WO2003077518A2

WO2003077518A2 - Preconfiguration of call availability and routing of incoming phone calls

Info

Publication number: WO2003077518A2
Application number: PCT/FR2003/000716
Authority: WO
Inventors: Emmanuel Bertin; Michaël LETOUZEY
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2002-03-08
Filing date: 2003-03-06
Publication date: 2003-09-18
Also published as: FR2837049A1; AU2003242807A1; AU2003242807A8; WO2003077518A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for managing telephone calls, characterised in having a call-routing configuration, provided by a person likely to be called as a function of the state of the call and a telephone call from a caller to a callee, pre-provided with a call routing as previously configured in the case of the callee not being available. The invention further relates to means for carrying out such a method.

Description

Phone call routing

The present invention relates to a telephone call routing method.

More specifically, the invention relates to a telephone call routing method comprising a multiple choice of routing services offered to a caller when the latter attempts to reach a called party.

When a person tries to reach a correspondent, and the line is busy, a telephone call diversion on a voicemail has usually priority over an automatic callback on busy, this automatic callback aiming to automatically call the correspondent when the line is again free.

However, even if the correspondent in communication has these two services, voicemail and automatic call back, the caller will not be able to choose the service to trigger. However, each service corresponds to a specific need and use.

Thus, forwarding to voicemail is interesting if the caller wants to leave a message and automatic callback when busy if the caller wants to be called as soon as possible.

As the caller is the only one who knows the urgency of his call and knows his type of communication need, only the caller can choose the service that best meets his needs from the services that can be activated.

On some advanced communication systems, such choices of services are offered to the caller. Systems offer, for example, the caller a choice, when the line he is trying to reach is busy or unanswered, between an automatic call back and a voice mail.

The document US Pat. No. 5,793,858 thus proposes a method for managing call routing on busy or no answer from the called party, allowing the caller to redirect the call to a menu of available services, each service being selectable and operable from the caller's terminal provided with DTMF type selection means.

This method makes it possible in particular to make the caller interact with a call routing service which will route the call to a new address selected by the caller.

However, this process leaves few possibilities for the person called to configure in a personalized way the menu of services available to the people calling. The called party may have every interest in wanting to manage the incoming calls, and the proposals for call routing which are made to the calling person, depending for example on the conditions of the call, such as for example the identity of the appellant.

Such possibilities seem to be offered in the document WO 98/53591, in which it is described that the called person can configure rules associating given call conditions with determined call routing actions, the calls being managed according to these rules at the level of a call management service.

The configured rules define for example proposals, made to a caller during a busy call, of choice of call routes included in a list of call routes to addresses other than the initially requested telephone address by the caller, this list of call routing actions being proposed according to the nature of the call of the caller which corresponds (or not) to a configured call condition, such as for example the identity of the caller.

The configurable call routing actions can in particular be to leave a message, to transfer the call to another number, to participate in a conference with the called party and his interlocutor, to notify the called party in communication of the call of the caller, to remain on hold, to interrupt the communication in progress between the called party and his interlocutor. The routing actions are triggered automatically on call or by the caller by means of a selection by DTMF, Flash-Hook or by voice recognition in a list of possible call routings proposed by a voice server. However, this method uses call-called links of the telephone-telephone type, and does not teach means of communication such as for example means of the computer-computer, computer-telephone or telephone-computer type, and is therefore limited to certain modes and means of communication. Such means are used in document US Pat. No. 6,324,265, in which email and SMS servers are also used to give the caller the possibility of delivering a written message to the called party in the event that the call terminal the latter is busy, the networks used being both the voice telephone network and the Internet network. This method, as well as that described in document WO 98/53591, is however mainly implemented when the called party is busy, and therefore does not take into account the case of non-response or possibility given to the called party to choose his availability.

Indeed, the called party does not have the possibility here of choosing in advance (that is to say before there is a call) his availability for answering incoming calls according to predetermined call conditions.

Such a possibility seems to be given in document WO 00/52902, which discloses a software interface and telephone call management means, which in particular allow the called party to configure his availability according to call conditions.

However, this method is limited to software use with a graphic display and does not teach telephone call management means from a voice terminal without processor and without display means, such as for example a conventional telephone with wired connection. This method also does not teach completely about the management of the called party's configurations, and the protocol means for managing calls and call routing.

This method further includes the possibility for the caller to select the person he wishes to call from a contact list.

However, it does not include means provided to the caller to know in advance, before launching the call, the availability of the person he wishes to call in this list of contacts.

The caller can then only dial the number or address of the person he wants to call to find out his level of availability.

A first object of the invention is to offer means to the caller to know in advance, before launching the call, the availability of the person he wishes to call.

