1. A method for forwarding a call in a digital telephone network comprising:
capturing from an incoming telephone communication a called telephone number;
acquiring caller identification (CID) information related to the telephone communication;
determining whether the called telephone number is associated with an IM screen name;
forming a CID instant message comprising at least one element of the CID information when the called telephone number is associated with an IM screen name;
sending the CID instant message addressed to the screen name to an IM service client;
receiving a request from the IM client to route the telephone communication to a softphone application;
issuing a call to the softphone application in response to the request;
receiving at the softphone application calling party call data packets;
originating at the softphone application called party call data packets; and
sending the called party call data packets to calling party.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the CID information is selected from the group consisting of a calling party telephone number, a calling party name, a calling party nickname, calling party location information, an image associated with the calling party, and a message indicating that a calling party has blocked transmission of information relating to the telephone communication in the incoming call.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one element of the CID information is selected from the group consisting of a calling party telephone number and a calling party name.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring CID information related to the telephone communication comprises:
obtaining a calling party telephone number from the incoming telephone communication; and
determining a city and state of origin of the calling party from the calling party telephone number, and
wherein forming the CID instant message comprising at least one element of the CID information comprises forming the CID instant message comprising the city and state of origin of the calling party and the at least one element of the CID information.
5. A system for forwarding a call in a digital telephone network comprising:
a telephone switch, wherein the telephone switch comprises instructions for:
capturing a called telephone number; and
acquiring caller identification (CID) information related to a telephone communication;
an instant message notification server connected to a call handler;
an IM service client connected to the instant message notification server via the second; and
a softphone application accessible to the IM service client,
a subscription filter, wherein the subscription filter comprises instructions for:
receiving the called telephone number and the CID information related to a telephone communication from the telephone switch;
determining whether the called telephone number is associated with a service subscriber who also subscribes to the CID IM service; and
sending the CID information to the call handler when the called telephone number is associated with the service subscriber who also subscribes to the CID IM service,
wherein the call handler comprises instructions for:
receiving the CID information;
obtaining an IM screen name associated with the service subscriber who also subscribes to the CID IM service; and
sending the screen name and at least one element of the CID information to the instant message notification server,
wherein the instant message notification server comprises instructions for:
forming a CID instant message comprising the at least one element of the CID information; and
sending the CID instant message to the IM service client associated with the screen name,
wherein the IM service client comprises instructions for:
receiving a request to route the telephone communication to the softphone application; and
issuing a call to the softphone application in response to the request, and
wherein the softphone application comprises instructions for:
receiving calling party call data packets;
originating called party call data packets; and
sending the called party call data packets to calling party.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the CID information is selected from the group consisting of a calling party telephone number, a calling party name, a calling party nickname, calling party location information, an image associated with the calling party, and a message indicating that a calling party has blocked transmission of information relating to the telephone communication in the incoming call.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one element of the CID information is selected from the group consisting of the calling party telephone number and the calling party name.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein acquiring CID information related to the telephone communication comprises:
obtaining a calling party telephone number from the incoming telephone communication; and
determining a city and state of origin of the calling party from the calling party telephone number, and
wherein forming the CID instant message comprising at least one element of the CID information comprises forming the CID instant message comprising the city and state of origin of the calling party and the at least one element of the CID information.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A submarine optical connector, comprising:
a first support element for supporting a first optical fibre, said first support element including at least one alignment pin,
a second support element for supporting a second optical fibre, said second support element including at least one through hole intended to receive respectively said at least one alignment pin to guide the first and second support elements towards a contact position in which the first and second fibres are connected, and
sealing means to protect the first and second fibres from the external environment at least when the first and second support elements are in the contact position,
said connector being arranged to perform a cleaning, prior to a connection between the support elements inside the connector, by circulation of a cleaning liquid between the support elements to dispel any impurities from the optical contact areas of the fibres, and to allow for the expulsion of the cleaning liquid from inside the connector to the external environment after the cleaning.
2. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, in which the first support element includes at least two alignment pins and the second support element includes at least two through holes intended to receive respectively said at least two alignment pins, characterized in that the first support element is arranged to support a plurality of first optical fibres, and the second support element is constructed to support a plurality of second optical fibres so that, in the contact position, each first optical fibre is connected to a corresponding second optical fibre.
3. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, including a fibre matrix.
4. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, comprising at least one ball joint attached to a corresponding support element to compensate for any alignment defects.
5. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first part comprising the first support element,
a second part comprising the second support element, wherein the sealing means comprise
a first sealing means to ensure the seal-tightness of the first part when said first part is disconnected from the second part,
a second sealing means to ensure the seal-tightness of the second part when said second part is disconnected from the first part, and
a third sealing means to protect the connector from the external environment when the first and second parts are connected together, and
wherein the connector is arranged so that the first and second sealing means switch from a seal-tight closed position to an open position when the third sealing means is in a position of protection from the external environment.
6. The submarine optical connector according to claim 5, wherein the third sealing means comprises a seal capable of allowing the circulation of liquid inside the connector towards the outside and of preventing the circulation of liquid in the reverse direction when the first and second parts are connected together, and wherein the connector includes at least one stud to maintain a clearance between the first part and the second part when said parts are connected together for the passage of cleaning gel towards the outside of the connector.
7. The submarine optical connector according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second sealing means comprises a shutter which can switch from the seal-tight closed position to the open position by pivoting about an axis substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the connector in order to align the shutter with this longitudinal axis.
8. The submarine optical connector according to claim 7, wherein
the first and the second sealing means each comprise a shutter, each shutter includes an engaging element, and
the two engaging elements are able to be engaged with one another on the transition to the open position.
9. The submarine optical connector according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the connector parts includes a window likely to be closed by the corresponding sealing means, characterized in that the window includes an edge with teeth to limit the build-up of impurities on said edge.
10. The submarine optical connector according to claim 5, wherein at least one connector part can be constructed so as to define a chamber whose volume increases when the part undergoes compression forces resulting in the switch from the seal-tight closed position to the open position of the corresponding sealing means.
11. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid is a gel.
12. The submarine optical connector according to claim 11, wherein the connector further comprises a gel chamber from which the gel is expelled into an area permitting front faces of the fibre contacts to be cleaned prior to optical contact.
13. The submarine optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid is expelled through a passage to the external environment, which prevents reverse flow of fluid from the external environment to the inside of the connector.