Simultaneous telephone ring apparatus and method
Methods and apparatus for a simultaneous ring system. The system is configured to be coupled to the end-user line of the telephone network. In response to receiving an incoming call on the user-line, the simultaneous ring system simultaneously ring target phone numbers associated with the telephone number and transfers the telephone call to the telephone network if a connection to one of the target phone numbers is made. These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to telephone communication systems, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a simultaneous telephone ring system and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Trends such as telecommuting, virtual offices, contract employment, etc. have led to the proliferation of both land-based and cellular phone services. It is not uncommon for a person to have different telephone numbers at their corporate office, their home office, their home, and one or more cell phone numbers. Callers are therefore often required to dial multiple numbers in order to reach a person. This is not only a waste of time, but expensive. A number of prior “simultaneous ring” systems have been proposed.
One type of known simultaneous ring system relies on an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN), which is a computer (or set of computers) that is integrated into the (typically Signaling System Seven (SS7)) control network of a phone company. For example at Cincinnati Bell Telephone, an AIN system has been programmed to implement a simultaneous ring service. When a call to a telephone number with the simultaneous ring service is placed on the SS7 telephone network, the AIN looks up the associated target telephone numbers in a database and rings each number. If one of the phones is answered, a talk path is established and the calls to the other target telephone numbers are terminated. This arrangement, however, has several drawbacks. AIN systems are very expensive, complicated, and difficult to maintain. The AIN system also has to be integrated into the SS7 telephone network and therefore has to be implemented by the phone company.
Another type of known simultaneous ring system relies on a PBX or some other type of central switching device which associates one or more target phone numbers with an incoming telephone number. When a telephone call on the incoming number is received, the central switching device places a call to each of the target phone numbers. If one of the target phone numbers is answered, a link through the switching device to the target number is established. This arrangement, which is sometimes referred to as “conferencing” or “bridging”, requires the central switch to maintain the link for the entire duration of the telephone call. Consequently conferencing or bridging is expensive because phone service charges are accrued during the entire duration of the phone call.
A simultaneous ring system and method that connects to a telephone company network over a standard end-user service line and which performs a call transfer using the telephone company network when a connection is made with a target phone number, thereby avoiding conferencing or bridging, is therefore needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing simultaneous ring services for a telephone number associated with an end-user line of a telephone network. The system includes a simultaneous ring system configured to couple the incoming caller line to the answering (or default) end-user line of the telephone network. In response to receiving an incoming call on the user-line, the simultaneous ring system simultaneously rings target phone numbers associated with the telephone number and then transfers the telephone call to the telephone network if a connection to one of the target phone numbers is made. If a connection is not made (i.e., the call is not answered), the incoming call is transferred to the user's default target, which is typically their Voice Mail. These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe invention may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
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In one embodiment, the user telephone line 16 provides a Primary Rate Interface (PRI) service between the telephone network 12 and the simultaneous ring system 10. With the PRI service, a large number of telephone numbers (i.e., 500 or more) are associated with the telephone line 16. Telephone calls received by the telephone network 12 corresponding to the PRI telephone numbers are offered to the simultaneous ring system 10. With this arrangement, a simultaneous ring subscriber is assigned to one of the PRI telephone numbers. One telephone line 16 can therefore service multiple simultaneous ring subscribers. If the number of subscribers exceeds the number of telephone numbers associated with the PRI service, then additional simultaneous ring systems 10 and/or telephone lines 16 with PRI service may by added in a modular fashion so that any number of subscribers can be serviced by any of the simultaneous ring systems and/or telephone lines with PRI service.
