1. A method for phone call routing in a telephone service provider network in interaction with information processing in an enterprise network, the method comprising the steps of:
a) receiving a call by a telephone service provider network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) from a caller, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise;
b) processing the call by the TSPN;
c) sending a call notification to a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) of the enterprise, wherein the TAS is not within the TSPN;
d) delaying the TSPN’s processing of the call, wherein c) and d) are performed before the call is completed; and
e) resuming the processing of the call in response to a notification from the TAS.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the delaying of the TSPN’s processing of the call is responsive to a delay notification from the TAS.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the resuming in step e) is responsive to a certain delay, the certain delay being specified in the delay notification.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification in step e) is a resume notification and the processing is resumed immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
5. The method of claim 1 comprising the step of:
completing the call by the TSPN responsive to a signal indicating that a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise has accepted the call.
6. A method for information processing in an enterprise network phone in interaction with phone call routing in a telephone service provider network, the method comprising the steps of:
a) receiving, from a public switched telephone network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) by a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) not within the TSPN, a call notification, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise, and wherein the TSPN is operable to delay processing of the call before completing the call in order to permit an enterprise application of the TAS to begin processing for the call;
b) processing the call by an enterprise application of the TAS responsive to the call notification; and
c) sending the TSPN a notification indicating for the TSPN to resume processing of the call.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the call notification includes first information and the enterprise application processing of the method comprises the steps of:
searching, responsive to receiving the first notification, for second information associated with the first information; and
forwarding the second information for delivery to the callee.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second information is forwarded before the TSPN completes the call.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the notification of step c) comprises:
a resume notification sent to the TSPN after a predetermined delay, so that the TSPN may resume processing immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
10. The method of claim 6, comprising the step of:
signaling the TSPN to complete the call, wherein the signaling is responsive to accepting the call by a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise.
11. The method of claim 6, wherein the notification of step c) comprises:
a delay notification indicating for the TSPN to wait a specified time before resuming processing of the call.
12. A computer program product for phone call routing in a telephone service provider network in interaction with information processing in an enterprise network, the computer program product comprising:
a) instructions for receiving a call by a telephone service provider network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) from a caller, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise;
b) instructions for processing the call by the TSPN;
c) instructions for sending a call notification to a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) of the enterprise, wherein the TAS is not within the TSPN;
d) instructions for delaying the TSPN’s processing of the call, wherein instructions for c) and d) are for sending the call notification and delaying the processing before the call is completed; and
e) instructions for resuming the processing of the call in response to a notification from the TAS.
13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the delaying of the TSPN’s processing of the call is responsive to a delay notification from the TAS.
14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the resuming in instructions e) is responsive to a certain delay, the certain delay being specified in the delay notification.
15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the notification for instructions e) is a resume notification and the processing is resumed immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
16. The computer program product of claim 12, comprising:
instructions for completing the call by the TSPN responsive to a signal indicating that a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise has accepted the call.
17. A computer program product for information processing in an enterprise network phone in interaction with phone call routing in a telephone service provider network, the computer program product comprising:
a) instructions for receiving, from a public switched telephone network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) by a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) not within the TSPN, a call notification, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise, and wherein the TSPN is operable to delay processing of the call before completing the call in order to permit an enterprise application of the TAS to begin processing for the call;
b) instructions for processing the call by an enterprise application of the TAS responsive to the call notification; and
c) instructions for sending the TSPN a notification indicating for the TSPN to resume processing of the call.
18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the call notification includes first information and the instructions for processing of the call by an enterprise application comprise:
instructions for searching, responsive to receiving the first notification, for second information associated with the first information; and
instructions for forwarding the second information for delivery to the callee.
19. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the second information is forwarded before the TSPN completes the call.
20. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the notification of instructions c) comprises:
a resume notification sent to the TSPN after a predetermined delay, so that the TSPN may resume processing immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
21. The computer program of claim 17, comprising:
instructions for signaling the TSPN to complete the call, wherein the signaling is responsive to accepting the call by a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise.
22. The computer program of claim 18, wherein the notification of instructions c) comprises:
a delay notification indicating for the TSPN to wait a specified time before resuming processing of the call.
23. An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions operable with the processor for phone call routing in a telephone service provider network in interaction with information processing in an enterprise network, the instructions being executed for:
a) receiving a call by a telephone service provider network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) from a caller, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise;
b) processing the call by the TSPN;
c) sending a call notification to a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) of the enterprise, wherein the TAS is not within the TSPN;
d) delaying the TSPN’s processing of the call, wherein c) and d) are performed before the call is completed; and
e) resuming the processing of the call in response to a notification from the TAS.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the delaying of the TSPN’s processing of the call is responsive to a delay notification from the TAS.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the resuming in e) is responsive to a certain delay, the certain delay being specified in the delay notification.
26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the notification in e) is a resume notification and the processing is resumed immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the stored instructions are executed for:
completing the call by the TSPN responsive to a signal indicating that a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise has accepted the call.
