APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR RECORDING COMMUNICATIONS
The present invention relates to a communications system for recording voice communication between one or more parties to a voice communication, in particular but not exclusively a telephone call.
There are various environments in which individuals might wish to record a voice communication whether or not there are other parties to the communication. One example exists in the financial industry, where recordings are often made to act as records of trades concluded verbally. An example from the legal industry is the wish to record an arbitration or court hearing, so that the parties may refer to it later to confirm evidence given or judgments made. Another example from the legal industry is where a lawyer wishes to dictate a note for a colleague or for typing by a secretary. Service industries in particular are characterised by periods of instruction, negotiation and ensuing labour, often split between the professional and their secretary. Audio recordings of a voice communication therefore provide an effective way to confirm instructions and agreements, or to dictate letters and other documents for production more cheaply elsewhere.
Drawbacks to recording voice communications include the cost of necessary equipment. Traditionally, recording has been achieved separate to the telephone system by using a desk- or handheld-instrument such as a dictating handset that uses tape or other media to capture the recording. The tape or other medium is then passed to a secretary or marked with a title and stored. Such methods are not appropriate for recording a telephone call or other voice communication as the speaker must generally be within close range of the microphone, which is not particularly sensitive and can lead to poor recording quality. In addition, the tapes or other medium may have a limited capacity, requiring a break in the recording process to reload the instrument.
Businesses are now making use of personal computers to make a digital recording and then forward that digital recording onto the relevant people for processing. However, this often requires use of a particular desktop machine set up as a 'thin client' connected to a central server. The opportunities to use the system when travelling are limited and, even where arrangements are made to utilise such software on a laptop PC through the( internet or virtual private network, the steps to do so can be troublesome. In addition, the opportunities to link these systems into the PBX are limited.
Recording solutions are sold that allow a business to purchase its own 'box' combining hardware and/or software and to integrate that box with their internal telephony and IT systems. However, such solutions are usually more expensive and require internal skills to set up and maintain; and therefore out of reach of all but the larger businesses for both reasons. In addition, such systems are not usually flexible in terms of allowing remote access when travelling, or require the user to dial particular network numbers and follow certain procedures before the recording commences.
Each of the current methods above presents obstacles to adoption either through poor quality, expense of new equipment and the technical skills necessary to integrate and maintain such equipment, the need to divert your phone number through a third party service provider, the need to follow lengthy steps to record a call, or limitations on the ability to record any communication from any phone.
The available communications systems for supporting voice communications such as telephony systems and services are ubiquitous, and are used for both residential and business purposes. The services and features provided by telephony systems have developed from simple person-to-person calls, to conference calls where many parties are connected together at a time. Telephony terminal devices have developed beyond the simple telephone to incorporate many features such as an address book of telephone numbers and quick dial telephone numbers, typically under microprocessor control. Examples of telephony devices are regular fixed line handsets (an illustrative example of which is the "Duet 60" Corded Phone sold by BT pic), more sophisticated fixed line telephony terminals (an illustrative example of which is the Meridian M3904 Professional Telephone sold by Nortel Networks), mobile/cellular handsets, mobile/cellular enabled personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other mobile/cellular terminals, or Internet Protocol (IP) telephones.
More sophisticated features are often required by businesses, and such features may be supplied by a Private Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX), also referred to as a Private Branch Exchange (PBX), which is installed at business premises for running an internal telephony system and interfacing to an external telephone system, for example a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
It is well known in the art to use a software program (called a Telephony Application Programming Interface or TAPI) to connect a PC running an application within the Microsoft Windows operating system to telephone services. TAPI was introduced in 1993 as the result of joint development by Microsoft and Intel. The standard supports connections by individual computers as well as LAN connections serving many computers. Within each connection type, TAPI defines standards for simple call control and for manipulating call content.
Problems with TAPI are that a TAPI has to be created for each application and therefore requires separate installation or download by the user of a TAPI for each application that the user requires. Their operation can also be different from application to application depending on the creator. Additionally, TAPI based programs only provide the interface between the program running on the PC and some external communication service rather than a complete communication solution.
In an attempt to gain cost savings and take advantage of the benefits offered by carrying voice over IP networks (VoIP) instead of the PSTN, it has previously been proposed to provide a hardware plug-in that converts the PSTN voice signal from a user's telephone into a digital, packetised signal that then is fed into the user's broadband internet connection. Vonage provide one such hardware plug-in, although again we do not know whether this plug-in was available to the public before the filing of this application.
