EP0856981A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
A telephone system integrating a public switched telephone network, a packet-switched network and a call answering system
Assignee: Xura Inc
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Filing: 1998-01-30
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2018-01-30
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is directed to a system that allows a subscriber to take a telephone call over the Internet when the subscriber telephone line is busy servicing a browser-based Internet session without requiring that the subscriber disconnect or terminate the Internet session. The system transfers a telephone call to a subscriber telephone line that is busy to a call servicing platform where the platform determines if the subscriber line is busy due to an interactive Internet session. When a session is in progress, the platform informs the subscriber via a network message to the subscriber's personal computer involved in the session that a call is waiting. If the subscriber accepts the call, the platform digitizes the speech of the caller and sends it to the computer where it is output to the subscriber. At the same time, the computer digitizes the speech of the subscriber and sends it to the platform, where it is output to the caller. The system can also allow the subscriber to screen the caller by listening to the caller as a message is recorded. The network session can continue during the transfer of the speech or resume after the call is finished, that is, the session need not be terminated to free the telephone line to carry the call.
Inventors
- 👤 Donald F. Picard
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 15:55
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/428; H04M3/4281; H04L; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04M3/54; H04M7/00; H04M7/0024; H04M7/0057; H04M7/12; H04M7/1205; H04M7/121; H04M7/122; H04M2203/00; H04M2203/15; H04M2203/156; H04M2203/20; H04M2203/2066; H04M2203/65; H04M2203/657; H04M3/436; H04M3/50; H04M3/53; H04M3/533
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
73 words
A system, comprising: a packet-switched network; a computer coupled to and conducting a session
with said network over a telephone line; a telephone system transferring a telephone
call away from the telephone line when the telephone line is
busy; and a call servicing system coupled to said
telephone system and said network, accepting the transferred
call and establishing a communication link with said
computer over said network with the link carrying the call.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
19 words
A system as recited in claim 1, wherein
the link is a voice communication link established during
the session.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system as recited in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein
said call servicing system stores a message of the caller
when the computer declines to establish the link.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
28 words
A system as recited in any of the preceding claims, wherein
said computer sends a network address of said computer to
said system when the session is initiated.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
26 words
A system as recited in any of the preceding claims, wherein
the call is a single direction call from the call servicing
system to the computer.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
18 words
A system as recited in any of the preceding claims, wherein
said call servicing system performs echo cancellation.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
31 words
A system as recited in any of the preceding claims, wherein
said computer and said call servicing system perform silence
detection and do not send speech packets when silence is
detected.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
167 words
A system, comprising: an Internet network; a computer coupled to and conducting a
browsing session with said network over a telephone line; a telephone system transferring a telephone
call away from the telephone line when the telephone line is
busy; and a call servicing system coupled to said
telephone system and said network accepting the transferred
call, informing said computer that the call is waiting,
establishing a voice communication packet-switched link with
said computer over said network using the telephone line
with the link carrying speech of the call when the waiting
call is accepted by said computer, the voice communication
link being established during the session, said call
servicing system storing a message of the caller when said
computer declines to establish the link, said computer
sending a network address of said computer to said call
servicing system when the session is initiated, the network
address being used to establish the link and the session
continuing over the telephone line during the call over the
link.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
75 words
A system, comprising: a packet-switched network; a computer coupled to and conducting a session
with said network; a telephone system transferring a telephone
call away from a telephone line when a called telephone of
the telephone line does not answer; and a call servicing system coupled to said
telephone system and said network accepting the transferred
call and establishing a communication link with said
computer over said network with the link carrying the
telephone call.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
40 words
A method, comprising: detecting that a telephone line of a computer
user is busy in an Internet session; establishing a communication link to the
computer over the Internet; and conducting a telephone call over the
communication link during the session.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
19 words
A method, comprising: conducting a telephone call through a computer
involved in a packet-switched network session during the
session.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method as recited in claim 11, wherein
the telephone call and the session are carried by a same
telephone line between the computer and the network.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as recited in claim 12, further
comprising multi-tasking the session and the call with the
call having a higher priority.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as recited in claim 13, further
comprising assigning call packets a higher priority than
session packets.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
63 words
A method, comprising: storing a network address of a computer when
the computer initiates a network session; detecting that a telephone line to the
computer is busy; determining that the session is in progress
when the address is stored; establishing a communication link with the
computer using the address during the session; and conducting a telephone call over the link
during the session.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
41 words
A method, comprising: detecting an arrival of a telephone call while
a computer is busy in an Internet session; establishing a communication link to the
computer over the Internet; and conducting the telephone call over the
communication link during the session.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
78 words
A system coupled to a packet-switched
network and a telephone system transferring a telephone call
away from the telephone line when the telephone line is
busy, said system comprising: a computer coupled to and conducting a session
with the network over a telephone line; and a call servicing system coupled to the
telephone system and the network accepting the transferred
call and establishing a communication link with said
computer over the network with the link carrying the call.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
68 words
A call servicing system coupled to a
packet-switched network, a telephone system transferring a
telephone call away from a telephone line when the telephone
line is busy and a computer coupled to and conducting a
session with the network over the telephone line, said call
servicing system accepting the transferred call and
establishing a communication link with the computer over the
network with the link carrying the call.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
48 words
A computer, comprising: a modem connectable to a packet-switched
network; a sound unit capable of inputing and outputing
speech signals to a user; and a browser capable of conducting a telephone
call over a packet-switched network during a network
browsing session using said modem and said sound unit.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
A computer program embodied on a computer
readable medium and comprising a process for conducting a
telephone call through the computer involved in a packet-switched
network session during the session.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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