Communication mechanism for calls in which speaking is not possible

Abstract

In situations in which one or both parties of a call cannot speak on a telephone, a voice call establishment request (5-0) from an calling terminal (A) to a called terminal (B) is processed as follows. The called terminal (B) is alerted and a two-way connection (5-14; 5-24 . . . 5-28) is established between the calling terminal (A) and the called terminal (B). In response to determining (3-10; 3-14; 5-8) that a two-way voice call between the calling terminal (A) and the called terminal (B) is not allowed; a mode server (MS, MS′) receives silent messages (5-14; 5-24) via a user interface (UI) of the called terminal (B) and conveys (5-14; 5-26 . . . 5-28) information based on said silent messages to the calling terminal (A).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates to methods and equipment for implementing a communication mechanism for calls in which speaking is not possible. [0002] There are several situations in which one or both parties of a call cannot speak on a telephone. For instance, libraries, restaurants and public performances (concerts, theatres, movies, etc.) are situations in which speaking on a telephone is prohibited or socially unacceptable. If the called party (B) cannot take a call, the calling party (A) is usually directed to voice mail. Alternatively, the parties may communicate via short messages. Short message service, like the one provided by the GSM system and its derivatives, provides a widely-used substitute for conventional calls if one or both parties cannot speak on a telephone. But the short message service has its share of problems. For instance, reading and sending each message requires several acts via the telephone's menu system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TH...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] The invention is based on the idea of processing the two directions (or “half-calls”) of the call, ie from A to B and B to A, separately. An example of such separate processing is that if B is unable to speak, the direction from A to B is processed as a conventional voice call but the inverse direction from B to A is processed as a chat connection.

[0014] This separate processing does not mean that the directions of the call are always processed differently. For example, it is possible to process both directions as chat connections. But even such a two-way chat connection is different from a conventional exchange of short messages because each message of the chat connection does not have to be addressed separately. The present invention also differs from the conventional short message service in that the caller attempts to initiate a normal voice call but the mode server automatically determines that the voice call is not permitted and changes the call mode to silent, at least in one direction.

[0015] The invention brings about certain problems or questions that do not exist in conventional call processing systems. These problems or questions are related to the fact that a call may be first attempted as a conventional call but if either party is unable to speak, at least one call direction must be processed as silent. For instance, which element determines which calls are process

Problems solved by technology

But the short message servic

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