Abstract: The present invention provides a prediction of an available communication channel quality. According to the present invention, in response to a request for a communication channel, network devices are queried for network parameter status information. Based on the network status parameter information returned, a prediction as to the available quality levels available for the communication is made. An indication of the predicted quality of service for one or a number of requested service levels may be provided to the requesting user, who may then choose to defer initiation of the communication, or to proceed. A user may be notified when predicted quality levels available in connection with a requested communication reach a predetermined level, at which point the user may choose to establish the requested communication channel. Information regarding a rate associated with a requested quality of service level may also be provided.

Abstract: When an emergency call is made from a location on a premises that has on-premises (non-public) emergency-response personnel, the communications system responds by accessing a private database of information about the premises, retrieves therefrom information about the location of the physical location on the premises and best access to the physical location from off-premises, and sends this information to both the on-premises emergency-response personnel and a public emergency-response center, as well as connects the call to the public emergency-response center.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method of reliably determining that a cellular phone call has been dropped and then automatically reconnect the call. The invention is applicable for use in telephone systems that have off-premises call hunting algorithms and thereby use separate telephony channels for the inbound and outbound legs of a call.

Abstract: An apparatus for enabling signals directed to a first telecommunications terminal to be forwarded intelligently to a second telecommunications terminal in the vicinity of the first terminal is disclosed. In particular, the illustrative embodiment automatically forwards signals from a first terminal to the closest terminal in the network that the first terminal is authorized to forward to. The closest authorized terminal is determined via short-range wireless communication between the first terminal and other terminals in the first terminal's vicinity. In the illustrative embodiment, the terminals communicate with each other via Bluetooth transceivers.

Abstract: A system is disclosed that enables the estimation of the location of a wireless terminal in a wireless network. The illustrative embodiment works without requiring modifications to be made to the wireless terminal. Furthermore, the hardware of some embodiments of the present invention can be inexpensively deployed indoors. Some embodiments of the present invention are, therefore, ideally suited for use with legacy indoor systems. The system of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, in some embodiments, uses an offline process and an online process for location estimation. The described system, however, can be used with other techniques for location estimation.

Abstract: Teletype (TTY, also known as Telecommunication Device for the Deaf, or TDD) transmissions are moded. The same sequence of tones may code for a letter or for a figure. When a TTY device is transmitting to a text-based Internet Protocol display device, via a TTY-to-text conversion gateway, the text will not be displayed properly if the TTY device and gateway are out of mode synchronization. To fix the problem, either a signal received from the destination terminal causes the gateway to change its conversion mode from letter to figure or vice versa, or a signal input by the end user or automatically generated by the destination terminal causes the destination terminal to display the other character than the received letter or figure that is coded to the same TTY tone sequence.

Abstract: A resource task-completion forecaster (122) of an ACD (104) determines a probability that an agent (156) will complete servicing a presently-assigned call by a specified time horizon h. The forecaster determines (202) the type of call that the agent is servicing, determines (204) the amount of time t that the agent has already been servicing the call, retrieves (206) the mean and the variance of time historically spent by agents on servicing this type of call to completion, fits (208) the mean and the variance to a lifetime closed-form cumulative-probability distribution F, such as a Weibull distribution, to determine parameters of dispersion and central tendency, evaluates (210, 212) the distribution for t and h+t, computes (216) the probability of the agent not having completed servicing the call by now as Q=1?F(t), and computes (218) the probability that the agent will have completed servicing the call by the time horizon as P = F ? ( t + h ) - F ? ( t ) Q .

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a system for reliably transmitting characters encoded as audible signals using voice over Internet protocol communication systems. According to an embodiment of the present invention, tones within a sequence of tones encoding a textual character are transmitted using two data packets. The first data packet includes a segment of time having a starting boundary that is synchronized with the start of the encoded tone and extending for a time period equal to about one-half the total time period of the tone. The second packet encodes the remaining half of the audible tone. At the receiving end, data packets encoding a textual character are ordered according to the position occupied by the data encoded by the packet within the sequence of tones. If any unpaired packets of data are detected at the receiving end, the characteristics of the packets that are unpaired are copied into the time slot that would have been occupied by the missing packet.

Abstract: A system for reconstructing missing packets in a packetized audio TTY stream that includes: (a) an input 328 operable to receive a plurality of first packets, each comprising one or more TTY tones in a sequence of TTY tones; and (b) a processor 332 operable to: (i) order the packets; (ii) depacketize the TTY tones in the plurality of first packets; (iii) determine when a TTY tone is missing from the sequence of TTY tones; (iv) when a TTY tone is missing, perform at least one of the following steps: (1) determine the a TTY tone based on a portion of the tone contained in an adjacent packet; and (2) determine the a TTY tone based on one of(i) a random or pseudo-random tone selection, (ii) a comparison of a first probability associated with a first TTY character generated from a first tone substituted for the missing a TTY tone with a second probability associated with a second TTY character generated from a second tone substituted for the missing TTY tone, and/or (iii) a comparison of a first ordering of T

Abstract: A proximity based computer access system is provided. According to the invention, a local key associated with a workstation wirelessly communicates with a local key which is associated with a user. If the user, and remote key, are outside of a preset radius of the workstation, access to the workstation is disabled. Accordingly, a workstation is secured from unauthorized access when an authorized user is not nearby. The present invention allows organizations to efficiently secure sensitive data from unauthorized access while reducing the requirements of users to manually enable and disable access to the sensitive data through the workstation.