A second object of the present invention is to manage a telephone call originating from a terminal of the voice terminal type with or without processor, to a voice terminal with or without processor, in the event that the latter is unavailable.

A third object of the invention is to give the called person the possibility of configuring their availability according to predetermined calling conditions.

A fourth object of the invention is to understand means for storing call routing rules configured by the users of these means, and to implement the call routes configured in these rules as a function of the parameters of incoming calls. . A fifth object of the invention is to ensure compatibility between the configured configured routing rules stored.

A sixth object of the invention is to offer a large possibility of communication means of personalized information prerecorded or in real time from the caller to the called party and from the called party to the calling party. In order to achieve these goals in particular, a first aspect which the invention proposes is a method for managing a telephone call essentially supported by call routing means, characterized in that it comprises an implementation of means of communication and call routing according to the following stages:

• configuration by the person likely to be called of his availability;

• configuration by a person likely to be called of a call routing according to the call condition, a configuration consisting in associating at least one call routing action to be triggered with at least one call condition;

• telephone call from the calling party to the called party providing for the following operations: o before establishing a call to the called party, a determination of the updated availability of the called party at the request of the calling party; o after having attempted to establish a call to the called party, and in the event of unavailability of the called party, routing of the call as previously configured.

A second aspect of the invention represents call routing means implementing a telephone call routing method according to one. first aspect of the invention characterized in that they are organized into a central processing unit and several functional modules, the central unit being capable of coordinating the actions undertaken by the different modules, the modules comprising a configuration module capable implementing configurations comprising said call routing configurations.

FIG. 1 represents a first example of application of a method according to the invention. FIG. 2 represents a second example of application of a method according to the invention.

FIG. 3 represents the architectural organization of the call routing means used in a preferred embodiment of a telephone call routing management service according to the invention.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 represent particular operating modes of the call routing management service of FIG. 3.

Figure 4 shows a method of creating a service user account.

FIG. 5 represents a method of configuring the service by the called party.

FIG. 6 represents a method of displaying contactable people. Figure 7 shows a calling process.

Figure 8 shows a method of processing incoming calls for the called party, in a case where it is available.

Figure 9 shows a method of processing incoming calls for the called party in a case where it is not available. FIG. 10 represents a method of call routing in the event of a failure of the call from the calling party to the called party.

FIG. 11 represents a global diagram of the call routing method detailed in FIGS. 4 to 10.

One of the aims of the invention is to allow a calling person to choose a call routing action himself from a list of activatable call routing actions, and to activate it, when the caller attempts to reach a called person who is not available.

Another object of the invention is that the person called can personalize this list according to conditions of the call of the caller. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a general operating diagram of the present invention is organized around three main poles: a caller A who is trying to reach a called B via a telephone network, and a routing management service for telephone calls 100. Caller A and / or called party B handle (s) calls from their respective terminals connected to at least one telephone network at a given address.

The management service 100 manages both the call routing configurations, the calls and the call routings. This service is generally taken into account by a telephone service company.

To propose a list of activatable services to caller A, called party B first configures at least one call routing.

A call routing configuration is characterized by two elements: at least one call condition which constitutes the triggering element of the configuration and at least one call routing action which is carried out when the condition (s) is (are) validated.

For example on busy (≈condition), offer to send the call to the secretary (= action).

A default configuration is advantageously created and applied in the event that no configuration is applicable, and / or that a call has failed. In a preferred mode, care is taken to always have at least one triggered default configuration.

If two configurations have the same condition, the operating system of the management service 100 defines a priority designating a priority configuration.

Called B can also define several configurations. A configuration can be activated according to various conditions, such as: • "state" of the communication: on incoming call, on busy or on no answer; • in relation to caller A: this condition makes it possible to personalize the actions according to the identity of caller A;

• depending on a time parameter: for example, outside of working time, I can suggest that the call be diverted to my home extension. Similarly during meetings, I can offer to transfer the call to a mobile. In the latter example, the configuration can be carried out automatically in relation to the electronic diary of the called party B. A time may correspond to a time slot, a day or a determined period between two moments; • and? according to the priority of the call: as far as it is possible to detect the priority of the call, the idea is to be able to offer services according to this priority. If a call is considered "urgent", for example, we could suggest a referral to the secretary's position;

• and? depending on the state of presence: a state of presence makes it possible to determine the level of availability of a called B ("Online", "Absent",

"Busy", "Coming soon" ...); as a function of each state, the called party B can define a specific action;

• and? function of the first called party (after call forwarding);

• and? depending on the state of the network (bandwidth), infrastructure (modem link, LAN, etc.);

• and? function of events outside the system (weather, location, etc.).

Examples of call routing actions are shown below:

• caller B notification: a written electronic message informs caller B that a person has wished to reach him.

