ANNOUNCEMENT MANAGING DEVICE FOR SETTING SELECTED ANNOUNCEMENTS INTO A SERVER OF AN OPERATOR, FOR A COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication equipments and more precisely to the recording into a messaging server of a network operator of announcements (or messages) concerning the users of such communication equipments.

One means here by "communication equipment" any equipment, possibly of the 5 mobile or portable type, capable of exchanging data with another equipment. So, it may be a fixed or mobile telephone, a (personal) computer, a laptop or a personal digital assistant, for instance.

Moreover one means here by "messaging server" any type of server capable of storing and transmitting any type of announcement or message concerning users of o communication equipments. So, it may be a voice mailbox, a video mailbox for 3G or an e-mail server, for instance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today, a user of a communication equipment can record an announcement into 5 a messaging server provided by its operator in order this announcement could be automatically transmitted to a caller which intends to join him when he does not want to be joined or cannot be joined. Such a recording is useful when a user is in a meeting, on vacation, or abroad (possibly with a time shifting), for instance.

An announcement being often long to record into a messaging server, and o generally only one announcement being recorded at once, the user either gives up to its recording, or records (or uses) a (possibly predefined) generic announcement. In both case the announcement does not give to the caller any information regarding the availability of the person he tries to join.

In order to improve the situation, it has been proposed, in the patent document 5 US 2005/0089149, to allow a user to store several different announcements in a messaging server, and to select one announcement when required in order the messaging

server records it and transmits it to a caller which intends to join him. This patent document also proposes to put the caller in a stand by mode in order the called user has time at his disposal for generating an announcement dedicated to the caller.

With such an improvement the user has just to select one announcement in his list of predefined announcements when needed. But these announcements being stored into the messaging server, each time the user wants to select one of his announcements, he has to carry out several successive actions to reach the messaging server, then to select an announcement and to leave the messaging server. Moreover, this solution requires to adapt the messaging server of each operator in order it could be able to store the list of predefined announcements of each of its user clients and to allow the latter to proceed to their announcement selections. That forces the user equipment and the messaging server to be compatible according to the used protocol, but also to carry out modifications into the network.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

So, the object of this invention is to still improve the situation and notably to allow each user of a communication equipment to schedule and easily change his announcements depending on the circumstances, if possible without inducing modification of the messaging server of his operator. For this purpose, it provides an announcement managing device, for a communication equipment intended for being connected to a messaging server of an operator, and comprising:

- a method recording means arranged for storing i) data representative of the successive actions that a user has to carry out with his communication equipment for accessing to the messaging server for recording an announcement and for leaving this messaging server till the user hangs up, and ii) timings between these successive actions, the data and timings defining a method associated to the messaging server, and

- a managing means arranged, when it is triggered by a dedicated action, for providing a list of titles, respectively associated to stored announcements, on a display means of his communication equipment in order this user selects one title, and for carrying out the recorded method associated to the messaging server of the user's operator in order to record the announcement associated to this selected title in this messaging server.

The announcement managing device according to the invention may include additional characteristics considered separately or combined, and notably:

- it may comprise an announcement recording means arranged for storing an announcement associated to a title, provided by the user by means of his

5 communication equipment, into a list;

> the announcement recording means may be arranged for determining the duration of an announcement and for storing this duration in correspondence with the title associated to the announcement;

> the announcement recording means may be arranged for storing the announcements o into a memory means of its communication equipment;

- the stored data may be Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) associated to keys of a keyboard of the human-machine interface of the communication equipment;

- its managing means may be arranged for being scheduled in order to automatically replace a first announcement recorded into the messaging server with a second 5 selected announcement at a chosen time;

> its managing means may be arranged for being scheduled in order to automatically replace a first announcement recorded into the messaging server with a second selected announcement at a chosen time and during a chosen time interval, and for replacing this second announcement recorded into the messaging server with the o first announcement when the time interval is expired;

> in a variant, when a second announcement is associated with a title only representative of an event with a duration smaller than a day, its managing means may be arranged for replacing the second announcement recorded into the messaging server with the first announcement the day after the event occurred, if 5 the user has not yet triggered this replacement.

The invention also provides a communication equipment comprising an announcement managing device such as the one above introduced.

Such a communication equipment may also comprise a diary means arranged for being scheduled by the user to signal events which can be associated to a title, and for 0 triggering the announcement managing device with a title associated with a starting event in order its managing means carries out the recorded method associated to the messaging server of the user's operator in order to record the announcement associated to this

selected title in this messaging server.

