JP2000295354A - Hold system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: To minimize bandwidth consumption in a system in which music is provided to a caller placed on hold in a LAN network used for voice communication. SOLUTION: The holding system has a LAN, an audio reproducing means stored in the LAN, and a means for transferring the reproducing means from the LAN to the client, and the reproducing means is configured to reproduce locally on the client. Further comprising: a server; a client having a mass storage device in communication with the server; means for transferring a continuous stream of audio from the server to the client; and playing the downloaded audio locally from the client. Means for providing real-time audio to callers on hold, the audio being stored by the client in a mass storage device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for enabling voice communication over a LAN network, and more particularly, to providing music to callers placed on hold on a LAN, bandwidth consumption. The present invention relates to voice communication via a LAN network, including a music on hold system with a small amount of music.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Music on hold is a common feature that has been used for years in private branch exchanges (PBX) and automatic call distribution (ACD) systems. In these systems, a B channel is typically connected to the caller from a music source. This places the caller on hold,
For example, music can be listened to while waiting for an agent at the telephone center on the ACD waiting line. Recently, however, telecommunications networks based on packets have been increasingly used for telephony over local area networks.
area network = ToL), in other words, it is used for voice communication over a LAN. In particular, a network user can pick up the telephone and complete a call to a called party, who is connected to the same network server in the network or uses the public switched telephone network It may be connected to another server. This is accomplished by converting the voice received from the telephone handset into packet data and transmitting the packet to the called party via a local area network (LAN). The packet data is then reconverted to voice at the destination, and the called party can listen to the voice audio on the handset of the telephone.

[0003] In conventional telephone systems, when there is no available connection or trunk to the ACD system, the user hears a busy signal and the user cannot make a connection to the ACD. The phone connects to the ACD system,
The performance does not degrade for existing callers subsequently placed on hold. In contrast, IP (internet protoco
In systems of type l), an almost unlimited number of users can connect to the ACD via a single Internet pipe. As the number of callers increases, the pipe or communication line becomes increasingly full, consuming all available bandwidth. At this point, the network crashes or becomes unacceptably slow. In addition, in a ToL system the condition can be exacerbated. This is because an excessive number of callers on hold floods the available bandwidth of the network with music packets. Accordingly, there is a need for a music on hold system that preserves bandwidth for use in ToL.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a system in which music is provided to callers placed on hold in a LAN network used for voice communication, most of the necessary tasks being performed by the server. Instead, it is performed by the client, thereby reducing bandwidth on the network communication line and providing music on hold, thereby minimizing bandwidth consumption.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a storage system for a local area network, audio playback means stored on the local area network, and transferring the playback means from the local area network to a client workstation. Means for transferring, wherein said playing means plays locally at said client workstation.

[0006] The suspension system may further comprise a server, a client having a mass storage device for communicating with the server,
Means for transferring a stream of audio from the server to the client; and downloading to the client in parallel with the continuous stream, causing the client to terminate the continuous stream, and localizing the downloaded audio. Means for playing back from the client, the transfer means providing real-time audio to the caller when the caller is on hold, wherein the audio is transmitted to the client. And is stored in the mass storage device.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In a first embodiment of the present invention, a music on hold system is configured to transfer a small application program or applet from a server to a client when a caller is placed on hold. . The application system or applet has a music file and a media player. At the same time, a real-time protocol for transmitting music (real time protocol)
ol = RTP) stream is used to provide music on hold from the server to the client during applet transfer. Thus, the caller put on hold always receives music. In all embodiments of the present invention, the RTP stream is used in the manner described above to provide music to callers placed on hold. In another embodiment of the invention, the applet includes only a media player, which is transferred from the server to the client. The music provided by the RTP stream is stored on the mass storage device as an audio file by the client and later played by the media player. In another embodiment of the invention, the media player is embedded in the client, so that no files need to be transferred from the server to the client. Again, the music provided by the RTP stream is stored on the mass storage device by the client and played by the media player.

