US5521965A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus and method for handling busy calls in telephone network
Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
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Filing: 1994-12-12
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Granted: 1996-05-28
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Expires: 2014-12-12
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for improving the completion rate of calls encountering a busy condition wherein the customer lines connected to a stored program controlled (SPC) switch having CLASS features are provided with a repeat call feature, comprising connecting such lines encountering a busy condition to announcement circuits in said switch which provide an announcement of the availability of a repeat call service for a specified charge upon the calling party disconnecting, reconnecting, and dialing specified characters. The announcement is followed by a simulated busy signal from the announcement circuitry. The switch thereupon periodically checks the condition of the called line for a predetermined period of time and upon detecting a free condition applies a distinctive ring signal to the calling line. Upon detection of the calling line going off-hook, the switch sends standard ringing to the called line. The announcement is preferably provided from multiple announcement trunks handled in a manner to maximize the efficiency of usage of a minimum number of announcement trunks.
Inventors
- 👤 Frederick D. D'Alessio
- 👤 Robert E. Buchanan
- 👤 Barbara A. Calautti
- 👤 Carolyn B. Smith
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 17:26
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/424; H04M3/48
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
355 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch connected to a plurality of customer stations over customer lines, said SPC switch having a processor and an associated memory, a call progress tone generator, first and second ringing circuits, means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and CLASS service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing substantially all said customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) selectively generating a first type of busy signal for a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line which is ineligible for repeat call processing; (c) detecting a busy condition on said trunk path and generating a second type of busy signal for a calling customer line when a busy condition is detected; (d) detecting a busy condition on said announcement trunks and generating said second type of busy signal for a calling customer line when a busy condition is encountered on all said announcement trunks; (e) detecting an announcement in progress on announcement trunks that are not busy and generating a first type of ring signal for a calling customer line when announcements in progress are detected on all announcement trunks that are not busy; (f) transmitting a stored announcement to a calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that is not busy and for which any announcement in progress is complete, and then generating a simulated first type of busy signal; (g) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said stored announcement by periodically checking the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (h) upon detecting a free condition on said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said calling customer line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said called line.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
355 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch connected to a plurality of customer stations over customer lines, said SPC switch having a processor and an associated memory, a call progress tone generator, first and second ringing circuits, means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and CLASS service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing substantially all said customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) selectively generating a first type of busy signal for a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line which is ineligible for repeat call processing; (c) detecting a busy condition on said trunk path and generating a second type of busy signal for a calling customer line when a busy condition is detected; (d) detecting a busy condition on said announcement trunks and generating said second type of busy signal for a calling customer line when a busy condition is encountered on all said announcement trunks; (e) detecting an announcement in progress on announcement trunks that are not busy and generating a first type of ring signal for a calling customer line when announcements in progress are detected on all announcement trunks that are not busy; (f) transmitting a stored announcement to a calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that is not busy and for which any announcement in progress is complete, and then generating a simulated first type of busy signal; (g) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said stored announcement by periodically checking the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (h) upon detecting a free condition on said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said calling customer line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said called line.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 1 wherein said first type of ring signal applied to said called line comprises a conventional ring signal of said SPC switch, and the second type of ring signal applied to the calling line comprises a different ring signal from said conventional ring signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of (b) connecting said calling customer lines to said means for playing comprises: ascertaining whether the called line in a busy condition is one of said customer lines connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to claim 3 wherein step (b) further comprises connecting a calling customer line to said call progress tone generator to transmit therefrom said first type of busy signal in the event a corresponding called line is not connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of transmitting to said AMA equipment billing data for each successful activation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: ascertaining whether a called line in a busy condition is in a call forwarded condition and, if so, connecting a corresponding calling customer line to said call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method according to claim 4, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: ascertaining whether a called line in a busy condition is in a call forwarded condition and, if so, connecting a corresponding calling customer line to said call progress tone generator and transmitting to said corresponding calling customer line said first type of busy signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: determining whether a called line is eligible to be connected to a corresponding calling line in a Repeat Call service and if not, connecting said corresponding calling station to said call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