In a variant, the communication equipment may comprise a diary means arranged for being scheduled by the user to signal events, and for triggering the announcement managing device when a scheduled event is starting in order its managing 5 means provides a list of titles, respectively associated to stored announcements, on a display means to allow the user to select one title, and then for carrying out the recorded method associated to the messaging server of the user's operator in order to record the announcement associated to this selected title in this messaging server.

Moreover, the diary means may be arranged for triggering the announcement o managing device when a scheduled event is finished, in order its managing means replaces the announcement recorded into the messaging server with another announcement (for instance the one which was recorded into the messaging server before the beginning of the scheduled event).

5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent on examining the detailed specifications hereafter and the appended drawings, in which:

- Fig.l schematically and functionally illustrates a radio communication network to which are connected a messaging server and mobile communication equipments o according to the invention,

- Fig.2 schematically and functionally illustrates a mobile communication equipment comprising an example of embodiment of an announcement managing device according to the invention.

The appended drawings may not only serve to complete the invention, but also 5 to contribute to its definition, if need be.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The invention aims at allowing users of communication equipments, connected to the communication network of an operator, to schedule and easily change their 0 announcements (or messages) near the messaging server of this operator.

In the following description it will be considered that the communication network is a mobile (or cellular) network, such as an UMTS network. But, the invention

is not limited to this type of mobile (or cellular) network. It applies to any type of communication network, mobile or not, which offers an access to a messaging server to its clients.

Moreover, given the example of communication network (UMTS) chosen to illustrate an implementation of the invention, it will be considered in the following description that the communication equipments are mobile (or cellular) telephones. But, the invention is not limited to this type of communication equipment. It applies to any type of communication equipment, mobile (or portable or cellular) or not, and capable of exchanging data with another communication equipment. So, it may be a fixed or mobile telephone, a (personal) computer, a laptop or a personal digital assistant, for instance.

As it is illustrated in Fig.l, in a schematically manner but nevertheless sufficient to understand the invention, an UMTS network can be sum up to a core Network CN coupled to a radio access network RAN (or UTRAN).

The radio access network RAN mainly comprises base stations (called Node Bs) and radio network controllers or RNCs (not illustrated), connected therebetween.

Each Node B is associated to at least one (logical) cell Ci (here i = 1 to 3, but it can take any value greater than 0) covering a radio area in which mobile telephones UE can establish (or follow) radio communication. Each radio network controller is associated to at least one cell Ci, and therefore is coupled to at least one Node B. The core network CN comprises network equipments which, for some of them, are notably connected to the radio network controllers. Among these network equipments one may notably mentioned the MSC ("Mobile Switch Center") to which a messaging server MS can be connected in an UMTS network.

Only one messaging server MS has been sketched in Fig.l. But, generally each operator of a communication network is associated to at least one messaging server MS.

In the following description it will be considered that the messaging server is a voice mailbox. But, the invention is not limited to this type of messaging server. It applies to any type of messaging server capable of storing any type of announcement or message concerning users of communication equipments (here mobile telephone) UE. So, it may be also an e-mail server or a video mailbox for 3G, for instance.

The invention proposes to install an announcement managing device D into the communication equipments UE.

As schematically and functionally illustrated in Fig.2, an announcement managing device D according to the invention comprises, in combination, at least a method recording module MRM and a managing module MM.

The method recording module MRM is intended for storing data which are 5 representative of the group of successive actions that a user must carried out with its mobile telephone UE when he wants to access to the messaging server MS of his operator for recording an announcement (or message), and for leaving this messaging server till he hangs up his mobile telephone UE. It is also intended for estimating and storing the timings between these successive actions. o One will call hereafter "method" the data and the corresponding timings which represent together a group of successive actions carried out by a user with his mobile telephone UE for recording an announcement near a messaging server MS. Such a method is associated to a chosen messaging server MS of an operator. A messaging server may be possibly shared by several operators. 5 In order to record (store) such a method, the user must carry out a recording phase. For this purpose he has to select a dedicated item in a menu displayed onto the screen (or display means) SC of his mobile telephone UE, by means of the keys of its human-machine interface IN. Then the method recording module MRM invites him to start to record a method, i.e. to access to the messaging server MS of his operator for o recording an announcement. The user dials the communication number of the messaging server MS (here a voice mailbox) by means of the keys of his mobile telephone UE.