This notification is preferably sent by electronic mail or on a mobile phone by small SMS-type electronic messages (English acronym for "Short Message Service"). The message can be predefined or personalized by caller A. The message preferably includes information about the call including the date of the call and the identity of caller A; • notification to caller A: a written message informs the caller of a message from the called party B. This notification is preferably sent by electronic mail or on a mobile phone by small e-mail messages -mail, SMS or instant message (IM). This message is predefined and can be personalized by the called party B. This also makes it possible to indicate to the caller A (depending for example on his identity) various information concerning the state of the call (for example occupation, no response), the availability of the called party Called according to their calendar (for example "I am currently in a meeting, you can call me from 2:00 pm") or a message combined with the proposed actions (for example " for information on such subject, contact such person ").

• return to another line;

• forwarding to a voice server;

• sending on web pages, HTML, etc.

A call routing action can be triggered in one of the following ways:

• automatic release,

• direct initiation by caller A, such as an automatic callback when the called party's telephone line is busy or call forwarding via voice mail,

• triggering after entering at least one parameter by the caller, such as entering a call forwarding parameter on a different telephone number than that of the called party,

• triggering of at least one action adaptable to the type of terminal used by caller A. Depending on the type of interaction used by caller A to interact with service 100 (computer, terminal, voice), the system of service 100 returns the services offered by caller B technically compatible with this medium. Indeed, some services may be dependent on the media used by the caller.

To interact with service 100, caller A has several possibilities: either in voice mode, or a dedicated application on a computer or an application on another terminal if the latter has the technical characteristics necessary to meet the needs. If caller A can and wants to choose a different type of interaction than voice mode, a preferential protocol is established by prior identification with the service 100, signifying the type of interaction he wishes to use (interaction on computer, terminal or voice mode). If caller A is not identified, the voice mode is preferably used by default. For the voice mode, the call is transferred to the voice server which announces to the caller A all of the possibilities offered. The caller A chooses by means of keys of a control keyboard (such as for example a telephone keypad), if these emit selection signals of the DTMF type (English acronym of "Dual-Tone-Multiple- Frequency ”), or by voice if the voice server has a voice tag.

The telephony networks used to convey information exchange information can be of all types, in particular of the fixed telephony, mobile telephony or telephony over IP type using the SIP protocol.

(English acronym of "Session Initiation Protocol").

With reference to FIG. 1, a first example of application is given there.

Called B configures his call routing as follows:

- if A tries to reach me between 12 noon and 2 p.m., suggest a referral to my mobile phone, - between 12 noon and 2 p.m., forward all calls to the messaging system.

This configuration 1 is then stored at the level of the call routing service 100. At 2, A calls B at 1:15 pm.

In 3, the service 100 delivers a message: B is unavailable,

- contact B on his mobile,

- leave a message on your mailbox. In 4, A selects the first choice,

In 5, the call is diverted to B.'s cell phone

With reference to FIG. 2, a second example of application is given there.

Called B configures his call routing as follows: - if A tries to reach me, offer to leave a message,

- divert calls to another telephone line.

This configuration 1 is then stored at the level of the call routing service 100.

In 2, A calls B. In 3, the service 100 delivers a message:

B is unavailable, you can leave a message on his mailbox. In 4, A chooses to leave a message, In 5, the call is forwarded to the messaging of B.

With reference to FIG. 3, there are presented call routing means used in a preferred embodiment of a telephone call routing management service 100.

This service 100 was carried out in a network 1000 of telephony over IP using the SIP protocol. It is organized into modules, these modules being coordinated by a processing unit 101. They serve as an interface between the service 100 and the external entities which can in particular be a business directory 171, a platform for presence and instant messaging 500, a web browser 600 or a SIP network 1000.

Referring to Figure 3:

V The modules are represented by frames with rounded corners. External entities are represented by simple frames.

V Databases are represented by cylinders. V The arrows connect the modules to the processing unit 101; their meaning is that of requests, the responses to these requests are not shown.

The architecture of the service 100 comprises the following modules: directory interface (interface to the directories) 104, • contact list 105, configuration management 103 (storage, interpretation, consistency), presence interface 106 (interface to the platform for presence and instant messaging 500), called party selection 107 (call request by the caller from the directory), calling interface 108 (display of choices and selection), processing unit 101 (coordinates calls to all modules), configuration of the service by the called party 102, notification of the called party 111 (electronic messages 900, of SMS 910 types, e-mail 920, IM 930), call launcher 109 (at the SIP network level 1000), processing incoming calls 110 (reporting of SIP network events and actions), administration of service 112. The role of each module is specified in the following paragraphs.