Problems with such systems include having to insert an extra piece of hardware into the user's network, requiring extra expense, configuration expertise and cabling. A major limitation is that calls over the service can only be made using the phone connected to the hardware plug-in. As the voice can only go through the internet, if the user's internet connection is of inconsistent quality, the quality of their call suffers and if they lose their internet connection, they lose the call. Moreover, such solutions typically contemplate replicating the functionality of the PSTN at lower cost rather than introducing new features and functionality to improve productivity and usability. - A -
A further previously proposed alternative is that of the so-called "softphone". The most common type of softphone is a software client residing on a user's PC and which must have both microphone and speaker functionality, or external equivalents connected to the PC. The user then communicates through the PC purely over VoIP.
Problems include that the user is limited to talking through their PC. The PC is required to run the compression and decompression protocols (CODEC) of the software and as a result voice quality may be impacted if the computer is processing other CPU intensive tasks during a conversation. If their internet connection is of inconsistent quality, the quality of their call suffers. If they lose their internet connection, they lose the call. In addition, these solutions are not handset independent - the connection of the call-leg to the call originator must be to the PC, not for example to a PSTN or cellular or mobile telephone of the originator's choosing. PCs are poorly configured as telephones and require extensive configuration to balance ear and microphone volume for comfortable communication.
The foregoing problems and drawbacks associated with conventional and previously proposed telephone systems mitigate against efficient and cost-effective use of desktop and other telephone handsets, typically by requiring relatively expensive and complex modules in the handsets and/or PBAX to fully provide conference call functionality. In particular they are unsuitable for immediate call set up such as is required by employees travelling out of the office or used to the instant gratification experienced in many we-based environments. Aspects and embodiments of the present invention were devised with the foregoing in mind.
Some of these problems and drawbacks are solved or ameliorated in the methods and apparatus disclosed in WO 2005/101857 to which reference is directed and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a call management service for a communications system, configured to automatically: receive telephone call data identifying a source end point; initiate a call-back telephone call to said end point to set-up a call leg responsive to said telephone call data; and record said call leg responsive to instructions received over a separate real-time communications connections signalling link from a communications client associated with said end point. Further call legs may be added as required, including connection to a conference bridge. A further embodiment of the invention allows for the telephone call data to further identify a conference bridge and for the communications system, on receipt of the telephone call data, to combine the call leg to the source end point with the conference bridge, to establish the source end point as a participant in the conference call. The user associated with that source end point may then elect to record the conference call by sending instructions via their communications client to the communications system over the separate real-time communications connections signaling link. Any necessary steps for compliance purposes could be taken, such as playing a message to all participants on the conference call that the call is to be recorded, and the conference call is then recorded to a device such as a web server.
A further embodiment of the invention allows for the telephone call data to further identify a destination end point and for the communications system, after setting-up the first call leg to the source end point, to set-up a second call leg to the destination end point and combine the two legs together for allow voice communication between the source end point and the destination end point. The user associated with that source end point may then elect to record the voice communication by sending instructions via their communications client to the communications system over the separate real-time communications connections signaling link. Any necessary steps for compliance purposes could be taken, such as playing a message to all participants on the voice communication that it is to be recorded, and the voice communication is then recorded to a device such as a web server.
Further embodiments of the invention allow for more than one destination end point to be identified in the original telephone call data or subsequent instructions sent by the user via their communications client in the above manner, call legs to be established to each end point and all legs combined to produce a multi-party voice communication which may then be recorded in the above manner.
When the user wishes to terminate the recording, the communications system would then notify them of the necessary steps to retrieve their recording. One embodiment of this aspect of the invention is for the user to receive a hyperlink to a digital file held on a web server, from where they may download the recording. A further embodiment of this aspect of the invention is for the communications system to download a link to the relevant digital file to the user's communications client. A further embodiment of this aspect of the invention is for the communications system to download a digital copy of the recording to the user's communications client.
Further embodiments of the invention allow for the combination of any of the above scenarios in any manner.
Other embodiments, and features and advantages of those and other embodiments are set out by way of illustration in the accompanying claims and elsewhere in the description.
Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings, provided by way of example only, in which:
Figure 1 schematically illustrates a telephony network suitable for use in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a graphical illustration of a call set-up message exchange and component activity for the telephone system illustrated in Figure 1 ;
Figure 3 is a graphical illustration of call set-up message exchange and component activity for adding a party to an ongoing call for the telephone system illustrated in Figure 1 ;
Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a mobile terminal and software client;
Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a flowchart depicting one mode of operation of the software client;
Figures 6 and 7 are illustrative representations of message formats;
Figure 8 is an illustrative representation of client software functional compnents;
Figure 9 is a graphical illustration of a call set-up message exchange and component activity for the telephone system illustrated in Figure 1 when the dictating mode is actuated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 10 contains examples of a communications client user interface with the DICTATE button and the RECORD button in default status and actuated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 schematically illustrates a telephone system 60 incorporating a call management centre (CMC) 62 and the communications client 54. The CMC 62 may be implemented on one or more data processing apparatus typically configured as one or more servers. The servers may be located at the same physical location, even within the same device, or distributed throughout various physical locations that are in communication with one another (for example by means of an internet, WAN, or LAN).