It is important to notice that the method recording module MRM stores data representing each action carried out by the user with the keys of his mobile telephone UE, after the starting invite message of the recording phase. For this purpose, it can store the 5 DTMF ("Dual Tone Multi-Frequency") which is associated to each key of the keyboard of the human-machine interface IN. Of course, it also stores the dialled number of the messaging server MS, and the timing between each couple of successive actions in order to be able to reproduce an announcement recording near the messaging server MS later on. 0 When the communication has been established between the mobile telephone

UE and the messaging server MS, the user is invited to start a usual announcement recording. So, the user browses the announcement recording menu of the messaging

server MS with the keys of his mobile telephone UE till he is invited to provide his announcement. At this stage, the method recording module MRM preferably displays, on the screen SC, a list of announcements (and more preferably titles representing these announcements), which are stored into a memory MYl of the mobile telephone UE, which can be handle by the latter through a file system, for instance. This memory MYl can be part of the device D, as illustrated in Fig.2.

Then the user selects an announcement in the list.

The aim of the method recording phase being to determine a group of successive actions carried out by a user, the data defining the announcement selected by the user are not necessarily sent to the messaging server MS for storing purpose in a memory MY2 it comprises, in correspondence with the communication identifier of the mobile telephone UE. Indeed, the announcement selection by the user is only intended for indicating to the method recording module MRM the timing at which it will have to provide the messaging server MS with data defining a selected announcement when the recorded method will be replayed by the managing module MM.

Then, the user confirms the announcement recording near the messaging server MS and ends up the communication with this messaging server MS, by means of the dedicated keys IN of the mobile telephone UE. Then the method recording module MRM saves the recorded method, for instance, but not necessarily, into the memory MYl. The managing module MM intervenes when a method has been previously recorded by the method recording module MRM. This intervention occurs each time the managing module MM is triggered by a dedicated action, possibly carried out by the user, in order to select an announcement to be played by the messaging server MS and proposed by a dedicated item of the menu. More precisely, when the managing module MM is triggered, it displays the list of announcement titles (stored into the memory MYl) on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE, in order its user could select one title. Then the managing module MM carries out (or reproduces) the recorded method which is associated to the messaging server MS of the user's operator in order to record the announcement associated to this selected title in the messaging server MS.

In other words, the managing module MM reproduces (or replays) the successive actions of the group of successive actions which defines the recorded method.

When an action consists in dialling the messaging server communication number at a timing defined by the recorded method, the managing module MM may order to its mobile telephone UE to dial this communication number to establish a communication with the messaging server MS. When an action consists in providing the messaging server MS with data defining the announcement selected by the user at a timing defined by the recorded method, the managing module MM may access to the memory MYl to extract these announcement data and may order to its mobile telephone UE to send them to the messaging server MS in order it stores them in its memory MY2, in correspondence with the communication identifier of the mobile telephone UE, to be able to play this announcement when required.

When the last action of the recorded method has been replayed by the managing module MM, the announcement recording near the messaging server MS is finished and the managing module MM may, for instance, display a message on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE to inform its user that the announcement recording has been correctly carried out. Therefore, each time the mobile telephone UE will receive an incoming call from a caller, the messaging server MS will automatically transmit the recorded announcement to this caller.

One will notice that when the mobile telephone UE replays the recorded method, the mobile telephone UE is preferably available for any action of the user (and an idle screen can be displayed). A message can inform the user that the announcement recording is in progress and that a mobile originated call will discard the announcement recording. Moreover, if the mobile telephone UE receives a mobile terminated call while the recorded method is running, a message can be displayed at the end of the call to inform the user that the recorded method will be retried because the announcement recording has been stopped during the call. More, one can imagine a limit in time for replaying the recorded method to prevent an infinite call in case of application trouble (for instance this time limit may be equal to 2 or 3 minutes).

The device D may also comprise an announcement recording module ARM intended for recording and storing data defining announcements associated to titles in the memory MYl.

The announcement recording module ARM intervenes each time it is triggered by a dedicated action carried out by the user, in order to record a new announcement, and

proposed by a dedicated item of the menu. More precisely, when the announcement recording module ARM is triggered, it displays a message on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE in order to invite the user to provide its new announcement. For instance, the user is invited to talk into the microphone of the mobile telephone UE. At the end of the announcement the announcement recording module ARM displays a message on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE in order to invite the user to select an item dedicated to "end of announcement", for instance. Then, the announcement recording module ARM displays a message on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE in order to invite the user to associate a title to his new announcement. For instance, the user may be invited to talk into the microphone to provide it with a title. In a first variant, the user may be invited to enter the title with the keys. In a second variant, the user may be invited to select a title amongst a predefined list of titles displayed by the announcement recording module ARM on the screen SC.

Any title may be associated to a new announcement. For instance, a title may signal a meeting ("meeting during 1 hour", "meeting during 3 hours", "meeting during the morning"), or a vacation ("vacation during 1 week", "vacation during 1 month"), or a travel abroad, possibly with a time shifting ("time shifting in India").

