(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2003/0185232 A1
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Oct. 2, 2003
`Moore et al.
`
`US 20030185232A1
`
`(54) COMMUNICATIONS GATEWAY WITH
`MESSAGING COMMUNICATIONS
`INTERFACE
`
`(75) Inventors: Richard G. Moore, Cedar Rapids, IA
`(US); Gregory L. Mumford, Marion,
`IA (US); Duraisamy Gunasekar, Cedar
`Rapids, IA (US)
`
`Related US. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/369,271, ?led on Apr.
`2, 2002.
`
`Publication Classi?cation
`
`(51) Int. Cl.7 ...................................................... .. H04J 3/16
`(52) US. Cl. .......................................... .. 370/465; 370/401
`
`Correspondence Address:
`WORLDCOM, INC.
`TECHNOLOGY LAW DEPARTMENT
`1133 19TH STREET NW
`WASHINGTON, DC 20036 (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: WorldCom, INC., Clinton, MS
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`10/404,113
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Apr. 2, 2003
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Methods and devices are disclosed Which provide for a
`communications gateway to be operatively coupled to a
`messaging system. In accordance With an exemplary
`embodiment of the present invention, communications are
`established via the gateWay responsive at least to messaging
`communications involving the communications gateWay.
`
`
`
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`Page 1 of 39
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 2, 2003 Sheet 1 of 11
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`US 2003/0185232 A1
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 2, 2003 Sheet 10 of 11
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 2, 2003 Sheet 11 0f 11
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`US 2003/0185232 A1
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`

`

`US 2003/0185232 A1
`
`Oct. 2, 2003
`
`COMMUNICATIONS GATEWAY WITH
`MESSAGING COMMUNICATIONS INTERFACE
`
`PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS-REFERENCE
`
`[0001] The present application claims priority to US.
`Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/369,271 (Atty.
`Docket CDR-02-002PR), ?led Apr. 2, 2002, entitled “Chat
`Accessible Services in a Communication System,” assigned
`to the assignee of the present application and incorporated
`herein by reference its entirety.
`[0002] The present application is also related to the fol
`loWing co-pending applications, Which are assigned to the
`assignee of the present application and incorporated herein
`by reference in their entireties:
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0003] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-012), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Billing System for
`Services Provided via Instant Communications;”
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0004] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-013), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Messaging Response
`System;”
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0005] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-015), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Media Translator;”
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0006] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-016), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Billing System for
`Communications Services involving Telephony and
`Instant Communications;”
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0007] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-017), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Call Completion via
`Instant Communications Client;”
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0008] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-018), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Enhanced Services Call
`Completion;”
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0009] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-019), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Providing of Presence
`Information to a Telephony Services System;” and
`
`No.
`Ser.
`application
`patent
`[0010] US.
`(Docket No. CDR-02-020), ?led concur
`rently hereWith and entitled “Telephony Services
`System With Instant Communications Enhance
`ments.”
`
`[0011] The present application relates to subject matter
`disclosed in US. Pat. No. 6,351,464. The present application
`also relates to subject matter described in Internet Engineer
`ing Task Force document RFC 2778, “A Model for Presence
`and Instant Messaging” by Day, M., Rosenberg, J. and H.
`Sugano, February 2000.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`[0012] 1. Technical Field
`[0013] The present invention relates in general to data
`processing and, in particular, to permitting access to services
`through instant messaging communications.
`
`[0014] 2. Description of the Related Art
`[0015] In traditional telephony, a variety of operator ser
`vices have been available from telephone service providers.
`In general, operator services entail an agent of the service
`provider assisting a telephony caller in establishing or
`conducting communications sessions. In some cases, this
`agent may be a human operator Who converses With a caller
`to provide assistance. The agent may also be an automated
`system that responds to a caller’s voice or keypad inputs by
`providing assistance or by otherWise acting upon the caller’s
`inputs.
`[0016] One Well-knoWn eXample of an operator service is
`“directory assistance” by Which a caller may request and
`receive the telephone number of another party from a service
`provider agent. Operator services may additionally be uti
`liZed to, on behalf of a caller, perform acts such as call
`completion, establish multi-party conference calls, provide
`access to telephony services by callers employing calling
`cards or alternate billing arrangements (e.g., calling collect),
`provide relay or other services to special needs callers, etc.