The CMC 62 comprises 4 main components: an application server 68, a web server 92, a database90 and a soft switch 66. The functions of each of these components will be set out in more detail below. A summary is given here. The soft switch 66 contains software for initiating, controlling and mixing calls made by Call Controller/Media Mixer 67through the desired transport medium, whether that is PSTN 2 (thereby allowing delivery to PSTN handsets and cellular mobile phones) or the IP Network 22 (allowing delivery to a SIP-endpoint such as a SIP phone on a managed VoIP network or the internet), and reporting on the status of each call (and each leg of each call). The application server 68 receives log-in and log-out commands from the communications client 54, as well as call scheduling information and SMS call initiation requests (in which case the application server authenticates the requests and then communicates with the Soft Switch in order to carry out the requests) over a first secure messaging protocol channel 71.
The application server contains software for services as required by the desired system, for example a billing & rating module 82, notification services 84, analysis usage tool module 80, and provisioning tools 88. A suitable Call Controller/Media Mixer is the eDial AudioPresenter available from eDial, Inc., 266 Second Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451 , USA.
The communications client 54 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is a key feature of the system 60, and is operable to perform several functions and to provide a user interface between the user device 28, 56, 58, 59, and the CMC 62 for initiating and controlling calls using the managed service. As befits a full-function communications client 54, the communications client 54 contains a number of different software modules, the operation of which is not critical to an understanding of the present invention and hence will not be described in detail. As mentioned above, the application server 68 includes an analysis usage tool module 80 which collects statistics on the calls that have been made through the CMC 62, and also a billing and rating module 82. The analysis and usage tool 80 and billing and rating module 82 do not have a functional bearing on the present invention and so no further description thereof will be made.
The Notification Services module 84 is operable to send reminder messages to conference call invitees to remind them of a start time of a conference call scheduled on the application server 68 by a user or users, and a Conference Call Scheduling module 86 manages scheduled conference calls. The Provisioning module 88 contains user data such as user name, password and other information for setting up and implementing a call service and account for a given user.
The CMC 62 also has a high volume data storage unit 90 and one or more web servers 92 for communicating between the CMC 62 and web enabled devices. The CMC is also connected to various gateways to allow the exchange of information with various external networks in various formats for example for e-mailing notification messages to conference call participants via an e-mail gateway 91.
The soft switch 66 has two network facing sides; a PSTN side 94 for setting up telephone call legs over the PSTN 2, and a IP side 96 for setting up VoIP call legs over an Internet 22or any other underlying transport network. The soft switch 66 further comprises a Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 operable to mix a plurality of media streams.
In general outline, if the communication is a 'log in' or 'log out' request, the communications client 54 sends the request via a secure messaging protocol to the application server 68 for execution of the appropriate authentication and processing. If the communication is for call initiation or control, the communications client 54 sends the communication directly to the relevant soft switch 66 via a separate real-time communications channel 72, preferably a SIP communications channel.
In essence, the arrangement is such that the communications client 54 is arranged to communicate directly with the soft switches 66 by means of the aforementioned SIP protocol, or any other suitable network protocol, for call related data exchange - for example on initiation or during the course of a call. Non-call related communications, on the other hand, between the communications client 54 and application server 68 are accomplished by means of a secure messaging protocol.
On attempted log-in by a user to the communications client, the communications client 54 opens a secure messaging protocol dialogue with the application server 68 and transmits the user's log-in information to the application server 68. The application server 68 invokes a verification routine for checking user identification information forwarded to it against the data held by the provisioning module 88 for verifying and authenticating the user to the service
If the user is authorised, the Application Server notifies the communications client 54, via the aforementioned secure messaging protocol 71 that the user is authorised and logged onto the service, as well as updating the Phonebook and passing on administrative information including which soft switch the user's communications client 54 should communicate with to make calls.
Basic call set-up procedures are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 and described in detail in WO 2005/101857.
The described embodiment of the invention implements the communications client 54 as a Windows® application. The communications client 54 may be displayed as a full user interface, or collapsed to run as a background function in the System Tray. In Windows 95/98 and XP for example, the System Tray is an area on the right-had side of the task bar which displays icons that are representative of software programs which have a persistent memory resident component (and hence are running in the background). Typically such memory resident programs comprise functions such as the volume control and Instant Messenger, and are invoked on start-up of the computer system.
