WO2009136407A2

WO2009136407A2 - Method and system for giving incomplete calls in a telecommunication network

Info

Publication number: WO2009136407A2
Application number: PCT/IN2009/000129
Authority: WO
Inventors: Koranapalli Nagaraju Rohith; Nanjundaiah Vinay; Babu Harish
Original assignee: Onmobile Global Limited
Priority date: 2008-02-29
Filing date: 2009-02-27
Publication date: 2009-11-12
Also published as: WO2009136407A3

Abstract

A method and a system for giving incomplete calls to a callee in a telecommunication network are disclosed. A caller initiates an incomplete call request to give an incomplete call to the callee. The system receives the incomplete call request from the caller and calls the callee. Thereafter, the call is terminated by the system as soon as the call is connected. The disclosed system and method enables the caller to give incomplete calls to callee even when the caller has zero or low balance or wishes to make STD/ISD call but has STD/ISD services de-activated. A method to allow caller to notify the callee about her attempt to call the callee when the phone of the callee was unavailable is also disclosed.

Description

TITLE: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GIVING INCOMPLETE CALLS IN A TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK APPLICANT'S NAME:ONMOBILE GLOBAL LIMITED

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication networks. More specifically, the invention relates to giving incomplete calls in the telecommunication network.

DEFINITIONS

Caller: An individual who initiates a call in a telecommunication network is called a 'caller¹.

Callee: An individual to whom the call is made in a telecommunication network is called a 'callee¹.

Incomplete Call: A call wherein the caller terminates the call before the callee answers the call is referred to as an incomplete call.

Incomplete call request: The request made by the caller to give an incomplete call to the callee is referred to as an incomplete call request.

Incomplete call request information: The incomplete call request information refers to the information related to the request of incomplete call made by the caller. The incomplete call request information includes without limitation phone number of the caller, phone number of the callee, time of receiving the incomplete call request, time of giving the incomplete call to the callee and the likes. SMS: Short Message Service ICA: Initiate Call Attempt ACM: Address Complete Message IAM: Initial Address Message GPRS¹: General Packet Radio Service

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access

USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol

IVR: Interactive Voice Response

REL: Call Release

EDPR: Event Detection Point Response Required

SSP: Service Switching Point

SCP: Secure Channel Protocol

BCSM: Basic Call State Model

MSC: Mobile Switching Centre

HLR: Home Location Register

ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network

ISUP: ISDN User Part

BACKGROUND ART

In a telecommunication network, a caller can communicate with a callee by using a telecommunication device. Examples of the telecommunication device include, but are not limited to, a landline telephone and a mobile phone. The caller may communicate with the callee by dialing the callee's phone number by using the telecommunication device. The telecommunication network authenticates the callee's phone number and establishes a connection between the caller and the callee. The callee's phone starts ringing when the connection is established. In some cases, the caller may dial the callee's phone number and terminate the call before the callee answers the call to initiate the conversation. Such a call wherein the caller terminates the call before the callee answers the call is hereinafter referred to as an incomplete call. The caller may give incomplete calls to the callee for various reasons that include, but are not limited to, the caller being a pre-paid service subscriber and having low balance, the caller being a post-paid service subscriber and approaching credit limit, and the caller merely wishing the callee to acknowledge the call attempt.

An incomplete call informs the callee about the attempt from the caller to establish communication with her. There are other means, for example, Short Message Service (SMS), through which the caller may inform the callee about her attempt to communicate with her. However, an incomplete call generally attracts the attention of the callee more than the SMS, and is hence more effective in informing the callee about the attempt by the caller to communicate with the callee. Further, an incomplete call alert does not add to the caller's bill whereas the caller is charged for sending an SMS. While giving an incomplete call, the caller has to judge the timing of terminating the call so as to ensure that she terminates the call before the callee accepts the call. However, this causes inconvenience to the caller. Further, the caller may not be able to give an incomplete call to the callee when the callee's phone is unavailable, for example, switched off, out of coverage area, network congestion, callee's incoming call service barred and the likes. The caller, in such cases, may try to communicate with the callee by repeatedly calling the callee until the callee's phone is available again. However, this also causes inconvenience to the caller. There are situations in which the callee is unavailable and the connection between the caller and the callee could not be established. Typically, the callee is not aware of the attempt by the caller to establish communication when the callee's phone is switched off, out of coverage area, etc. Existing systems send a notification to the callee, typically in the form of an SMS to the callee's phone when the callee is available again. The notification informs the callee about the attempt by the caller to establish communication. However this method of notifying the callee has certain limitations. The SMS only informs the callee that a caller tried to establish communication with the callee but does not give details of the caller, like phone number of the caller, time when the caller tried establishing communication etc. To access the details, the callee needs to call or send an SMS to a specified service number. This is inconvenient to the callee. Further, the SMS received regarding notification is stored in the phone of the callee along with other SMSes and may skip the attention of the callee.