When the announcement recording module ARM has been provided with the data defining a new announcement and the corresponding title, it stores these data in the memory MYl . Then the new announcement belongs to the list of announcements which are now at the user's disposal in his mobile telephone UE.

The announcement recording module ARM may be also arranged for determining the duration of a new announcement and for storing data representing this duration, in correspondence with the title associated to the new announcement, in the memory MYl. The duration of an announcement may be displayed with the corresponding announcement title to inform the user during his selection. But in some specific implementations the durations may be also useful for the managing module MM when it replays the actions defining a recorded method.

It is important to notice that the managing module MM may be possibly scheduled in order to automatically replace an announcement, which has been recorded into the messaging server MS, with another announcement belonging to the list of announcements stored into the memory MYl, at a chosen time.

In this case, when the user selects an announcement he wants to be played by the messaging server MS, the managing module MM may invite him, through a message displayed on the screen SC of his mobile telephone UE, to provide it with the time at which he wants the selected announcement to replace the current one. In other words, a displayed message can invite the user to define how long he wants a selected announcement to be active.

The managing module MM may be also possibly scheduled in order to automatically replace an announcement, which must be recorded into the messaging server MS during a chosen duration (or time interval), with another announcement belonging to the list of announcements stored into the memory MY 1.

This function is intended for avoiding that an announcement continues to be played by the messaging server MS while the event for which it has been selected is finished. Indeed, it often occurs that a user forgets to deactivate an announcement he had previously activated into the messaging server MS for signalling a special event to the callers who intend to join him.

In this case, when the user selects an announcement he wants to be played by the messaging server MS, the managing module MM may invite him, through a message displayed on the screen SC of his mobile telephone UE, to provide it with the time at which he wants the selected announcement to be replaced with another one (for instance the preceding one), or with the time duration of the event which is concerned by the selected announcement.

So, when the time duration is expired, the managing module MM automatically replaces the (second and selected) announcement recorded into the messaging server MS with a (first) announcement of the list of announcements (for instance the one who was recorded before the second one).

In a variant, some announcement may be associated with a title which is representative of an event having a smaller duration than a day. For this purpose, a dedicated flag may be associated to a new announcement by the announcement recording module ARM at the end of the recording of this new announcement. In this case, when the managing module MM replaces a (first) announcement recorded into the messaging server MS with another (second and selected) announcement which must be recorded into the messaging server MS during a chosen duration, the flag which is associated to the

title of this second announcement informs it that it will have to replace this second announcement with the first announcement the day after the event occurred, if the user has not yet triggered himself this replacement.

So, the managing module MM cancels automatically the replacement of the first announcement the day which follows immediately the day where it has been replaced with the second (selected) announcement.

The device D according to the invention may be also triggered and/or scheduled by a diary module DM of its mobile telephone UE.

It is recalled that a diary module DM can be scheduled by a user in order to signal events and possibly to trigger an action near another module of its mobile telephone

UE. So, the invention proposes to use the diary module DM for triggering the announcement managing device D with a title that the user has previously associated with a scheduled event, when the latter starts.

For this purpose, when the diary module DM is used by the user to schedule an event, it may display a message on the screen SC of the mobile telephone UE to invite its user to associate an announcement to this event. If the user agrees, the diary module DM retrieves from the device D the list of announcement titles which is stored into its memory

MYl, and displays this list onto the screen SC in order the user selects one of them. Then, the diary module DM stores the data representative of this scheduled event (at least the starting time and the event definition, and possibly the ending time) in correspondence with data representative of the selected announcement.

When the starting time of such a scheduled event is reached, the diary module DM orders to the device D to proceed to the recording, near the messaging server MS, of the announcement, associated by the user to this event, with its managing module MM. Then the managing module MM starts to replay the recorded method, as described above, in order to record the announcement, designated by the diary module DM, near the messaging server MS.

In the same manner, when the ending time of such a scheduled event is reached, the diary module DM orders to the device D to proceed to the replacement of the last recorded announcement with another announcement (for instance the one who was recorded before). Then the managing module MM starts to replace the last recorded announcement with the other one, as described above, in order to record again the other

announcement near the messaging server MS.

The announcement managing device D and the diary module DM may be realised with software modules. But, each of them may be also realised with a combination of hardware and software modules, or only with hardware (for instance, each of them may be at least a part of an integrated circuit (IC) realized in CMOS technology or in any technology currently used in chip factory).

The invention is not limited to the embodiments of announcement managing device and communication equipment described above, only as examples, but it encompasses all alternative embodiments which may be considered by one skilled in the art within the scope of the claims hereafter.