WO2009093244A2

WO2009093244A2 - A method and a system for unifying telephony and computerized services

Info

Publication number: WO2009093244A2
Application number: PCT/IL2009/000091
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daria Aharonee - Baldinger
Original assignee: I.T.C. - Tech Systems Ltd.
Priority date: 2008-01-22
Filing date: 2009-01-22
Publication date: 2009-07-30
Also published as: WO2009093244A3

Abstract

A system, a method and a unified module (UM), enabling to unify telephony and computerized services by enabling to automatically identify all communication protocols enabled by telephony and computerized systems of a client, upon installation of the UM, and automatically configure the UM settings, according to the identified communication protocols, where the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables utilizing the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

Description

A METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR UNIFYING TELEPHONY AND COMPUTERIZED SERVICES

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/006,561, filed January 22, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of Computer Telephony Integration systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to a computerized method and system that supports the integration and coordination of telephony and computerized services.

2. RELATED ART

[0003] Businesses and organizations having multiple employees and customers often use multiple computer systems (e.g. Personal Computers (PCs), laptops etc.) enabling internet communication and other internet enabled communication platforms such as emailing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), popup messaging, etc. and multiple telephony devices and systems such as wire phones, mobile cellular phones, central operators enabling communicating multiple extension nodes etc. [0004] Many of these organizations and offices receive a large number of telephone calls from customers, suppliers and other callers, where each user (e.g. an employee) takes in several of these calls. The caller is usually identified by identifying himself to the other person on line.

[0005] Many telephony systems and operators enable number identification and presentation, where the identified number can be presented on a screen, integrated into the telephone device. Many of these telephony systems further enable a user to associate phone numbers to names of known callers and thereby enable the system to present the name of the caller on the screen upon receiving an incoming call from the known caller.

[0006] To be informed regarding other information relating to a known caller, the user is required to either memorize the history of communication and dealings with the caller or enter data sources in which all details and dealings with the caller are recorded. This information may often include inventory lists payment bills, invoices details, treatment and payment listing and the like, information impossible to memorize for a multiplicity of known customers, suppliers, patients or any other type of callers.

[0007] Most available solutions for integrating telephony services with computerized environment require individual and separate connection to each communication provider (through various telephony operators), which requires updating each communication settings separately. Each solution requires tailor-made adaptation to each system, and every update and change brings about additional costs. [0008] This may turn out extremely time and money consuming, and therefore only large organizations that can afford the personnel and costs required can use these systems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

[0009] The present invention, according to some embodiments thereof, provides a system, a method and a unified module enabling to provide unified telephony and computerized services through a simple to use, easy to connect and easy to apply unified software solution. The unified module can easily connect to a telephony system of a client such as an office, an organization and the like, to data sources of the client and to a computerized system of the client such as one or more computers and other terminals and provide services relating to incoming calls of the telephony system arriving from callers using various communication devices, networks and protocols.

[0010] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer telephony (CT) system for unifying and managing computerized and telephony services, the system comprising: a computerized system associated with at least one client and operated by at least one user; a telephony system associated with the at least one client, wherein the telephony system enables receiving incoming calls and executing outgoing calls from and to a multiplicity of callers using a variety of communication devices and networks, which use a variety of communication protocols; at least one data source including information relating to known callers associated with the client's computerized system; a unified module (UM) operatively associated with the telephony and computerized systems of the at least one client and the at least one data source, wherein the UM enables unifying telephony and computerized services of the client by enabling to automatically identify communication protocols enabled by the telephony and computerized systems of the client, upon installation of the UM, wherein the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables to utilize the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols. [0011] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of unifying computerized and telephony services using a unified module (UM) such as a DLL component, operatively associated with telephony and computerized systems associated with a client and with at least one data source comprising information relating to known callers, the method comprising: automatically identifying all communication networks and protocols enabled by the client's telephony and computerized systems; and automatically configuring the UM settings and definitions according to the identified communication protocols, to allow the UM to read and relay all protocols available by the client's telephony and computerized systems, wherein the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables utilizing the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

[0012] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a unified module (UM) operatively associated with telephony and computerized systems of at least one client, wherein the UM enables unifying telephony and computerized services by enabling to automatically identify all communication protocols enabled by the telephony and computerized systems, upon installation of the UM, and automatically configure the UM settings, according to the identified communication protocols. The UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables utilizing the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The subject matter regarded as the invention will become more clearly understood in light of the ensuing description of embodiments herein, given by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the present invention only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

