Method for oOnrrolling a personal number service.
The invention relates to a method for implementing and updating a routing list in an LN-type communications network, whereby the routing list routes a network service to the service user's IP-compatible terminal, telephone set of the wireline network, mobile phone and/or other communications means.
With the help of an intelligent network, it is possible for a given number to establish routing lists such that their updating allows any call placed to the given number to be rerouted according to a service logic to other numbers defined in a routing list. Known in the art is an arrangement, wherein a routing list defined with the help of an intelligent network reroutes an incoming call to another number if the number of the first telephone terminal on the list does not answer.
From FI Pat. No. 102,867 is known the technique of establishing virtual telephone connections, whereby a terminal device used in an IP network is allocated a terminal- specific number secured by a user-specific personal identification code and password. This arrangement makes it possible to collect billing data and offer tele- phone network services based on the identification of the calling party, that is, the A- subscriber.
From FI Pat. Appl. No. 971,294 is known the technique of calling from telephone network terminal to an access control number of routing list definition service, wherein the A-subscriber number is identified and the routing list is updated into a desired format.
From FI Pat. No. 91,340 is known the technique of rerouting calls to different types of subscriber connections via a control/register unit using one and the same number even when a plurality of different network connections or telephone numbers are assigned the subscriber.
In the art is also known an embodiment, wherein the calling party's IP-compatible terminal automatically selects an e-mail facility if the called party's terminal normally using an IP telephone program is not accessible.
All of these prior- art embodiments of routing list definition are problematic in that changing the contents of the routing list requires a separate operation by the user, such as a call to a control service number or the use of a WWW connection. Another problem occurring herein is that an unnecessary delay in user accessibility occurs in a situation, wherein the next number in the routing list is called only after a certain number of rings to the preceding number have taken place without any answer.
It is a genera] object of the present invention to overcome the above-described problems. It is a specific object of the invention to provide for defining the routing list a method free from unnecessary delays thus being simpler and easier to use than those known hereto in the art.
To achieve the above-mentioned goals and others to be appreciated later, the method according to the invention is principally characterized by comprising the steps of: - defining a routing list in an intelligent network, the list comprising the numbers of wireline network telephones, mobile network terminals and IP-compatible terminals, logging-in from an IP-compatible terminal to an IP-compatible network, establishing a connection between the IP-compatible terminal and a control unit managing the routing list in order to update the routing list so as to route an incoming call to the IP-compatible terminal, while the IP-compatible terminal assumes a standby state, establishing a connection from the IP-compatible terminal to the routing-list-managing control unit, and - updating the routing list in the routing-list-managing control unit so that the
incoming call will be routed to another communications terminal different from the IP-compatible terminal.
The method according to the invention provides control on the user's personal ac- cessibility and readiness to receive calls to a terminal defined by the user. Herein, the routing list implemented with the help of an intelligent network is updated automatically by means of a request that is issued from the terminal in a form depending on whether the terminal is in an active or a standby state.
In an arrangement according to the invention, the terminal is included as a portion of the routing list implemented in an intelligent network, later called an IN, so that the update of the routing list is performed automatically as the terminal is activated or activates itself into an active state or, respectively, is deactivated or deactivates itself into a standby state. The terminal may be, e.g., a personal computer (PC) equipped with IP (Internet Protocol) voice communications software or an IP-compatible telephone set. In the method according to the invention, the terminal running the IP voice communications software is typically deactivated automatically into a screen-saver or energy-saving state if the terminal has not been used for a preset time. Herein, the terminal assuming the screen/energy-saving state typically indicates that the user has left his workplace, whereupon the user at a high probability is more likely to be reached by, e.g., his mobile phone or other communications means. Alternatively, the user may set his terminal into the screen/energy-saving mode by an active operation performed by the user.