It will be evident to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the particular interface 100 described herein is not the only way to implement the communications client functions and various other configurations and forms of interface may be used. In particular, for devices having small area displays, for example portable or handheld devices such as PDAs and cellular telephones, for example, a simplified user interface would be appropriate. As mentioned above, in the described embodiment the communications client 54 resides in a Windows® operating environment, and comprises a persistent memory-resident portion (represented by an icon in the aforementioned system tray) even when the communications client's main user interface window has been closed down. This arrangement is advantageous as it allows the communications client 54 to be invoked as required without having to restart the communications client on each occasion that a user desires to make a call. A further advantage of this arrangement is that the client can be invoked and an end-point called merely by highlighting a data entry containing telephone numbers in any application for example an-email or a Word document.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that these arrangements provide an effective means to implement call control and conference calling from a desktop application. It is also the case, however, that the advantages proffered by such a system are not limited solely to desktop applications but can additionally be implemented in any environment where a terminal with data access can be used to pass information to the CMC to facilitate calling, call control, conferencing, etc. One example of such an implementation would be a mobile phone, others include devices such as internet enabled PDAs, PDA mobile phones, VoIP handsets, etc.
In general terms, this embodiment of the invention relates to a software communications client, embodied for example as a Java applet, which can be locally executed on a mobile terminal, for example a GSM or UMTS telephone or cellular PDA. The client provides three generic functions: (1 ) it enables a user of the terminal to place a call to one or more called party identifiers (such as one or more other mobile telephones or a landline) via the Ring2 call network, and thereby avoid the relatively large call charges that are typically associated with traditional mobile networks; (2) it enables a user to schedule a conference call from their mobile terminal; and (3) it enables the user to use a mobile terminal as a conference call controller for an ongoing conference call, for example one that the user is participating in.
Figure 4 is a schematic representation of key components of a mobile phone. As shown the terminal includes a central control unit or processor 364 that, at least in general terms, is operable to control operation of the terminal. Coupled to the processor 364 is a radio unit 366 and timing control circuitry 368 that together are operable to control the transmission and reception of telecommunications signals to and from other telecommunications terminals or from telecommunications networks to which the terminal can connect via the aerial 354.
A removable data storage device or user identity module (SIM) 370 is provided for data and program storage. The data will usually comprise the IMSI (which uniquely identifies the telephone), and other information such as a phonebook of telephone numbers stored on the phone by the user. Software programs may also be stored on the SIM, for example as part of the so-called SIM toolkit (or SIM application toolkit as it is otherwise known).
Coupled to the processor 364 is the display 352, and signals can be sent from the processor to the display in order to convey messages, instructions, and other information to a user of the terminal. The processor is also coupled to the keypad for data input by a user to the terminal.
Sound (for example user speech) picked up by the microphone 358 is processed by a speech processor 372 (for example to remove non-transmittable frequencies), and a coder/decoder (CODEC) 374 that is operable to convert analogue signals generated by the microphone 358 into digital data for subsequent processing. The speech processor 372 and CODEC 374 are also operable to process received digital data and convert it into appropriate audio signals for relaying to a user by means of the loudspeaker 360.
Also coupled to the processor 364 is a ring generator 376 which is operable to generate one of a variety of different alerts which are used to alert a user of the terminal as to when a call, a message or other information is received at the terminal 350. In this particular case the ring generator is operable to generate appropriate signals to drive a vibrating buzzer 378, to illuminate an LED 380 (or bank of illumination devices) or to generate a ring signal for relay to the user via the loudspeaker 360. Typically, a user of the terminal is able to select which of these alert options are most preferable for their current ambient environment. For example, a user who is at work and does not want to disturb his or her colleagues with an audible ring tone might choose the vibrating buzzer as an alternative means to alert them to an arriving call at the terminal. The mobile terminal (which may for example be embodied as a mobile telephone such as a GSM or UMTS compatible telephone) may include the aforementioned communications client, and this client will hereafter be referred to as the mobile communications client.
As depicted, the processor 364 comprises a mobile communications client 382 implemented by software executed by the processor 364. The mobile communications client can form part of a so-called SIM Toolkit (or SIM Application toolkit as it is sometimes known), part of the software provided in the mobile terminal, or indeed comprise an applet (such as a Java™ applet for example) downloaded to or pre-stored in the terminal (for example in the SIM). The client is stored in the phone (for example in the SIM or other memory resource) and retrieved as required for execution by the processor.
