Email-to-Phone Call Routing via Network Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Callers often struggle to remember multiple phone numbers associated with an individual, making it difficult to establish connections, whereas email addresses are easier to recall and associate with individuals.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that allow subscribers to establish calls to destination phone numbers using email addresses, by receiving the email address, determining associated phone numbers, and processing the call through a VoIP network, which includes automatic speech recognition and network announcements to facilitate the selection of the appropriate phone number.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a person has multiple phone numbers associated with different locations, then the person can be reached at various locations, but the caller must remember and dial multiple numbers to establish connection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (communication network server) that acts as a mediator between the caller and multiple phone numbers. The server receives the email address, resolves it to multiple phone numbers, and automatically initiates calls to these numbers, eliminating the need for the caller to manually remember and dial multiple numbers while maintaining reachability at various locations
2Reliability
If the system provides multiple phone number options, then the caller can reach the person at the correct location, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically resolving email addresses to phone numbers and initiating calls without requiring manual intervention. The server autonomously queries the database, determines the appropriate phone numbers, and places calls automatically, maintaining high connection accuracy while avoiding the complexity of manual selection interfaces
3Ease of operation
If automatic call initiation is implemented, then the call establishment process is simplified, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-storing the mapping between email addresses and multiple phone numbers in a database. When a call is initiated, the server quickly queries this pre-organized data rather than performing real-time lookups, thereby simplifying the call establishment process while maintaining efficient processing through optimized data retrieval
Data Source
AI summary
The invention comprises a method and apparatus for enabling a subscriber to establish a call to at least one destination phone number using an email address. Specifically, the method comprises receiving an incoming communication request from the subscriber for establishing the call (where the incoming communication request comprises an email address), determining at least one destination phone number associated with the email address, and processing the call using at least one of the at least one destination phone number associated with the email address.