Fig. 1 is a block diagram, schematically illustrating a system for unifying telephony services in a computerized environment, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram, schematically illustrating a unified module for unifying and managing telephony and computerized services, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a flowchart, schematically illustrating a method for unifying telephony and computerized services, according to some embodiments of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a flowchart, schematically illustrating a method for providing and supporting unified telephony and computerized services, according to some embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION

[0014] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. [0015] An embodiment is an example or implementation of the inventions. The various appearances of "one embodiment," "an embodiment" or "some embodiments" do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiments. Although various features of the invention may be described in the context of a single embodiment, the features may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although the invention may be described herein in the context of separate embodiments for clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a single embodiment. [0016] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "some embodiments" or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the inventions. It is understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is not to be construed as limiting and are for descriptive purpose only.

[0017] The principles and uses of the teachings of the present invention may be better understood with reference to the accompanying description, figures and examples. It is to be understood that the details set forth herein do not construe a limitation to an application of the invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out or practiced in various ways and that the invention can be implemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in the description below.

[0018] It is to be understood that the terms "including", "comprising", "consisting" and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude the addition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers or groups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifying components, features, steps or integers. The phrase "consisting essentially of, and grammatical variants thereof, when used herein is not to be construed as excluding additional components, steps, features, integers or groups thereof but rather that the additional features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed composition, device or method.

[0019] If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element. It is to be understood that where the claims or specification refer to "a" or "an" element, such reference is not be construed that there is only one of that element. It is to be understood that where the specification states that a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", "can" or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included.

[0020] Where applicable, although state diagrams, flow diagrams or both may be used to describe embodiments, the invention is not limited to those diagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow need not move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the same order as illustrated and described. [0021] Methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing or completing manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selected steps or tasks. The term "method" refers to manners, means, techniques and procedures for accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, those manners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readily developed from known manners, means, techniques and procedures by practitioners of the art to which the invention belongs. The descriptions, examples, methods and materials presented in the claims and the specification are not to be construed as limiting but rather as illustrative only.

[0022] Meanings of technical and scientific terms used herein are to be commonly understood as to which the invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. The present invention can be implemented in the testing or practice with methods and materials equivalent or similar to those described herein.

[0023] Any publications, including patents, patent applications and articles, referenced or mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in the description of some embodiments of the invention shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.

[0024] The present invention, according to some embodiments thereof, provides a system, a method and a unified module enabling to provide unified telephony and computerized services of a client through a simple to use, easy to connect and easy to apply unified software solution. The module can connect to a telephony system of a client such as an office, an organization and the like, to data sources of the client and to a computerized system of the client such as one or more computers and other terminals and provide telephony and computerized services relating to incoming calls of the telephony system arriving from callers using various communication devices, networks and protocols by enabling to automatically identify and receive data from various communication protocols thereby enabling to receive calls from various communication devices types using various communication networks.

[0025] The unified module may enable automatically identifying all communication protocols used by the telephony system of the client and configure to enable providing unified telephony and computerized services according to these identified protocols.

[0026] The unified module may already be adapted to use predefined multiple protocols (e.g. all commonly used protocols of various commonly used communication networks and providers) thereby configure itself according to the identified protocols used by the client by automatically customizing and configuring its definitions to allow communication through the identified protocols of the client.

[0027] The unified module may be operated through at least one main server connected to a communication module, enabling to connect to various telephony operators of various types, to enable providing multiple communication services through a central communication provider (e.g. the provider of the main server and communication module), which maintains and updates the communication protocols and services at the server and communication module.

[0028] A client may be a person and/or an organization (e.g. a business, a company, an office and the like) that needs to handle multiple calls arriving from multiple callers. The callers may be anyone calling the client through the client's telephony services.

[0029] The client may have users (e.g. representatives of the office/organization) that actually use the computerized system and enable to respond to calls and/or receive information regarding incoming calls.

[0030] Reference is now made to Fig. 1, which is a block diagram, schematically illustrating computer telephony (CT) system 1000 for unifying supporting and managing computerized and telephony services.