`[0017] In the case of directory assistance services, the
`caller desires to initiate a telephone call to another party, but
`does not knoW the correct telephone number to dial to reach
`the party. In a conventional directory assistance scenario, the
`caller ?rst dials an operator (“0”) or a directory assistance
`number (“411” or Area Code +“555-1212”), and the caller is
`connected to an agent. The caller then indicates to the agent
`Which party they desire to reach. The agent consults a list or
`database to locate a telephone number or other information
`relating to the identi?ed party and provides the information
`to the caller verbally or by computer-synthesiZed speech.
`The caller may simply record the information for future
`reference or may immediately seek to contact the party by
`dialing the provided telephone number.
`[0018] In many implementations, the agent may also offer
`the caller the option to automatically complete the call to the
`other party as an extension of the directory assistance call,
`thus saving the caller from having to record the telephone
`number provided by directory assistance and then immedi
`ately re-enter the telephone number in a subsequent call
`attempt. Such directory assistance and call completion ser
`vices are often provided at a fee Which the service provider
`may bill to the caller or seek to have paid immediately, such
`as through a pay telephone.
`[0019] More recently, sources of directory information
`and the like have become available on the Internet. Aperson
`needing contact information for another party may access a
`Website via the Internet using a broWser application and
`enter identifying information about a party. In order to
`facilitate entry of the identifying information, a form is
`typically presented comprising entry ?elds for name (of a
`person or business), address, city, state, etc. so that the user
`initiating the inquiry can specify Whatever information is
`knoWn about the party for Which contact information is
`sought. The greater the speci?city provided by the requestor,
`the feWer candidate records Will be returned by the Website’s
`search engine.
`[0020] Although many directory information services
`available on the Internet are provided free of charge, the
`information provided is often incomplete or outdated. Many
`of the databases underlying such Websites are not derived in
`a direct and timely manner from current information used by
`the communications service providers in routing calls, but
`
`Page 13 of 39
`
`

`

`US 2003/0185232 A1
`
`Oct. 2, 2003
`
`are instead compiled indirectly from other sources. In the
`case Where a directory look-up Website cannot resolve a
`given request or cannot ?nd any records, it is ambiguous
`Whether the request is inherently unserviceable or Whether
`the Website merely lacks the necessary data. Many such
`Websites simply provide links to other similar sites that the
`user may try.
`
`[0021] Quite frequently, a person is using a computer to
`perform various tasks When the need arises to obtain contact
`information for a given party. This contact information
`might be needed for immediately establishing communica
`tions With the party, such as through a telephone call.
`Alternatively, this contact information may be needed as part
`of a task on the computer, such as preparing an outgoing
`letter or a report that is to include the contact information.
`Naturally, the person engaged in such a task Will Want to use
`the computer to obtain the contact information, particularly
`if the computer is coupled to the Internet and may access
`directory look-up Websites as described above.
`
`[0022] One advantage of employing this approach, rather
`than making a telephone call to a directory assistance agent,
`is that the desired information is returned to the computer
`system in a textual format Which may be readily copied and
`“pasted” into a Word processing document, database or other
`application running on the computer system. By receiving
`and entering the information in entirely electronic form, the
`user is saved considerable time and effort as compared to
`obtaining the desired information from a directory assistance
`agent in audio format and then manually entering the
`information into the computer system. The reduction in time
`and effort is particularly signi?cant When the information
`comprises lengthy data, such as a complete mailing address
`and/or secondary contact information (e.g., mobile tele
`phone number, fax number, e-mail address, Website URL).
`[0023] Another signi?cant factor Which motivates direc
`tory look-up online is the prevalence of “dial-up” modem
`connections to the Internet. If a user has access to only a
`single telephone line and the user is already utiliZing the
`telephone line to connect to the Internet, it is burdensome for
`the user to “drop” the modem connection to the Internet and
`place a conventional telephone call to obtain directory
`assistance services. Furthermore, online directory informa
`tion may be free of charge or less costly than calling a
`directory assistance operator.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
`
`[0024] In recognition of the foregoing, the present inven
`tion provides methods, systems and program products that
`provide access to services, such as directory assistance,
`through a textual instant communications, such as an instant
`messaging or so-called “chat” session. An entity such as a
`commercial service provider may provide information or
`may otherWise be able to provide services through an instant
`messaging or short messaging interaction. Using a chat
`client application of some type, parties needing such ser
`vices or information establish instant communications With
`the service providing entity. The service providing entity is
`preferably identi?ed to such parties using a particular
`“screen name” identi?er. A “screen name” is one term
`applied to an identi?er by Which a party is knoWn in the
`context of a particular messaging service or messaging
`system. The service providing entity may provide one or
`
`more respondents or “chat agents” to handle and respond to
`requests from parties accessing the service.
