WebRTC Caller ID Session Context Injection

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Solution Overview

Problem

WebRTC-enabled browsers lack a mechanism to pass web session information to telephony recipients over conventional telephone networks, making it difficult for call centre agents to identify the context of incoming calls, thereby hindering efficient call handling.

Innovation Solution

A method to encapsulate a web session ID within call setup messages during WebRTC connections, allowing telephony recipients to identify the originating web session, and a WebRTC application that generates a session number resembling a conventional telephone number for transmission as caller ID, enabling the retrieval of web session state information.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If WebRTC connection is established between browser and telephony recipient, then real-time voice/video communication is enabled, but web session information cannot be passed to the recipient

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication capabilityVSAvoidweb session context

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The web session ID is nested within the caller ID information structure. The caller ID field, which is part of the existing WebRTC call setup message, is used to encapsulate the web session ID along with a unique identifier for the call centre. This allows the session information to be embedded within the communication protocol without requiring a separate information channel.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The caller ID information acts as an intermediary carrier that bridges the web browser environment and the telephony recipient system. By placing the web session ID in the caller ID field, the information is transferred through the WebRTC gateway to the call centre equipment, enabling the recipient to retrieve the original web session context.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If call centre equipment receives WebRTC calls, then voice communication with web users is enabled, but identification of originating web session is lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecross-realm communicationVSAvoidsession identification

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The web session ID is prepared and embedded in the caller ID information during the call setup phase, before the actual voice communication begins. This preliminary action ensures that the call centre equipment receives the session identification information along with the call establishment, eliminating the need for post-call analysis or additional identification steps.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of information

If web session ID is embedded in caller ID, then session context can be retrieved, but call setup message structure must be modified

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesession context transmissionVSAvoidmessage structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The caller ID information field, which traditionally serves to identify the calling party, is extended to also carry web session identification information. This multi-functional use of the existing caller ID structure allows session context transmission without adding separate dedicated fields or fundamentally changing the message structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS9699224B2Linking web sessions with telephone calls

Publication Date: 2017.07.04 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A web application assigns a number that resembles a conventional telephone number and that uniquely identifies the current Web session, and injects this number into a signalling message or signalling messages that flow towards a WebRTC gateway. The WebRTC gateway inserts this number into the signalling information element that conveys Caller ID in the signalling message that it sends into the telephone network. This allows the recipient of a WebRTC call to identify the web session from which the WebRTC call originates.