In light of the above limitations, there exists a need for a method and a system for giving incomplete calls to the callee such that the caller is not required to manually terminate the call. There also exists a need for a method and a system to enable the caller with low balance or zero balance or with exceeded credit limit to give an incomplete call to the callee. Further, there exists a need for a method and a system to allow the caller to notify the callee about her attempt to call the callee when the callee was unavailable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a telecommunication environment in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating a call server in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for giving incomplete call to the callee in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG.. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for notifying the callee about one or more call requests made to the callee, when the callee's phone was unavailable in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternate method for notifying the callee about the one or more call requests made to the callee, when the callee's phone was unavailable in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for publishing one or more call requests made to the callee in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. Various aspects and features of example embodiments of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter.

A system and a method for giving an incomplete call to a callee by a caller are disclosed. The caller may dial callee's phone number and terminate, the call before the callee^' answers the call to initiate the conversation. Such a call wherein the caller terminates the call before the callee answers the call is hereinafter referred to as an incomplete call. The caller may want to give incomplete call to the callee due to various reasons. Examples of the reasons include, but are not limited to, the caller being a prepaid service subscriber and having low or zero balance, the caller being a post-paid service subscriber and approaching or crossing credit limit, the caller wishing to make a national (STD) or international (ISD) call to the callee with STD/ISD service de-activated and the caller merely wishing the callee to acknowledge the call attempt.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating telecommunication environment 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Telecommunication environment 100 includes caller 102, callee 104 and communication network 106. Communication network 106 further comprises switching center 108, central database 110 and call server 112. Caller 102 and callee 104 use telecommunication devices to connect to communication network 106. Examples of the telecommunication devices include, but are not limited to, a landline telephone, a mobile phone , a personal digital assistant (PDA), CDMA phone. The telecommunication device, for the purpose of explanation, is hereinafter referred to as a phone.

Communication network 106 enables caller 102 to communicate with callee 104. Communication network 106 includes switching center 108 for enabling a call connection between caller 102 and callee 104. The examples of switching centre 108 may include without limitation a mobile switching center (MSC) for handling call connection if callee 104's telecommunication device is a mobile phone, a service switching point (SSP) for handling call connection if callee 104's telecommunication device is a landline phone and the likes. In an embodiment, communication network 106 includes without limitation one or more switching centres 108. Switching centre 108 is specific to a telecommunication service provider. In an embodiment, telecommunication service providers of caller 102 and callee 104 may be same. In another embodiment, telecommunication service providers of caller 102 and callee 104 may be different.

Central database 110 stores subscription information related to subscribers of a telecommunication service. An example of central database 110 can be a home location register (HLR). The subscription information may include without limitation a unique identifier for the subscriber, phone number of the subscriber, current location of the subscriber, a list of services the subscriber is subscribed to, and the likes.

Call server 112 is responsible for receiving and handling requests for giving incomplete call to callee 104 from caller 102. The request for giving an incomplete call to callee 104 by caller 102 is hereinafter referred to as an incomplete call request. Moreover, call server 112 gives incomplete calls to callee 104. According to an embodiment of the invention, switching centre 108 and call server 112 are linked via ISDN (integrated services digital network) User Part (ISUP). In an embodiment, call server 112 may be included in switching centre 108. Call server 112 has been discussed in detail in conjunction with FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating call server 112 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Call server 112 comprises one or more telephony cards 202, an application server 204, and a database 206.

Telephony cards 202 are responsible for transfer of media such as dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) to and from the applications in application server 204. An example of telephony cards 202 for handling media is ^"NMS AG-4040 card. Telephony cards 202 are further responsible for transmitting signals such as Initiate Call Attempt (ICA), Address Complete Message (ACM), call release (REL) signal and the likes using standard protocols such as SS7 protocol. An example of telephony cards 202 for handling signals is NMS TX-4000 cards. Telephony cards 202 include a software component used for signal and media handling. The software component may be writlen in C/C++ or any other programming language. Telephony cards 202 establish connection of switching centre 108, internet, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Short Message Service (SMS) centre, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) centre and the likes with application server 204.