[0008] These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a music on hold system configured for use in a ToL system. As described in further detail below, music on hold systems are used on LANs and are configured to conserve bandwidth. For example, L
If the AN is overloaded or can be overloaded, other users of the LAN experience mild to severe performance degradation. According to an important aspect of the present invention, the music on hold system dynamically detects the bandwidth required to provide music to a caller. This feature allows the music on hold system to use only the amount of bandwidth needed to provide music to callers placed on hold without saturating the LAN connection. According to another important aspect of the present invention, the music on hold system conserves server resources. For example, running music files and media players on less congested clients conserves server resources. Clients include software that resides on the end user / caller or gateway on the ToL system.

[0010] The present invention is compatible with various ToL systems. For example, the International Telecommunications Union
communication Union = ITU) For example, a ToL system conforming to the H.323 standard (referenced herein). In addition, the system can be used for multimedia applications, such as video on hold. It should be understood that the invention generally applies to any client-server system, including an Internet connection, used to transfer audio, video or multimedia. For example, audio messages are sent to end users by Internet WWW sites. Here, the real-time audio is transferred as an RTP stream and other data is downloaded using the remaining available bandwidth. A particular advantage of downloading applet 54 (FIG. 2) to an end user is that the end user can locally select to go back and play a portion of the music or message. Therefore, the network bandwidth is not affected. Such systems are preferred in situations where the user wishes to save previously sent information, such as computer-oriented training and other technical support submissions.

FIG. 1 shows an advantageous embodiment of a music on hold system in a ToL system according to the invention. In particular, many different devices can be connected to the LAN, but this device includes an ACD connected to the ToL gatekeeper 97.
A server 96 is included. Other devices include a gateway 122 and an ACD agent. The gateway 122 is connected to a public switched telephone network (public switched telephone network).
It is used to connect to a telephone network (PSTN) 120 and / or a private branch exchange (PBX) 124, to which telephones 126a, 126b, 128 are connected and to which a user can connect. Agent is LA
N can be connected through one or more ACD agent / personal computer (PC) clients 92. Agent is caller and ACD agent / P
Phones 112a, 112 connected to C client 92
Communicate using b. Router 114 can also be connected to a LAN, which allows the LAN to communicate with other LANs 116 and / or the Internet 118.
Thus, calls can be made from the PSTN or PBX via a gateway or from within the same ToL system itself, either from the ACD system and / or from another LAN.
Or it can be understood from the Internet. Although a variety of different devices can be connected to the LAN as described above, in the present invention, the user has an ACD agent and a telephone 110a, 110 connected to a client PC 98, 108.
A description will be given of a case where communication is performed via b.

FIG. 5 shows, for example, the ACD system server 9.
6, a music on hold system 50 implemented is shown.
ACD server 96 includes standard internal components, such as CPU 100, memory 102, and mass storage device 104 for storing music on hold system 50, which are described below. The ACD server 96 may be any known communication server, for example, as disclosed in US patent application Ser.
The server may be a server described in US 5247670 and cited herein. As shown in FIG. 6, telephones 112a, 112b are connected to ACD agent / PC client 92, respectively, and are used by telephone center agents to talk to callers of telephones 110a, 110b. The telephone 110a, 110b
Are PC clients 98, 10 via the ToL system.
8 is connected. For example, a caller is a customer who calls a customer service center of a company and the company
The L system is used for telephone communication. It is the audio that is sent from the telephone center agent in a voice interactive manner, which is downloaded or transferred in packets from server 96 to client 98 and sent to the appropriate caller. Client 98 decodes the packet voice data and provides voice audio to the caller. Clients 98, 108 respectively
Also includes a CPU 103, a storage device 105, and a mass storage device 107.

