet 5 to parties identified using a telephone number. The laptop 7 is connected to the Internet 5 using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem 9. Also connected to the DSL modem 9 is a more conventional telephone handset 11 enabled for VoIP communications. Either terminal 7, 11 can be used to send and receive telephone calls at the first location 1. At the second location 3, a second laptop computer 13 is connected to the Internet 5 using a DSL modem 15. In the case of the operating example described below, it is assumed that the first location 1 represents a calling party and the second location 3 represents a called, or destination, party.

As is the case for the first laptop 7, the second laptop 13 is configured to run a VoIP application for sending and receiving telephone calls. Referring to Figure 2, a VoIP application 19 is executed from the laptop's operating system 17. The VoIP application 19 provides a standard graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a graphical representation of a telephone keypad enabling a user to enter telephone numbers using a mouse. The user may pre-store telephone numbers in a contacts list 21 so that individual contacts can be called by user-selection of their name from the list. The VoIP application 19 also provides a voicemail (or answerphone) facility for storing voice messages from callers in the event that the user of the second laptop 13 does not answer an incoming call within a predetermined time period of the call being signalled to it. The voice messages are stored as audio (e.g. avi) files in a predetermined memory location 23 of the second laptop. A set of preferences 25 are associated with the voicemail facility enabling user-configuration of a number of features, as will be explained below. The voicemail preferences 25 can be set and changed by calling a dedicated menu from the VoIP GUI.

Referring to Figure 3, the voicemail preference menu 25a enables a user to set (a) the memory location 27 where messages are stored, (b) the time period after which the calling party is diverted to the voicemail facility, either in terms of an actual time period 29 or number of rings 31, (c) the maximum message length in seconds 33 and (d) the number of days for which voicemail messages are stored prior to automatic deletion 35. Options (c) and (d) are optional but preferable for efficient use of memory since audio files can be large.

Regarding preference (b), it will be appreciated that a voicemail facility is usually invoked after an incoming call is signalled to the called party for a certain period of time or number of rings. The user simply sets the time by entering a number, e.g. 8 for eights seconds, or the number of rings, e.g. 5 for five rings, in the box selected using the appropriate radio button. Clicking 'Apply' at the bottom of the preference menu 25a saves the preferences for onward use.

Advantageously, the VoIP application 19 of the second laptop 13 is arranged to transmit the preference data entered in respect of preference (b) to a calling terminal in response to receiving their originating call signal. In this way, provided the VoIP application of the calling terminal is configured to decode such preference data, it can indicate the amount of time, or number of rings, that will pass before their call is connected to the second laptop's messaging system. This is useful since connection to the messaging system may result in a chargeable call. If the calling party is aware of the amount of time they have before connection, they have the choice of dropping the call before this period ends. The indication of time or number of rings is preferably visual but can be audible or both.

Referring to Figure 4, the steps performed by each of the calling party, the called party and the network are indicated. Taking the arrangement shown in Figure 1 as our example, the calling party is taken to be the first laptop 7 and the called party is taken to be the second laptop 13. In a first step 4.1 , the user commences a call to the second laptop either by selecting the relevant contact from the contacts list or by dialling the appropriate telephone number using the VoIP GUI. In a second step 4.2, the laptop initiates the call request by sending a call request signal to the Internet 5 which includes the telephone numbers of the called and calling parties 7, 13. The Internet 5 uses the called party telephone number to route the call request signal to the second laptop 13 in step 4.3 and it is received in step 4.4. In response to receiving the call request, the VoIP application of the second laptop 13 reads the time period data in the voicemail preferences and sends this data back to the network 5 in step 4.5. The network 5 sends the time period data back to the VoIP application of the first laptop in step 4.6. At the same time, in step 4.7, the incoming call request is signalled at the second laptop 13, e.g. by giving an audible ring tone. At the first laptop 7, the time period data is received by the VoIP application and indicated in an information panel thereof (step 4.9). In step 4.10, the time period counts down in real time so as to indicate to the caller the amount of time remaining before the called party diverts to its messaging system. So, if the time period data sent by the second laptop 13 indicates eight seconds, the VoIP application's information panel displayed at the first laptop 7 may count down in second intervals from "8 seconds" to "7 seconds" and so on until zero. Similarly, if the time period data indicates five ring tones, the VoIP application is arranged to count down from five to zero in sympathy with the ringtone signal that is audible to the calling party. When the displayed time reaches zero it may remain at zero or display some additional graphical indication such as a voicemail symbol.

If the call request is answered in step 4.11 , or is accepted, before the VoIP application connects and diverts the call to the voicemail system in step 4.12, a voice channel is established between the first and second laptops 7, 13 and the information panel at the first laptop is reset in step 4.13.

The conventional telephone handset 11 depicted in Figure 1 may also provide an indicator for displaying the time period data.

As indicated by steps 4.14 to 4.16, the time period data may optionally be displayed at the called party location, for example on an information panel associated with the VoIP application 19 of the second laptop 13. This allows the called party to identify how long they have to accept an incoming call prior to it being diverted to a messaging system. As with the first laptop 7, the time period may be shown counting down prior to being reset.

