SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING FIXED MOBILE CONVERGENCE SERVICES - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for providing FMC services. The system receives a contact number / short code of a first user dialed by a second user, and establishes a connection between a BTAS and an IMS server when the second user dials a mobile number. The system invokes an FMC creation / update service, converts the short code, sends an invite request message (RM) to an IMS core network (CN), and triggers a ring mode on a mobile / fixed line device. In response to the conversion, the system sends an invite RM to an IMS CN of a mobile number associated with a fixed line (FL), and in response to the sending, triggers a ring mode on a mobile device and a FL device. The system establishes a telephone call between the mobile device and the fixed line device of the second user, respectively, and the FL device / mobile device of the first user.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services using a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) associated with the Central exchange (Centrex) group. [Background technology]

[0002] The following description of related art is intended to provide background information regarding the field of the present disclosure. This section may include some aspects of art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that this section is not intended as an admission of prior art, but is merely intended to enhance the reader's understanding of the present disclosure.

[0003] Typically, one or more enterprise users may be assigned desk phones within an office premises, and each user's mobile number may be associated with the desk phone allocated to the first user. When a second user calls the first user using a shortened code (i.e., extension) or using the full number of the desk phone (from outside the Central exchange (Centrex) group), the phone call may be forked (in parallel or sequentially) to both the first user's desk phone and the associated mobile number / phone. During an established phone call, the users may also perform seamless call pickup from the associated mobile / landline phone.

[0004] Additionally, simultaneous ringing can be a private branch exchange (PBX) feature that can route an incoming call to multiple phones simultaneously. Phone calls can be forwarded to a user's desk phone, computer, and mobile device, as well as to multiple users. However, traditional systems may not provide abbreviated code dialing from a mobile phone in addition to a corporate user's landline. Traditional systems may not provide a single extension / number / abbreviation for a user to receive an incoming call on both devices (i.e., mobile phone as well as landline) outside of a closed user group / PBX. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Considering the requirement for short code dialing from mobile devices in addition to landlines (Centrex group) of enterprise users, there may be a need in the art to provide a system and method that can overcome the shortcomings of the existing prior art by providing a system and method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services using a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) associated with Central exchange (Centrex) group.

[0006] Purpose of this Disclosure Some of the objectives of the present disclosure that are met by at least one embodiment herein are listed here below.

[0007] In one general aspect, the present disclosure provides a system and method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services using a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) associated with the Central exchange (Centrex) group.

[0008] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a system and method for converting a short code to an associated landline number to ring both mobile and landlines.

[0009] In another aspect, the present disclosure determines whether a telephone call is answered on a landline or a mobile device, and then disconnects the mobile / landline telephone call when the telephone call is answered on the landline / mobile phone, respectively.

[0010] In another aspect, the present disclosure enables speed code dialing from mobile phones in addition to landlines of enterprise users in a cloud Internet Protocol (IP) Central exchange (Centrex).

[0011] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a single extension / number for a user to receive incoming calls on both devices (i.e., mobile phone as well as landline).

[0012] In another aspect, the present disclosure enables a user experience that includes dialing from a mobile phone, dialing from a landline, telephone calls from external enterprise users to landlines, and seamless call pickup from an associated landline or mobile phone.

[0013] In another aspect, the present disclosure enables seamless call pickup, where a telephone call is answered from a mobile number (eg, C-party) associated with a respective fixed line (eg, B-party). [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] This section is provided to introduce in a simplified form certain objects and aspects of the invention that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0015] In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a system for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services. The system receives at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device or a fixed line device. The contact number and the short code correspond to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group. Furthermore, the system establishes a connection between the BTAS and an IMS core network associated with an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server when the second user dials the mobile number and the fixed line is associated with the mobile number. Furthermore, the system invokes at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) creation service and an FMC update service to invoke a modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network upon establishing the connection between the BTAS and the IMS core network. Furthermore, the system translates the short code to the associated at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number when the second user dials the short code. Then, in response to the conversion, the system transmits one or more invite request messages to an IMS core network associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line. Further, in response to the transmission, the system initiates a ringing mode at the mobile device and the fixed line device to establish the telephone call. Additionally, the system establishes the telephone call between at least one of the mobile device or the fixed line device associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device and the mobile device associated with the first user, respectively.

[0016] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services. The method includes receiving at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device or a fixed line device. The contact number and the short code correspond to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group. Furthermore, the method includes establishing a connection between a BTAS and an IMS core network associated with an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server when the second user dials the mobile number and the fixed line is associated with the mobile number. Furthermore, the method includes invoking at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) creation service and an FMC update service to invoke a modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network upon establishing the connection between the BTAS and the IMS core network. Additionally, the method includes translating the short code to an associated at least one of a fixed line number and a mobile number when the second user dials the short code. Further, the method includes, in response to the translation, transmitting one or more invite request messages to an IMS core network associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line. Further, the method includes, in response to the transmitting, invoking a ringing mode at the mobile device and the fixed line device to establish the telephone call. Additionally, the method includes, by the processor, establishing the telephone call between at least one of the mobile device or the fixed line device associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device or the mobile device associated with the first user, respectively.

[0017] In another aspect, the present disclosure relates to a user equipment for providing FMC. The user equipment may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to transmit at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group dialed by a second user using at least one of the user equipment, the contact number and the short code corresponding to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user, and establish a telephone call between the user equipment associated with the second user and the user equipment associated with the first user.

[0018] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for providing a call forwarding service to a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, the call forwarding service being associated with a first user of the ... and in response to the conversion, transmit one or more invite request messages to an IMS core network associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line, and in response to the transmission, initiate a ringing mode at the mobile device and the fixed line device to establish the telephone call. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: a first processor configured to execute a first call on a first user and a second processor configured to execute a second call on a first user and a second processor configured to execute a second call on a first user and a third processor configured to execute a second call on a first user and a fourth ...

[0019] The accompanying drawings incorporated herein form a part of the present invention and illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems, with like reference numerals referring to the same parts throughout the different drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed on clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Some drawings may use block diagrams to illustrate components and may not show the internal circuitry of each component. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the inventions in such drawings include inventions in electrical components, electronic components, or circuits commonly used to implement such components. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example network architecture in or with which the system of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example network architecture in or with which the system of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary representation of a network device in relation to FIG. 1A, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] 1 is an exemplary representation of a flow diagram illustrating an integration architecture of a network device or a BTAS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 4 is an exemplary sequence diagram representation of a parallel telephone call branch flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] 4 is an exemplary sequence diagram representation of a parallel telephone call branch flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C] 4 is an exemplary sequence diagram representation of a parallel telephone call branch flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is an example sequence diagram representation of a call flow for seamless call pickup according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5]1 is an example sequence diagram representation of a call flow (activation / deactivation) of an FMC service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 2 is an exemplary flowchart of a method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computer system in or with which embodiments of the present invention may be utilized, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The above will become apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention.

[0022] In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, various specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Some features described hereinafter may each be used independently of each other or with any combination of other features. Individual features may not address all of the problems discussed above, or may address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

[0023] The following description provides exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the following description of exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described.

[0024] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form so as not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail so as to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0025] Also, it should be noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process, which may be depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Additionally, the order of operations may be rearranged. A process terminates when an operation is completed, but may have additional steps not included in the diagram. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or to the main function.

[0026] The terms "exemplary" and / or "demonstrative" are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "demonstrative" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, and are not intended to exclude exemplary equivalent structures and techniques known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, to the extent the terms "including," "having," "containing," and other similar terms are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as an open transitional term, without excluding any additional or other elements.

[0027] References throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "one instance" or "one instance" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0028] The terms used herein are intended to describe particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising", as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0029] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services. The present disclosure may convert a short code to an associated fixed line number and ring both the mobile and fixed lines. The present disclosure determines whether a telephone call is answered at a fixed line device or a mobile device, and then disconnects the mobile / fixed line telephone call when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line / mobile phone, respectively. The FMC service may enable short code dialing from mobile phones in addition to landlines of enterprise users in a cloud Internet Protocol (IP) Central exchange (Centrex). The present disclosure provides a single extension / number for users to receive incoming calls on both devices (i.e., mobile phones as well as landlines). The user experience may include dialing from a mobile phone, dialing from a landline, telephone calls from an external enterprise user to a landline, and seamless call pickup from an associated landline or mobile phone. The present disclosure enables seamless call pickup, where a telephone call is answered from a mobile number (C-party) associated with the respective fixed line (B-party).

[0030] 1A and 1B respectively illustrate example network architectures (100) and (150) in or with which the system (100) of the present disclosure may be implemented according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in the network architecture (100) (or system 100) of FIG. 1A, a network device (102) (hereinafter interchangeably referred to as a Business Telephony Application Server (102) or BTAS (102)) may be configured to facilitate providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services to a user device (110). The network device (or BTAS) (102) may be configured as an application server and may operate communicatively with or be integrated with an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server (106) (hereinafter interchangeably referred to as an IMS server (106) or an IMS core network (106)). The IMS server (106) may be associated with a vendor or network / service provider for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services to the user device (110). In an embodiment, the BTAS (102) or the network device (102) may be implemented in an existing IMS implementation to facilitate network services corresponding to the communication network (112). In an example, the communication network (112) may be associated with, but is not limited to, third generation (3G) network services, fourth generation (4G) network services, fifth generation (5G) network services, sixth generation (6G) network services, New Radio (services), Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) services, Internet of Things (IoT) network services, etc.In an embodiment, the BTAS (102) / network device (102) may be communicatively coupled to a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) server (104) or CDL framework (104), which may enable access to information stored across different physical hosts across multiple or different circles / clusters to enable other aspects or features related to Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services.

[0031] The user device (110) (also referred to interchangeably as user equipment (110) or UE (110) or terminal (110)) may be at least one of a wired device or a wireless device. For example, a wired device may be a landline telephone, a terminal device, or any other stationary device through which communication may be established. A wireless device may be a mobile device, which may include, for example, a mobile phone, such as a tablet, a phablet, and a feature phone or a smartphone, and other devices. The user device (110) may include any type of device capable of wired or wireless communication, such as, but not limited to, the devices mentioned above, but also mobile phones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), personal computers (PCs), laptop computers, wearable computers, media centers, workstations, and other such devices. In an embodiment, the user device (110) may be at least one of a wireless or wired device that may be subscribed to or registered with a network service provided by a network / service provider. In an example embodiment, the network / service may relate to, but is not limited to, a 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT network. Further, the network / service provider may provide network services corresponding to at least one of a cellular network service, a private network service, a satellite network service, or a convergence network service, etc.

[0032] In an embodiment, the communication network (112) involved in the implementation of the BTAS-based IMS may be a 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT network, which may include at least one of a wireless network, a wired network, or a combination thereof. The communication network (112) may be implemented as one of different types of networks, such as an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, etc. Furthermore, the communication network (112) may be either a dedicated network or a shared network. A shared network may represent an association of different types of networks that may use various protocols, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Automatic repeat request (ARQ), etc. In an embodiment, the communications network (112) may relate to a 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT network, which may be facilitated, for example, through a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network, a Universal Terrestrial Radio Network (UTRAN), an Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) Radio Access Network (GERAN), an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), or other LAN access network, or a satellite or terrestrial wide area access network, such as a Wireless Microwave Access (WiMAX) network.In an example embodiment, the communication network (112) may enable 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT networks based on a subscription and / or through a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card associated with the user / user device (110). Various other types of communication networks (110) or networks / services may be possible.

[0033] In an example, the communications network (112) may utilize different types of air interfaces, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), or Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) air interfaces, and other implementations. In an exemplary embodiment, wireline / fixed-line user devices may use wired access networks, including, for example, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and other network technologies configured to transport Internet Protocol (IP) packets, alone or in combination with wireless access networks.

[0034] In an embodiment, the system 100 may execute a BTAS (102) to receive at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device or a fixed line device (i.e., user device 110). The contact number and the short code may correspond to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group.

[0035] In one embodiment, the system (100) may execute a BTAS (102) to establish a connection between the BTAS (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core network (106) associated with an IMS server (106) when a second user dials the mobile number and a fixed line is associated with the mobile number.

[0036] In one embodiment, upon establishing a connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106), the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to invoke at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) create service and an FMC update service to invoke modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106).

[0037] In one embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to translate the short code into an associated at least one of a fixed line number and a mobile number when the second user dials the short code.

[0038] In one embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to send one or more invite request messages to an IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line in response to the conversion.

[0039] In an embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to initiate a ring mode on the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) in response to the transmission to establish the telephone call. In an embodiment, initiating the ring mode on the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) further includes at least one of ringing the fixed line device (110) and the mobile device (110) simultaneously and ringing the fixed line device (110) first and ringing the mobile device (110) sequentially based on a pre-configured parallel drop mode or sequential drop mode. In an embodiment, when the ring mode is initiated on at least one of the fixed line device (110) and the mobile device (110), the first user answers the telephone call at the alternate contact number by instead dialing a service code from the alternate contact number.

[0040] In one embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to periodically determine whether a telephone call is answered at a fixed line device (110) or a mobile device (110).

[0041] In one embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to disconnect a telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively.

[0042] In an embodiment, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to establish a telephone call between at least one of the mobile device (110) or fixed line device (110) associated with a second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or mobile device (110) associated with a first user upon disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or fixed line device (110).

[0043] In one embodiment, the fixed line device (110) associated with the first user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the first user displays a mobile number of the second user. In one embodiment, the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the second user displays a short code of the first user.

[0044] In one embodiment, the FMC service is activated upon entering a pin via Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Tones (DTMF), the FMC service is deactivated upon entering a pin via DTMF, and the FMC service is not removed during deactivation.

[0045] In an embodiment, when the short code corresponds to a fixed line number, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to convert the dialed short code to a fixed line number using a Virtual Private Branch Exchange (VPBX) service. Furthermore, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to have an Online Charging System (OCS) (not shown in FIG. 1A) charge the second user using a Credit Control Request (CCR). The OCS returns a Credit Control Answer (CCA) corresponding to the CCR. In addition, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to interact with a Serving Call Session Control Function (SCSCF) associated with the IMS core network (106). The SCSCF may apply Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) based on at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to determine an appropriate Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service to be invoked for Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) data associated with at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to provide at least one of a notification and a ringtone to the second user. In addition, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to route an invite to the fixed line number associated with the first user and route an invite request message to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to initiate a ring mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call. Additionally, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to cause the OCS to update the billing target as at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number based on an answer of the telephone call by the first user at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively.Additionally, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to disconnect the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively. Furthermore, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to establish a telephone call between the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110) associated with the first user upon disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110).

[0046] In an embodiment, answering the telephone call further comprises answering the telephone call from a mobile number associated with a third user when the telephone call is established at a fixed line number associated with the second user. The system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to establish the telephone call between the first user and the third user upon inserting telephone call details and routing details by the third user into a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) server (104). The system (100) may further execute the BTAS (102) to fetch telephone call details and routing details from the CDL server (104) by the BTAS associated with the second user. The system (100) may further execute the BTAS (102) to establish the telephone call between the first user and the second user.

[0047] With reference to FIG. 1B, network services (corresponding to (112) in FIG. 1A) may be provided to multiple entities or enterprises, such as, for example, enterprise 1 (154-1), enterprise 2 (154-2), enterprise 3 (154-3), and enterprise 4 (154-4) (collectively referred to as enterprises (154) and individually as enterprises (154)). In an embodiment, at least one of the enterprises (154) may include an Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IP-PBX) (not shown in FIG. 1B) to enable switching of telephone calls between user devices (110) over local wiring. Each enterprise 154 may communicate with a communication network / server through Enterprise Session Border Controllers (E-SBC) (156-1, 156-2, 156-3, and 156-4). As shown in FIG. 1B , each enterprise 154, e.g., enterprise 1 (154-1), enterprise 2 (154-2), enterprise 3 (154-3), and enterprise 4 (154-4), may be supported by network services (e.g., 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT network services) through E-SBCs (156-1, 156-2, 156-3, and 156-4), respectively. The E-SBCs (156) may be a set of executable instructions for enabling connectivity and security associated with enterprise and service provider networks. An IP-PBX may be a private branch exchange or telephone switching system within an enterprise, which may enable, for example, switching telephone calls between users within the enterprise. In an embodiment, the BTAS (102) may be communicatively coupled with other components, such as, for example, IP telephones and provisioning servers. In an exemplary embodiment, the IP-PBX may communicate with the E-SBCs (156) via Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) techniques. An enterprise may refer to entities including, but not limited to, organizations, companies, stores, educational campuses, office campuses, shopping centers, residential areas / communities, and a variety of other entities that may wish to utilize a communications network provided by a service provider.In one embodiment, the communications network may be available only within a predefined area (permitted area) of an enterprise. Various other types of entities / provisions are possible.

[0048] The IMS server (106 in FIG. 1A) may include one or more modules or components that may enable the IMS server to perform one or more functions. For example, the IMS server (106) may be an existing IMS core that includes components / modules that handle various functions, such as a Serving - Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) module (158), an Interrogating - Call Session Control Function (I-CSCF) module (162), a Proxy - Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) module (152), etc. In an embodiment, the BTAS (102) may be integrated with the IMS core (106) and a network of other application servers to provide network services related to, for example, 4G / 5G / 6G networks. For example, the other application servers may include a Telephony Application Server (TAS) (160), which may be considered a common component used in communication networks to provide telephony applications and additional multimedia functions. In another example, the other application servers may include a Mobile Number Portability (MNP) server (124), which may provide number portability to users, such as allowing them to maintain the same number when changing service providers. Various other servers may be integrated into a BTAS-enabled IMS implementation to enable one or more services related to a communications network or 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT network without departing from the scope of the description given.

[0049] In relation to the components related to the IMS server (106), the S-CSCF module (158) may be the primary node in the IMS server (106) responsible for session control. In an embodiment, a list of subscribers may be assigned to each S-CSCF module (158) at the time of IMS registration to facilitate routing of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages as part of a service establishment procedure. In operation, the S-CSCF module (158) may enable downloading of subscriber profiles from a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) (120) at the time of IMS registration. The I-CSCF module (162) may be a key element of the IMS server (106) and may enable any request to be routed to the appropriate S-CSCF module (158) from multiple S-CSCFs in the network. The I-CSCF module (162) may also query the HSS (120) to obtain the address of the relevant S-CSCF module (158) for processing a SIP initiation request. As shown in FIG. 1B, the P-CSCF module (152) may act as an ingress or egress into or out of the service provider's IMS domain for an IMS client. The P-CSCF module (152) may perform general functions, such as, for example, registering and onward routing of session requests to the correct node in the communication network, updating the S-CSCF module (158), maintaining a secure connection with the user device (110), and other such functions. In an embodiment, the network device (102) or BTAS (102) may be communicatively coupled or integrated with one or more functional components, such as, for example, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based application server. The SIP server may be constructed with features related to the type of enterprise (154).

[0050] 1B, to provide various aspects of network services (e.g., related to 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G / NR / O-RAN / IoT networks), the components of the IMS server (106) (S-CSCF, I-CSCF modules, etc.) may also include function-related components / modules, such as a Breakout Gateway Control Function (BGCF) module (118), a Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF) module (122), an Interconnect Border Control Function (IBCF) (116), and other components / modules. In one common implementation, the BGCF module (118) may enable routing of telephone call signaling to or from the most appropriate S-CSCF module (158). In this implementation, the BGCF module (118) may enable routing of telephone calls to the respective BTAS (102) for providing FMC services. In general, the MGCF module (122) may be a SIP endpoint that may interface with a security gateway (SGW) (not shown in FIG. 1B) and may also control resources in a media gateway (MGW) (130). The IBCF module (116) may enable boundary control between various service provider networks, thus providing network security for the BTAS-enabled IMS with respect to signaling information. The IMS server (106) may also include other existing components, such as components related to a Multimedia Resource Function (MRF) module (126). The MRF module (126) in conjunction with other components of the IMS may be responsible for performing various processing tasks on media streams related to a particular service. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1B, a BTAS-IMS based implementation may be associated with a Point of Interconnection (POI) (134), which may be a physical interface between media gateways of varying service providers or enterprises.

[0051] In an embodiment, the FMC service may depend on the core network of the service provider. In an alternative embodiment, the core network may be of the same service provider, or of more than one service provider. The FMC service may operate in a single service provider network as well as in more than one service provider network.

[0052] In an embodiment, Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) subscribers may be served by a vendor TAS (160). Additionally, the IMS network (106) and the BTAS (102) may serve only fixed-line enterprise subscribers. It is envisioned that an Independent System Operator (ISO) may enable modification of the Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) in the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 120 / CFX for VoLTE subscribers (i.e., this controls all services in an all-IP network and enables new subscriber services such as VoLTE, Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi), Rich Communication Service (RCS), and Web Real-Time communications (WebRTC)) whenever an FMC create service data, FMC update service data, or FMC delete service data application programming interface (API) operation is invoked by the BTAS (102) for the FMC function to operate. For example, whenever the BTAS (102) calls the FMC create service data API, it is assumed that the ISO process call flow modifies the VoLTE subscriber IFC service chaining data to ensure that the BTAS (102) comes before the TAS (160) in the originating and terminating IFC legs. In another example, it can be assumed that whenever the BTAS (102) calls the FMC update service data, the ISO process call flow modifies the VoLTE subscriber IFC service chaining data of the previously configured subscriber to ensure that the BTAS (102) is not involved in the originating and terminating IFC legs, and that only the TAS (160) comes in the newly configured subscriber's telephone call routing to ensure that the BTAS (102) comes before the TAS (160) in the originating and terminating IFC legs.Furthermore, whenever the BTAS (102) calls the FMC Create Service Data API, it may be assumed that the ISO process call flow will modify the VoLTE subscriber IFC service chaining data to ensure that the BTAS (102) comes before the TAS (160) in the originating and terminating IFC legs. Additionally, the VoLTE subscriber service profile may remain the same and all ancillary services may be handled solely by the TAS (160).

[0053] In one example, changes may be required from the perspective of the network, such as the HSS (120) and the Online Charging Server (OCS) (not shown in FIG. 1B). For the HSS (120), whenever an association between a fixed line and a VoLTE subscriber may be established using the BTAS API, the ISO may be required to modify the VoLTE subscriber IFC in the HSS (120) with the following priorities: BTAS (first priority) and TAS / Converge TAS (CTAS) (second priority) on the originating and terminating legs. Furthermore, whenever an association between a fixed line and a VoLTE subscriber is removed using the BTAS API, the IFC may have to be modified for the VoLTE subscriber so that the BTAS (102) cannot be involved in the VoLTE subscriber's telephone calls.

[0054] In OCS, charging for Volte subscribers may be the responsibility of the VoLTE TAS. Additionally, the BTAS (102) may send charging triggers for fixed lines only (Mobile Originated (MO), Mobile Terminated (MT), proxy mode) if activated. By default, the Enterprise Centrex "Ro" trigger may be disabled.

[0055] The system (100) may facilitate Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services through a combination of hardware and software implementations. FIG. 2A, in conjunction with FIG. 1A, illustrates an example representation of a network device (102) / BTAS (102) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system (100) includes a network device (102) or a BTAS (102) that may include one or more processors (202). The network device (102) or the BTAS (102) may be integrated with an IMS server (106) to provide network services to a user device (110) (as shown in FIG. 1A). In an aspect, the network device (102) may include one or more processors (202) coupled with a memory (204). The memory (204) may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (202), may cause the system (100) to perform steps as described herein. The network device (102) or the BTAS (102) may cause the system (100) to receive requests routed through the IMS server (106 in FIG. 1A).

[0056] The one or more processors (202) may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuits, and / or any device that processes data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more processors (202) may be configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory (204) of the BTAS (102). The memory (204) may be configured to store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which may be fetched and executed to create or share data packets via the network service. The memory (204) may comprise any non-transitory storage device, including, for example, a volatile memory such as a RAM, or a non-volatile memory such as an EPROM, a flash memory, or the like.

[0057] In one embodiment, the BTAS (102) may include an interface (206). The interface (206) may comprise various interfaces, e.g., interfaces for data input and output devices, referred to as I / O devices, storage devices, etc. The interface (206) may facilitate communications of the BTAS (102). The interface (206) may also provide a communication path for one or more components of the BTAS (102). Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, a processing engine (208), a database (210), and a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) agent (230).

[0058] The processing engine (208) may be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (e.g., programmable instructions) to implement one or more functions of the processing engine (208). In the examples described herein, such a combination of hardware and programming may be implemented in a number of different ways. For example, the programming for the processing engine (208) may be processor-executable instructions stored in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, and the hardware for the processing engine (208) may comprise processing resources (e.g., one or more processors) for executing such instructions. In this example, the machine-readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed by the processing resources, implement the processing engine (208). In such an example, the BTAS (102) may comprise a machine-readable storage medium that stores instructions or processing resources for executing the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may be separate but accessible to the BTAS (102) and the processing resources. In other examples, the processing engine (208) may be implemented by electronic circuitry.

[0059] The processing engine (208) of the network device may include one or more components (as shown in FIG. 2A ), including a session manager (SM) (212), an operation and maintenance (OAM) manager (214), a provisioning agent (216), a database manager (DM) (218), a troubleshooting manager (TM) (220), and other engines (222). The SM (212) may function as a core function delivery module that may be responsible for processing telephone calls and executing service chaining logic in the case of the BTAS (102). The SM (212) may further include one or more sub-modules, such as a telephone call initiation module (not shown) for initiating communications with multiple emergency services. The OAM manager (214) may be configured to manage fault, configuration, and performance aspects of the BTAS / network device (102). The OAM manager (214) may provide an operation and maintenance interface to the system (100) or the BTAS (102). The DM (218) may manage the database cluster, while the BTAS (102) may store subscriber-specific service information. In an embodiment, service data modification requests that may be received by the provisioning agent (216) may be persistently stored using the DM manager (218). The provisioning agent (216) may be responsible for handling provisioning requests received from a centralized provisioning server for persistent changes to the database (210). The provisioning agent (216) may also ensure that the various session managers (212) may be updated about any dynamic changes in the service data. The TM (220) may aggregate log and debug information from all the function managers for troubleshooting. The TM (220) may also provide flexibility to generate debug information, for example, on a per-module, per-process, and per-system basis. Various other functions of the components may be possible. In an embodiment, the database (210) may comprise data that may be either stored or generated as a result of functions implemented by any of the components of the processing engine (208) of the BTAS (102).

[0060] In an embodiment, the SM (212) may receive at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device or a fixed line device (i.e., the user device (110)). The contact number and the short code may correspond to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group.

[0061] In one embodiment, the SM (212) may establish a connection between the BTAS (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Core Network (106) associated with an IMS Server (106) when a second user dials the mobile number and a fixed line is associated with the mobile number.

[0062] In an embodiment, upon establishing a connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106), the SM (212) may execute the BTAS (102) to invoke at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) create service and an FMC update service to trigger modification of the Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106).

[0063] In an embodiment, the SM (212) may convert the short code into an associated at least one of a fixed line number and a mobile number when the second user dials the short code.

[0064] In one embodiment, the SM (212) may, in response to the translation, send one or more invite request messages to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line.

[0065] In an embodiment, the SM (212) may, in response to the transmission, initiate a ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call. In an embodiment, initiating a ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) further includes at least one of ringing the fixed line device (110) and the mobile device (110) simultaneously and ringing the fixed line device (110) first and ringing the mobile device (110) sequentially based on a pre-configured parallel drop mode or sequential drop mode. In an embodiment, when the ringing mode is initiated at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), the first user answers the telephone call at the alternate contact number by instead dialing a service code from the alternate contact number.

[0066] In one embodiment, the SM (212) may periodically determine whether a telephone call is answered at a fixed line device (110) or a mobile device (110).

[0067] In an embodiment, the SM (212) may disconnect the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively.

[0068] In an embodiment, the SM (212) may, upon disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or fixed line device (110), establish a telephone call between at least one of the mobile device (110) or fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or mobile device (110) associated with the first user.

[0069] In one embodiment, the fixed line device (110) associated with the first user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the first user displays a mobile number of the second user. In one embodiment, the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the second user displays a short code of the first user.

[0070] In one embodiment, the FMC service is activated upon entering a pin via Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Tones (DTMF), the FMC service is deactivated upon entering a pin via DTMF, and the FMC service is not removed during deactivation.

[0071] In an embodiment, when the short code corresponds to a fixed line number, the system 100 may execute the BTAS (102) to convert the dialed short code to a fixed line using a Virtual Private Branch Exchange (VPBX) service. Furthermore, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to have an Online Charging System (OCS) (not shown in FIG. 1A) charge the second user using a Credit Control Request (CCR). The OCS returns a Credit Control Answer (CCA) corresponding to the CCR. In addition, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to interact with a Serving Call Session Control Function (SCSCF) associated with the IMS core network (106). The SCSCF may apply Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) based on at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to determine an appropriate Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service to be invoked for Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) data associated with at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to provide at least one of a notification and a ringtone to the second user. In addition, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to route an invite to the fixed line number associated with the first user and route an invite request message to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number. Further, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to initiate a ring mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call. Additionally, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to cause the OCS to update the billing target as at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number based on an answer of the telephone call by the first user at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively.Additionally, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to disconnect the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), respectively. Furthermore, the system (100) may execute the BTAS (102) to establish a telephone call between the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110) associated with the first user upon disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110).

[0072] In an embodiment, answering the telephone call further comprises answering the telephone call from a mobile number associated with a third user when the telephone call is established at a fixed line number associated with the second user. The system 100 may execute the BTAS (102) to establish the telephone call between the first user and the third user upon inserting telephone call details and routing details by the third user into a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) server (104). The system (100) may further execute the BTAS (102) to fetch telephone call details and routing details from the CDL server (104) by the BTAS associated with the second user. The system (100) may further execute the BTAS (102) to establish the telephone call between the first user and the second user.

[0073] FIG. 2B illustrates an example representation of a flow diagram illustrating an integration architecture (250) of a network device or BTAS (102) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the BTAS (102) may be integrated or coupled with various hardware / software components or servers to enable one or more functions related to FMC services. The BTAS (102) may be integrated with an IMS server (106) to enable communication processing related to user devices within an enterprise (154), as illustrated in FIG. 1B. In an example embodiment, the BTAS (102) may be integrated with the IMS server (106) to establish and control communication connections via network protocols including, but not limited to, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), etc. Because communication may also involve the use of one or more forms of media, the BTAS (102) may be integral with a Multimedia Resource Function (MRF) (126). The BTAS (102) may interface with an Enterprise Provisioning Server (EPS) (260) via the Representational State Transfer (REST) ​​protocol to enable provisioning of service data.

[0074] In an exemplary embodiment, the BTAS (102) may be integrated with the MRF (126) to enable functions such as media mixing, control of notifications, and other such purposes, via network protocols including, for example, but not limited to, Session Initiation Protocol-Media Server Markup Language (SIP-MSML). In an exemplary embodiment, the BTAS (102) may be integrated or coupled with other components / services such as a Mobile Number Portability (MNP) (124) (via SIP) to enable number portability dipping. In another exemplary embodiment, the BTAS (102) and EPS (260) may be independently integrated or coupled with an Element Management System (EMS) (256) via the REST protocol. The EMS (256) may include hardware and software implementations for managing five key aspects, namely Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security (FCAPS) functions, and exchanging messages related to the key aspects via the representational state transfer (REST) ​​protocol, which may use the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transport the messages. The EMS may provide the basis for implementing an Operations Support System (OSS) or Business Support Systems (BSS) (262) based architecture that allows service providers to meet customer demands for, for example, rapid service deployment to provide satisfactory quality of service requirements and other such services. The EMS (256) may interface with the OSS / BSS (262) via the REST protocol to enable a northbound interface for FCAPS data of the BTAS (102) or EPS (260).The term northbound interface may refer to an interface that allows a particular component of a network to communicate with a higher level component. The OSS / BSS (262) may interface with the EPS (260) via the REST protocol to enable functions such as service data management requests.

[0075] Additionally, as shown in FIG. 2B, the BTAS (102) may be integrated or coupled with a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) (268) via the diameter protocol, which may be a standard protocol for authentication, authorization, and charging information in an IMS server-based network. The DRA diameter may be a functional element that may provide real-time routing capabilities to ensure that messages are routed between the correct elements in the network. The integration of the BTAS (102) with the DRA (268) may enable integration with an Online Charging System (OCS) (272) to facilitate "Ro" charging. The OCS (272) may be a system that allows service providers to charge users or customers in real-time based on service usage, and "Ro" charging relates to a protocol that allows triggers to generate charging events. In an embodiment, the BTAS (102) may also be integrated with components related to a Customized Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) (266) to enable personalized Ring Back Tone (RBT) at the communication establishment stage. For example, this may primarily relate to ring tones that may be played during the connection of a telephone call of the user device (252) with one or more emergency services.

[0076] 3A-3C illustrate an example sequence diagram representation of a parallel telephone call branching flow, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0077] 3A-3C, the originating network may include a B-TAS (102) and the terminating network may include a SCSCF (158), a BTAS (102), an MRF (126), an MNP (124), and a TAS (160). Additionally, an OCS (272) may be included for charging for telephone calls.

[0078] In step (302-1), the dialed short code is converted to a fixed line number by the BTAS (102) using a Virtual PBX (VPBX) service. In step (302-2), the BTAS (102) may use a Credit-Control-Request (CCR) to initiate charging to the OCS (272), which may return a Credit-Control-Answer (CCA) to the BTAS (102). In step (302-3), the BTAS (102) may interact with an SCSCF in the originating network.

[0079] In step (302-4), the SCSCF (158) may apply Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) based on the called party's number. In step (302-5), the BTAS (102) may check the FMS service for FMC data for this number and extract the algorithm to be applied and the FMC fixed and mobile numbers.

[0080] In step (302-6), a notification is played to the called party. In step (302-7), the BTAS (102) may initiate billing to the OCS (272). In step (302-8), the invite may be routed to the called party (fixed line number). In step (302-9), the invite message is sent to the called party's mobile network.

[0081] In step (302-10), ring both the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110). In step (302-11), the telephone call is answered by the terminating party, e.g., the fixed line. In step (302-12), trigger a fixed line billing update to the OCS (272). In step (302-13), disconnect the telephone call to the terminating mobile network when the telephone call is answered on the fixed line. In step (302-14), establish the telephone call between the originating party and the fixed line and disconnect the mobile line. The other steps in the sequence diagram may be typical call flows known to those skilled in the art.

[0082] FIG. 4 illustrates an example sequence diagram representation of a call flow for seamless call pickup, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0083] Consider a scenario where a telephone call may be answered from a mobile number (C-party) (406) associated with a fixed line (B-party) (412). In step (422-1), a telephone call may be established between the A party (ORIG (402)) and the C party (406) upon insertion of the telephone call details and routing details by the C-party (406) into the CDL server (104). In step (422-2), the B-BTAS (410) of the B party (412) fetches the telephone call details and routing details from the CDL server (104). In step (422-3), a telephone call is established between the A party (402) and the B party (412). The other steps in the sequence diagram may be general call flows known to those skilled in the art.

[0084] FIG. 5 illustrates an example sequence diagram representation of a call flow (activation / deactivation) of an FMC service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] Activation from a Centrex user for whom FMC is provisioned dials, for example, "*333". In step (512-1), the MRF (126) may prompt the user to enter a four-digit pin via Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones. Only after the input of the correct pin, the service can be activated. Deactivation from a Centrex user for whom FMC is provisioned dials "#333". This may prompt the user to give a four-digit pin via DTMF tones. Only after the input of the correct pin in step (512-1), the service can be deactivated. The FMC service may not be deleted, but may be deactivated until activated by the user. Only activation / deactivation may be enabled using facility codes. Provisioning of the FMC service may be performed only via the EPS (260). The other steps in the sequence diagram may be general call flows known to those skilled in the art.

[0086] FIG. 6 illustrates an example flowchart of a method (600) for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0087] At block (602), the method (600) may include receiving, by a processor (202) associated with a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) (102) based on executing the SM (212), at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group, dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device or a fixed line device (i.e., the user device (110)). The contact number and the short code may correspond to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group.

[0088] At block (604), the method (600) may include establishing, by a processor (202) executing an SM (212), a connection between the BTAS (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core network (106) associated with an IMS server (106) when a second user dials the mobile number and a fixed line is associated with the mobile number.

[0089] At block (606), the method (600) may include, upon establishing a connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106), invoking at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) create service and an FMC update service to trigger modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106), by the processor (202) executing the SM (212).

[0090] In block (608), the method (600) may include translating the short code into an associated at least one of a fixed line number and a mobile number by the processor (202) executing the SM (212) when the second user dials the short code. The functions performed in step 608 may be similar to the functions performed in steps 302-1, 302-3, 302-5, and 302-6 of FIG. 3A.

[0091] At block (610), the method (600) may include transmitting, by the processor (202) executing the SM (212), in response to the translation, one or more invite request messages to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line. The functions performed at step 610 may be similar to the functions performed at steps 302-8, 302-9, 302-10, and 302-11 of FIG. 3B.

[0092] At block (612), the method (600) may include, in response to the transmission, initiating a ring mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call, by the processor (202) executing the SM (212).

[0093] At block (614), the method (600) may include, by the processor (202) executing the SM (212), establishing a telephone call between at least one of a mobile device (110) or a fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of a fixed line device (110) or a mobile device (110) associated with the first user, respectively.

[0094] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary computer system (700) in which or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 7, the computer system (700) may include an external storage device (710), a bus (720), a main memory (730), a read-only memory (740), a mass storage device (750), a communication port (760), and a processor (770). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a computer system may include more than one processor and communication port. The processor (770) may include various modules related to embodiments of the present invention. The communication port (760) may be an RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dial-up connection, a 10 / 100 Ethernet port, a gigabit or 10 gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or any other existing or future port. The communication port (760) may be chosen depending on the network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any network to which the computer system connects. The memory (730) may be a random access memory (RAM), or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. Read-only memory (740) may be any static storage device, such as, but not limited to, a programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip for storing static information, such as start-up or BIOS instructions for processor (770). Mass storage (750) may be any present or future mass storage method that may be used to store information and / or instructions.Exemplary mass storage methods include, but are not limited to, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid state drives (internal or external, e.g., having Universal Serial Bus (USB) and / or Firewire interfaces), one or more optical disks, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage, e.g., an array of disks (e.g., a SATA array).

[0096] The bus (720) communicatively couples the processor (770) to other memory, storage, and communication blocks and may be, for example, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) / PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), USB, etc., for connecting expansion cards, drives, and other subsystems, as well as other buses such as a front side bus (FSB) that connects the processor (770) to a software system.

[0097] Optionally, operator and management interfaces, such as a display, keyboard, and cursor control devices, may also be coupled to the bus (720) to facilitate direct operator interaction with the computer system. Other operator and management interfaces may be provided through a network connection connected through a communications port (760). The components described above are intended only to illustrate the various possibilities. The exemplary computer system described above should in no way limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0098] Although considerable emphasis has been placed on preferred embodiments herein, it will be understood that many embodiments can be made and many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, and it should therefore be expressly understood that the contents of the foregoing description are merely implemented as illustrative of the invention and not limiting.

[0099] Advantages of the present disclosure The present disclosure provides a system and method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services using a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) associated with the Central exchange (Centrex) group.

[0100] The present disclosure provides a system and method for converting a shortened code into an associated landline number to ring phones on both mobile and landlines.

[0101] The present disclosure determines whether a telephone call is answered on a landline or a mobile phone, and then disconnects the mobile / landline telephone call when the telephone call is answered on the landline / mobile, respectively.

[0102] The present disclosure enables short code dialing from mobile phones in addition to landlines for enterprise users in a cloud Internet Protocol (IP) Central exchange (Centrex).

[0103] The present disclosure provides a single extension / number for a user to receive incoming calls on both devices (i.e., mobile phone as well as landline).

[0104] The present disclosure enables a user experience that includes dialing from a mobile phone, dialing from a landline, telephone calls from external enterprise users to landlines, and seamless call pickup from associated landlines or mobile phones.

[0105] The present disclosure enables seamless call pickup, where a telephone call is answered from a mobile number (eg, C-party) associated with a respective fixed line (eg, B-party).

[0106] Reservation of Rights A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is the subject of intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, designs, trademarks, IC layout designs, and / or trade dress protection, belonging to Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) or its affiliates (hereinafter referred to as the Owner). The Owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent application or records, but otherwise reserves any and all rights. All rights in such intellectual property are fully reserved by the Owner. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 102 Network Devices, BTAS, B-TAS 104 CDL Server 106 IMS Server, IMS Core Network, IMS Network 110 User device, user equipment, UE, terminal, communication network, mobile device, fixed line device 112 Communication Networks 116 IBCF, IBCF module 118 BGCF, BGCF module 120 HSS 122 MGCF, MGCF module 124 MNP 126 MRF, MRF module 130 MGW 132 BGW 134 POI 152 P-CSCF, P-CSCF module 154 companies 156 E-SBC 158 S-CSCF, S-CSCF module 160 TAS 162 I-CSCF, I-CSCF module 202 Processor 204 Memory 206 Interface 208 Processing Engine 210 Database 212 Session Manager, SM 214 Operation and Maintenance (OAM) Manager, OAM Manager 216 Provisioning Agent 218 Database Manager, DM, DM Manager 220 Troubleshooting Manager, TM 222 other engines 230 CDL Agent 252 User Devices 256 EMS 260 EPS 262 OSS / BSS 264 F5 266 CRBT 268 DRA 272 OCS 402 ORIG 404 C-BTAS 406 C-PARTY, mobile number (C-party) 408 B-TAS 410 B-BTAS 412 B-PARTY, fixed line (B-party) 502 UE-A 504 ORIG AS 506 DB 700 Computer Systems 710 External Storage Device 720 Bus 730 Main memory, memory 740 Read Only Memory 750 Mass Storage Device, Mass Storage 760 communication port 770 Processor

Claims

1. A system (100) for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services, comprising: A Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) (102), A processor (202); and a memory (204) coupled to the processor (202), the memory (204), when executed, causing the processor (202) to: receiving at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device (110) or a fixed line device (110), the contact number and the short code corresponding to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group; establishing a connection between the BTAS (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (100) (IMS) Core Network (106) associated with an IMS server (106) when the second user dials the mobile number and the fixed line is associated with the mobile number; invoking at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) creation service and an FMC update service to trigger modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106) upon establishing the connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106); translating the short code into at least one associated number of the fixed line number and the mobile number when the second user dials the short code; in response to the conversion, transmitting one or more invite request messages to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line; In response to said transmitting, initiating a ringing mode at said mobile device (110) and said fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call; establishing the telephone call between at least one of the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110) associated with the first user, respectively; A system (100) comprising processor-executable instructions.

2. The processor (202) further periodically determines whether the telephone call is answered by the first user at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110); 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a first device connected to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device, said first device configured to connect to said mobile device,

3. When the short code corresponds to the fixed line number, the processor (202) further converting said dialed short code into said fixed line number using a virtual private branch exchange (VPBX) service; having an Online Charging System (OCS) (272) charge the second user using a Credit Control Request (CCR), and the OCS (272) returning a Credit Control Answer (CCA) corresponding to the CCR; interacting with a Serving Call Session Control Function (SCSCF) associated with the IMS core network (106), the SCSCF applying the Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) based on at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user; determining an appropriate Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service to be invoked for FMC data associated with the at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user; providing at least one of a notification and a ringtone to the second user; Routing the invite to the fixed line number associated with the first user and routing an invite request message to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number; initiating a ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and at the fixed line device (110) to establish the telephone call; 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: based on an answering of the telephone call by the first user at the fixed line device or the mobile device, respectively, the OCS is configured to update a billing target as the at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number, and based on an answering of the telephone call, the telephone call is established between the fixed line device associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device or the mobile device associated with the first user, respectively.