The system implementing the routing list according to the invention is associated with an intelligent network, whose service control point SCP includes the control logic of the routing list update service. Additionally, the system includes a terminal and software running on the terminal, both of these facilities in combination being able to indicate the activation or deactivation, respectively, of terminal standby state. Depending on the detected state of the terminal, the routing list is updated to correspond to the prevailing situation. At the detection of the state change of the terminal
into its active or standby state, respectively, causes the terminal in cooperation with the software running thereon to report the state change to the intelligent network and further to the routing list update service via an access number or a communications network channel. Resultingly, the user-defined routing list can be updated according to desired logic rules.
The invention offers significant benefits. By virtue of the method according to the invention, the user accessibility is improved and unnecessary delays in reaching the user are minimized. Also the user at his will is offered a possibility of making changes in the control logic of his routing list by way of employing a program adapted to transmit the change request to the intelligent network.
The method according to the invention also guarantees a higher data security over the prior art in the routing list control and at the IP-compatible terminal, since the release of the standby mode is secured by a user-specific personal identification code and/or password. Typically, the terminals used in the system according to the invention are microcomputers or other technically advanced apparatuses offering a plurality of functions in addition to a mere voice communications facility. Such functions are, e.g., a calender, memory pads, file storage and others, which means that securing of the functions for user data integrity is necessary when the user leaves the close proximity of the terminal.
In the following, the invention is examined by making reference to the attached drawings, wherein
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating a system according to the invention; and
FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram elucidating a method according to the invention for defining and using a routing list.
Referring to FIG. 1 , in the system shown therein, a user utilizing an IP-compatible
terminal 1 equipped with IP voice communications software logs via an IP data communications network 2 to a gateway service 3, whereby the IP voice communications software can be used for calling to a public switched telephone network (PSTN, PLMN) 4. The IP-compatible terminal 1 is a device running a voice, video or data communications software on the Internet protocol with the help of an internal microprocessor and a digital signal processor, whereby the device may be a PC or a telephone set equipped with an Ethernet connection.
The flow diagram of FIG. 2 elucidates a method according to the invention for defining and utilizing a routing list.
Herein, after entering his user-specific personal identification code and password, the user logs into a gateway service 3 over an IP -type protocol, whereupon he can call via the gateway service 3 controlled by the gatekeeper server to a public switched telephone network 4 and, conversely, receive calls from the public switched telephone network 4. The gateway service 3 may be a company's intranet service or, alternatively, a public switched service that facilitates calls from an IP network 2 to a public switched telephone network 4 that serves plain old telephone sets, DCS and GSM phones and the like terminals.
A change in the routing list is reported to a routing list service control logic residing in a service control point (SCP) 6. When the user activates his workstation, he enters a user-specific personal identification code and password, whereupon he logs to an intelligent network (step 10 in FIG. 2). Next, a program adapted to serve the method according to the invention calls from the IP-compatible terminal 1 to an access number assigned the routing list service control logic, wherein the A-subscriber number of the virtual telephone generated by the gateway service 3 for the IP-compatible terminal 1 is identified (step 20). Subsequently, the routing list is updated into a desired form (step 30 in FIG. 2) and incoming calls are thereupon routed to the IP- compatible terminal 1 (step 50).
If the IP-compatible terminal 1 remains unused for a given period of time, it will go into a standby mode that may be, e.g., a screen-saver or an energy-saving state, and the terminal functions are simultaneously locked, whereby the terminal state goes from an active to a passive mode (step 40). Herein, the IP voice communications software adapted to serve the method according to the invention automatically calls the service control logic residing in the service control point 6 (step 60). Hereupon, the control logic updates the routing list defined by means of the method according to the invention (step 70). The change activated in the routing list may be, e.g., a call rerouting step to a GSM phone (step 80).
Alternatively according to the invention, the control mechanisms of the routing list service, such as the call control mechanisms, may be implemented entirely in the IP network, whereby the SCP server of the IN is replaced by a server of the IP- compatible network.
While the number of terminals connectable to the routing list service according to the invention is not limited, a single service user typically employs 2 to 6 terminals.
The features of the invention are defined in the appended claims that must be under- stood nonlimiting to the applications of the invention, whereby modifications thereof may be contemplated within the scope and inventive spirit of the invention disclosed in the claims.