Referring to Figure 5a, an example of the calling party's information panel 37 is shown. In a first part of the panel 39, the called party's contact name and telephone number is indicated. In a second, lower, part of the panel 41 , the time period data is indicated so as to inform the user that the call will divert to the called party's voicemail in, in this case, eight seconds. As an alternative to displaying numerical information, a non-numerical graphic representation may be used to indicate the counting-down time period. For example, as shown in Figure 5b, an analogue-style dial is shown. The dial comprises a circle divided into segments according to the time period data and each segment changes from black to white to indicate the time counting down. If the time period data indicates, say, six seconds or ring tones, then the circle is divided into six segments and each segment turns from black to white in sympathy with seconds passing or ring tones sounding. Figure 5c shows another analogue-type representation, namely an hour-glass timer. As mentioned above, an audio indication of the time counting down can be used as an alternative to, or in addition with, the graphical indication. These preferences are selected using suitable options provided in the preference menu 25a associated with the VoIP application 19, whether it be at the calling or called terminal.

The abovementioned first embodiment has been described with respect to an IP network 5 to which is connected IP-enabled terminal devices 7, 11 , 13. The same functionality can also be achieved with a conventional circuit switched telephone system, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) currently used in the UK. Figure 6 shows such a PSTN 43 interconnecting calling and called telephone terminals 45, 47. The functionality may also be achieved with a wireless, e.g. cellular, telephone network.

In the first embodiment, it was assumed that the voicemail facility associated with the called party is located at the called party's terminal, i.e. by the VoIP application of the second laptop. In Figure 6, a similar arrangement is indicated by the reference numeral 48. It will be appreciated that many networks offer a centralized network-based messaging service to which call requests are diverted. Voice messages are stored remotely of individual terminal devices in a storage location controlled by a third party, for example the network provider or an separate organisation offering a messaging service. In order to access voicemail messages, the called party connects to the storage location using a predetermined telephone number. The telephone number of the called party (now calling the network voicemail facility) is used to identify the messages left in respect of their number.

A network messaging facility 49 is indicated in Figure 6 in relation to a PSTN network, although it will be appreciated that such a network-based facility may also be provided on any communications network such as a cellular or IP-based network. Also indicated is a set of customer preferences 51 that can represent, amongst other information, the abovementioned time period data in the voicemail preferences. As shown in Figure 7, the process indicated in Figure 4 is modified such that, in steps 7.3 and 7.6, the voicemail preferences are read by, and sent directly from, the network 43 instead of the called party 47. A further explanation of individual steps in Figure 7 is not considered necessary in view of the detail given in relation to Figure 4.

The voicemail preferences for the network voicemail facility may be set by users of terminal equipment 45, 47, e.g. customers of the network, using an Internet based portal enabling them to set their own intelligent network functions, including setting the time period for which incoming calls are signalled prior to diversion to a messaging system.

In a third embodiment, the voicemail preferences associated with a particular terminal or network customer (which in practice will be associated with a telephone number) can also specify the type of output to be displayed at the calling terminal. For example, the voicemail preferences stored in the second laptop 13 shown in Figure 1 may specify that calling terminals display the time period data in a non- numerical graphical format, e.g. using the analogue dial or hourglass shown in Figures 5b and 5c.

The above embodiments relate to voicemail messaging systems. However, the preference data provided to calling and/or called parties can relate to any system where messages can be stored, e.g. a video messaging system.

Claims

1. A method of operating a communications terminal, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting a call request to a communications network, the call request including data identifying a destination terminal;

(b) receiving a return signal from the communications network, the return signal including data associated with the destination terminal from which is derivable the time period for which the destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to an associated messaging system; and (c) outputting an indication of the time period at the communications terminal.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein step (c) comprises providing an indication of the time period counting down.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the data in return signal indicates the time period in terms of the number of rings, step (c) comprising providing an indication of said number of rings counting down.

4. A method according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein step (c) comprises providing a graphical, non-numerical, indication of said time period counting down.

5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the communications terminal is a VoIP terminal and step (a) comprises transmitting a call request to an IP network.

6. A method of operating a communications terminal arranged to divert incoming call requests to a messaging system after a predetermined time period, the method comprising: (a) receiving a call request from a communications network; (b) in response to receiving said call request, accessing a set of preference data indicating the time period for which the terminal signals received call requests prior to diverting the caller to the messaging system; and

(c) outputting the time period at the communications terminal.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein step (c) comprises providing an indication of said time period counting down.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the preference information indicates the time period in terms of the number of rings, step (c) comprising providing an indication of said number of rings counting down.

9. A method according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein step (b) comprises receiving the set of preference data from the communications network together with the call request.

10. A method of operating a communications network, comprising:

(a) receiving a call request from a calling terminal, the call request including data identifying a destination terminal; (b) signalling said call request to the identified destination terminal;

(c) accessing a set of preference information for a messaging system associated with the destination terminal, the preference information indicating the time period for which the identified destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to its associated messaging system ; and (d) sending a return signal, including the preference information, to the calling terminal.

11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising (e) sending a second return signal, including the preference information, to the destination terminal.

12. A computer program stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising a set of instructions to cause a processing device to perform the method according to any preceding claim.

13. A communications terminal, comprising: a transmitter for transmitting a call request to a communications network in which the call request includes data identifying a destination terminal; a receiver arranged to receive a return signal from the communications network and to identify therein data associated with the destination terminal from which is derivable preference information indicating the time period for which the identified destination terminal signals call requests prior to diverting the caller to its associated messaging system; and output means for outputting the preference information at the communications terminal.

14. A communications terminal, comprising: a receiver arranged to receive call requests from a communications network; diversion means arranged to divert incoming call requests to a messaging system after a predetermined time period; a controller arranged, in response to receiving call requests, to access a set of preference data indicating said time period; and an indicator arranged to provide an indication of said time period.