`[0025] In accordance With the present invention, access to
`services over a netWork is provided via a chat session. An
`entity, such as a commercial service provider having access
`to information, provides a message response system com
`prising one or more chat agents capable of responding to
`requests from chat clients. A chat agent may be a human
`operated messaging station or an automated respondent
`acting through a messaging station or messaging client
`interface.
`[0026] In accordance With a preferred embodiment, the
`service provider may simultaneously communicate With,
`and ful?ll requests for, many different parties even though
`the same screen name for the service provider may be knoWn
`to and used by many parties substantially simultaneously. In
`accordance With a novel aspect of some embodiments of the
`present invention, volumes of incoming requests may be
`distributed among a plurality of chat respondents represent
`ing the service provider and may be properly dealt With on
`an individual basis, even though all inbound requests may be
`addressed to the same screen name. This behavior is
`achieved by a neW and useful approach to routing messaging
`communications, such as to a respondent messaging station,
`based on the originator’s identity or screen name rather than
`based upon the recipient address speci?ed in the messaging
`communications.
`
`[0027] According to a method described herein, a chat
`agent gateWay indicates its presence to an instant messaging
`presence service to inform chat clients of its availability to
`receive requests for service. In response to the agent gate
`Way receiving a request by a chat client for services via a
`chat session, the chat agent gateWay forWards the request to
`a station Within a chat-based services system. The station
`then provides the requested services, and the chat agent
`gateWay communicates information regarding the requested
`services to the chat client in the chat session.
`[0028] In accordance With some embodiments of the
`present invention, a chat-accessible service system offers the
`ability for a requester using a chat client to have a call to
`another party completed upon demand via the service sys
`tem.
`[0029] In accordance With some embodiments of the
`present invention, a chat accessible service system may
`establish communications betWeen a chat client and another
`party through a computer telephony connection, a voice
`enabled chat connection or a translated text-chat-to-tele
`phone-voice connection.
`[0030] An exemplary embodiment of the present inven
`tion discloses an adapter device for facilitating communi
`cations among a ?rst instant communications client and a
`communications gateWay. The adapter device comprising a
`messaging interface through Which the adapter device acts to
`establish communications involving the ?rst instant com
`munications client and a gateWay control interface acting to
`communicably couple the adapter device to the communi
`cations gateWay and a processor acting to effect establish
`ment of communications through the communications gate
`Way responsive at least to communications via the
`messaging interface.
`[0031] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a method of managing communications
`
`Page 14 of 39
`
`

`

`US 2003/0185232 A1
`
`Oct. 2, 2003
`
`through a gateway comprising the steps of receiving an
`indication that communications are to be established through
`the gateWay, and responsive at least to the indication,
`causing the gateWay to establish a communications session
`With an instant communications client.
`[0032] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a method of managing communications
`through a gateWay comprising the steps of conducting
`instant messaging communications betWeen the gateWay
`and at least one of an instant communications client and an
`instant messaging server, and responsive at least to said
`instant messaging communications, affecting an aspect of
`communications through the gateWay.
`[0033] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a communications gateWay acting to
`establish communications betWeen a ?rst party communi
`cably coupled to a ?rst netWork and a second party com
`municably coupled to a second netWork. The communica
`tions gateWay comprising a ?rst netWork interface means
`acting to communicably couple the gateWay to the ?rst
`netWork, a second netWork interface means acting to com
`municably couple the gateWay to the second netWork, and a
`messaging interface means by Which the gateWay acts to
`conduct messaging communications, Wherein the messaging
`communications affect an aspect by Which the gateWay
`establishes communications among the ?rst party via the
`?rst netWork and the second party via the second netWork.
`[0034] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a communications gateWay device for
`establishing communications betWeen a ?rst party using an
`instant communications client coupled to a data transport
`netWork and a second party using a telephone connection.
`The device comprising a data netWork interface means
`acting to be coupled to the data transport netWork and to
`communicate media signals through the data transport net
`Work, a telephone interface means acting to be coupled to
`the telephone connection, and a messaging service interface
`means acting to communicate With a messaging service
`associated With the instant communications client Wherein
`the gateWay device acts to interact With the messaging
`service to establish communications among the instant com
`munications client and the telephone connection via the
`gateWay device.