• Directory interface 104

This module queries a directory 171 or 172 in order to know the names and telephone numbers (as well as possibly other attributes: address, photo ...) of all the people that a user of service 100 can reach.

The result of this request is presented to the user by the selection module called 107.

It can serve as an interface to the user's 171 and / or personal 172 directories.

• List of contacts 105

This module manages the contact lists 172 of the called party B. The contacts come from at least one directory, for example from a personal directory 152 and / or from a company directory 171 of the called party B. Each of the lists 172 is characterized by its name, which can be used in the definition of the call routing configurations having call conditions comprising a call condition linked to the identity of a caller belonging to the list of contact.

• Configuration management 103 This module manages the call routing configurations made by the called party

B. When they are filed (via the Configuration 102 module), it ensures their consistency (intrinsic and with existing configurations) and stores them in a database 151. During a call, it determines at least one applicable configuration, ensures its consistency (for example to prevent closed iterations between the call conditions and the call routing actions) and returns the action or actions to be performed. • 106 presence interface

This module is seen by a platform 500, preferably of presence and instant messaging, for example of the Jabber type, as a user of the service 100 whose contact list is all the users of the service 100. It is therefore notified by the platform 500 at each change in the presence of a user of the service 100. Thanks to these notifications, it locally maintains the state of presence of each user of the service 100. This information is presented to the user by the called party 107 selection module. • Called party selection 107

This module uses a browser 600 (Intranet, extranet and / or Internet) to interact with caller A. It displays to caller A a list of people from a directory 171 or 172 (obtained by interrogating the directory interface module 104 ) that he can call, with the availability of these people for him when they are users of the service 100 (based on their presence and on their configurations, obtained by interrogation of the presence interface 106 and configuration management 103 modules).

When caller A selects a person, the possible choices (configured on an incoming call by the called party) are presented to him by the calling interface module 108, then the call is possibly established by the call launcher module 109.

• Caller interface 108

When the configurations of called party B provide for a choice by caller A, this choice is presented by this module. Called B can also have provided a text or multimedia message which is transmitted by this module.

If caller B is a user of service 100, the presentation and the choice are made via a user 700 of service 100. This user 700 can be on a computer or on an interactive telephone. The calling interface module 108 additionally stores data on caller A: his or her SIP addresses or addresses and the IP address (of the terminal used) associated with him / her.

If the caller is not a user of the service, the presentation and the choice are made by a voice server 800 with DTMF or voice identification. • Processing unit 101

This module coordinates all the other modules to implement the 100 service.

• Configuration (of service by called party B) 102

This module uses a browser 600 (Intranet, extranet and / or Internet) to interact with the called party B. It presents to the called party B an interface for creating simple and user-friendly configurations. This module also allows the called party B to define his personal directory 172 and his contact lists 152. The configurations are checked and stored by the configuration management module 103, the personal directory 172 is stored by the directory interface module 104 and the contact lists 152 by the contact list module 105.

• Notification of the called party 111

This module notifies called party B of the receipt of a call when called party B has requested it in its configurations. A notification is made by email 900 or, depending on the configuration, by SMS 910, by email 920 or by instant message (IM) 930.

• Call launcher 109

This module initiates a call in the SIP network. Only the call establishment signaling passes through this module, the media flows do not pass through it. This module is invoked when the caller A establishes a call by the called selection module 107. When initiating the SIP call, caller A is called first. This call must not trigger any call routing configurations (if caller A has activated the service as called).

If he does not pick up, the request is canceled. If he picks up, called party B is called and the request is closed.

If the called party has activated service 100 (that is, their terminal is connected to the SIP network), the non-response and busy events will be reported by the incoming call processing module 110.

• Incoming call processing 110 This module is invoked by the SIP network when called B is a user of service 100: call signaling is routed to the application server on which this module runs. The call routing configurations are then consulted. Choices are offered to caller A by the calling interface module 108. If the chosen action is telephone (for example a forwarding), it is executed by this incoming call processing module 110. Otherwise, it is executed by another module or by the call terminal of caller A (for example sending an e-mail).

If caller A is not a user of service 100, the calling interface module 110 preferentially returns as routing the action to a voice server 800 and offers choices via the voice server 800. It is then the voice server 800 which executes telephone actions.

• Administration of the 112 service

This module allows an administrator of service 100 to administer user accounts. The interaction with the administrator is done by a browser (intranet, extranet or internet). Caller information A

(@IP) are stored by the calling interface module 108 and the information on the called B (default configuration) by the configuration management module 103.

Such a modular service architecture 100 makes it possible to integrate multiple criteria proposed by the called party B and selectable by the calling party A.

The service 100 notably includes mechanisms for selecting by the caller A services to be triggered from among services subscribed by the called party B, as well as means for reading personalized messages.