[0031] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the

CT system 1000 may comprise: a computerized system . 200 associated with at least one client (e.g. organization) and operated by at least one user 10; a telephony system 15 associated with the at least one client, where the telephony system 15 enables receiving incoming call and executing outgoing calls from and to a multiplicity of callers 20 using a variety of communication devices 21a, 21b and/or 21c, using a variety of communication protocols through at least one communication network 90A/90B and identifying the identifier of the communication device of a known caller (e.g. the phone number, the name of the caller, or IP address); one or more data sources 300 and/or 400 comprising identifiers of known callers (e.g. phone numbers and/or IP addresses of the callers' communication devices) and other information related to the known callers (e.g. address, email, other phone numbers, information relating to the caller's history of actions and operations such as orders and debts in relation to the organization etc.); a unified module (UM) 100, which is a software (e.g. middleware) application enabling to receive callers' communication devices 21a, 21b or 21c identifiers (e.g. from the telephony system 15) and automatically retrieve information relating to the identified callers upon identification of incoming calls, from at least one of data sources 300 and/or 400 thereby automatically associating details of the incoming calls with information relating to the caller 20; at least one main server 900 connected to at least one communication module 350, wherein the main server 900 and communication module 950 are operatively associated with the UM 100; and at least one calls archive 500 enabling the UM 100 to store and record information relating to incoming calls such as the identifier, the caller's 20 name, the duration of the call, the action carried out upon identification of each incoming call etc.

[0032] The UM 100 may include information relating to multiple communication protocols (e.g. most commonly used protocols in the current art) and enable to utilize some of the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems 200 and 15, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

[0033] For example, the client telephony system 15 enables communicating via two telephony protocols a specific cellular communication protocol and a specific wired communication protocol; the computerized system 200 enables using two specific internet communication protocols, where the UM 100 includes ten possible telephony and computerized communication protocols including the four utilized by the telephony and computerized systems 15 and 200 of the client. Upon installation, the UM 100 may automatically identify the four protocols used by the client and automatically utilize those four protocols out of the ten already defined and included at the UM 100.

[0034] According to some embodiments, the communication module 950 may enable connecting, supporting and updating multiple predefined communication protocols (e.g. all commonly known and used protocols) and multiple communication services providers such as Skype 951A, LG 951B, Panasonic 951C and PBX 951D), where the main server 900 may enable enables reading and relaying the protocols supported by the communication module 950 by connecting to the communication module 950. [0035] According to some embodiments, the unified module 100 may be a DLL component that can be installed at the client's computerized system 200, either by downloading the DLL from a website, installing the UM 100 at he client's computerized system 200 and the like, as known in the art.

[0036] The UM 100 may further enable executing at least one action such as initiation of a call, termination of a call (e.g. hanging up) and messaging the user 10 regarding the identified incoming call and retrieved information, according to predefined execution rules that take into account at least some of the retrieved related information of each identified call.

[0037] According to embodiments, at least one of the data sources from which information relating to the incoming call may be retrieved may be an internal local data source 300 (e.g. installed in the computerized system 200 of the client) and/or a remote data source 400 (e.g. stored in a remote server). To retrieve data from the remote data source 400, the system 1000 may enable communicating with the remote data source 400 through at least one communication network 91. [0038] The computerized system 200 may be for example, a PC computer, a laptop, a series of connected computers, a personal digital assistance, and the like, which may further be used as a communication device as a part of the telephony system 15 (e.g. enabling to receive and initiate calls through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the like). [0039] Each data source (e.g. 300 and/or 400) may associate at least one identifier of each known caller's communication device (e.g. phone number and/or IP address) to further details relating to the known caller such as the caller's name, home/business address and account in relation to the client etc., depending on the client's needs and data sources definitions and structure.

[0040] According to embodiments, the UM 100 may be operated by and installed at the computerized system 200 (e.g. by downloading the UM 100 from a website), where the installation of the UM 100 may include identifying all communication protocols, devices and networks used by the telephony system 15 of the client; and automatically configuring the UM 100 settings according to the identified protocols to enable the UM 100 to read and identify all protocols enabled by the telephony system

15 of the client.

[0041] The UM 100 may enable identifying and reading all or most communication protocols known and commonly used in the currently used art, enabling to automatically identify the protocols used by the telephony system 15 and configure its settings accordingly to allow receiving those protocols.

[0042] Alternatively, the UM 100 may identify indications of the telephony system's

15 protocols' types and upload settings and code parts from a predefined provider according to the identified protocols types, thereby enabling to configure the UM 100 according to the specific protocols used by the client's telephony system 15.