Application server 204 comprises various applications based on computer programming languages like JAVA, C/C++, etc for sending and receiving messages, for example, Initial Address Message (IAM), ACM, REL and the likes: Different applications are invoked based on input from telephony cards 202. Application server 204 receives the incomplete call request made by caller 102 and incomplete call request information, via telephony cards 202 and stores the received requests and information in database 206. The incomplete call request information includes without limitation phone number of caller 102, phone number of callee 104, time of receiving incomplete call request, time of giving incomplete call to callee 104 and the likes. In an embodiment, application server 204 also receives one or more call requests for callee 104 from caller 102. The one or more call requests are calls which were made to callee 104 while the phone of callee 104 was unavailable. The one or more call requests may include without limitation normal call requests and the incomplete call requests which were made in a time period when phone of callee 104 was unavailable. Wherein, the normal call request is a call request made by caller 102 to establish a connection with callee 104. Application server 204 stores each of the one or more call requests and call request information regarding the call requests in database 206. The call request information corresponding to a particular call request may include without limitation, phone number of .callee 104, phone number of caller 102, time when the call request was received, time when callee 104 received the call requests, number of times caller 102 has made call requests and the likes. For example, suppose A calls B when phone of B is unavailable, then the request of A to call B is stored as a call request in database 206 by application server 204. Along with the call request of A, call request information is also stored in database 206, which includes phone number of A, phone number of B, time when A made the call request, time when B received the call corresponding to the call request from A, number of times A has made call requests and the likes. In an embodiment, database 206 may not be included inside call server 112. Application server 204 includes a counter to keep track of the number of times caller 102 has made call requests to callee 104. Application server 204 is responsible for handling and giving incomplete calls to callee 104. The method for giving incomplete calls to callee 104 has been described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for giving an. incomplete call to callee 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step 302, caller 102 sends an incomplete call request to give an incomplete call to callee 104.

In an embodiment, caller 102 may send the incomplete call^' request to give an incomplete call to callee 104 via her phone. Typically, when caller 102 enters the address book stored in the phone of caller 102 and chooses a particular contact, caller 102 is presented with multiple options, with respect to that particular contact. The examples of options presented to caller 102 include but are not limited to the option of calling the particular contact, sending an SMS to the particular contact and deleting the particular contact from the address book. According to an embodiment of the invention, caller 102 is presented with an incomplete call request option to give an incomplete call to any particular contact from the address book in addition to the existing options. The option of the incomplete call request may be presented to caller 102 through an application installed in the phone or in the SIM card of caller 102. In an embodiment, when caller 102 sends an incomplete call request for giving an incomplete call to callee 104 using the incomplete call request option, a unique identifier for incomplete call request is added to the phone number of callee 104 by the application. Thereafter, the phone number of callee 104 with unique identifier is dialed to give incomplete call to callee 104. The unique identifier may include without limitation a combination of numbers, alphabets, special characters, dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) keys and the likes. For example, suppose, the phone number of callee 104 is 9845678912 and the unique identifier for incomplete call request may be *123*, then *123*9845678912 is the phone number which will be dialed to give incomplete call to callee 104. According to another embodiment of the invention, caller 102 sends an incomplete call request for giving an incomplete call to callee 104 by modifying the phone number of callee 104 by adding the unique identifier to the phone number of callee 104 herself and dialing the modified phone number. According to another embodiment of the invention, caller 102 may send an incomplete call request to give incomplete call to callee 104 in conjunction with other applications on her phone. Wherein in an embodiment, the phone number of callee 104 is modified by the application by adding the unique identifier before dialing. Calier 102 may use, for example, a calendar application to send incomplete call request to a particular contact on a particular date. For example, suppose caller 102 wishes to give an incomplete call to callee 104 at 5 PM on March 4, 2010, then caller 102 inputs this information into the calendar application. The calendar application intimates the application installed on the phone of caller 102 about the incomplete call request of caller 102 at 5 PM on March 4, 2010. Thereafter, the application installed in the phone of caller 102, sends the incomplete call request at the requested time and date by modifying the phone number of callee 104 by adding the unique identifier. Moreover, caller 102 may send the incomplete call request via SMS, WAP and the likes.