The service 100 includes in particular automatic service execution mechanisms requested by the called party B.

The service 100 also includes a configuration and storage structure of choice to be proposed as a function of the identity of the caller A, the time, the presence of the called party B, the first called party, network parameters, external events, etc.

With reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, particular operating modes of the call routing management service are presented.

100 previously described and with reference to FIG. 3. The continuous arrows represent requests. V The dotted arrows represent responses to requests.

With reference to FIG. 4, a method of creating a user account for the service 100 is presented.

A service administrator creates a user account using the service administration module 112. This configuration consists in configuring the parameters necessary for the user to be able to play the roles of caller A and called party B: a calling account and a called account are created for this user.

The creation 10-11 of a calling account consists of entering one or more URIs of caller A and at least one IP address of a user's terminal (comprising means for implementing an interfacing method with the service 100) in a technical base of the calling interface module 108.

The creation 12-13 of a called account consists of entering one or more URIs of the called B, a default configuration and possibly predefined configurations in the configuration management module 103.

With reference to FIG. 5, a method of configuring the service by the called B is presented.

Called B creates, consults and modifies its configurations by the configuration module 102. This module 102 consults at 14 the configuration management module 103 to display the 15 existing configurations.

Caller B can also create a new configuration, delete or modify an existing configuration.

After a modification or creation of a configuration, it is sent (16 or 18 respectively) to the configuration management module 103 which verifies its internal consistency and its compatibility with the existing configurations. This module 102 responds (17 or 19 respectively) positively if the configuration is valid or negatively if the configuration is not valid. In a preferred mode, a possible problem is indicated by a message or a signal to the configurator. The erasure 20 of a rule is advantageously possible (21) only if there remains, after erasure 21, at least one rule including one by default.

With reference to FIG. 6, a method of displaying contactable people is presented.

A request for updating 22 of the list of people that the caller A is likely to call is launched by the caller B of the selection module called 107 to the processing unit 101, a list being first put at update by consulting (23-24) the directory interface module 104.

A consultation (25-26) of the presence interface module 106, and a consultation (27-28) of the configuration management module 103 then makes it possible to update respectively the presence status and the telephone availability of the persons from the list that they wish to display to caller A.

We will see in the study of FIGS. 8 and 9 that the availability of these people included in the list can be configured so as to be a function of the call conditions of caller A, and in particular of his identity.

The updated list, comprising the updated information on the presence state and the availability of the people composing it, is then returned at 29 to the selection module called 107.

Caller A can then consult his directory knowing already, before even calling a person, the people who can be reached.

Referring to Figure 7, a calling method is shown there.

Once the updated list is displayed, caller A can either select an available person or manually enter a URI from the called selection module 107. A call request 30 is then initiated towards the processing unit 101 and a link 31 established with the call launcher 109. The call launcher 109 sends a Prompt without SDP to the caller A, then uses the information contained in the returned SDP to send a Prompt to the called party. This operating mode is described in the document IETF draft- rosenberg-sip-3pcc-02. A more complex operating mode must be implemented if the terminals use different codes and must negotiate them.

Whether or not the called party has activated service 100, the call is established in the same way. If the called party has activated service 100, the call is treated like any incoming call, as we will see. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, two methods of processing incoming calls for the called party are shown, in the respective cases in the figures where the called party B is available and not available.

When the called party B has activated the service 100, all his calls (whether they come from a SIP telephone, a gateway or the call initiator module 109) are forwarded by a local server to the call processing module inbound 110 from service 100, then managed at 34 by processing unit 101. The availability of called party B is then found by first determining its presence state in 35-36 (by the presence interface module 106), then the availability that the called party presents for caller B at 39 (by the configuration management module 103).

In a particular implementation of the method, the availability that the called party B presents to the caller A depends (in whole or in part) on information coming from a contact list to which the caller B possibly belongs. (and managed by the contact list module 105). A step of comparing the identity of caller A with persons belonging to the contact list and of deducing whether or not caller A belongs to the list, is then preceded by the determination of the availability of the 'called B to caller A. The request-response to the contact list module is referenced 37-38. This particular mode of implementation of the method thus allows the called party B to choose beforehand an availability which he wishes to display as a function of the person who calls him.

With reference to FIG. 8, the availability 40 of the called party B is positive, and the call 41 can be established to the called party B by the module for processing incoming calls 110.

With reference to FIG. 9, the availability 42 of the called party B is negative, and call routing actions will be triggered in 43-44 to overcome the impossibility of joining the called party B on his direct line. The choice of actions to be triggered are managed by the configuration management module 103, and can be a function of call conditions.

The actions triggered subsequently are given by way of example, knowing that the types of actions to be triggered may be of different nature and form. The actions triggered 51-52 correspond to an informative message to the caller A and to a list of choices of call routing actions proposed to the caller A through the calling interface module 108.

