US6343115B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of announcing an internet call
Assignee: AT&T Inc
•
Filing: 1996-02-13
•
Granted: 2002-01-29
•
Expires: 2016-02-13
Abstract
Abstract A called party is alerted to the presence of a voice call on the Internet ( 110 ) by a page that is automatically transmitted to the called party's pager ( 120 ) upon initiation of the call by a calling party from his terminal ( 101 ) running Internet voice communications software and equipped with a microphone ( 102 ) and speaker ( 103 ). The page is transmitted in response to a message sent by a service provider ( 115 ) on the Internet, which receives from the calling party's terminal on the Internet, information for identifying the called party's pager. The called party, upon receiving the page, connects to the called party on the Internet through his home terminal ( 105 ) that is running that same voice communications software and is also equipped with a microphone ( 106 ) and speaker ( 107 ), or through any such similarly equipped portable or fixed terminal ( 125 ) at any location from which the Internet can be accessed. Alternatively, the called party can answer the call on the Internet with a standard station set ( 131 ) by calling an Internet-savvy platform ( 130 ), which converts the packetized voice signal of the calling party into an analog signal and the analog voice signal of the called party into packets for transmission on the Internet.
Inventors
- 👤 Mark Jeffrey Foladare
- 👤 Shelley B. Goldman
- 👤 David Phillip Silverman
- 👤 Roy Philip Weber
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 23:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M7/00; H04M7/006; H04L; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04M11/00; H04M11/02; H04M11/022; H04M3/00; H04M3/38; H04M3/382; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S379/00; Y10S379/90; Y10S379/902
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
A method of completing an Internet-telephony call carried at least in part over the Internet or an Internet-like packet-based network initiated by a calling party to a called party comprising the steps of: in response to initiation of the Internet-telephony call from a terminal of the calling party, automatically transmitting a page to a pager associated with the called party, the page providing a message to the called party that an Internet-telephony call is present on the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for the called party; and in response to the page, receiving information originating from a terminal of the called party onto the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for establishing a connection at least in part over the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network between the calling and called party's terminals to complete the Internet-telephony call whereby a live communication between the calling party and the called party commences.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
152 words
A method of completing an Internet-telephony call carried at least in part over the Internet or an Internet-like packet-based network initiated by a calling party to a called party comprising the steps of: in response to initiation of the Internet-telephony call from a terminal of the calling party, automatically transmitting a page to a pager associated with the called party, the page providing a message to the called party that an Internet-telephony call is present on the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for the called party; and in response to the page, receiving information originating from a terminal of the called party onto the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for establishing a connection at least in part over the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network between the calling and called party's terminals to complete the Internet-telephony call whereby a live communication between the calling party and the called party commences.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the page is transmitted to the calling party in response to a message to a paging supplier which broadcasts the page, the message to the paging supplier being transmitted to the paging supplier on the Internet or on the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the Internet-telephony call is a voice call.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 3 wherein the terminal of the calling party is a computer terminal running a software program for transmitting and receiving voice signals onto and off the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the terminal of the called party is a computer terminal running the software program and is connected by the called party to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network in response to the page from a “home” location.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the terminal of the called party is a computer terminal running the software program and is connected by the called party to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network from a remote location in response to the page, and the method further comprises the step of linking the terminal of the called party at the remote location and the terminal of the calling party together on the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the terminal of the called party is a telephone station set that is connected to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network by a call on a switched telephone network to an Internet-savvy platform that is connected to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the message to the pager of the called party further indicates a protocol to be used by the called party's terminal to answer the call.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the type of Internet-telephony call is a voice call, a mixed media call, a multimedia call, or a data call.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the message to the paging supplier includes information for identifying the pager of the called party and the frequency at which it operates.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the message to the paging supplier further includes information for identifying an Internet phone access provider and accounting or billing information.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
245 words
A method of completing an Internet-telephony call carried at least in part over the Internet or an Internet-like packet-based data network initiated by a calling party to a called party comprising the steps of: in response to the initiation of the Internet-telephony call from a terminal of the calling party to the called party, establishing a connection over the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network to a service provider having an associated database having stored information that associates the identity of a called party with paging information that includes a paging supplier associated with that called party; retrieving from the database the paging information for the called party; automatically transmitting a message to the paging supplier associated with the called party that includes the retrieved paging information for sending a message to the paging supplier to page the called party; in response to the message, transmitting a page to the called party's pager that indicates to the called party that an Internet-telephony call for the called party is present on the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network; and in response to the page, receiving information originating from a terminal of the called party onto the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for establishing a connection at least in part over the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network between the calling and called party's terminals to complete the Internet-telephony call such that a live communication between the calling party and the called party commences.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
245 words
A method of completing an Internet-telephony call carried at least in part over the Internet or an Internet-like packet-based data network initiated by a calling party to a called party comprising the steps of: in response to the initiation of the Internet-telephony call from a terminal of the calling party to the called party, establishing a connection over the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network to a service provider having an associated database having stored information that associates the identity of a called party with paging information that includes a paging supplier associated with that called party; retrieving from the database the paging information for the called party; automatically transmitting a message to the paging supplier associated with the called party that includes the retrieved paging information for sending a message to the paging supplier to page the called party; in response to the message, transmitting a page to the called party's pager that indicates to the called party that an Internet-telephony call for the called party is present on the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network; and in response to the page, receiving information originating from a terminal of the called party onto the Internet or Internet-like packet-based data network for establishing a connection at least in part over the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network between the calling and called party's terminals to complete the Internet-telephony call such that a live communication between the calling party and the called party commences.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the message to the paging supplier is transmitted on the Internet or on the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the Internet-telephony call is a voice call.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 14 wherein the terminal of the calling party is a computer terminal running a software program for transmitting and receiving voice signals onto and off the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the terminal of the called party is a computer terminal running the software program and is connected by the called party to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network from a remote location in response to the page, and the method further comprises the step of linking the terminal of the called party at the remote location and the terminal of the calling party together on the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the terminal of the called party is a computer terminal running the software program and is connected by the called party to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network in response to the page from a “home” location.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the terminal of the called party is a telephone station set that is connected to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network by a call on a switched telephone network to an Internet-savvy platform that is connected to the Internet or the Internet-like packet-based data network.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the message to the paging supplier and the page to the called party indicates the type of call initiated by the calling party.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 19 wherein the message to the paging supplier and the page to the called party further indicates a protocol to be used by the called party's terminal to answer the call.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 19 wherein the type of call is a voice call, a mixed media call, a multimedia call, or a data call.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the message to the paging supplier includes information for identifying the pager of the called party and the frequency at which it operates.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the message to the paging supplier further includes information for identifying an Internet phone access provider and accounting or billing information.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-01-28 | 2005-07-30 | 2006-01-29 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-01-28 | 2009-07-30 | 2010-01-29 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-01-28 | 2013-07-30 | 2014-01-29 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |