DURING A TELEPHONE CALL

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and server for handling dual-tone multi-frequency audio signals (DTMF tones) during a telephone call comprising voice signals and DTMF tone signals.

BACKGROUND TO INVENTION

DTMF tones are information carrying signals in the form of audible tones which are generated during a telephone call. More particularly, a DTMF tone is generated when a key of a keypad of a telephone device is pressed. Each DTMF tone comprises a superimposition of a low frequency tone and a high frequency tone. The DTMF tone for each key of the keypad is unique to that key and signals that the key has been pressed. In this specification the terms "DTMF tones" and "DTMF tone signals" must be interpreted sufficiently broadly to include any type of tone or other type of data signal or event which can be generated during a telephone call by means of a keypad of a telephone device and which forms a detectable part of a telephone call. In this specification, the term "telephone call" must be interpreted sufficiently broadly to include any type of a telephone call made via a communication network, the telephone call comprising voice signals and DTMF tone signals, such as for example, a VOIP call, cellular phone call, "land line" call, Skype™ call or the like.

Any reference in this specification to a "caller" must be interpreted to include a reference to a person making or receiving a telephone call.

DTMF tones are often used in a call centre environment in order to collect confidential data from a caller. More specifically, a caller who makes a telephone call to a call centre operator is often required during the telephone call to enter confidential data such as, for example, a credit card number or a pin-code, using the keypad of the callers' telephone device to produce DTMF tones. As such, the telephone call comprises voice signals and DTMF tone signals, both of which are audible to the call centre operator.

A known security problem is that it is not safe for the call centre operator to hear the DTMF tones, as dishonest operators are known to record the DTMF tones and later to "decode" the DTMF tones so as to obtain the sensitive and confidential data from the callers and thereafter to use the data to defraud the callers.

In some scenarios, this sensitive information is passed verbally from the caller to an agent at the call centre. In other scenarios, the caller transmits this information by making use of the touch-tone facility of a suitable telephone handset. This allows for the transmission of DTMF (dial-tone multi-frequency) audio signals, wherein each audio signal is understood to represent an alphanumeric symbol. In order to conceal DTMF tones from the call centre operator and call recorders, organisations spend large amounts of money on relatively expensive telephone call processor hardware. Unfortunately, it is the case that only large organisations can afford telephone call processor hardware leaving the majority of small and medium size organisations with limited budgets for the purpose of such hardware with no alternative but to handle information in an unsecured manner. In addition to the expense referred to above, technical expertise and many man hours are required in order to install, configure and maintain the smooth running of the hardware referred to above. Compatibility issues often arise as a result of connecting the above-mentioned hardware to the call centres telephone lines. Furthermore, when telephone systems used by the call centre are changed or upgraded, such as for example, when recorders or PABX systems, etc. are upgraded, compatibility problems with the above-mentioned hardware are often encountered. Accordingly, there is a need for a low cost and simple solution to the problems described hereinabove.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for handling DTMF tones during a telephone call comprising voice signals and DTMF tone signals, the method including: providing a server which is connected to a communication network and which is operable to initiate and answer telephone calls via the communication network; a call centre operator transferring a telephone call between the call centre operator and a caller, to the server; the server answering the transferred telephone call thereby to establish a first telephonic connection via the communication network between the caller and the server; the server establishing a second telephonic connection via the communication network between the server and the call centre operator, and bridging the first and second telephonic connection thereby telephonically connecting the caller, the server and the call centre operator to one another; and the server disabling DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection such that DTMF tones generated by the caller using a keypad of a telephone device of the caller, are rendered inaudible over the second telephonic connection, thereby to ensure that the call centre operator does not receive any DTMF tones.

The method may include providing a conference call module on the server for bridging the first and second telephonic connections.

The step of the server disabling DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection may include the server actuating a conference call option of the conference call module for disabling the DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection.

The method may include monitoring the first telephonic connection for DTMF tones generated by the caller.

The method may include capturing data associated with the monitored DTMF tones generated by the caller.

The conference call module may be configured for monitoring the first telephonic connection for DTMF tone signals and for capturing data associated with the DTMF tones.

The method may include the conference call module sending data associated with the DTMF tones to a data handling module for processing the data.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a server which is connected to a communication network, the server including a processor and having computer program instructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions causing the processor to execute a method for handling DTMF tones during a telephone call comprising voice signals and DTMF tone signals, the method including: the server answering a telephone call received via the communication network from a caller which was transferred to the server by a call centre operator who received the telephone call from the caller, thereby to establish a first telephonic connection via the communication network between the server and the caller; the server establishing a second telephonic connection via the communication network between the server and the call centre operator, and bridging the first and second telephonic connection thereby telephonically connecting the caller, the server and the call centre operator to one another; and the server disabling DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection, thereby to ensure that the DTMF tones generated by the caller using a keypad of a telephone device of the caller, are rendered inaudible over the second telephonic connection, thereby to ensure that the call centre operator does not receive any DTMF tones.

The server may include a conference call module which is operable to bridge the first and second telephonic connections to generate a conference call between the caller, the server and the call centre operator.

The server may be operable to actuate a conference call option of the conference call module for disabling DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection.

The conference call module may be operable to monitor the first telephonic connection for DTMF tone signals.

The conference call module may further be operable to capture data associated with the monitored DTMF tones generated by the caller. The conference call module may be operable to send data associated with the DTMF tone signals to a data handling module for processing the data.

The server is operable to implement the method defined and described hereinabove in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further features of the invention are described hereinafter by way of a non-limiting example of the invention, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a flow chart illustrating a server, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones and a method, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones;

Figure 2 shows a flow chart showing further details of the server and the method of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a flow chart showing another embodiment of a server, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones and another example of a method, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones; and Figure 4 shows a flow chart showing further details of the server and the method of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS With reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a server, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones is designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The server 10 is configured to be connected to a communication network such as a telephone network 12. The server includes a processor and has program instructions stored thereon for causing the processor to execute a method 100 in accordance with the invention for handling DTMF tones 14 during a telephone call 16 comprising voice signals 18 and DTMF tone 14 signals. The DTMF tones contain sensitive and confidential data.

The method 100 is implemented by a call centre 20 when a telephone call 16 is received from a caller 24 by a call centre operator 32 at the call centre via the telephone network 12. It will be appreciated that the method 100 can be implemented equally in instances where a call centre operator 32 makes a call to a "caller" 24. More specifically, the call is made by the caller using a telephone 26 having a keypad 30. The server 10 includes a conference call module 34, a data storage module 36, a processor 38, a data handling module in the form of a data handling module 39 and a Database Management System (DBMS) 44. The conference call module 34, data storage module 36, data handling module 39 and DBMS 44 are software modules comprising computer program instructions executable on the server 10.

The conference call module may include software-based PABX systems or any other software modules that can handle telephone calls.

The conference call module 34 is operable to connect the server 10 to the telephone network 12 and to initiate and answer a telephone call 16 via the telephone network 12. The conference call module 34 is also operable to establish conference calls by bridging telephone connections. The conference call module 34 is further operable to connect the server 10 to the Internet 41 and to a web server 42 connected to the Internet 41 . The data handling module 39 is operable to monitor telephone calls for DTMF tone signals and caller identification data ("a caller identifier") unique to the telephone 26 used by the caller. The data handling module 39 is further operable to capture data associated with such DTMF tone signals 14 detected during telephone calls to the call centre. The DBMS 44 is linked to the data handling module 39 for storing data contained within the DTMF tone signals 14 against the caller identifier of the telephone 26 used by the caller.

When the call centre operator 32 receives a telephone call 22 from the caller 24, the call centre operator 32 transfers the telephone call 22 from the caller 24 to the server 10. The transferred telephone call is answered by the conference call module 34 of the server 10, thereby to establish a first telephonic connection 16.1 via the telephone network 12 between the caller 24 and the server 10. The conference call module establishes a second telephonic connection 16.2 via the telephone network 12 between the server 10 and the call centre operator 32 and bridges the first and second telephonic connections thereby connecting the caller 24, the server 10 and the call centre operator 32 to one another in a conference call. DTMF tones 14 on the second telephonic connection 16.2 are disabled by the server 10, such that the DTMF tones generated by the caller 24 using the keypad 30 of the telephone 26, are rendered inaudible across the second telephonic connection 16.2, thereby to ensure that the call centre 20, including the call centre operator 32, does not receive or hear any DTMF tones. More specifically, the conference call module 34 disables the DTMF tones 14 on the second telephonic connection 16.2 by actuating a conference call option of the conference call module having the functionality for disabling DTMF tones. The Applicant has found that a particularly effective conference call module is the "Confbridge" facility plugin used on Asterisk which is an open source platform provided by Digium of Schwartz MSL Boston, 300 Fifth Ave, 1 st Floor Waltham, MA 02451 . The conference call module 34 of the server monitors the first telephonic connection 16.1 for DTMF tone signals and captures data associated with any DTMF tones 14 generated by the caller 24 using the keypad 30 of the telephone 26 which are transmitted across the first telephonic connection 16.1 . The conference call module thus captures the sensitive and confidential data contained within the DTMF tones 14 which are detected on the first telephonic connection 16.1 and sends this data to the data handling module 39 for processing and encryption of the data. The data handling module then sends the processed data to the DBMS 44 for temporary storage in sequence against the caller identifier associated with the caller 24, which is also stored in the DBMS.

Once the sensitive and confidential DTMF data associated with the DTMF tones 14 has been stored in the DBMS 44, a web server 42 is able to obtain payment from the caller. More specifically, the web server 42 connects via the Internet 41 to the DBMS 44 and to a payment gateway 52, in order to obtain payment from an issuing bank 54 via the payment gateway 52 utilizing the DTMF data derived from the DTMF tones. The DTMF data includes a pin number, account number or other data required in order to obtain payment, such as, for example, a so-called PAN or payment card number such as a cheque card number, credit card number or the like, expiry date of the credit card, a CVV number or a CVV2 number.

As is illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, the server 10 may further include a voice recording module 80 for recording voice signals only, but not DTMF tones 14, in order to keep an audible record of the voice signals, for legal and security purposes.

As is illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings, the call centre operator 32 has access to a web browser 47 which is in data communication with the web server 42 which is in turn in data communication with the DBMS 44. On the browser 47, a visual representation is displayed of the activity of the data record of the caller 24 on the DBMS 44, so as to enable the call centre operator 32 to monitor the progress of capturing the DTMF tones 14 generated by the caller 24 using the keypad 30 of the telephone 26 of the caller 24. The sensitive and confidential information of the caller 24 is not displayed, but merely the progress made in capturing the DTMF tone signals 14. It is envisaged that the call centre operator 32 will offer voice assistance to the caller 24 while the caller is on the telephone. More specifically, if the caller 24 makes an error when pressing the keypad 30 of the telephone 26, the call centre operator 32 is able to initiate a reset, whereby the data record associated with the caller 24 which is stored on the DBMS 44 is deleted. The caller 24 can then "start over" and again press the keypad 30 of the telephone 26 to generate DTMF tones 14, until all the required sensitive and confidential data contained within the DTMF tones of the caller 24 has been captured and stored on the DBMS 44.

The Applicant envisages that the server 10 and the method 100 may be adapted to capture confidential and sensitive data, other than the data described hereinabove. More specifically, the Applicant envisages that the server 10 and the method 100 may be used to capture debit orders, identity numbers, account numbers or any other sensitive and confidential data.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, another embodiment of a server, in accordance with the invention, for handling DTMF tones 14 is designated generally by the reference numeral 210. The server 210 is configured to be connected to a communication network such as a telephone network 12 and is operable to execute a method, in accordance with the invention, designated generally by the reference numeral 300, for handling DTMF tones 14 during a telephone call 16 comprising voice signals 18 and DTMF tone 14 signals. The method 300 is implemented by a call centre 20 when a telephone call 16 is received from a caller 24 by a call centre operator 32 at the call centre 20 via the telephone network 12. More specifically, the call is made by the caller using a telephone 26 having a keypad 30. There are many similarities between the server 210 of Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings and the server 10 of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. In Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, features of the sever 210 which are the same as and similar to features of the server 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, are designated by the same and similar reference numerals. What is stated above with respect to the server 10 of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, applies also to the sever 210.

The server 210 includes a conference call module 34, a data storage module 36, a processor 38 and a data handling module 39.

The conference call module 34 of the server 210 is operable to monitor telephone calls for DTMF tones and to capture data received by a programmable conference menu system 260 of the conference call module. More particularly, the conference call module 39 is operable to monitor telephone calls for DTMF tone signals and to receive and capture data associated with such DTMF tones from the conference menu system 260. The conference call module 34 sends data associated with the DTMF tone signals to the data handling module 39. The data handling module 39 is operable to process the data.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, the operation of the server 210 and the method 300, is explained in more detail hereinbelow.

When the call centre operator 32 receives a telephone call 22 from the caller 24, the call centre operator 32 transfers the telephone call 22 from the caller 24 to the server 210.

The server 210 answers the transferred telephone call, thereby to establish a first telephonic connection 16.1 via the telephone network 12 between the caller 24 and the server 210.

The conference call module then establishes a second telephonic connection 16.2 via the telephone network 12 between the server 210 and the call centre operator 32 and bridges the first and second telephonic connections thereby connecting the caller 24, the server 210 and the call centre operator 32 to one another in a conference call. DTMF tones on the second telephonic connection are disabled by the server 210 thereby to ensure that the DTMF tones 14 generated by the caller 24 using the keypad 30 of the telephone 26 are rendered inaudible across the second telephonic connection 16.2, thereby to ensure that the call centre 20, including the call centre operator 32, does not receive or hear any DTMF tones. More specifically, the conference call module 234 disables the DTMF tones 14 by actuating a conference call option of the conference call module having the functionality for disabling DTMF tones. The conference call module 34 sends data associated with the DTMF tone generated by the caller, to the data handling module 239 of the server 210 for processing of the data. More particularly, as is illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings, the data handling module 239 receives units of such DTMF data 290 from the conference menu system 260, each unit of DTMF data 290 includes a digit 292 associated with the DTMF tone 14 generated by the caller 24 and a caller identifier 294, which is unique to the caller 24. For each unit of data 290 received by the data handling module 239, the data handling module queries the caller identifier 294 with the DBMS 244 for any data stored in the DBMS 244 against the unique identifier 294. If no data record associated with the caller identifier 294 is found in the DBMS 244 indicating that this is the first DTMF tone generated by the caller 24, the data handling module 239 sends a unit of data 290 comprising the caller identifier 294 and the digit 292 associated with the DTMF tone 14 generated by the caller 24, to the DBMS 244 for temporary storage on the DBMS 244. Alternatively, if a data record for the caller identifier 294 is found in the DBMS 244, the data handling module 239 obtains the data record stored in the DBMS 244 and appends the digit associated with the DTMF tone generated by the caller 24 to the end of the data record and sends the new data record so created to the DBMS 244 for storing the new data record against the caller identifier 294. The data handling module 239 repeats the above described process until the full data record constituting the confidential information of the caller 24 has been obtained. For security reasons, the data stored in the DBMS 244 is encrypted by the data handling module 39. Once the sensitive and confidential data of the caller 24 has been obtained, a web server 42 is able to obtain payment from the caller. More specifically, the web server 42 connects via the Internet 41 to the DBMS 244 and connects via the Internet 41 to a payment gateway 52, in order to obtain payment from an issuing bank 54 via the payment gateway 52 utilizing the sensitive and confidential data contained within the data record corresponding to the caller 24. The confidential data includes a pin number, account number or other data required in order to obtain payment, such as, for example, a so-called PAN or payment card number such as a credit card number, cheque card number of the like, expiry date of the payment card, a CVV number or a CVV2 number.

The Applicant envisages that the server 10, 210 and the method 100, 300, as described and defined hereinabove, may also be used in other applications, other than the application described hereinabove.

It will be appreciated that the exact configuration of the server, in accordance with the invention, and the method, in accordance with the invention, may each vary greatly, while still incorporating the essential features of the invention, as described hereinabove. The invention clearly extends to all such variations, which still incorporate the essential principles of the invention as above described and defined. For example, the conference call module 34, 234, the data handling module 39, 239, the voice recording module 80, 280 and the Database Management System 44, 244, may each comprise one or more software-based microprocessors, controllers, digital signal processors (DSPS) or any other suitable software-based resource, software or embedded logic. It will be appreciated that the server 10, 210 may comprise a single device, or apparatus. Alternatively, the server 10, 210 may be distributed among a plurality of devices, for example, in a server/client relationship.

An important feature of the methods in accordance with the invention is that no hardware is used to conceal DTMF tones from the call centre operator.