[0043] During installation, the UM 100 may further enable configuring the UM 100 according to available data sources e.g. 300 and/or 400 relating to callers' identifiers and other related information.

[0044] Additionally, according to some embodiments, the UM 100 may further enable the user 10 (and/or an authorized administrator 30) to define messaging services settings including messaging parameters such as the parts of the information to be mentioned in the message, the graphical settings of messages and the designated communication device(s) 11a 200 and/or lib to which the message is to be transmitted, as well as the messaging type(s) (e.g. short messaging service (SMS),

Multimedia Messaging service (MMS), popup message, email and the like).

[0045] According to some embodiments of the invention, the installation may further include interfacing with at least one application operated and ran by the client's computerized system 200 such as the operation system and/or other applications such as office applications (Word, Excel, etc.), to enable messaging relating to incoming calls through these applications (e.g. through popup messages from the application currently used by the user 10).

[0046] The telephony system 15 may include communication devices such as wired telephones 11a; cellular phones lib; computers 200 enabling internet communication; personal digital assistance (PDA) devices or any other communication device known in the art enabling calls receiving and initiation or any other communication.

[0047] The communication network(s) enabled by the telephony system 15 enabling calls communication 9OA may be different than the communication network(s) 9OB enabling to receive the incoming calls and register these calls in the UM 100. The communication networks used 9OA and/or 9OB may be, for example, at least one of: the internet; wired telephony communication network; wireless telephony communication network; intranet; local area network (LAN); wide area network

(WAN).

[0048] Reference is now made to Fig. 2, which is a block diagram, schematically illustrating a UM 100, according to some embodiments of the invention. The UM 100 may comprise: an installation module 110, enabling automatically identifying all communication protocols associated with the communication devices 11a, lib and/or 200 of the telephony system, where the identification is carried out upon installation of the UM 100 in a computerized system 200 and where upon identification of the protocols, the UM 100 enables automatically configuring its settings according to the identified protocols to enable receiving and identifying calls arriving from the various and multiple callers' communication devices 21a, 21b and/or 21c, and identifying all data sources 300 and/or 400; a call identification module 120, enabling to receive the identifier of the caller's communication device from the telephony system 21; an information retrieval module 130 enabling to retrieve information associated with the caller's identifier from the data sources 300 and/or 400; an operation module 140, enabling to execute actions upon identifying of the caller's identifier, according to the predefined execution rules, which take into account at least some of the retrieved information; and a recordation module 150, enabling to record and store information related to incoming calls in at least one calls archive 500 (see Fig. 1) such as the identifier (e.g. phone number) of the caller's communication device, the duration of the call, the time of the call, the name of the caller 20 retrieved from the data source 300 and/or 400 and/or an feedback of the user 10 regarding the content or success of the call (e.g. "meeting was appointed" etc.) and the like.

[0049] The recordation module 150 may further enable analyzing stored information relating to incoming calls (e.g. enabling to check how many "successful" calls were made relating to the same caller 20 etc.

[0050] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the operation module 140 may comprise: a messaging module 141 enabling to execute one or more operations of transmitting at least one message relating to the incoming call, according to the messaging configuration and according to messaging rules that may take into account the retrieved information relating to the caller (e.g. a messaging indicating that the caller 20 is unknown or that the caller is a VIP customer etc.); and a calls execution module 142 enabling executing of at least one call related action upon identification of an incoming call, according to predefined execution rules, depending upon the identified caller of the caller's communication device 21a, 21b and/or 21c, the retrieved information relating to the identifier and predefined client's conditions, wherein the execution rules enable executing at least one operation according to the conditions for execution included in the rules. [0051] The messaging module may enable using at least one of the following presentation manners: voice messages; text messages; multimedia messages, depending upon the messaging settings and configuration defined by the user, using the messaging configuration module.

[0052] According to some embodiments of the invention, the messaging module may enable transmitting messages relating to incoming calls and communication with callers 20 via various predefined messaging techniques, using various communication networks and protocols such as via SMS and/or MMS messages transmitted to the users 10 predefined cellular phones, popup messages executed at the workflow of the users' 10 computer, telephonic voice messages and/or cellular popup messages enabling to automatically popup at the user's 10 predefined cellular phones. The messages may include text and/or voice and/or multimedia content including at least some of the retrieved information relating to the incoming calls (e.g. the name of the caller, the phone number of the caller, the caller's status etc. depending on the content stored at the data source(s) 300 and/or 400).