According to another embodiment, caller 102 may send an incomplete call request to give incomplete call to callee 104 by calling a portal. In an embodiment, caller 102 sends incomplete call request to give incomplete call to a particular contact on a particular date by calling the portal. The particular contact in an embodiment includes caller 102 herself. Example of portal may include without limitation an interactive voice response (IVR). In an embodiment, phone number of callee 104 is modified by the portal by adding the unique identifier to the phone number of callee 104. In another embodiment, the portal forwards the incomplete call request made by caller 102 to call server 112.

According to yet another embodiment, caller 102 may send an incomplete call request over the internet by logging into a particular website, or via messenger services, or by writing an e-mail comprising the incomplete call request. For example, caller 102 may send an incomplete call request by clicking on a link on a web page. The link on the web page corresponds to initiating a call with callee 104. In an embodiment, caller 102 sends incomplete call request to give incomplete call to a particular contact on a particular date over the internet. The particular contact in an embodiment includes caller 102 herself. For example: caller A can choose the option of giving incomplete call to herself through her outlook on a particular time.

At step 304, the incomplete call request initiated by caller 102 through her phone is received by switching center 108. In an embodiment, thereafter switching centre 108 determines whether the received request is an incomplete call request or normal call request by verifying that whether the unique identifier is added to the phone number of callee 104 or not. In case, the received request is an incomplete call request, switching centre 108 forwards the incomplete call request to application server 204. According to an embodiment of the invention, switching centre 108 forwards the incomplete call request to application server 204 by sending a message to application server 204 via telephony cards 202. Wherein, the message includes a request for giving an incomplete call to callee 104. Examples of the message sent by switching centre 108 to application server 204 include but are not limited to an SMS, a WAP, an USSD and the likes. According to another embodiment of the invention, switching centre 108 is configured to forward the normal call request initiated by caller 102 as an incomplete call request to application server 204 in the event of a call failure. Call failure may arise due to various factors like caller 102 not having enough balance, caller 102 not permitted to make an STD call and the likes.

According to an embodiment of the invention, in case the incomplete call request is sent in the form of an SMS, the request is received by short message service center (SMSC), and forwarded to application server 204 via telephony cards 202. Similarly, any request in the form of unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) is received by USSD Center (USSDC) while any request in the form of wireless application protocol (WAP) is received by a WAP server and is forwarded to application server 204 via telephony cards 202.

The incomplete call request made by caller 102 via calling the portal is forwarded by the portal to application server 204 via telephony cards 202.

The incomplete call request made by caller 102 via internet is received by a web server which may be linked to a secure channel protocol (SCP) on a proprietary protocol. In an embodiment, the web server forwards the incomplete call request to SCP. In another embodiment, the web server forwards the incomplete call request to application server 204 via telephony cards 202.

At step 306, application server 204 initiates a call to callee 104 based on the received incomplete call request. In an embodiment, application server 204 initiates the call by sending without limitation an IAM and protocols equivalent to IAM to switching centre 108. In another embodiment, application server 204 initiates a call to callee 104 by using initiate call attempt (ICA). Wherein, when an ICA is used by application server 204, a request report through basic call state model (BCSM) command is sent to switching centre 108. The BCSM command arms an "originator trigger on no answer" trigger with timer set to zero. The "originator trigger on no answer" trigger is a command to switching centre 108 to immediately start the call to callee 104 and immediately terminate the call to callee 104.

According to another embodiment of the invention, caller 102 may initiate an incomplete call request to give an incomplete call to callee 104 by using ICA in conjunction with the application installed on the phone of caller 102. The ICA is sent to switching centre 108 by the installed application.

According to an embodiment, in case incomplete call request is made by caller 102 via internet, the SCP sends the ICA to switching centre 108 after receiving the incomplete call request. Thereafter, the request report BCSM command is received by switching centre 108. The BCSM command arms an "originator trigger on no answer" trigger with timer set to zero.

Thereafter, at step 308, switching centre 108 receives status of the call through an address complete message (ACM) when the call is connected and phone of callee 104 starts ringing.^' In an embodiment, switching centre 108 forwards the ACM to application server 204, in case application server 204 used an IAM to initiate the call.

In an embodiment, in case the ICA is sent by the SCP, and the phone of callee 104 starts ringing, an event detection point response required (EDPR) request is received by the SCP. EDPR is a detection point upon the encounter of which the handling of the call stops at switching centre 108 until the SCP sends further instructions.