The message to caller A may have been personalized beforehand by called party B to caller A in a particular configuration and stored in base 151.

Through the calling interface module 108, the caller A selects from his call terminal a call routing action from the list proposed at 51. If the latter is of telephone type, it is returned at 52 to the processing unit 101, then processed at 56 as an SIP action by the incoming call processing module 110. If it is of the electronic mail or return type on an HTML page (for example), the action is processed locally by 55 at the call terminal of caller A.

A notification action for the called party at 53-54 is also performed via the called party notification module 111.

With reference to FIG. 10, a method of call routing is shown in the event of a failure of the call from the caller A to the called party B.

A call failure occurs as a result of a non-response, a busy or a non-recording. This failure is managed at 43 by the configuration management module 103 which includes at least one configuration provided in the event of such a call failure.

In 44, a call failure notification is preferably sent in SIP to caller A and actions to be triggered are activated and follow a process identical to that shown in FIG. 9 of unavailability of the called party B, namely a list of choices for call routing actions selectable in 51-52, a notification of the called party in 53-54, local processing in 55 for sending e-mail or on the Internet page, then forwarding in 56 of telephone calls to the incoming call processing module 110.

In a preferred mode, a maximum of two action lists will be prepared for caller A, one on incoming call and one on call failure. Another case can also be an automatic triggering of a default action and configured by the called B.

If no action can be initiated, the appeal will be dismissed.

Referring to FIG. 11, the overall diagram of the call routing method detailed in FIGS. 4 to 10 is shown.

In the event of an incoming call 34, the presence of the called party B and possibly the name of the caller A in a list of contacts is determined in 36-38, as well as the availability of the called party B in 39 to caller A. In the event of availability 40, the call is established at 41 with the called party B. In the event of unavailability 42, actions 43 to be triggered are determined, in particular as a function of the conditions of the call . This determination 43 of the actions to be triggered is also to be carried out in the event of failure 45 of the call. An interrogation of the caller at 51 on a choice of call routing actions to be carried out leads to the display at 51 bis and a selection at 52 of an action by the caller A. The call can then be transferred in 52 bis to another terminal of called B or another action can be triggered in 52 ter before the end of the call in 60. A notification of the called in 53-54 can also be made, in order to warn him of caller A's call, before ending the call in 60. This can also be done in combination with the action choice list in 51 bis offered to caller A.

Claims

1. A method of managing a telephone call, essentially supported by call routing means, characterized in that it includes an implementation of communication and call routing means according to the following steps:

• configuration by the person likely to be called of his availability; • configuration by a person likely to be called of a call routing according to the call condition, a configuration consisting in associating at least one call routing action to be triggered with at least one call condition;

2. A method of managing a telephone call according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the configuration of availability by the person likely to be called is carried out according to the call condition.

3. Method for managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that during the call, the caller can choose a call routing action from a list of call routing actions proposed by the called party, when it tries to reach the called party and the latter is not available, and trigger it.

4. Method for managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the configuration or configurations can be created, erased or modified by the person likely to be called.

5. Method for managing telephone calls according to the preceding claims, characterized in that there is always at least one configured call routing action by default triggerable in the following cases:

• call failure,

• unavailability and non triggering of other call routing actions,

• unavailability and no other call routing action is configured.

6. A method of managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it also ensures an intrinsic consistency of each configuration and a consistency of each configuration towards the other configurations.

7. A method of managing a telephone call according to the preceding claim, characterized in that, in the event of a problem of inconsistency in or between one or more configuration (s), a description of the problem which has occurred is notified to the person who configures.

8. Method for managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a call condition consists of one of the following conditions: • state of the communication when receiving a call on a terminal of the called party, the state of the communication can be an incoming call, an occupation of the telephone line or a non-response to the call,

• the identity of the caller, • a time parameter, such as a date or a time of day,

• call priority, such as an urgent or non-urgent call,

• a state of presence of the called party, such as “online”, “absent”, “in a meeting”, • the identity of a first called party, in the event that the call has already been the subject at least one call forwarding,

• the state of the telephone network or the state of an infrastructure (such as a modem or LAN link),

• events outside the system, such as the weather, location.

9. Method for managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a call routing action consists of one of the following actions: • notification to the called party by means of a written message that '' a call has been received on the called party's telephone line, for example an SMS,

• forwarding on another line,

• forwarding to a voice server,

• sending a written electronic message to the caller, for example an e-mail, an SMS or an instant message (IM),

• sending a written electronic message to the called party,

• sending to a website.