249 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch, means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch and generating a first type of ring signal on called customer lines which are not busy; (b) generating a first type of busy signal and connecting a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line to said trunk path; (c) detecting a busy condition over said trunk path and generating a second type of busy signal for said calling customer line when said trunk path is busy; (d) transmitting a stored announcement to a connected calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that are not busy followed by a simulated busy signal; (e) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said stored announcement to periodically check the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (f) upon detecting a free condition at said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said corresponding called line.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
249 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch, means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch and generating a first type of ring signal on called customer lines which are not busy; (b) generating a first type of busy signal and connecting a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line to said trunk path; (c) detecting a busy condition over said trunk path and generating a second type of busy signal for said calling customer line when said trunk path is busy; (d) transmitting a stored announcement to a connected calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that are not busy followed by a simulated busy signal; (e) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said stored announcement to periodically check the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (f) upon detecting a free condition at said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said corresponding called line.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to claim 9 wherein said first type of ring signal applied to said called line comprises a conventional ring signal from a ring circuit of said SPC switch, and said second type of ring signal applied to the calling line comprises a different ring signal from said conventional ring signal.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method according to claim 9 wherein the step of (b) connecting said calling customer lines to said means for playing comprises: ascertaining whether the called line in a busy condition is one of said customer lines connected to said switch to which said calling customer line is connected, and if so, connecting said calling station to said stored announcement means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method according to claim 11 wherein step (b) further comprise connecting calling customer line to a call progress tone generator to transmit therefrom said first type of busy signal in the event a corresponding called line is not connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 9 further comprising the step of transmitting to said AMA equipment billing data for each successful activation.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to claim 9, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: ascertaining whether a called line in a busy condition is in a call forwarded condition and, if so, connecting a corresponding calling customer line to a call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method according to claim 9, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: determining whether a called line is eligible to be connected to a corresponding calling line in a Repeat Call service and if not, connecting said corresponding calling station to a call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
240 words
In a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch connected to a plurality of customer stations over customer lines, a call progress tone generator means for generating a first type of ringing signal, means for playing stored announcements over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the improvement comprising: (a) means for connecting calling customer lines to said SPC switch to enable a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) means for connecting a calling customer line that encounters a busy condition on a corresponding called line to said trunk path; (c) means for detecting announcements in progress on announcement trunks; (d) means for transmitting a stored announcement to said calling customer station from said means for playing a stored announcement followed by a simulated busy signal over an announcement trunk that is not busy and does not have an announcement in progress; (e) means for responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said announcement by periodically checking the condition of corresponding called line to detect a free condition; and (f) means for responding to the detection of a free condition in said called line by applying a second type of ringing signal to the calling customer line followed by a first type of ringing signal to the called line upon the calling line going off-hook.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
240 words
In a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch connected to a plurality of customer stations over customer lines, a call progress tone generator means for generating a first type of ringing signal, means for playing stored announcements over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the improvement comprising: (a) means for connecting calling customer lines to said SPC switch to enable a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) means for connecting a calling customer line that encounters a busy condition on a corresponding called line to said trunk path; (c) means for detecting announcements in progress on announcement trunks; (d) means for transmitting a stored announcement to said calling customer station from said means for playing a stored announcement followed by a simulated busy signal over an announcement trunk that is not busy and does not have an announcement in progress; (e) means for responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by a calling customer line which received said announcement by periodically checking the condition of corresponding called line to detect a free condition; and (f) means for responding to the detection of a free condition in said called line by applying a second type of ringing signal to the calling customer line followed by a first type of ringing signal to the called line upon the calling line going off-hook.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
35 words