28. A apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions operable with the processor for processing in an enterprise network in interaction with a telephone service provider network, the instructions being executed for:
a) receiving, from a public switched telephone network (\u201cTSPN\u201d) by a telecommunication application server (\u201cTAS\u201d) not within the TSPN, a call notification, wherein the call is directed to a callee associated with an enterprise, and wherein the TSPN is operable to delay processing of the call before completing the call in order to permit an enterprise application of the TAS to begin processing for the call;
b) processing the call by an enterprise application of the TAS responsive to the call notification; and
c) sending the TSPN a notification indicating for the TSPN to resume processing of the call.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the call notification includes first information and the stored instructions are executed for:
searching by the enterprise application, responsive to receiving the first notification, for second information associated with the first information; and
forwarding the second information by the enterprise application for delivery to the callee.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the second information is forwarded before the TSPN completes the call.
31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the notification of c) comprises:
a resume notification sent to the TSPN after a predetermined delay, so that the TSPN may resume processing immediately upon receiving the resume notification.
32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the stored instructions are executed for:
signaling the TSPN to complete the call, wherein the signaling is responsive to accepting the call by a unit of terminal equipment for the enterprise.
33. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the notification of c) comprises:
a delay notification indicating for the TSPN to wait a specified time before resuming processing of the call.
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 method of operating a basestation in a mobile communications system, the method comprising:
receiving a message requesting allocation of a communications resource;
identifying an existing communications session using the requested resource;
reallocating the requested resource from the existing communications session; and
placing the existing communications session in a session hold state by continuing to support session control signaling for the existing communications session while denying resources for a data portion of the existing communications session.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting a resource grant signal to a mobile node that requested allocation of said communications resource.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step placing the existing communications session in a session hold state includes storing a session identifier corresponding to the existing communications session in a hold queue.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of placing the existing communications session in a session hold state further includes:
transmitting a session hold message to a mobile node participating in said communications session.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a message releasing a communications resource; and
identifying a communications session in a hold state from information included in said hold queue to allocate said released communications resource to.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of identifying a communications session in said hold queue includes:
selecting a communications session in a hold state to allocate the released resources to as a function of the stored priority level information and hold start time associated with each communications session identifier stored in said hold queue.
7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:
transmitting a signal to a mobile node associated with the identified communications session to cause said mobile node to transition said identified communications session from a hold state to an on state.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying an existing communications session using the requested resource includes:
transmitting a priority upgrade option message to a communications device using the requested resource.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of identifying an existing communications session using the requested resource includes:
receiving a priority upgrade reply message from the communications device to which said priority upgrade option message was transmitted.
10. A method of operating a basestation in a mobile communications system, the method comprising:
receiving a message requesting allocation of a communications resource;
identifying an existing communications session using the requested resource;
reallocating the requested resource from the existing communications session;
placing the existing communications session in a session hold state, wherein placing the existing communications session in a session hold state includes storing a session identifier corresponding to the existing communications session in a hold queue; and
wherein said hold queue includes, for each identified session in said hold queue, a session hold start time and a session priority level indicator.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said hold queue further includes information on the resources needed to transition each identified session in said queue from a hold state to a session on state.
12. A basestation in a mobile communications system, the basestation comprising:
a receiver circuit for receiving a message requesting allocation of a communications resource;
means for identifying an existing communications session using the requested resource;
means for reallocating the requested resource from the existing communications session; and
means for placing the existing communications session in a session hold state in which resources are provided to support session control signaling while denying resources for a data portion of the communications session.
13. The basestation of claim 12, further comprising:
means for transmitting a resource grant signal to a mobile node that requested allocation of said communications resource.
14. The basestation of claim 12, wherein said means for identifying an existing communications session includes:
means for transmitting a priority upgrade option message to a communications device using the requested resource.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said means for identifying an existing communications session includes:
means for processing a priority upgrade reply message received from the communications device to which said priority upgrade option message was transmitted.
16. A method of operating a basestation in a communications system, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a communications resource;
identifying an existing communications session utilizing said resource;
transmitting a priority upgrade option message to a mobile device associated with said identified existing communications session;
receiving a priority upgrade option reply message from said mobile device; and
determining whether to reallocate the requested communications resource from said identified existing communications session in response to said request as a function of the received priority upgrade option reply message.
17. A method of operating a basestation in a communications system, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a communications resource;
identifying an existing communications session utilizing said resource;
transmitting a priority upgrade option message to a mobile device associated with said identified existing communications session;
receiving a priority upgrade option reply message from said mobile device;
determining whether to reallocate the requested communications resource from said identified existing communications session in response to said request as a function of the received priority upgrade option reply message; and
wherein determining whether to reallocate the requested communications resource from said identified existing communications session in response to said request as a function of the received priority upgrade option reply message includes:
processing said priority upgrade option reply message to upgrade a priority level associated with the identified existing communications session when said reply message indicates that a priority upgrade option has been selected.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining whether to reallocate the requested communications resource from said identified existing communications session in response to said request as a function of the received priority upgrade option reply message includes:
comparing a priority level associated with said resource request to the priority level associated with said identified existing communications session.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
transmitting a message to place the identified existing communications session into a session hold state when the priority level associated with said resource request exceeds the priority level associated with said identified existing communications session.