In an embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable , when the call is initiated by application server 204, the call is not connected and therefore switching centre 108 receives an ACM about unavailability of callee 104's phone. The phone of callee 104 is said to be unavailable due to various reasons such as phone of callee 104 is switched off, phone of callee 104 is out of coverage area, network congestion, callee 104's incoming call service barred, callee 104's voice mail activated, call forwarding activated and the likes. Thereafter the received ACM is forwarded to application server 204.

Further, at step 310, application server 204 sends a call release (REL) signal to switching centre 108 after receiving the ACM from switching centre 108. Switching centre 108, after receiving the REL signal, terminates the call, thus resulting in an incomplete call to callee 104. In an embodiment, in case an ICA is used by application server 204 to initiate the call to callee 104, the call is terminated by switching centre 108 as the phone of callee 104 starts ringing due to the reception of the EDPR request by the SCP, thus resulting in an incomplete call to callee 104. In an embodiment, when the EDPR request is sent to the SCP, the SCP on receiving the EDPR request responds with a disconnect message. Switching centre 108 disconnects the call on receiving the disconnect message, thus resulting in an incomplete call to callee 104.

In an embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable; application server 204 sends the REL signal to switching centre 108 to terminate the call. In another embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable, switching centre 108 terminates the call. However, there will be no incomplete call to callee 104. Therefore, in such a case, in an embodiment application server 204 periodically initiates a call to callee 104 by sending the IAM signal to switching centre 108 until the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is available. Application server 204 sends the REL signal to switching centre 108 to terminate the call after receiving the ACM denoting that the status of the call is available. In an embodiment, database 206 stores logs of each of the incomplete call requests made to callee 104 when phone of callee 104 was unavailable. In another embodiment, application server 204 obtains an availability status of callee 104's phone. The availability status is that callee 104's phone is available. The availability status of callee 104 is obtained through an SMS zero. Thereafter, application server 204 retrieves the logs of each of the incomplete call requests when the phone of callee 104 is available and gives incomplete call to callee 104 for each of the incomplete call requests.

In another embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable, application server 204 informs caller 102 inability to give incomplete call to callee 104 corresponding to incomplete call request made by caller 102. The method for notifying callee 104 about the incomplete calls received when callee 104's phone was unavailable is discussed in detail in conjunction with FIG. 4.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, phone of caller 102 and phone of callee 104 may have an application installed that enables caller 102 to give the incomplete call, and callee 104 to receive the incomplete call respectively. When caller 102 uses the application installed in her phone to give an incomplete call to callee 104, the application on caller 102's phone, contacts the application on callee 104's phone through switching centre 108 to give an incomplete call to callee 104. The call may be terminated by the application on caller 102's phone by transmitting a disconnect signal when phone of callee 104 starts ringing. The disconnect signal is a signal sent by the application on caller 102's phone to terminate the call. According to another embodiment of the invention, the call may be terminated by the application on callee 104's phone.

Upon receiving the incomplete call, call log in the phone of callee 104 gets updated indicating an incomplete call from caller 102.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for notifying callee 104 about one or more call requests made to callee 104, when callee 104's phone was unavailable in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

At step 402, the one or more call requests for callee 104 are .stored in database 206.

At step 404 application server 204 initiates a call to callee 104, wherein the call is in response to one of the one or more call requests. In an embodiment, application server 204 initiates the call by sending without limitation an JAM and protocols equivalent to IAM to switching centre 108. In an embodiment, application server 204 sends the IAM signals periodically to switching centre 108 for each of the one or more call requests until callee 104 is available. In another embodiment, application server 204 initiates calls to callee 104 in response to request made by an application in callee 104's phone for receiving the one or more call requests. In an embodiment, the request is sent automatically by the application on callee 104's phone when phone of callee 104 is available. In an embodiment of the invention, the application in callee 104's phone is configured for requesting and receiving the one or more call requests from application server 204. In another embodiment, the request is sent by callee 104 herself. In another embodiment, the application in callee 104's phone is configured for obtaining the one or more call requests from application server 204 and updating call log of callee 104's phone. The embodiment wherein the application in callee 104's phone is configured for obtaining the one or more call requests and updating the call log of callee 104's phone is described in detail in conjunction with FIG. 5

Switching centre 108 on receiving the IAM from application server 204 calls callee 104. Thereafter, at step 406, switching centre 108 receives status of the call through an ACM when the call is connected and phone of callee 104 starts ringing. Further, switching centre 108 forwards the ACM to application server 204.