In normal use of a mobile telephone, a user would either select a number (or more usually a name with which a number is associated in the phonebook) to dial from the phonebook, or enter a number for dialling by means of the keys. Once entered the user would then push a "connect" button on the terminal (typically labelled with a green representation of a landline handset), whereupon the terminal would commencing signalling with a base transceiver station of a mobile communications network to establish a voice channel between the mobile terminal and the base station and beyond. This signalling is standard and well known to those persons of ordinary skill in the art, and as such will not be described in detail herein.
As depicted schematically in the flowchart of Figure 5, once a user has entered or selected a number to be called (step 384) they have the option (step 386) to select, for example from a drop-down menu (for menu-driven terminals) or by means of a dedicated key, a "call with Ring2" option to effect a connection to the selected number. If the user chooses not to select the "call with Ring2" option, the call proceeds (Step 388) in the normal way via the wireless telecoms network that the terminal is connected to at that time.
On selection of the "call with Ring2" option, the mobile terminal signals the call management centre 62 (see Fig. 1), in particular the provisioning component 88 thereof via a part of the web server 92 accessible to mobile terminals (step 390), to establish a data communications channel between the call management centre and the mobile terminal 350 (step 392). Following establishment of the data channel information pertaining to the identity of the user is transferred to the provisioning component 88 for authorisation of the terminal (step 394) by comparison of the transmitted identity information to identity information held in the CMC 62 (step 396).
If the transmitted identity information is not verified, the call is terminated (step 398) and a message is displayed to the user at the mobile terminal to advise that they are not authorised to use the Ring2 network to place a call.
Once the terminal has been verified the mobile terminal transmits to the application server (in step 400) the "my location" telephone number (i.e. the number of the mobile terminal from whose phonebook the user has selected a telephone number for the party to be called) and the called party telephone number (or other identifier) selected from the phonebook or manually input by means of the keys (such data hereafter being referred to generically as "call data").
On receipt of the call data from the mobile terminal, the application server 68 of the CMC 62 terminates (step 402) the data communications session with the mobile terminal and then controls the Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 to establish a first voice call leg to the "my location" number specified by the user (step 404), typically the telephone number assigned to the mobile terminal but could alternatively be any identifiable communications terminal such as a PSTN telephone, mobile phone or SIP. IP phone device. The "my location" mobile terminal rings, and when the user presses a button or otherwise controls the terminal to go "off-hook" (step 406), a ringing tone is played to the user and the application server sets up a second call leg to the number specified in the aforementioned call data (step 408).
A telephony device associated with the number to be called rings and on pick-up by the individual called by the user of the mobile terminal (step 410), the first leg voice call and the second leg voice call are connected by the soft switch 66 to establish a voice communications channel between the mobile terminal and the individual with whom the user of the mobile terminal wishes to communicate (step 412). The functionality provided by this aspect of the mobile communications client provides the user of the mobile terminal with ready access to the Ring2 network. It can be used, as described, to invoke two-party calling, or in an enhanced aspect it can be used to invoke multi-party calling (e.g. a conference call).
To invoke multi-party calling, the user need only select or input the telephony identifiers (for example from the phonebook of the mobile terminal) for a number of parties to be called for inclusion in the call data that is transferred to the CMC 62. On receipt of that data the CMC is then operable, as described above for the one called party, to call each of the specified call parties in turn. In an enhancement of the system described, instigation of multi-party calling can conveniently be accomplished by utilising SMS text messaging. Figure 6 is a schematic representation of an SMS message format 412 for sending to the CMC 62 via an SMS gateway 74 to invoke a multiparty call.
As depicted, the SMS message format 412 comprises a number of individual message components (414 to 422) separated by a separator 424, in this instance a semicolon ";". The first and second message components 414 comprises a username and a password 416 allocated to the user of the mobile terminal. The third message component 418 comprises the "my location" telephone number mentioned earlier, namely the number at which the mobile terminal user wishes to be called (as the first leg of the call) -typically but not necessarily the number allocated to the user's mobile terminal (in this particular example, the number is a UK mobile telephone number) - and the fourth and fifth components comprise, respectively, a UK landline phone number and a US landline number.
Once the message has been compiled by the user it is sent via the wireless network to the SMS gateway 74 for parsing and conversion to an appropriate format for use by the CMC 62. The CMC, following validation of the user's username and password then proceeds, as described above in connection with Fig. 5 to place calls to each of the parties mentioned in the SMS message 412.