[0053] The cellular popup messages may enable automatically popping up at the screen of the user's cellular phone.

[0054] According to some embodiments of the invention, the recordation module 150 may further enable producing and presenting calls reports including stored information relating to incoming and outgoing calls.

[0055] According to some embodiments of the invention, as further illustrated in Fig.

2, the installation module 110 may comprise: a protocol identification module 111, enabling to automatically identify the communication protocols enabled by telephony system 15; a communication configuration module 112, enabling to automatically configure the UM 100 according to the identified protocols; a data sources configuration module 113 enabling to configure the UM 100 according to available data sources relating to callers' identifiers and other related information; and a messaging configuration module 114 enabling the user 10 to define messaging services settings and parameters including the communication devices and messaging services types according to which the messaging relating to incoming calls are to be presented to the user 10.

[0056] The messaging configuration module 114 of the installation module 110 may further enable the user 10 to define the at least one communication device through which messages will be presented, the presentation manner and the presentation service used, where the presentation services available by the messaging configuration module may include at least one of: SMS; MMS; voice message; popup message, and/or cellular popup messages.

[0057] The cellular popup messages may enable automatically popping up at the user's 10 predefined cellular phone. The messages may include text and/or voice and/or multimedia content including at least some of the retrieved information relating to the incoming calls (e.g. the name of the caller, the phone number of the caller, the caller's status etc. depending on the content stored at the data source(s) 300 and/or 400) depending on the definitions made by the user. The messaging configuration module 114 may further enable the user 10 to define cellular phones of users enabling to receive SMS, MMS and cellular popup messages.

[0058] The messaging configuration module 114 may further enable interfacing with at least one applications that is ran by the computerized system 200 and add in call and messaging services to these applications to allow presenting information relating to identified incoming calls.

[0059] Reference is now made to Fig. 3, which schematically illustrates a method for unifying telephony and computerized services, according to some embodiments of the invention.

[0060] The unification may be carried out automatically upon installing the UM 100 in a client's computerized system 200, according to the client's personal needs, computerized system 200 and telephony system 15.

[0061] The method may include: identifying all communication protocols, devices (e.g. 21a, 21b and/or 21c) and networks used by the telephony system 15 of the client 51; automatically configuring the UM 100 settings according to the identified protocols to enable the UM 100 to read all protocols of the telephony system 52; defining all available remote and/or local data sources for retrieving of callers' related information 53 (e.g. carried out by an authorized user such as an administrator 30); configuring the UM 100 according to identified available data sources 54; defining messaging services settings and parameters, e.g. where the UM 100 enables the user to define messaging parameters including the communication devices and messaging services types according to which the messaging regarding incoming calls are to be presented to the user 55 for example, by selecting preferred messaging techniques and inputting destinations data for messaging through remote and/or local devices such as inputting phone numbers for voice and/or SMS messaging, IP address for popup messaging, email address and the like; configuring the UM 100 according to the defined messaging settings and parameters 56; and interfacing with at least one application operated and ran by the client's computerized system 200, to enable messaging relating to incoming calls through these applications (e.g. "Microsoft Word" "Excel", "Outlook" etc.) 57. [0062] Reference is now made to Fig. 4, which is a flowchart, schematically illustrating a method for providing and supporting unified telephony and computerized services, where the telephony and computerized services are enabled by the computer telephony integration system (CT) 1000. [0063] The method may comprise: detecting an incoming call 31; identifying the identifier (e.g. phone number or IP address) of the communication device of the caller of the detected incoming call 32; searching through at least one data source, according to the identifier, to find information relating to the identifier 33; if no identifier is found in any of the available data sources 34, the system may output a predefined "unidentified caller" message to the user 35; upon finding the identifier in one of the available data sources 34, retrieving the related information 36 thereby automatically associating details of the incoming calls with information relating to the caller; and executing at least one action such as a messaging action to at least one of the available communication devices of the user in at least one messaging manner and type (e.g. through SMS to the cellular phone of the user etc.), according to predefined execution rules (e.g. messaging rules) that take into account at least some of the retrieved related information of each identified call 37; if a calling execution action is confirmed according to predefined calling execution rules 38, the system 1000 may automatically execute the calling action e.g. by initiating a call to the caller 39 or by allowing the already incoming call to be actuated with the user 10; if the calling execution rules are not fulfilled or confirmed 38 (e.g. the caller is identified as a problematic caller), the system 1000 may enable transmitting a message to the user and/or to the caller to inform the user/caller regarding the unavailability of the user or the system 1000 to initiate the call 40 and terminating the call 41 (e.g. hanging up); and storing the data of the entire communication session between the caller 20 and the system 1000 and user 42 e.g. in the calls archive 500.

