US20020006802A1 - Telephone services - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of recording and delivering a voice message from a calling telephone (1) to a called telephone (2) in the event that the called telephone (2) cannot be reached. A voice message (12) is recorded at the calling telephone (1) and is stored there until the calling telephone (1) receives a message (10) from the telephone network (3) that the called telephone (2) can now be reached. Upon receipt of this message (10), the calling telephone (1) initiates a call to the called telephone (2) and replays the recorded message (14) over the open voice channel.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention relates to telephone services and in particular to telephone services in which a message may be recorded, for subsequent playback, when a called telephone device cannot be reached.[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• Telephone answering services which enable a recorded message to be left when a called telephone cannot be reached (e.g. it is busy, unanswered, or switched off) are generally made available in one of two ways. Firstly, the telephone itself may have integrated thereinto, or may be directly connected to, a voice recorder such as a tape cassette recorder or a solid state memory recorder. When a third party makes a call to the telephone, and for example the call is unanswered, the caller is connected to the voice recorder and is able to leave a message. The second way in which an answering service may be made available is to provide a voice recorder in the telephone network. Each subscriber to the network has assigned to him a “voice mailbox”. In the event that the called telephone cannot be reached, the caller is connected to the voice mailbox where a voice message can be left. When the called telephone becomes free, or is switched on, a message is forwarded to the telephone from the network to notify the subscriber that there is a message in his mailbox. The subscriber can then call a mailbox number to listen to the recorded message. This second option is preferred in the case of cellular telephone networks as it allows a message to be left even if a voice channel cannot be opened to the called telephone.[0002]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a voice communication method comprising:[0003]
• initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;[0004]
• in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device; and[0005]
• subsequently transmitting said recorded message directly from the first to the second telephone device without necessarily requiring further user input.[0006]
• The term “directly” used above indicates that, whilst the recorded message is transmitted from the first to the second telephone device via the telephone network, the message is not stored in a voice mailbox assigned to the second telephone device. It will also be appreciated that the subsequent transmission of the recorded message is carried out automatically by the first telephone device in co-operation with the telephone network and the second telephone device.[0007]
• In one embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises transmitting a message from the network, to which the first telephone device subscribes, to the first telephone device to notify the first device when a voice channel can be opened to the second device and in response to this notification opening a voice channel between the two devices and transmitting said recorded message. The recorded message is held in a “document outbox” of the first telephone device until the voice channel becomes available. Where the first telephone device is a cellular telephone subscribing to a GSM cellular telephone network, said notification may be made by way of a Completion of Call on Busy Subscriber (CCBS) message.[0008]
• In a second embodiment of the present invention, where both the first and second telephone devices are cellular telephones and subscribe to the same or different cellular telephone networks, the recorded message is converted at the first device into a data signal and is transmitted to the second device over a signalling channel or channels. The data signal is received by the second device over said signalling channel(s) where it is converted back to a voice signal for subsequent playback. Where the telephone devices both subscribe to a GSM cellular telephone network, said data signal may be transferred as a short message service (SMS) message or a set of concatenated SMS messages.[0009]
• Embodiments of the present invention may comprise transmitting a pre-recorded voice message (e.g. a voice header) together with said recorded message from the first to the second device. Alternatively, or in addition, the method may comprise transmitting a text message together with said recorded message.[0010]
• According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a telephone device comprising;[0011]
• telephone call initiating means for initiating a call to another telephone device;[0012]
• detection means for detecting when a voice channel cannot be opened to the called telephone device;[0013]
• recording means for recording a voice message; and[0014]
• transmitting means for automatically transmitting the recorded message directly to the called telephone device.[0015]
• In one embodiment of the invention, the telephone device comprises means for receiving a notification signal from the network to which the device subscribes indicating that a voice channel can be opened to the called telephone device, said transmitting means being responsive to said notification signal to open a voice channel to the called telephone device and to transmit the recorded message over that channel.[0016]
• In an alternative embodiment, the telephone device is a cellular telephone and comprises signal processing means for converting the recorded voice message into a data signal which can be sent to the called telephone device over a signalling channel or channels. Where the telephone device subscribes to a GSM network, said signal processing means may be arranged to transmit the recorded message as an SMS message or as a set of concatenated SMS messages.[0017]
• According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a voice communication method comprising:[0018]
• initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;[0019]
• in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device;[0020]
• transmitting a message from the telephone network to the first telephone device to indicate when a voice channel can be opened to the second telephone device;[0021]
• opening a voice channel from the first telephone device following receipt of said message; and[0022]
• subsequently transmitting said recorded message to the second telephone device over the open voice channel.[0023]
• According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a voice communication method comprising:[0024]
• initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;[0025]
• in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device;[0026]
• converting the recorded message into a data message or set of data messages; and[0027]
• transmitting the data message(s) to the second telephone device over a signalling channel or channels.[0028]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• For a better understanding of the present invention and in order to show how the same may be carried into effect reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which;[0029]
• FIG. 1 shows schematically a telephone system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and[0030]
• FIG. 2 shows schematically a telephone system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.[0031]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• With reference firstly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a telephone system in which a[0032]cellular telephone1 is able to communicate with afixed line telephone2 via a GSM cellular network3 and a public switched telephone network (PSTN)4. Whilst the fixed line telephone may be a conventional telephone, thecellular telephone1 is provided with internal voice recording means5. This is typically a semiconductor memory or a part of a semiconductor memory which is able to store a voice message in digital form. A message may be converted into such a digital form by a standard analogue to digital converter (not shown) of thecellular telephone1.
• The telephone system is best described by explaining the operation thereof. When a user initiates a voice call from the[0033]cellular telephone1 to thefixed line telephone2, a voice channel can only be opened between the two telephones if the called telephone is switched on, not busy, and answered. In the event that a voice channel cannot be opened, this is detected by the GSM network3 and asignalling message6 is sent from the network3 to thecellular telephone1 advising thecellular telephone1 of this situation.
• This[0034]message6 is received by thecellular telephone1 and is conveyed to acontroller7. Thecontroller7 then triggers asound transport driver8 to play a prerecorded message9 to the caller, which message states “your call cannot be connected—please leave a message after the tone”—or something similar. The voice recording means5 is then activated and themessage12, if any, spoken by the user is recorded. The recordedmessage13 is then transferred to adocument outbox11.
• When the called telephone subsequently becomes free, for example the user hangs-up from an earlier call, this is detected by the[0035]PSTN4 and the GSM network3. A CCBS (Completion of Call on Busy Subscriber)message10 is then sent from the GSM network3 to thecellular telephone1, where it is received by thecontroller7, to advise thecellular telephone1 that a voice channel can now be opened to the calledtelephone2. Thecontroller7 then initiates a voice call to the calledtelephone2 to establish a voice channel. When the calledtelephone2 is answered, thecontroller7 instructs thedocument outbox10 to play the recordedmessage13, through thesound transport driver8, onto the voice channel.
• As an additional feature, the[0036]controller7 is able to add a pre-recorded “header” message14 (held in memory15) to the user recordedmessage13 stored in thedocument outbox11. Theheader14 may say, for example, “this is a recorded message from Mr Smith recorded at 12.15 p.m”. A pre-recorded “footer” message may also be added, e.g. “end of message”.
• The[0037]controller7 of thecellular telephone1 is able to receive DTMF commands, sent from the calledtelephone2 when a voice channel is open. These commands may be used to pause the playback of the recordedmessage13, or to replay the message from the start. A header or footer added to the recorded message may contain instructions to the called subscriber as to the use of the DTMF signals, e.g. “press 1 for pause,press 2 to repeat the message”.
• FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as will be explained below with reference to the operation of the telephone system, both the calling[0038]telephone16 and the calledtelephone17 are digital cellular telephones subscribing to a GSMcellular telephone network18.
• When a telephone call is initiated from the calling[0039]telephone16 to the calledtelephone17, amessage19 is transmitted from theGSM network18 to the callingtelephone16 in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened to the calledtelephone17. Again, acontroller20 of thetelephone16 responds to receipt of thismessage19 by instructing asound transport driver21 to play amessage22 advising the caller that the calledtelephone17 cannot be reached but that amessage23 can be recorded for the called subscriber. If the caller chooses to record amessage23, this message is converted intodigital form24 by avoice recorder25 and is transferred to adocument outbox26. Thevoice data24 is then organised by thecontroller20 into a form suitable for transmission via the GSM short message service (SMS). Typically, the data will be organised into a set of concatenatedSMS messages27. These messages can then be transmitted in a known way over signalling channels from the callingtelephone16 to the calledtelephone17. As the SMS messages are transmitted over signalling channels, the SMS “voice”messages27 can be transmitted even if the calledtelephone17 is busy.
• The[0040]messages27 once received at the calledtelephone17 are stored in a document “inbox”28 of thetelephone17. This prompts a message to appear on a display (not shown) of the calledtelephone17 to advise the called subscriber that an SMS “voice message” has been received. The subscriber can then interrupt his current call to listen to the voice message, or may listen to the voice message after he has terminated the current call, whereupon a processor andsound driver29 converts theSMS messages27 back into thevoice message23 which is played back to the subscriber. It will be appreciated that as the SMS “voice message” is stored at the calledtelephone17, the called subscriber can pause or replay the received voice message directly from histelephone17.
• It will be appreciated that modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2 may be modified so that a header or footer message may be added to the recorded message, in the same way as was described with reference to FIG. 1. The transmitted message may also contain control information, such as a time when the received message should be played to the called subscriber. Rather than sending the voice message as a set of SMS messages, the voice message may be sent in a fax or other suitable data transmission format.[0041]
• Either of the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 may be modified to incorporate means for delaying (i.e. setting a specific transmission time), cancelling, or modifying a previously recorded message (providing of course that the message has not already been transmitted).[0042]