A telephone system according to claim 16 wherein said second type of ringing signal applied to the calling customer line is different from the first type of ringing signal applied to the corresponding called line.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
38 words
A telecommunications system according to claim 16 including means for ascertaining whether the called line in a busy condition is one of said customer lines connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
48 words
A telephone system according to claim 18 including means for connecting the calling station to said call progress tone generator to transmit therefrom a busy signal in the event said corresponding called line is not connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
45 words
A telecommunications system according to claim 16 including means for ascertaining whether the corresponding called line in a busy condition is in a call forwarded condition and, if so, connecting said calling station to a call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom a busy signal.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
48 words
A telecommunications system according to claim 16 including means for determining whether the corresponding called line is eligible to be connected to the calling line in a Repeat Call service and if not, connecting said calling station to call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom a busy signal.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
103 words
A telecommunications system according to claim 16 wherein said means for connecting said calling stations to said means for playing includes means to provide identical stored announcements followed by a simulated busy signal on plural announcement trunks, means for checking said announcement trunks for an available trunk, means for connecting said calling line to said call progress tone generator when all said announcement trunks are busy, means for connecting said calling line to receive a ringback signal when the only available announcement trunk is in the process of delivering an announcement, and means for connecting said calling line to an available announcement trunk.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
247 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing said customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) generating a first type of busy signal for a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line which is ineligible for repeat call processing; (c) detecting an announcement in progress on announcement trunks that are not busy and generating a first ring signal for said calling customer line when announcements in progress are detected on all announcement trunks that are not busy; (d) transmitting a stored announcement followed by a simulated busy signal to a calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that is not busy; (e) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by said calling customer line which received said stored announcement by periodically checking the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (f) upon detecting a free condition of said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said calling customer line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said corresponding called line.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
247 words
A method for carrying out communications in a telecommunications system including a stored program control (SPC) switch means for playing a stored announcement over a plurality of announcement trunks via a trunk path, automatic message accounting (AMA) equipment, and class service capabilities, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing said customer lines with a repeat call feature from said SPC switch; (b) generating a first type of busy signal for a calling customer line which encounters a busy condition of a corresponding called line which is ineligible for repeat call processing; (c) detecting an announcement in progress on announcement trunks that are not busy and generating a first ring signal for said calling customer line when announcements in progress are detected on all announcement trunks that are not busy; (d) transmitting a stored announcement followed by a simulated busy signal to a calling customer line from said means for playing a stored announcement over one of a plurality of announcement trunks that is not busy; (e) responding to disconnection and reconnection and dialing of predetermined characters by said calling customer line which received said stored announcement by periodically checking the condition of the corresponding called line until a free condition is detected; and (f) upon detecting a free condition of said corresponding called line applying a second type of ring signal to the calling customer line, and upon said calling customer line going off-hook applying said first type of ring signal to said corresponding called line.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method according to claim 23 wherein said first type of ring signal applied to said called line comprises a conventional ring signal from a ring circuit of said SPC switch, and said second type of ring signal applied to the calling line comprises a different type of ring signal from said conventional ring signal.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method according to claim 23 wherein the step of (b) connecting said calling customer lines to said means for playing comprises: ascertaining whether the called line in a busy condition is one of said customer lines connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected, and if so, connecting said calling station to said means for playing stored announcement.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method according to claim 25 wherein step (b) further comprise connecting calling customer line to said call progress tone generator to transmit therefrom said first type of busy signal in the event a corresponding called line is not connected to said SPC switch to which said calling customer line is connected.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 23 further comprises the step of transmitting to said AMA equipment billing data for each successful activation.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to claim 23, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: ascertaining whether a called line in a busy condition is in a call forwarded condition and, if so, connecting a corresponding calling customer line to a call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method according to claim 23, wherein step (b) further comprises the sub-steps of: determining whether a called line is eligible to be connected to a corresponding calling line in a Repeat Call service and if not, connecting said corresponding calling station to a call progress tone generator and transmitting therefrom said first type of busy signal.
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-05-28 | 2003-11-27 | 2004-05-28 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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