In a variation of this arrangement, the CMC may include a store (not shown) of user selected aliases for often-used phone numbers for that user. Such a store may conveniently be implemented as a record which the user can populate and edit by accessing a web page maintained by the web servers 92. For example, as depicted in Fig. 7, the third message component might be listed in the store under the alias "mobile", the fourth message component might be listed under the alias "Frank", and the fifth component might be listed under the alias "Mary". The advantage of this arrangement, as is immediately evident from a comparison of Figs. 6 and 7, is that the message length can be greatly reduced.
On receipt of such a message, the application server would interrogate the database for the user identified by the first and second components of the message, and place calls to the numbers associated with any aliases that appear in the message and have a corresponding number stored in the store.
As mentioned above, the mobile communications client 382 is also operable in an embodiment of function (2) above, to enable the user to schedule a conference call from their mobile terminal. To implement this functionality, the Ring2 client can either display a form for the user to populate that then gets posted to the application server via the web server or alternatively, the user can access a web based conference call set up form configured for mobile and PDA devices. Such a web page is serverd to end users by the web server (Fig. 1) (if necessary via a WAP gateway) and allows the user (described above in detail) to book a conference call and indicate the participants for that call. Conveniently, the user can - if desired - set the "my location" indicator to the number allocated to their mobile terminal so that they can then participate in the call by using their mobile terminal. For certain mobile terminals, for example some mobile telephones currently offered for sale in the USA, network limitations mean that it is not possible for data and voice channels to be extant between a mobile terminal and a server, and for these terminals the user will have no call-control functionality available as and when the conference call takes place. In other instances where voice and data channels can be open simultaneously the user may, as described above in connection with the desktop implementation of the client terminal, be provided with functionality to execute call control at least of their leg of the conference call, and additionally any other legs of the call if the user at the mobile terminal is designated as the leader of the call. The mobile communications client 382 is also operable in an embodiment of function (3) above to enable the user to use a mobile terminal as a conference call controller for an ongoing conference call, for example one that the user is participating in. To implement this functionality the user need only book a conference call using their mobile terminal, as described above in connection with function (2) and designate as their "my location" another telephone handset - for example their desktop telephone handset coupled to the PSTN for example via a PBX. In the course of the conference call, the user will be provided with voice data at the handset they have designated as "my location", and call status information (via the aforementioned communications channel established between the mobile terminal and the soft-switches of the CMC. The user can then use their mobile terminal to control the legs of the call that are attributable to them (as described above in detail). This is highly advantageous as it allows the user to port with them the embedded functionality of the mobile communications client, such that the user is provided with the full suite of conference call facilities wherever they have access to a telephone. For example, a user who has booked a conference call to a public telephone that accepts incoming calls (for example a conference call to a public telephone in an airport) can use their handheld terminal to view and control the real-time status of each leg of the call whilst simultaneously participating in the conference call from a public telephone that has no inherent call conferencing functionality.
Figure 8 is a schematic representation of the functionality provided by illustrative software components of the aforementioned Ring2 mobile terminal client. It is recognised that the capabilities of mobile terminals vary greatly, and as such some of the software components may not be provided in circumstances where the provision of those features would place too high a load on the processing capabilities of the mobile terminal in question. Those software components which are not strictly necessary have been designated in Fig. 8 with a dashed box outline, but it should be noted that this designation is not necessarily restrictive - that is the components that will actually be essential for any given mobile terminal will in practice vary from terminal to terminal.
Referring now to Fig. 8, the user's mobile terminal includes a system bios component 426, or in other words generic system control software, operable to control the operation of the terminal. The terminal further includes a wireless communications component 428 operable to build up, control and tear down a wireless network protocol communications stack, such as the multi-layer stack commonly used in the GSM network.
The mobile communications client 382 includes a core software component 430 which controls the operation of the client, a call initiation component 432 invoked by the core component 430 when a user wishes to use the mobile communications client to place a call, and a SIP stack component 434 operable to establish a SIP communications protocol dialogue channel between the mobile terminal and the CMC as required to provide the terminal with status updates for display to the user by a real-time display component 436.
In the simplest embodiment of the mobile communications client it may only comprise the core program software component and the call initiation component, and be operable to use the wireless communications stack component of the terminal itself for transferring call data via an extant data channel to the call management centre, whereupon the call management centre drops the data communications channel and opens a voice channel to the mobile terminal (as described above).
Additional software components can be added as required having due regard to the processing power of the terminal on which the communications client is to be executed, until in a well equipped terminal all of the functional elements may be provided. In such an embodiment, particularly in circumstances where the mobile terminal permits simultaneous voice and data communications, the mobile terminal can for all intents and purposes look and operate in the same or similar manner as the desktop embodiment described above in detail.