[0064] The storing of the calls data may include storing the time of receiving of the call, the duration of the call, whether the a call was initiated between the user and the caller or terminated, at least some of the retrieved information, the identification of the specific user who received the messages and his/her actions and the like. [0065] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of some of the embodiments thereof, including a preferred embodiment. The scope of the invention should not be limited by what has been described, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A computer telephony (CT) system for unifying and managing computerized and telephony services, said system comprising: a computerized system associated with at least one client and operated by at least one user; a telephony system associated with the at least one client, wherein said telephony system enables receiving incoming calls and executing outgoing calls from and to a multiplicity of callers using a variety of communication devices and networks, which use a variety of communication protocols; at least one data source including information relating to known callers associated with the client's computerized system; a unified module (UM) operatively associated with the telephony and computerized systems of the at least one client and the at least one data source, wherein said UM enables unifying telephony and computerized services of the client by enabling to automatically identify communication protocols enabled by the telephony and computerized systems of the client, upon installation of the UM, wherein the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables to utilize the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

2. The CT system of claim 1, wherein the UM further supports communication between the client and the callers, retrieve information relating to identified callers from the at least one data source and execute actions according to predefined execution rules that take into account at least some of the retrieved related information, thereby automatically associating details of the incoming calls with the retrieved related information.

3. The CT system of claim 1 further comprising at least one main server and at least one communication module, operatively associated with the UM, wherein the main server is connected to the communication module, wherein the communication module enables connecting, supporting and updating multiple predefined communication protocols of multiple communication services providers, wherein the main server enables supporting the UM and reading and relaying all protocols supported by the communication module, by enabling to retrieved data from the communication data according to a predefined configuration.

4. The CT system of claim 3, wherein the communication module enables reading and relaying at least one of the following communication protocols: wire communication protocols; cellular protocols; internet protocols.

5. The CT system of claim 1, wherein the telephony system enables identifying an identifier associated with the communication device used by the caller of the incoming call and wherein the UM enables retrieving the identifier of each incoming call from the telephony system thereby search through the at least one data source to identify the caller and retrieve information relating to the caller.

6. The CT system of claim 1, wherein the at least one data source includes at least one of: at least one local data source; at least one remote data source.

7. The CT system of claim 6, wherein the UM is installed in the computerized system of the client, which enables operating said UM, and wherein the UM comprises: an installation module, enabling automatically identifying all communication protocols associated with the at least one communication device of the telephony system, wherein the identification is carried out upon installation of the UM in the computerized system, wherein upon identification of the protocols, the UM enables automatically configuring its settings according to the identified protocols to enable receiving and identifying calls arriving from the various and multiple callers' communication devices, and identifying all data sources operatively associated with the UM; a call identification module, enabling to receive the identifier of the caller's communication device; an information retrieval module enabling to retrieve information associated with the caller's identifier according from the at least one data source; an operation module, enabling to execute actions upon identifying of the caller's identifier, according to the predefined execution rules, which take into account at least some of the retrieved information.

8. The CT system of claim 7, wherein the operation module comprises: a messaging module enabling to execute actions of transmitting at least one message relating to the incoming call to the at least one user, according to the messaging configuration and according to messaging rules that may take into account the retrieved information relating to the caller; and a calls execution module enabling executing of at least one calls related action upon identification of an incoming call, according to predefined execution rules, depending upon the identified caller of the caller's communication device, the retrieved information relating to said identifier and predefined client's conditions, wherein the execution rules enable executing at least one operation according to the conditions for execution included in said rules.

9. The CT system of claim 8, wherein the messaging module enables at least one of: voice messages; text messages; multimedia messages.

10. The CT system of claim 9, wherein the messaging module further enables uaing various messaging techniques, which use various communication protocols and networks, wherein the messaging techniques are at least one of: SMS messages; MMS messages; popup messages enabling to pop up at the computerized system of the at least one user; cellular popup messages enabling to pop up in at least one screen of at least one cellular phone of the user.