Application server 204 sends the REL signal to switching centre 108 on receiving the ACM to terminate the call, at step 408. The call log in the phone of callee 104 gets updated indicating a call from caller 102. In an embodiment, in case caller 102 has made one or more call requests for calling callee 104, then call log of callee 104 is updated only once. For example suppose, A made six call requests to call B, then B will get only one incomplete call in response to the six call requests made by A.

In an embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable when switching centre 108 calls callee 104; and switching centre 108 forwards the ACM regarding unavailability of phone of callee 104 to application server 204, application server 204 sends the REL signal to switching centre 108 to terminate the call. In another embodiment, in case the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is unavailable, switching centre 108 terminates the call. However, there will be no call to callee 104. Therefore, in such a case, application server 204 periodically initiates a call to callee 104 by sending the IAM signal to switching centre 108 until the status of the call is that the phone of callee 104 is available. Application server 204 sends the REL signal to switching centre 108 to terminate the call after receiving the ACM denoting that the status of the call is available.

In an embodiment, application server 204 updates delivery status of the call request from pending to delivered after callee 104 is notified about the call request. For example, suppose A made a call request to call B when B's phone was unavailable, then when the phone of B becomes available and B receives the call corresponding to the call request of A, the delivery status of A's call request is updated to be delivered. The delivery status of A's call request is pending until B receives the call corresponding to A's call request and the delivery status of A's call request is updated to delivered after B receives the call corresponding to A's call request. In another embodiment, in case callee 104 has received calls corresponding to the call request, application server 204 removes the call request from database 206. Thereafter, at step 410, application server 204 verifies whether callee 104 has received calls corresponding to each of the one or more call requests stored in database 206. In an embodiment, verification can be done by checking the delivery status of each of the one or more call requests. In case callee 104 has not received calls corresponding to each of the one or more' call requests, steps 404-408 are executed for the each of the one or more remaining call requests.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternate method for notifying callee 104 about the one or more call requests made to callee 104, when callee 104's phone was unavailable in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

At step 502, the one or more call requests made to callee 104 when the phone of callee 104 was unavailable are stored in database 206.

Thereafter, at step 504, the application installed in callee 104's phone, requests application server 204 for sending each of the one or more call requests, automatically when the phone of callee 104 is available. In another embodiment, the request is sent by callee 104 herself. Application server 204 in response to the request sends each of the one or more call requests through without limitation an SMS, WAP, USSD, WiFi and GPRS to the application in callee 104' phone. For example, suppose A makes two call requests to B when phone of B is switched off, the call requests made by A is stored in database 206 by application server 204. Now, when B's phone is switched on, the application installed in B's phone sends a request to application server 204 for obtaining the call requests which were made to B when B's phone was switched off. Application server 204 extracts the call requests made to B; in this case the two call requests made by A from database 206 and send the call requests to the application installed in B's phone as an SMS message. Further, the application in callee 104's phone, reads the SMS and updates the call log of callee 104's phone based on the received SMS, at step 506. For example, suppose the application installed in B's phone receives an SMS regarding two call requests made by A to B when B's phone was switched off, then the application installed in B's phone, on receiving the SMS will update the call log in B's phone indicating two calls from A. Therefore, the call log of B's phone will have an entry of two calls received from A.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for publishing one or more call requests made to callee 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

At step 602, application server 204 receives a call request to call callee 104. Thereafter, application server 204 initiates a call to callee 104 based on the call request, at step 604. At step 606 application server 204 receives status of the call in response to the initiated call. Wherein the status of the call is that callee 104's phone is unavailable. In an embodiment, callee 104's phone is unavailable due to incoming call service being barred for callee 104's phone. Thereafter, application server 204 repeats steps 604-606 for a pre specified number of times, wherein the pre specified number is a positive integer. In an embodiment the pre specified number is one. At step 608, the call request is published by application server 204 on a communication channel. In an embodiment the communication channel is password protected. Example of communication channel include without limitation internet. Callee 104 may view the published call requests through the communication channel. For example, suppose incoming call service of B is barred and A makes a call request to B during that time period, then application server 204, may create a log of the call request and publish the log of the call request on a web page. Then B can view the log of the call request by accessing the web page.