FIG. 2 shows the music on hold system 50 in more detail. As described above, the music on hold system 50
Is responsible for providing music or audio to a caller on hold while the caller waits for a call center agent to become available. The music on hold system 50 according to the present invention has a small application file, or applet 54, which can include a predetermined audio file 52 with music or voice messages. The audio file may be a Windows WAV file or any other standard audio file format, including a MIDI file. Applet 54 may include media player 53 and plays audio file 52. The media player 53 can also play video files. Timer 56 and network resource meter 58
And the average latency of callers on hold and the current throughput of the network in bps
Then, each is detected. This information is stored on hold music system 5
0 is used to set the operation mode.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. For example, each time a caller is placed on hold at client 98, timer 56 detects the amount of time that the caller must wait before being supported by a telephone center agent. This waiting time is stored in the memory 1 of the server 96.
02 is stored in the register No. 02. Subsequently, each time such a call is processed, the value of the waiting time for each phone is added to the value of the stored time, and the CPU 100 calculates the average time. In the register of the memory 102, the newly detected average time value is replaced with the previously detected and stored time value. This process is dynamic and is repeated each time the call connects. This provides a relatively accurate time measurement and availability of the latest data in the registers of the memory 102.

Network resource meter 58 constantly monitors network throughput and detects the amount of available bandwidth. This value is stored in the second register of the memory 102. Bandwidth availability is constantly changing depending on network traffic conditions. Therefore, the bandwidth detection process is also dynamic, which also ensures that the bandwidth usage is relatively accurate and that this is always available to the system. CPU 100 then detects the file size of the applet and stores the value in another register of memory 102 for use in subsequent calculations. This is described below.

If all the telephone center agents are busy and the caller is put on hold,
CPU 100 determines whether music on hold should be provided to client 98 in the RTP stream only, or in parallel with transfer of applet 54 from server 96 to client 98. In either case, the RTP stream is used to transfer music to the client 96 and provide the music to callers placed on hold.

The CPU 100 makes the above determination by subtracting a predetermined bandwidth value of the RTP stream from an available bandwidth value stored in the memory 102. For example,
The total bandwidth available in the network is 30Kbps
Is stored in the memory register. It is assumed that the bandwidth of the RTP stream is 8 Kbps. Therefore, R
Subtracting the bandwidth of the TP stream from the total available bandwidth gives a usable throughput of 22 Kbps. The available throughput is then used to detect the length of time required to download applet 54 from server 96 to client 98. For example, applet 5 stored in a register of memory 102
4 (audio file 52 and media player 5
3) may be 512 KB.
It takes about 3 minutes to download applet 54 from server 96 to client 98.

The CPU 100 compares the calculated download transfer time with the average waiting time already stored in the memory register. If the latency is less than the download time, only the RTP stream is sent. Because before the applet 54 download is completed,
This is because calls on hold are almost certainly answered by telephone center agents. On the other hand, for example, if the average waiting time is 5 minutes and the download transfer time of the applet 54 is 3 minutes, the applet 54 is sent from the server 96 to the client 98. Thus, bandwidth is preserved by omitting the transfer of the RTP stream during the latter two minutes of the caller's wait time. This reserved bandwidth can therefore be allocated to other uses. For example, allowing another caller to access the ACD server 96. It is noted that the above calculations are also dynamic, since many time values are dynamic. Therefore, CPU
100 can choose to start or end the applet file transfer procedure at any time.

If gateway 122 is used to connect to PSTN 120 and PBX 124, applet 54 is downloaded to gateway 122 and A
Ensure that the resources of the CD server 96 and the bandwidth of the network are not used to provide music. Similarly, when router 114 is used to connect to another LAN 116 or the Internet 118, applet 54 is sent from ACD server 96 to an external LAN or Internet user for execution.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention. For example, the music on hold system 50 includes an applet 54
Includes only the media player 53 and does not include music files. In such a configuration, the size of the applet 54 is much smaller, and the transfer time for downloading the applet 54 from the server 96 to the client 98 can be significantly reduced. The music is obtained from the RTP stream and played on the media player once the download is completed. In particular, music sent in the RTP stream is copied from the RTP stream and stored in the mass storage 107 of the PC client 98.
(FIG. 6). Therefore, once the download of the media player 53 is completed, the RTP stream is also interrupted. This is performed intelligently by the ACD system. For example, if the telephone center is in the middle of a message, the ACD system waits until the end of the message to interrupt the stream. Alternatively, a message is sent to the applet that specifies exactly where the music on hold file is to be interrupted, and the applet can continue where the RTP stream was interrupted. Music on hold or other audio is played at the client by a media player 5 that plays the stored audio file.
3 provided.