`
`[0035] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a computer-readable medium compris
`ing instructions Which, When executed by a processor,
`causes a communication system to perform a method of
`managing communications through a gateWay comprising
`receiving an indication that communications are to be estab
`lished through the gateWay; and responsive at least to the
`indication, causing the gateWay to establish a communica
`tions session With a instant communications client.
`
`[0036] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a computer readable medium comprising
`instructions Which, When executed by a processor, causes a
`communication system to perform a method of managing
`communications through a gateWay. The method comprising
`the steps of conducting instant messaging communications
`betWeen the gateWay and at least one of an instant commu
`nications client and an instant messaging server, and respon
`sive at least to said instant messaging communications,
`affecting an aspect of communications through the gateWay.
`
`[0037] Another exemplary embodiment of the present
`invention discloses a netWork element in a communications
`system comprising traf?c-affecting means for affecting at
`least one of the transporting, routing and processing of
`communications traffic in the communications system, a
`messaging communications interface acting to perform mes
`saging communications, Wherein an aspect of hoW the
`traffic-affecting means netWork acts upon communications
`traffic element is responsive to the messaging communica
`tions.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0038] The novel features believed characteristic of the
`invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention
`itself hoWever, as Well as a preferred mode of use, further
`objects and advantages thereof, Will best be understood by
`reference to the folloWing detailed description of an illus
`trative embodiment When read in conjunction With the
`accompanying draWings, Wherein:
`
`[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates a high level block diagram of an
`embodiment of a communication system that supports chat
`based access to services in accordance With the present
`invention;
`[0040] FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary graphical user inter
`face of a chat client in accordance With one embodiment of
`the present invention;
`[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates a more detailed depiction of the
`netWork and service provider system of the communication
`system shoWn in FIG. 1;
`[0042] FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary method by Which
`automated and human-assisted stations Within the service
`provider system of FIG. 3 register presence of a chat-based
`service screen name With an instant messaging service;
`
`[0043] FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a
`registration table utiliZed by the session routing process
`depicted in FIG. 4 to track human-assisted and automated
`stations registered With the session routing process and their
`respective capabilities;
`[0044] FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a
`routing table utiliZed by the session routing process depicted
`in FIG. 4 to route requests for services and responses to such
`requests betWeen the agent gateWays and the human-assisted
`and automated stations;
`
`[0045] FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary scenario by Which a
`chat client accesses chat-based services in accordance With
`the present invention;
`
`[0046] FIG. 7 is a high level logical ?oWchart of an
`exemplary method-by Which the session routing process
`illustrated in FIG. 6 routes communication betWeen stations
`Within the chat-based service system and agent gateWays in
`accordance With the present invention;
`
`[0047] FIGS. 8A-8B are call ?oW diagrams of an exem
`plary sequence of communications by Which a chat client
`accesses chat-based call completion services in accordance
`With the present invention;
`
`[0048] FIG. 9 is a high-level step diagram of an exem
`plary embodiment of a billing system in accordance With the
`present invention; and
`
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`[0049] FIG. 10 depicts a computer system that can be used
`to implement an embodiment of the present invention or to
`implement various elements thereof.
`[0050] In the ?gures, like reference numbers generally
`indicate identical, functionally similar and/or structurally
`similar elements.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`[0051] Systems, methods and computer-implemented pro
`cesses for call processing are described. In the folloWing
`description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous spe
`ci?c details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
`understanding of the present invention. HoWever, it Will be
`apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention
`may be practiced Without these speci?c details or With an
`alternative equivalent arrangement. In other instances, Well
`knoWn structures and devices are shoWn in block diagram
`form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present
`invention.
`
`[0052] The present invention achieves advantages in that
`parties are able to access services via instant communica
`tions, such as by instant messaging. In accordance With a
`preferred embodiment, the present invention further pro
`vides that one type of service accessible via instant com
`munications involves parties being able to initiate other
`communications sessions, even those involving telephone
`netWorks. In one example application of this capability, a
`?rst party using an instant messaging client may establish
`communications With a second party Who is accessible by
`telephone.
`[0053] One form of communications populariZed in recent
`years is electronic messaging communications. Messaging
`communications are generally characteriZed by a commu
`nicating party determining a ?nite amount of information to
`be sent as a message. Messaging communications typically
`involve one or more discrete messages sent by a party to one
`or more other parties. Amessage may comprise text, data or
`digitiZed audio or video information, for example, or even
`combinations of these. Electronic mail (e-mail) and text
`paging are forms of electronic messaging communications.