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In yet another embodiment, the outgoing call manager 52 may be configured to initiate the outgoing calls at various times to compensate for different set-up times of the target telephone numbers so that they all ring at substantially the same time. For example, a local call to a land-based phone typically takes approximately 750 milliseconds to establish a connection and to start ringing whereas a connection for long distance call may require 1,250 milliseconds or a call to a cell phone may require 4,250 milliseconds. Accordingly, the outgoing call manager 52 can be configured to introduce a dynamic delay before initiating calls to local land-base telephones until a ringing signal is detected from all the target cell phone and/or long distance telephone numbers. Alternatively, the outgoing call manager can be programmed to a configurable fixed delay so that all the target phone numbers ring at substantially the same time. For example, a call to a local land based phone may be delayed 3,500 milliseconds so that it may simultaneously ring with a target cell phone. It should be noted that the aforementioned dynamic and fixed delays are only exemplary and that a delay of any time period may be used to achieve substantial simultaneous ringing.
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When the Get Service Now icon is selected, the web page illustrated in
When the Subscribers icon is selected, the web page of
Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the true spirit or the scope of the invention. Therefore, the present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of offering simultaneous ring services for a telephone network, comprising:
- accessing a user telephone line provided by the telephone network, the telephone line having an associated telephone number;
- Receiving a telephone call placed to the telephone number on the end user telephone line;
- retrieving target telephone numbers associated with the telephone number in response to the telephone call;
- calling the target telephone numbers so that telephones associated with the target telephone numbers ring substantially simultaneously; and
- transferring the telephone call to the telephone network after a connection is made with one target telephone number among the target telephone numbers.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising terminating the telephone call on the user telephone line after the connection is made with the one target telephone number.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring the telephone call further comprises transferring the telephone call to a default target telephone number if no connection is made with the target telephone numbers.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the default telephone number is determined by the time of day the telephone call was received.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the default telephone number is determined by the day of the week the telephone call was received.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring the telephone call to the one target telephone number further comprises transferring the telephone call to the first target telephone number which is answered among the target telephone numbers.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling of the target telephone numbers further comprises initiating the call to each of the target telephone numbers at substantially the same time.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling of the target numbers further comprises initiating at various times the telephone calls to compensate for different set-up times of the target telephone numbers so that the associated telephones all ring at substantially the same time.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the coordinating at the various times further comprises selectively introducing a dynamic delay before initiating the telephone calls to the target telephone numbers.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the dynamic delay is configurable.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the end-user telephone line includes one of the following types of telephone lines: ISDN Primary Rate Interface; ISDN Primary Rate Interface European Standard; and ISDN Basic Rate Interface.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking to determine if the phone number associated with the phone call belongs to a valid subscriber before calling the target telephone numbers.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding caller ID information associated with the party that initiated the telephone call to the target telephone numbers.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone number and the associated target telephone numbers are maintained in a database.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the database contains a subscriber record for maintaining account information related to a subscriber assigned to the phone number and a target record for containing the target telephone numbers.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the account information for the subscriber further comprises at least one of the following types of information: account status; credit status; and personal information regarding the subscriber.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the target record further comprises at least one of the following types of information: the target telephone numbers; a default telephone number; a time of day default telephone number; and a day of week default telephone number.
18. An apparatus providing simultaneous ring services for a telephone number associated with an end-user line of a phone network comprising a simultaneous ring system configured to be coupled to the end-user line of the telephone network, the simultaneous ring system configured to simultaneously ring target phone numbers associated with a telephone number and transferring the telephone call to the telephone network if a connection to one of the target phone numbers is made in response to receiving an incoming call on the user-line.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the simultaneous ring system contains a voice card to interface with the end-user line of the telephone network.
20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the simultaneous ring system further comprises:
- an incoming call manager configured to receive the incoming call;
- a call manager configured to receive the incoming call from the incoming call manager, the call manager further configured to: perform a first database query to determine if the telephone number belongs to a valid subscriber; and perform a second database query to retrieve the target phone numbers if the there is a valid subscriber; and
- an outbound call manager configured to initiate outbound telephone calls to the telephone network over the user-line and if a connection is made to one of the target telephone numbers, transferring the outbound telephone call to the one target telephone number to the telephone network.