Figure 9 schematically illustrates in general outline one example of an embodiment of a communications system providing recording of a telephone call with just one party, in what may be termed the "dictating" mode.
Figures 10a. b, c and d schematically illustrate a communications client interface with the DICTATE and RECORD buttons in various states.
A basic call set-up procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figures 9, 10a and 10b. This procedure makes use of the aforementioned SIIP protocol, but it will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that alternative message protocols may be utilised without departing from the scope of the invention.
(1) Identification of the source number and instructions to initiate the call can be done in a number of ways, for example by typing in the appropriate number to the My Location field 118 of the communications client 54 followed by a particular keystroke (such as 'Enter' on a PC keyboard) or clicking the 'Dictate' button 438 in the communications client 54; or selecting a telephone number from a list of numbers stored in a drop-down menu in the My Location field 118 of the communications client 54, followed by a particular keystroke (such as 'Enter' on a PC keyboard) or clicking the 'Dictate' button 438 in the communications client 54. Before instructing the communications client 54 to send the call initiation instruction, the user checks that the setting of the My Location module reflects the source endpoint on which they wish to be called back.
(2) Once the user has selected their location and the number they wish to call, the client 54, sends a registration request to the application server 68.
(3) The application server 68 then verifies the credentials of the user and returns to the client 54 call authorisation along with details of the soft switch 66 to be used for the specific call.
(4) Once the telephone number has been inputted or selected and the client registered and authenticated via the application server, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) session is invoked by the communications client 54, for example via TCP port 8443, and a SIP registration message is transmitted to the soft switch 66 over a secure connection. The registration message includes the session specific user name and password for the user as allocated by the application server.
(5) The soft switch 66 authenticates and registers the session.
(6) Once authenticated and registered on the soft switch, the client 54 sends a call request to the soft switch 66 to initiate the call. (7) The soft switch 66 acknowledges the call request by sending a call request acknowledge message back to the communications client 54. An identity is assigned to the call.
(8) The communications client 54 responds to the call request acknowledge message by displaying a message to the user that a dictation call is being initiated to the MY LOCATION endpoint.
(9) The Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 places a call to MY LOCATION to establish a call-back leg, from the CMC 62.
(10) In response to the endpoint at MY LOCATION ringing (or otherwise alerting the user) to indicate receipt of a call, the MY LOCATION endpoint is taken "off-hook" by the user, and an "off-hook" signal is sent to the Call Controller/Media Mixer 68.
(11 ) The soft switch 66 detects that the MY LOCATION endpoint is off-hook and sends a MY LOCATION off-hook message to the communications client 54, to inform it of the off-hook condition.
(12) The communications client 54 responds to the MY LOCATION off-hook message by displaying the status of the call-back leg. Typically, the name allocated by the user to the MY LOCATION telephone number such as "work", "home" or "cell" is displayed (either with or without the actual telephone number) and a call active icon such as a tick. In a particularly useful embodiment, recording control flags are displayed alongside the call leg, representing in-call functions such as PAUSE/RESUME 442 and DROP 444. Typically, these icons represent user actuable buttons, actuable by a point and click operation or other suitable behaviour to invoke the usual telephone functions associated with these terms for each leg of the call. For example, actuating the PAUSE button 442 will cause the recording to be put on pause until the RESUME button 442 is actuated and DROP 444 will end the call and the recording.
(13) At substantially the same time or following shortly thereafter the soft switch 66 instructs the Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 to play the relevant message stating that the call is being recorded. (14) The Communications client 54 displays that the call is being recorded.
(15) The user may actuate the PAUSE button 442, in which case the communications client 54 will send a pause instruction to the Call Controller/Media Mixer 67.
(16) The Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 puts the recording on pause, plays the relevant message to notify the user that the recording is paused and sends confirmation to the communications client 54.
(17) The communications client 54 responds to the confirmation by updating the display to show that the recording is paused.
(18) The user may actuate the RESUME button 442, in which case the communications client 54 will send a resume instruction to the Call Controller/Media Mixer 67.
(19) The Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 resumes the recording, plays the relevant message to notify the user that the recording has been resumed and sends confirmation to the communications client 54.
(20) The communications client 54 responds to the confirmation by updating the display to show that the recording has been resumed.
(21 ) The user may actuate the DROP button 444, in which case the communications client 54 will send a drop instruction to the Call Controller/Media Mixer 67.
(22) The Call Controller/Media Mixer 67 terminates the recording.