`
`[0054] In contrast to messaging, other forms of commu
`nications, such as telephony, enable a period of essentially
`continuous (and usually full duplex) tWo-Way conversation
`betWeen parties in the context of a single session or con
`nection. As in the example of telephony, the parties generally
`only determine the time duration of the overall session and
`are not engaged in composing and sending messages of a
`speci?c siZe.
`
`[0055] ‘Instant messaging’ refers to messaging communi
`cations Wherein the delays in readying the message for
`delivery (such as addressing to a recipient), transporting the
`message, and bringing the message to the attention of the
`recipient are suf?ciently short or imperceptible that parties
`may communicate in a nearly conversational manner. In the
`case of a form of instant communications knoWn as ‘text
`chat’ sessions, the conversational pace is often limited
`mainly by the time it takes for chat participants to compose
`and ?naliZe messages to be transmitted. The acceptable
`margin of delay in message transmission may be on a
`different scale than for the end-to-end delay margins in
`telephone communications, but the objectionable impact of
`
`excess delay on perceived ?uency of communications is a
`common detriment to both modes of communication.
`
`[0056] Instant messaging may be considered a type of
`instant communications. Some popular applications that are
`commonly used for instant messaging include, for example,
`America Online (AOL) Instant MessengerTM (hereinafter
`AIM), Yahoo!® Messenger and MSN® Messenger. The
`present invention is not limited to embodiments using these
`speci?c applications, technologies or services.
`
`[0057] In one sense, ‘instant communications’ may refer
`to a style of communicating Wherein the communicating
`parties experience substantially immediate establishment of
`communications on a per-message basis. In the context of
`instant messaging, a selection made be initially made by a
`?rst party to open a dialog With a speci?c second party.
`Thereafter, the parties may spontaneously generate and send
`messages Without having to address each message or per
`form other steps preparatory to the sending of each message.
`
`[0058] Furthermore, the term “instant communications”
`may be applicable in the sense of there being no user
`perceivable session establishment as each message is sent,
`even though each message is in fact sent as a brief burst of
`information transmission activity through the netWork. At
`some level, each transmission burst may be handled as a
`separate communications session.
`
`[0059] The user does not have to engage in per-message
`establishment of a session, if applicable, nor is any signi?
`cant delay perceived by the user arising from automatic
`session initiation that might be brie?y performed at some
`level through, for example, a TCP/IP connection. In one
`regard, then, the instancy of instant communications may be
`vieWed as relating to the performance of session initiation
`and addressing Without burdening the user and With suf?
`ciently little delay as to be minimally perceptible or incon
`sequential to the user.
`
`[0060] Instant communications may also be ‘instant’ in the
`sense that, When a message is composed and sent, it is fairly
`immediately routed to a destination, such as an instant
`messaging client. As a message is composed and sent, the
`sending party may be provided With some indication that the
`destination is ready to receive messages or at least has
`recently claimed to be open to receiving messages. This
`forehand knoWledge may be provided by presence technol
`ogy described beloW. Except for very brief queueing in data
`buffers in routers and transmission equipment in the course
`of transmission, the message is not substantially stored
`anyWhere in the netWork for the purpose of being delivered
`to the recipient at a later time or at a time determined by the
`recipient.
`[0061] This instantaneous handling of messages may be
`contrasted to a typical e-mail system, Wherein a message is
`often stored in a repository for a signi?cant time period
`Waiting for the recipient mail client application to poll for
`neW mail items to doWnload from the mail server. An
`electronic mail message may be stored on an e-mail server
`for a time duration of less than a minute, for several hours,
`for several days or even inde?nitely.
`
`[0062] After polling a mail server and doWnloading any
`neW messages, an e-mail client typically terminates com
`munication With the mail server until a future time When the
`mail client again polls the server. The polling may be
`
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`
`triggered by a time interval setting or by manual request
`from a user. BetWeen such polling times, the mail server or
`service merely stores messages.
`[0063] Another characteristic typical of instant communi
`cations is immediate presentation of the message content to
`the receiving party upon arrival of the message. A message
`received by an instant messaging client is immediately
`presented, such as in a WindoW in a graphical user interface
`on a display device, or otherWise made knoWn to the
`receiving party. The user is not required to take any action
`to receive or initiate delivery of each message that arrives.
`Message reception and presentation is usually automatic and
`immediate.
`
`[0064] In contrast to electronic mail clients, it is generally
`unnecessary in instant communicati