While example embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method for giving an incomplete call to a callee, the method comprising: i. receiving a request for giving the incomplete call to the callee ; ii. initiating a call to the callee; iii. receiving a call status of the call; and iv. terminating the call at real-time after receiving the call status.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the call status is that callee's phone is ringing.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the call status is that callee's phone is unavailable.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

(a) periodically initiating a call to the callee until the call status is that the callee's phone is available; and

(b)terminating each call at real time after receiving the call status.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is received from the caller through a call made by one of the means selected from a group comprising an application installed in caller's phone and adding a set of unique identifiers.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is received through internet.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the call is initiated by sending an Initial Address Message (IAM).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of termination is. performed by an application installed in the caller's phone.

9. A method for giving an incomplete call to a callee, the method comprising:

i. receiving a request for giving the incomplete call to the callee ; ii. initiating a call to the callee; iii. receiving a call status of the call, wherein call status is that the callee' phone is unavailable; iv. obtaining an availability status of callee's phone, wherein the availability status is that the callee's phone is available; v. initiating a re-call after obtaining the availability status; vi. receiving a call status of the re-call; and vii. terminating the re-call at real-time after receiving the call status.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the availability status of callee is obtained through an SMS zero.

11. A method of publishing one or more call requests to a callee, the method comprising: a. receiving a request for giving a call to the callee ; b. initiating a call to the callee; c. receiving a call status of the call, wherein call status is that the callee' phone is unavailable; d. repeating steps (b)-(c) for a pre-specified number of times; e. publishing the request so as to enable the callee to view the request through a communication channel.

12. A system for giving an incomplete call to a callee, the svstem comDrisinα:

(a) a call server, the call server configured to: i. receive a request for giving the incomplete call to the callee; ii. initiate a call to the callee; iii. receive a call status of the call; and iv. terminate the call at real-time after receiving call status; and (b) a switching centre configured to:

(i) receive the call status of the call; and (ii) communicate the call status to the call server.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the call server further comprises:

(a) a telephony card, the telephony card configured to establish communication between the application server and the switching centre;

(b) a database, the database configured to store incomplete call request information; and

( c) an application server, the application server configured to: i. receive the request for giving the incomplete call to the callee; ii. initiate a call to the callee; and iii. receive the call status of the call; and iv. terminate the call at real-time after receiving the call status.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the call server is further configured to receive the request from the caller through a call made by one of the means selected from a group comprising an application installed in caller's phone and adding a set of unique identifiers.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the call server is configured to initiate call by ' sending an Initial Address Message (IAM).

16. A method for notifying a callee, the method comprising:

(a) storing one or more call requests for the callee in a database, wherein the one or more call requests are associated to a time period when callee's phone was unavailable;

(b) initiating a call to the callee, wherein the call is in response to one of the one or more call requests;

(c) receiving a call status of the call; and

(d) terminating the call at real-time after receiving the call status.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the call is initiated by sending an Initial Address Message (IAM).

18. The method of claim 16, wherein initiating call to the callee further comprises initiating call to the callee based on request for receiving the one or more call requests, the request being sent by an application installed in the callee's phone when the callee's phone is available.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising repeating steps 16(b) - 16(d) for each of the one or more call requests.

20. A method for notifying a callee, the method comprising: (a) storing one or more call requests for the callee in a database, wherein the one or more call requests are associated to the time period when callee's phone was unavailable;

(b) obtaining the one or more call requests; and

(c) updating call log of callee's phone based on the obtained one or more call requests.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the one or more call requests is obtained through atleast one of short message service (SMS) and GPRS.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein obtaining the one or more call requests comprises sending request for obtaining the one or more call requests, the request being sent by an application installed in the callee's phone when the callee's phone is available.

23. , A system for notifying a callee, the system comprising:

(a) a database for storing one or more call requests for the callee, wherein the one or more call requests are associated to a time period when the callee's phone was unavailable;

(b) a call server, the call server configured for: i. initiating call to the callee based on the one or more call requests; ii. receiving a call status of the call; and iii. terminating call at real time receiving the call status; and (c) a switching centre, the switching centre configured for: i. receiving the call status of the call; and ii. communicating the call status to the call server.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising an application for sending request for receiving the one or more call requests when the callee's phone is available, the application being installed in the callee's phone.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the call server is further configured to initiate call to the callee periodically.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the call server further comprises:

a) a telephony card, the telephony card configured to establish communication between the application server and the switching centre; b) an application server, the application server configured to: i. initiate call to the callee based on the one or more call requests; ii. receive the call status of the call; and iii. terminate the call at real-time after receiving the call status.