Claims (11)

1. A voice communication method comprising:

initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;

in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device; and

subsequently transmitting said recorded message directly from the first to the second telephone device without necessarily requiring further user input.

2. A method according toclaim 1 and comprising transmitting a message from the network, to which the first telephone device subscribes, to the first telephone device to notify the first device when a voice channel can be opened to the second device and in response to this notification opening a voice channel between the two devices and transmitting said recorded message.

3. A method according toclaim 1, wherein both the first and second telephone devices are cellular telephones and subscribe to the same or different cellular telephone networks, the method comprising converting the recorded message at the first device into a data signal, transmitting the data signal to the second device over a signalling channel or channels, receiving the data signal at the second device over said signalling channel(s), and converting the data signal back to a voice signal for subsequent playback.

4. A method according toclaim 3, wherein both telephone devices subscribe to a GSM cellular telephone network, said data signal being transferred as a short message service (SMS) message or a set of concatenated SMS messages.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising transmitting a pre-recorded voice message (e.g. a voice header) together with said recorded message from the first to the second device.

6. A telephone device comprising;

telephone call initiating means for initiating a call to another telephone device;

detection means for detecting when a voice channel cannot be opened to the called telephone device;

recording means for recording a voice message; and

transmitting means for automatically transmitting the recorded message directly to the called telephone device.

7. A telephone device according toclaim 6 and comprising means for receiving a notification signal from the network to which the device subscribes indicating that a voice channel can be opened to the called telephone device, said transmitting means being responsive to said notification signal to open a voice channel to the called telephone device and to transmit the recorded message over that channel.

8. A telephone device according toclaim 6, the device being a cellular telephone and comprising signal processing means for converting the recorded voice message into a data signal which can be sent to the called telephone device over a signalling channel or channels.

9. A telephone device according toclaim 8, wherein the device subscribes to a GSM network, said signal processing means being arranged to transmit the recorded message as an SMS message or as a set of concatenated SMS messages.

10. A voice communication method comprising:

initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;

in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device;

transmitting a message from the telephone network to the first telephone device to indicate when a voice channel can be opened to the second telephone device;

opening a voice channel from the first telephone device following receipt of said message; and

subsequently transmitting said recorded message to the second telephone device over the open voice channel.

11. A voice communication method comprising:

initiating a telephone call from a first to a second telephone device;

in the event that a voice channel cannot be opened between the first and second telephone devices, recording a voice message at the first telephone device;

converting the recorded message into a data message or set of data messages; and

transmitting the data message(s) to the second telephone device over a signalling channel or channels.

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