4. answering the telephone call further comprises an event of answering the telephone call from the mobile number associated with a third user when the telephone call is established at the fixed line number associated with the second user, and the processor (202) further comprises: establishing said telephone call between said first user and said third user upon insertion of telephone call details and routing details by said third user into a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) server (104); fetching the telephone call details and routing details from the CDL server (104) by the BTAS (102) associated with the second user; 10. The system of claim 1, configured to establish the telephone call between the first user and the second user.

5. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein initiating the ringing mode at the mobile device and the fixed line device further comprises at least one of ringing the fixed line device and the mobile device simultaneously and ringing the fixed line device first and then ringing the mobile device sequentially based on a pre-configured parallel branching mode or sequential branching mode.

6. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the fixed line device associated with the first user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device associated with the first user displays the mobile number of the second user.

7. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the fixed line device associated with the second user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device associated with the second user displays the short code of the first user.

8. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein when the ring mode is activated on at least one of the fixed line device and the mobile device, the first user instead answers the telephone call at the alternate contact number by dialing a service code from the alternate contact number.

9. 2. The system (100) of claim 1, wherein the FMC service is activated upon entering a pin via Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Tones (DTMF), the FMC service is deactivated upon entering a pin via DTMF, and the FMC service is not removed during deactivation.

10. 1. A method for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services, comprising: receiving, by a processor (202) associated with a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) (102) in the system (100), at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device (110) or a fixed line device (110), the contact number and the short code corresponding to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group; establishing, by the processor (202), a connection between the BTAS (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (100) (IMS) Core Network (106) associated with an IMS server (106) when the second user dials the mobile number and the fixed line is associated with the mobile number; invoking, by the processor (202), upon establishing the connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106), at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) creation service and an FMC update service to trigger modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106); converting, by the processor (202), the short code into an associated at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number when the second user dials the short code; sending, by the processor (202) in response to the conversion, one or more invite request messages to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number associated with the fixed line; initiating, by the processor (202), a ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call in response to the transmission; and establishing, by the processor (202), the telephone call between at least one of the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110) associated with the first user, respectively.

11. periodically determining, by the processor (202), whether the telephone call is answered by the first user at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110); and when the telephone call is answered at the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110), respectively, associated with the first user, wherein the telephone call is established upon disconnecting the telephone call at the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110), respectively.

12. When the short code corresponds to the fixed line number, the method further comprises: converting, by the processor (202), the dialed short code into the fixed line number using a virtual private branch exchange (VPBX) service; a step of causing an Online Charging System (OCS) (272) to charge the second user using a Credit Control Request (CCR) by the processor (202), the OCS (272) returning a Credit Control Answer (CCA) corresponding to the CCR; interacting, by the processor (202), with a Serving Call Session Control Function (SCSCF) associated with the IMS core network (106), the SCSCF applying the Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) based on at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user; determining, by the processor (202), an appropriate Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service to be invoked for FMC data associated with the at least one of the mobile number and the fixed line number of the first user; providing, by the processor (202), at least one of a notification and a ringtone to the second user; routing, by the processor (202), an invite to the fixed line number associated with the first user and an invite request message to the IMS core network (106) associated with the mobile number; initiating, by the processor (202), a ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) to establish the telephone call; 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: causing the processor to update the OCS to update a billing target as the at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number based on an answer of the telephone call by the first user at the fixed line device or the mobile device, respectively; and based on an answer of the telephone call, the telephone call is established between the fixed line device associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device or the mobile device associated with the first user, respectively.

13. and the step of answering the telephone call further comprises an event of answering the telephone call from the mobile number associated with a third user when the telephone call is established at the fixed line number associated with the second user, the method further comprising: upon insertion by said processor (202) of telephone call details and routing details by said third user into a Centralized Data Layer (CDL) server (104), establishing said telephone call between said first user and said third user; fetching, by the processor (202), the telephone call details and routing details from the CDL server (104) via the BTAS (102) associated with the second user; and establishing, by the processor (202), the telephone call between the first user and the second user.

14. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of initiating the ringing mode at the mobile device (110) and the fixed line device (110) further comprises at least one of the steps of ringing the fixed line device (110) and the mobile device (110) simultaneously and ringing the fixed line device (110) first and then ringing the mobile device (110) sequentially based on a pre-set parallel branching mode or sequential branching mode.

15. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the fixed line device (110) associated with the first user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the first user displays the mobile number of the second user.

16. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user displays a Calling Line Identification (CLI) and the mobile device (110) associated with the second user displays the short code of the first user.

17. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein when the ring mode is activated on at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110), the first user instead answers the telephone call at the alternative contact number by dialing a service code from the alternative contact number.

18. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the FMC service is activated upon entering a pin via Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Tones (DTMF), the FMC service is deactivated upon entering a pin via DTMF, and the FMC service is not removed during deactivation.

19. A user equipment (UE) for providing Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services, A processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory, when executed, causing the processor to: transmitting at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group dialed by a second user using at least one of the user equipment, the contact number and the short code corresponding to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user; establishing a telephone call between the user equipment associated with the second user and the user equipment associated with the first user; A UE comprising processor-executable instructions.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising machine readable instructions, the machine readable instructions comprising: receiving at least one of a contact number and a short code associated with a first user of a Central exchange (Centrex) group dialed by a second user using at least one of a mobile device (110) or a fixed line device (110), the contact number and the short code corresponding to at least one of a mobile number and a fixed line number associated with the first user of the Centrex group; establishing a connection between a Business Telephony Application Server (BTAS) (102) and an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (100) (IMS) Core Network (106) associated with an IMS server (106) when the second user dials the mobile number and the fixed line is associated with the mobile number; Upon establishing the connection between the BTAS (102) and the IMS core network (106), invoking at least one of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) creation service and an FMC update service to trigger modification of Initial Filter criteria (IFC) service chaining data in the IMS core network (106); translating the short code into an associated at least one of the fixed line number and the mobile number when the second user dials the short code; responsive to said conversion, sending one or more invite request messages to said IMS core network (106) associated with said mobile number associated with said fixed line; In response to said transmitting, initiating a ring mode at said mobile device (110) and said fixed line device (110) to establish a telephone call; Establishing the telephone call between at least one of the mobile device (110) or the fixed line device (110) associated with the second user and at least one of the fixed line device (110) or the mobile device (110) associated with the first user, respectively. A non-transitory computer-readable medium executable by a processor to

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