No-Ring Telephone Call Service Routing Logic

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current voice mail systems require calling parties to attempt to ring the called party's telephone, potentially interrupting them and leading to unnecessary conversations, as there is no direct method to leave a message without first trying to connect.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that allow a calling party to request a no-ring telephone call service, using a specific code to route the call directly to the called party's voice mail if they have one, or play a pre-recorded message if they do not, thereby avoiding ringing the called party's phone.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a calling party attempts to ring the called party's telephone to leave a message, then the called party can be notified of the call, but the called party may be disturbed or interrupted at inconvenient times

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of leaving a messageVSAvoiddisturbance to called party

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the message delivery function from the traditional call routing process. By using a no-ring telephone call service, the system separates the message leaving action from the telephone ringing action, allowing the calling party to leave a message without triggering the called party's telephone to ring, thus eliminating the disturbance while preserving the message delivery capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a voice mail system as an intermediary between the calling party and the called party. Instead of directly connecting the calling party to the called party's telephone, the system routes the call through a voice mail platform that can deliver messages without disturbing the called party, serving as a mediating service that resolves the contradiction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a calling party rings the called party's telephone, then the called party can answer the call, but unnecessary conversations may occur when the called party is busy

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility in message deliveryVSAvoidtime for unnecessary conversations

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by allowing the calling party to leave a message before the called party becomes available. The no-ring service enables the calling party to deposit their message in advance with the voice mail system, which will deliver it when appropriate, eliminating the need for the called party to pick up the phone and engage in potentially unnecessary conversations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts the message delivery function from the conversational interaction. By using voice mail as an intermediary, the patent separates the act of leaving a message from the act of having a conversation, allowing message delivery to occur independently of the called party's availability and eliminating time lost to unnecessary conversations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Ease of operation

If there is no direct method to leave a message without ringing the phone, then the system remains simple, but the calling party cannot avoid disturbing the called party

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to leave message without ringingVSAvoidsystem complexity for routing calls

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies universality by making the voice mail system serve multiple functions: it acts as a message delivery service, a call routing service, and a disturbance avoidance mechanism. This multi-functional approach enables the calling party to leave messages without ringing the phone while using an existing infrastructure rather than requiring entirely new complex systems

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The voice mail system serves as an intermediary that handles the complexity of call routing and message delivery. By placing the complexity management function in the voice mail intermediary rather than requiring complexity at the calling party's end, the system achieves ease of operation for the user while managing system complexity centrally

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS7957513B2Method, system and computer program product for providing a no-ring telephone call service

Publication Date: 2011.06.07 BELLSOUTH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION(US)

AI summary

A method provides a no-ring telephone call service. The method includes receiving notification that a telephone call from a calling party device requesting to use the no-ring telephone call service has arrived at a switch. The notification includes a called party telephone number. The method also includes determining if the called party telephone number corresponds to a voice mail platform telephone number in a region wide messaging database. When the called party telephone number corresponds to a voice mail platform telephone number, instructions to route the telephone call to the voice mail platform telephone number are communicated to the switch. When the called party telephone number does not correspond to a voice mail platform telephone number, instructions to play a pre-recorded no voice mailbox message are communicated to the switch.