Abstract: A method for Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet authentication on a packet data network. In particular, the invention relates to a method for preventing toll fraud, privacy compromise, voice quality degradation, or denial of service (DoS) on Voice over IP networks. The Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is susceptible to several security attacks, including thirdparty snooping of private conversations, injection of forged content, and introduction or modification of packets to degrade voice quality. The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) provides confidentiality, message authentication, and replay protection for RTP traffic. However, SRTP incurs an additional overhead to verify the HMAC-SHA1 message authentication code for each packet. SRTP+ significantly decrease the verification overhead compared to SRTP and thereby increases the number of faked packets required to mount a successful denial of service attack. SRTP+ provides packet authentication but not integrity.

Abstract: A voice-mail annotation system and method that enables callers to annotate the messages they leave at the time they leave them. Annotation may be performed using a touch screen or a telephone key-pad. In addition to allowing the caller to more clearly specify the intent of their message and the location of crucial information within the message, the annotations of this invention then allow the person retrieving the message flexibility in how they listen to the message. These choices include prioritizing the messages by the importance of subject, listening to summaries of the message and having random access to embedded information such as names and call back numbers.

Abstract: A visually-impaired person possessing a GPS-equipped cellular phone, or other mobile communications device, who wants to know their location, uses the cellular phone to call a location-announcement service. In response, the service queries the GPS receiver for the person's geographical coordinates, translates the coordinates into user-friendly information that is readily understandable by the person, and announces the user-friendly information to the person via the cellular phone, all without human involvement.

Abstract: A method and keyboard for protecting data generated by the keyboard by reading data from a keypad of the keyboard, encrypting the read data, and transmitting the encrypted data from the keyboard to a computer. A method for protecting by the computer data generated by a keyboard where the keyboard is connected to the computer by receiving encrypted data from the keyboard by the computer, and decrypting the encrypted data. A method for protecting by a server the data generated by a keyboard where the keyboard is connected to the server via a network and a computer by receiving encrypted data from the keyboard by the server, and decrypting the encrypted data.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a secondary communication server 216 for assuming control of a communication formerly controlled by a primary communication server 212 in the event of a failure, comprising: (a) an input operable to (i) receive, from a first communication node 204a, first communication information, wherein the first communication information is associated with the communication and comprises a first node identifier 236a and/or a communication identifier 240a, the first node identifier 236a is associated with a second communication node 204b, the communication identifier is associated with the communication, and the second communication node 204b comprises second communication information associated with the communication and (ii) thereafter receive, from the second communication node 204b, the second communication information; and (b) a reconstruction agent 228 operable to identify the second communication information based on the first node identifier 236a and/or communication identifi

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for obtaining delay, jitter, and loss statistics of a path between server and an end user coupled via an internetwork are described. The server may comprise a web server in communication with the end user via the Internet. Statistics are obtained by analyzing the details of a TCP connection underlying an HTML transaction. Robust measurements of jitter, delay, and loss are ensured by maximizing traffic between the web server and the surfer in order to generate a robust sample of TCP connections. Content may be updated with one or more html link(s). This existing content may reside on a highly trafficked portal, such as a web portal, and may be encoded in a markup language, such as Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). The Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) corresponding to the one or more links resolve to the server from which the statistics are to be measured. The actual content supplied by the server may be minimized, in order to preserve bandwidth.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for translating a classification system in a source language into one or more additional target languages. The classification system employs a sample response repository to learn to classify a communication into one of a plurality of predefined categories. The sample response repository comprises a plurality of prior communications each having a classification. The present invention translates the sample response repository using a mechanical translation process to generate a translated response repository. A natural language understanding process is then applied to the translated response repository to generate a natural language understanding module that can classify a communication in the target language. The natural language understanding process can employ statistical methods or a rule-base of classification rules that determine how communications are classified.

Abstract: A presence aware communications system, that includes a messaging system configured to perform one or more of provide a subscriber's communication device with information regarding an incoming contact during a messaging session between the subscriber's communication device and the messaging system, provide the subscriber's communication device with a text message containing information regarding one or more messages when a notification is received that the subscriber's communication device is available, provide the subscriber's communication device with a text message relating to a voice message from a different first party received by the messaging system, in response to the subscriber's communication device requesting a connection with at least one of an inputted telephone number and address, provide the subscriber's communication device with a notification respecting at least one eligible message from a second party associated with the at least one of an inputted telephone number and address, while a conta

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining operational preferences for a user access to a plurality of telecommunication response systems designating by the user that user operations of one of the plurality of telecommunication response systems will be the operational preferences of the user for all of the plurality of telecommunication response systems; storing the operational preferences for the user; accessing the stored operational preferences by a second one of the plurality of telecommunication response systems for use in communicating with the user during interactions with the user by the second one of plurality of telecommunication response systems; and interpreting user operations by the second one of plurality of telecommunication response systems using the accessed operational preferences.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to voice communication devices in which an audio stream is divided into a sequence of individual packets, each of which is routed via pathways that can vary depending on the availability of network resources. All embodiments of the invention rely on an acoustic prioritization agent that assigns a priority value to the packets. The priority value is based on factors such as whether the packet contains voice activity and the degree of acoustic similarity between this packet and adjacent packets in the sequence. A confidence level, associated with the priority value, may also be assigned. In one embodiment, network congestion is reduced by deliberately failing to transmit packets that are judged to be acoustically similar to adjacent packets; the expectation is that, under these circumstances, traditional packet loss concealment algorithms in the receiving device will construct an acceptably accurate replica of the missing packet.