TELEPHONE SYSTEM INTEGRATING A PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK, A PACKET-SWITCHED NETWORK AND A CALL ANSWERING SYSTEM

摘要

The present invention is directed to a systemthat allows a subscriber to take a telephone call over theInternet when the subscriber telephone line is busyservicing a browser-based Internet session without requiringthat the subscriber disconnect or terminate the Internetsession. The system transfers a telephone call to asubscriber telephone line that is busy to a call servicingplatform where the platform determines if the subscriberline is busy due to an interactive Internet session. When asession is in progress, the platform informs the subscribervia a network message to the subscriber's personal computerinvolved in the session that a call is waiting. If thesubscriber accepts the call, the platform digitizes thespeech of the caller and sends it to the computer where itis output to the subscriber. At the same time, the computerdigitizes the speech of the subscriber and sends it to theplatform, where it is output to the caller. The system canalso allow the subscriber to screen the caller by listeningto the caller as a message is recorded. The network sessioncan continue during the transfer of the speech or resumeafter the call is finished, that is, the session need not beterminated to free the telephone line to carry the call.