21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the call manager is further configured to generate a ringing signal so the caller hears a ring after receiving the incoming call from the incoming call manager.
22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the outbound call manager is further configured to terminate all of the remaining outbound telephone calls once the connection to the one target telephone number is made.
23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the outbound call manager is further configured to transfer a predetermined outbound telephone call associated with a default target telephone number to the telephone network if no connection is made with any of the target telephone numbers.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the default telephone number is determined by the time of day the incoming telephone call was received.
25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the default telephone number is determined by the day of the week the incoming telephone call was received.
26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the calling the target telephone numbers further comprises initiating the outbound telephone calls to each of the target telephone numbers at substantially the same time.
27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the calling the target numbers further comprises coordinating at various times the outbound telephone calls to compensate for different set-up times of the target telephone numbers so that they all ring at substantially the same time.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the coordinating at the various times further comprises selectively introducing dynamic delays before initiating the outbound telephone calls to the target telephone numbers respectively.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the dynamic delay is configurable.
30. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the end-user telephone line includes one of the following types of telephone lines: ISDN Primary Rate Interface; ISDN Primary Rate-Interface European Standard; and ISDN Basic Rate Interface.
31. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the simultaneous ring system is further configured to forward caller ID information associated with the party that initiated the incoming call to the called telephone numbers.
32. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the simultaneous ring system further comprises a database configured to maintain the telephone number and the associated target telephone numbers.
33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the database contains a subscriber record for maintaining account information related to a subscriber assigned to the phone number and a second record for containing the target telephone numbers.
34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the account information for the subscriber further comprises at least one of the following types of information: account status; credit status; and personal information regarding the subscriber.
35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the second record further comprises at least one of the following types of information: the target telephone numbers; a default telephone number; a time of day default telephone number; and a day of week default telephone number.
36. A method of providing simultaneous ring telephone services comprising:
- maintaining a web site on a server accessible over the Internet, the web site configured to
- assign a primary number to a subscriber in response to a request by the subscriber for simultaneous ring telephone services;
- associate one or more target numbers as defined by the subscriber with the primary number, and
- store the primary number and the target numbers so that the target numbers can be called when a call on the primary number is received.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein the web site is flier configured to assign a default target number among the target numbers as defined by the subscriber.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein the target telephone numbers can be associated with the following types of phones: land based telephones; or wireless telephones.
39. The method of claim 36, wherein the web site is further configured to receive user information of the subscriber, the user information including the at least one of the following: the name of the subscriber; and billing information for the subscriber.
40. The method of claim 36, wherein the web server is further configured to allow the subscriber to update the target numbers.
41. The method of claim 36, wherein the web server is further configured to allow the subscriber to update the primary number.
42. A system configured to provide simultaneous ring telephone services comprising:
- a server configured to be accessible over the Internet and to host a web site, the web site configured to:
- assign a primary number to a subscriber in response to a request by the subscriber for simultaneous ring telephone services;
- associate one or more target numbers as defined by the subscriber with the primary number, and
- store in a memory coupled to the server the primary number and the target numbers so that the target numbers can be called when a call on the primary number is received.
43. The system of claim 42, wherein the web site is further configured to assign a default target number among the target numbers as defined by the subscriber.
44. The system of claim 43, wherein the target telephone numbers can be associated with the following types of phones: land based telephones; or wireless telephones.
45. The system of claim 42, wherein the web site is further configured to receive user information of the subscriber, the user information including the at least one of the following: the name of the subscriber; and billing information for the subscriber.
46. The system of claim 42, wherein the web server is further configured to allow the subscriber to update the target numbers.
47. The system of claim 42, wherein the web server is further configured to allow the subscriber to update the primary number.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 31, 2003
Publication Date: Mar 24, 2005
Inventors: Robert Meldrum (Redmond, WA), James Cheshire (Cincinnati, OH)
Application Number: 10/749,939