10. A method of managing a telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a call routing action is triggered in one of the following ways:

• automatic initiation, • direct initiation by the caller, such as an automatic callback when the called party's telephone line is busy or call forwarding via voice mail,

• triggering of at least one action adaptable to the type of terminal used by the caller.

11. Method for managing telephone call according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the telephone call comprises the following operations:

• choice of the called party by the calling party,

• establishment of a call from the caller intended for the called party,

• call handling.

12. A method of managing a telephone call according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the operation of choosing the called party by the calling party comprises a selection of the called party from at least one updated directory made up (s ) a list of people (whom the caller is likely to call) to whom information (such as addresses, telephone numbers) is respectively associated, the method comprising the following steps:

• request by the caller to update information included in the directory (s), • loading of or the directory (s),

• updating of information on the people included in or the directory (s) requested,

• choice by the caller of the called party by selecting a person from the list of people or by manually dialing a call code for a person not included in the list.

13. Method for managing telephone calls according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the updating of information comprises the following steps:

Determination of the presence of the persons on the list, making it possible to identify whether the terminals of the persons are present on the telephone network at the respective addresses of these persons,

• determination of the respective availability of the persons on the list who are present.

14. Telephone call management method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the updating of information further comprises, before the determination of availability, a step of determining call conditions linked to the request for directory update done by the caller.

15. Telephone call management method according to the preceding claim combined with claim 2, characterized in that the determination of availability of at least one person from the list depends on at least part of the call conditions.

16. A method of managing a telephone call according to the preceding claim, characterized in that at least one of the persons present at the directory list has at least one list of contacts allocated to it, and in that determining the call conditions includes the following steps:

• recognition of the caller's identity,

• comparison of the caller's identity with the identities of people included in each contact list,

• deduction of whether or not the caller belongs to the contact list (s).

17. Telephone call management method according to the two preceding claims, characterized in that the caller belongs to at least one contact list of at least one person present from the directory list, and in that a call condition consisting of the identity of the caller is taken into account for the determination of the availability of this or these person (s) for the caller.

18. A method of managing a telephone call according to one of the seven preceding claims, characterized in that the operation of establishing a call from the caller intended for the called party takes place according to the ^" following steps ^" : request to send a signal to the caller once the called party has been chosen,

• sending of a signal to the caller without additive message,

• reception of the signal by the caller,

• sending of a call signal intended for the called party and accompanied by an electronic message of SDP type.

19. Telephone call management method according to one of the eight preceding claims, characterized in that the call processing operation comprises receiving the call from the caller by the called party, when the call is not defeated, comprising the following steps: • reception of the call intended for the called party,

• activation of one of the following two call processes:

- if the called party is available, the call of the calling party is extended to the called party's terminal, - if the called party is not available, the following two steps are implemented: ^» determination of at least one configured call routing action (s) to be triggered, • triggering of or the call routing action (s) associated with at least one of the conditions of the call.

20. A method of managing a telephone call according to one of claims 11 to 18 combined with claim 5, characterized in that the processing of the call comprises a call failure operation from the caller to the '' called in the event of a call failure (for example a non-response, a busy, a non-recording) comprising a triggering of the or the call routing action (s) configured by default.

21. Telephone call management method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that a default call routing action consists in automatically sending a call failure notification to the caller.

22. Method for managing a telephone call according to one of the three preceding claims, characterized in that at least one call routing action is triggered automatically.

23. Telephone call management method according to one of the four preceding claims, characterized in that at least one trigger call routing action is done by the caller after communicating to the caller a list of at least one call routing action to be triggered.

24. Telephone call management method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the call routing action list communication to be triggered is carried out in one of the following two ways:

• sending at least one call routing action list to be triggered to the caller's call terminal, in the case where the call terminal is equipped with display and selection means or the call routing action (s) to be triggered from the list, and is connected to the communication network suitable for such information transport,

• sending a call routing action list to be triggered to a voice server which communicates this list to the caller orally on the caller's call terminal, in the case where the call terminal is equipped with means for selecting the call routing action or actions to be triggered from the list stated orally.

25. A method of managing a telephone call according to the preceding claim, characterized in that in a case not included in those mentioned above, at least one default call routing action is triggered automatically.

26. A method of managing a telephone call according to one of the nine preceding claims, characterized in that the call is rejected if it is impossible to extend the call from the caller to the terminal of the called party or not triggering any call routing action.

27. Telephone call management method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it uses at least one of the following telephone networks:

• IP telephony using a SIP protocol, • mobile telephony,

• home phone.

28. Telephone call management method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the call management is essentially supported by a remote personalized call routing service comprising call routing means.

29. Call routing means implementing a telephone call routing method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that they are organized into a central processing unit and several functional modules, the central unit. being able to coordinate the actions undertaken by the different modules, the modules comprising a configuration module able to implement configurations comprising said call routing configurations.

30. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the configuration module comprises tools for creating, modifying and deleting configurations.

31. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said tools include:

• means of triggering a request to load at least one list of configurations, call conditions and routing actions predetermined calls in storage means from local or remote database,

Means of associating at least one telephone availability with at least one required call condition in order to create or modify availability configurations,

• means of associating at least one call routing action to be triggered with at least one call condition in order to create or modify call routing configurations, at least one list of configurations comprising said routing configurations call.

32. Call routing means according to one of the three preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a configuration management module comprising: • means for memorizing the call routing configurations,

Means of ensuring an intrinsic coherence of a call routing configuration and a coherence of a call routing configuration with the stored call routing configurations, the call routing configuration being configured at beforehand via the configuration module,

Means of choosing an availability configured according to the incoming call condition,

Means for choosing at least one call routing action to be triggered as a function of incoming call condition from the stored configurations,

• means for sending or the selected call routing action (s) to the module capable of triggering it or them.

33. Call routing means according to one of the four preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a directory interface module comprising means for triggering a request to load at least one list directory. persons likely to be called to whom are associated respectively information comprising addresses and telephone numbers, from local or remote directory database.

34. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that they further comprise a personal contact list module, comprising:

Means for creating at least one list from the directory list,

Means for storing at least one list of contacts,

Means for comparing the identity of a caller to the identities of each person from at least one list of contacts,

Means of deducing whether the caller belongs to at least one list of contacts,

35. Call routing means according to one of the six preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a presence interface module comprising means capable of determining the presence of people from a communication network, namely to identify in real time if the terminals of people are present on a telephone network at the respective addresses of these people.

36. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said identification is done through a communication platform to provide presence management services and instant messaging.

37. Call routing means according to claims 32 and 33 combined with one of the two preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a called party selection module comprising: • means for enabling display of the people included in a directory list required by the directory interface, the presence of people from or the directory (s) determined by the presence interface, the availability of people being present by interrogating the management modules for configuring these people, • means for selecting a person included in the list and means for manually entering a person identification code, such as for example a telephone number or a URI code.

38. Call routing means according to one of the nine preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a calling interface module, comprising means for communicating to the caller a list of routing action lists d call to be triggered coming from the configuration management module of the called party and the means of selection by the caller of an action from a list.

39. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the communication means of the calling interface module further comprise:

Means for connecting to the caller's call terminal connected to an IP telephony network using the SIP protocol,

Means for routing at least one choice list of call routing actions to the caller's call terminal,

• means for storing data comprising the SIP URI (s) of the caller and the IP address of his call terminal.

40. Call routing means according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the communication means of the calling interface module further comprise: • means of connection to a voice server,

• means for switching the communication means of this module from a connection to the IP telephony network to a connection to the voice server, in the event that it is not possible to transmit a call routing action list on the caller's terminal via the IP telephony network,

• means of routing a call routing action or a choice list of call routing actions to the voice server.

41. Call routing means according to one of the twelve preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a module for processing incoming calls, comprising the means for receiving and triggering a routing action of telephone-type incoming call from an IP telephony network.

42. Call routing means according to one of the thirteen preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a call launcher module comprising means capable of establishing a call in a telephone network over IP.

43. Call routing means according to one of the fourteen preceding claims, characterized in that they further comprise a called party notification module comprising the means for sending written messages to the called party by electronic mail. of e-mail, small message (SMS) or instant message (IM) type, a sending of one of said messages corresponding to a triggering of a call routing action activated automatically or after a selection at the caller's call terminal.

44. Call routing means according to one of the fifteen preceding claims, characterized in that they also comprise a service administration module comprising the means for creating user accounts of an IP telephony network, and storing data defining of calling accounts and called accounts, data of a calling account comprising one or more URIs of the calling party and an IP address of the calling terminal of the calling party, data of an account called party comprising one or more URIs of the called party and at least one call routing configuration of the called party.

45. Call routing means according to one of the fifteen preceding claims, characterized in that they are managed by a personalized call routing service.

46. Terminal used by the caller or by the called party in a process or with call routing means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that they comprise means for connection to a network over IP, means for displaying electronic message and call routing action list, and means for selecting call routing actions.

47. Terminal used by the caller or by the called party in a process or with call routing means according to one of claims 1 to 45, characterized in that it comprises telephone means making it possible to select an action call routing from a call routing list proposed by a voice server, the telephone means being of the keypad type with DTMF or of the voice identifier type.

48. Terminal used by the caller or by the called party in a process or with call routing means according to one of claims 1 to 45, characterized in that they include a computer, a landline telephone, a cell phone or “Pingtel” type phone.