11. The CT system of claim 7, wherein the installation module comprises: a protocol identification module, enabling to automatically identify the communication protocols enabled by telephony system; a communication configuration module, enabling to automatically configure the UM according to the identified protocols; a data sources configuration module, enabling to configure the UM according to available data sources relating to callers' identifiers and other related information; and a messaging configuration module, enabling a user to define messaging services settings including the communication devices and messaging services types according to which the messaging relating to incoming calls is to be presented to the user.

12. The CT system of claim 11, wherein the messaging configuration module of the installation module further enables the user to define the at least one communication device through which messages will be presented, the presentation manner and the presentation service used, wherein the presentation services available by the messaging configuration module include at least one of: SMS; MMS; voice message; popup messages enabling to pop up at the computerized system of the at least one user; cellular popup messages enabling to pop up in at least one screen of at least one cellular phone of the user, wherein the messaging configuration module further enables the user to define cellular phones of users enabling to receive SMS, MMS and cellular popup messages.

13. The CT system of claim 12, wherein said messaging configuration module further enables interfacing with at least one applications that is ran by the computerized system and add in call and messaging services to said at least one application to allow presenting information relating to identified incoming calls through said at least one application.

14. The CT system of claim 7, wherein the UM further comprises a recordation module, enabling to record and store information related to incoming calls in at least one calls archive.

15. The CT system of claim 14, wherein the recordation module further enables analyzing stored information relating to incoming calls, producing and presenting reports including stored information relating to incoming and outgoing calls.

16. A method of unifying computerized and telephony services using a unified module (UM) operatively associated with telephony and computerized systems associated with a client and with at least one data source comprising information relating to known callers, said method comprising: automatically identifying all communication networks and protocols enabled by the client's telephony and computerized systems; and automatically configuring the UM settings and definitions according to the identified communication protocols, to allow the UM to read and relay all protocols available by the client's telephony and computerized systems, wherein the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables utilizing the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said identification of protocols and configuration is carried out automatically upon installation of the installation of the UM at the client's computerized system.

18. The method of claim 17, further includes: configuring the UM according to available data sources relating to callers' identifiers and other related information; and defining messaging services settings, wherein the UM enables the user to define messaging parameters including the communication devices and messaging services types according to which the messaging regarding incoming calls are to be presented to the user.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said installation further includes interfacing with at least one application operated and ran by the client's computerized system, to enable messaging relating to incoming calls through said at least one application.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising: detecting at least one incoming call; identifying the identifier of the communication device of a caller of the detected incoming call; searching through the at least one data source, according to the identifier, to find information relating to the identifier; upon finding, retrieving the related information thereby automatically associating details of the incoming calls with information relating to the caller; and executing at least one action according to predefined execution rules that take into account at least some of the retrieved related information of each identified call.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the execution rules include conditions for presenting at least some of the retrieved information relating to the caller, wherein the presenting of the information is executed as at least one of the actions according to predefined presentation rules.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the presenting of at least some of the retrieved information is carried out by executing at least one message to the user using at least one messaging technique.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said messaging technique is at least one of: SMS; MMS; popup messaging; emailing.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the execution rules further include conditions for initiating calls between the telephony system of the client and the caller's communication device, wherein the initiation of a call is executed as at least one of the actions according to predefined initiation rules.

25. A unified module (UM) operatively associated with telephony and computerized systems of at least one client, wherein said UM enables unifying telephony and computerized services by enabling to automatically identify all communication protocols enabled by the telephony and computerized systems, upon installation of the UM, and automatically configure the UM settings, according to the identified communication protocols,

wherein the UM includes information relating to multiple communication protocols and enables utilizing the included protocols that are related to the identified protocols enabled by the client's computerized and telephony systems, thereby configuring itself according to the client's enabled communication protocols.

26. The UM of claim 25 supports communication between the client and the callers, identify callers of incoming calls, retrieve information relating to identified callers and execute actions according to predefined execution rules that take into account at least some of the retrieved related information, thereby automatically associating details of the incoming calls with the retrieved related information.

27. The UM of claim 25 includes a DLL enabling to read and relay the identified multiple communication protocols, according to the identified protocols of the computerized and telephony systems of the client.

28. The UM of claim 25 is operatively associated with at least one main server, enabling to support and manage the UM, wherein said main server is connected to a communication module enabling to utilize, update, read and relay multiple communication protocols of various communication networks and providers.