US 2015/0319310 A1Published application

Converged Voice Services

AssigneeQwest Communications International Inc.

InventorsJohn Verbil, Richard Cerami, Tammy S. Brown, Joel Frederick

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Novel tools and techniques for providing a subscriber with converged voice services, in which calls to one of the subscriber's telephone numbers is routed to some or all of the subscriber's telephone numbers (e.g., sequentially or simultaneously, depending on system configuration and/or subscriber preference). Some implementations employ a VoIP switch to handle call distribution among the subscriber's various phone lines, even if some (or all) of the subscribers telephone lines are not VoIP lines. In such implementations, upon receiving an incoming call directed to one of the subscriber's lines, a service switching point will route the call to a VoIP switch. Instructed by an application server, the VoIP switch will set up call legs (e.g., via the PSTN) to one or more of the subscribers' telephone numbers. Optionally, when one of the call legs is answered, the application server will instruct the VoIP switch to disconnect the other call legs.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system for providing converged voice services, the system comprising:

a voice telephone switch configured to:
receive, via a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a call from a calling party to a first telephone number of a plurality of telephone numbers associated with a converged voice services subscriber, the plurality of telephone numbers further comprising a second telephone number;
provide a notification in response to receiving the call;
an application server configured to:
detect the notification;
and
determine, in response to the notification, that the subscriber has configured simultaneous ring services;
send a message to the voice telephone switch instructing the voice telephone switch to forward the call to a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) switch;
the VoIP switch configured to:
receive the forwarded call from the voice telephone switch;
send a first SIP INVITE, in response to receiving the forwarded call;
wherein:
the application server is further configured to:
receive the first SIP INVITE;
and
send, in response to receiving the first SIP INVITE, a plurality of additional SIP INVITEs, the plurality of additional SIP INVITEs comprising an additional SIP INVITE corresponding to each of the plurality of telephone numbers and including a first additional SIP INVITE corresponding to the first telephone number and a second additional SIP INVITE corresponding to the second telephone number;
and
the VOIP switch is further configured to:
receive each of the plurality of additional SIP INVITEs;
create a plurality of call legs via the PSTN, the plurality of call legs comprising a call leg corresponding to each of the additional SIP INVITEs and including a first call leg to the first telephone number and a second call leg to the second telephone number;
and
connect the forwarded call with at least one of the call legs.

19 more elements

A method of providing converged voice services, the method comprising:

receiving, at a voice telephone switch, a call from a calling party to a first telephone number of a plurality of telephone numbers associated with a converged voice services subscriber, the plurality of telephone numbers further comprising a second telephone number;
providing, at the voice telephone switch, a notification, in response to receiving the call;
detecting the notification;
instructing the voice telephone switch to forward the call to a VoIP switch, in response to detecting the notification;
receiving the forwarded call at the VoIP switch;
sending a first SIP INVITE from the VoIP switch;
receiving the first SIP INVITE;
sending a plurality of additional SIP INVITEs in response to receiving the first SIP INVITE, the plurality of additional SIP INVITEs comprising an additional SIP INVITE corresponding to each of the plurality of telephone numbers and including a first additional SIP INVITE corresponding to the first telephone number and a second additional SIP INVITE corresponding to the second telephone number;
receiving each of the plurality of SIP INVITEs at the VoIP switch;
creating, with the VoIP switch, a plurality of call legs via the PSTN, the plurality of call legs comprising a call leg corresponding to each of the additional SIP INVITEs and including a first call leg to the first telephone number and a second call leg to the second telephone number;
and
connecting the forwarded call with at least one of the call legs.

9 more elements

A system for providing converged voice services, the system comprising:

a voice telephone switch configured to:
receive, via a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a first call from a calling party to a first telephone number of a plurality of telephone numbers associated with a converged voice services subscriber, the plurality of telephone numbers further comprising a second telephone number, wherein at least one of the plurality of telephone numbers is a wireless number and at least one of the plurality of telephone numbers is a wireline number;
provide a first notification, in response to receiving the first call;
an application server configured to:
determine, in response to the first notification, that the subscriber has configured sequential ring services;
instruct the voice telephone switch to forward the call to the wireless number;
and
a VoIP switch configured to:
receive a second call, forwarded from a wireless system to a specified telephone number associated with the VoIP switch;
and
send, in response to receiving the second call, a first SIP INVITE;
wherein the application server is further configured to:
receive the first SIP INVITE;
and
send a second SIP INVITE in response to receiving the first SIP INVITE;
wherein the VoIP switch is further configured to:
receive the second SIP INVITE;
route the second call via the PSTN to the landline number, in response to the second SIP INVITE;
wherein the voice telephone switch is further configured to:
receive the second call;
and
provide a second notification in response to receiving the call;
and
wherein the application server is further configured to:
determine, in response to the second notification, a context of the second call, the context indicating that the second call is the first call forwarded from a mobile switching center (MSC) associated with the wireless number;
and
instruct the voice telephone switch to terminate the second call at the landline number, in response to determining the context of the second call.

24 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/798,025Filed 13 Jul 2015
Priority: 13 Oct 2010
Published: 5 Nov 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

H04L 65/102
Architectures or entities: gateways
H04L 65/1045
Architectures or entities: proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
H04L 65/1063
Architectures or entities: application servers providing network services
H04L 65/1069
Session management: session establishment or de-establishment

Family

Application61/392,730Us provisional application · filed 13 Oct 2010
Application13/271,915Continuation · filed 12 Oct 2011
Application14/324,741Continuation · filed 7 Jul 2014
Application14/798,025Continuation
US 2012/0127986 A1Published application
US 2014/0321454 A1Published application
US 8,811,381 B2Related patent
US 9,137,380 B2Related patent
US 9,307,090 B2Related patent
US 2015/0319310 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.