(23) The Applciation Server sends a notice to the user with details of how to access and/or download the recording. In a particular embodiment, the notice to the user may take the form of an email to an email address previously registered by the user, or a message displayed within the communications client 54. In a further embodiment, the recording may be automatically downloaded to the communications client 54. In another embodiment, the user may add further parties to an in progress call on an ad-hoc basis in the same manner as described in detail above and regarding Figures 2 and 3. The relevant message, that the call is being recorded, may be played to each or all parties on the call on the addition of a further party.
In another embodiment, referring to Figures 10c and 10d, the user may record any ad hoc call or scheduled conference call which they have initiated as fully detailed above, simply by actuating the RECORD button 446 on the communications client, as shown in Figure 10c. In such an embodiment, the messaging will follow from step 13 in Figure 9.
When a call is terminated, the Soft Switch 66 notifies the Application Server 68 of the call recording for retention, processing and presentation as part of the user's call records, and for billing purposes. The Application Server then processes the recording in the manner required for the desired service, preferably including the call as part of the call history displayed to the user through the Web Server and timing the duration of the storage of the recording for billing and administrative purposes.
As can be seen from the foregoing, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system and protocol for recording telephone calls either in a single-leg dictating mode or with more than one party on the voice communication. It will be evident to a person of ordinary skilled in the art that the communications need not be by conventional telephone but may be via any suitable communications device for example a voice over IP telephone, a cellular telephone or a soft phone resident as a software application running on the data processing apparatus 28.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the dictating method can be initiated through the web server 92, where the user enters their personal identification such as a usemame and password, into the website to be presented with a window with appropriate wording that the page is to start a dictating phone call, for example with button 316 instead labelled START DICTATION CALL.
In an embodiment relating to application of the invention to mobile devices, the user could record any call initiated as described above regarding Figure 5 by actuating a key or menu action set to equate to actuating the RECORD button 446 on the communications client 54. In another embodiment relating to application of the invention to mobile devices, the user could be informed of a number to dial to initiate a dictation call-back and may send an SMS message to such number, leading to a dictation call-back as above, to their mobile handset or other endpoint they choose. Example text format would follow the syntax in Figures 6 and 7.
Whilst various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention is not limited to those embodiments but instead includes all modifications and alterations to the embodiments described which fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.
For example, whilst the communications client has been described above in terms of a client operable by a user to call the various parties to a given conference call one after the other, the user could opt to define a group comprised of a plurality of phone numbers (each belonging to a party to be called) and choose to call all members of the group in one go. Such an arrangement might be advantageous in circumstance where one individual is charged with quickly communicating important information (for example a safety warning) to a plurality of other parties.
Furthermore, insofar as embodiments of the invention described above are implementable, at least in part, using a computer system, it will be appreciated that a computer program for implementing at least part of the described methods and/or the described systems and/or the described data processing apparatus, implementing the communications client 54, CMC 62 and anonymous calling system and individual components generally, are envisaged as an aspect of the present invention. The computer system may be any suitable apparatus, system or device. For example, the computer system may a programmable data processing apparatus, a general purpose computer, a Digital Signal Processor or a microprocessor. The computer program may be embodied as source code and undergo compilation for implementation on a computer, or may be embodied as object code, for example.
Suitably, the computer program can be stored on a carrier medium in computer usable form, which is also envisaged as an aspect of the present invention. For example, the carrier medium may be solid-state memory, optical or magneto-optical memory such as a readable and/or writable disk for example a compact disk and a digital versatile disk, or magnetic memory such as disc or tape, and the computer system can utilise the program to configure it for operation. The computer program may be supplied from a remote source embodied in a carrier medium such as an electronic signal, including radio frequency carrier wave or optical carrier wave.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in software, firmware or hardware or any combination of two or more of software, firmware and hardware.
In view of the foregoing description of particular embodiments of the invention it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that various additions, modifications and alternatives thereto may be envisaged. For example, the data processing apparatus may run an execution environment other than Windows®, and may be implemented on an Internet connectable PDA or cellular telephony. In an optional embodiment for a PDA, the PDA is configured such that when a telephone number is selected from a PDA application, for example from an address book, an option such as a menu option is provided for making the call in accordance with the communications client. Selecting this option results in the selected telephone number being sent to the communications client running on the PDA to initiate the call. Additionally, the process flow, order and functions for implementing aspects need not be exactly as described. In particular, where a voice communication is referred to it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other types of communication may be conveyed, for example video signals, and the term voice communication should be understood to include such other types of communication in particular those that can be conveyed along a communications channel suitable for voice communication.
The scope of the present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof irrespective of whether or not it relates to the claimed invention or mitigates any or all of the problems addressed by the present invention. The applicant hereby gives notice that new claims may be formulated to such features during the prosecution of this application or of any such further application derived herefrom. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be combined with those of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the accompanying claims.