According to another alternative embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
As shown in (1), the media player 53 is built in the client 108 and stored on the mass storage device 107. Therefore, there is no need to transfer the media player 53 from the server 96 to the client 108. To preserve even more bandwidth, the applet 54 can be configured as a very small file, which contains configuration information and control signals, and does not transfer even music files as described above. Thus, the bandwidth normally required for the transfer of the media player 53 is preserved in addition to the bandwidth saved by not transferring the music files. Only the RTP stream that carries music or audio messages from server 96 to client 108 uses bandwidth. Client 108
Receives the received R to obtain music for the music on hold system.
The TP stream is stored on the mass storage device 107.
Once the particular song or message provided by the RTP stream is completed, client sends a message to server 96 telling it to end the RTP stream. Then, the client 108 plays the stored audio at the client instead of the server using the built-in media player.

FIG. 4 shows a specific embodiment of the operation of the present invention. For example, the caller may receive an AC
Call the D system. In step 202, the system detects whether the telephone center agent is busy. If the agent detects that it is not busy, the call is completed at step 204. However, if the agent is busy, the caller is placed on hold and in step 206 the ACD calculates the average time that the caller must spend on the waiting line. In step 208, the ACD detects the network throughput in bps. In step 210, the system initiates a process of comparing the file size with the throughput and the average latency of the call. In step 212, the A
The CD detects whether the value obtained by dividing the file size by the available throughput is smaller than the average waiting time.
If so, in step 214 only the music on hold is sent to the caller in the RTP stream until the telephone agent answers the call. However, if the value of the file size divided by the available throughput is detected to be less than the average waiting time, then in step 216 the applet is transferred from the server to the client. The RTP stream continues to carry music on hold during the transfer. Step 2
18, once the applet has been downloaded, a message is sent to the telephone center server and RT
Interrupt the P stream. In step 220, music on hold is played to the waiting caller at the client's site. This continues until the call center agent responds to the call or the caller hangs up. The system ends at step 222.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a music on hold system in a communication network.

FIG. 2 is a detailed diagram of a music on hold system.

FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram of an alternative embodiment of the music on hold system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the music on hold system in an operating state.

FIG. 5 is a detailed diagram of an ACD server.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a client in the music on hold system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 50 music on hold system 52 audio file 53 media player 54 applet 58 network resource meter 92 ACD agent / PC client 96 ACD server 98,108 PC client 104,107,111 mass storage device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Uve Vrede USA California San Jose Mission Springs Circle 1565 (72) Inventor William Beida United States California Coupertino Edward Way 21580

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A system for connecting a telephone to a client workstation and providing music to a user on hold via a computer network, comprising: a local area network; and a local area network for playing audio. Having stored playback means (53); and means (54) for transferring said playback means (53) from said local area network to said client workstation, wherein said playback means is locally at said client workstation. A holding system for performing reproduction. 2. The reproduction means (53) includes a media player program for reproducing the audio.
The reservation system according to claim 1. 3. The holding system according to claim 1, wherein said reproduction means (53) is transferred from said server to said client and executed on said client workstation. 4. The call holding system of claim 2, further comprising an audio file (52) and a media player program (53) for playing the audio file (52). 5. A system for providing audio to a caller placed on hold, comprising: a server; a client with a mass storage device communicating with the server; and a stream of audio from the server to the client. Means for transferring (96), downloaded to the client in parallel with the continuous stream, to cause the client to terminate the continuous stream, and to play the downloaded audio locally from the client. Means for providing real-time audio to the caller when the caller is on hold, wherein the audio is stored by the client in the mass storage. A holding system, which is stored in a device. 6. The holding system according to claim 5, wherein said configured means (54) is already present in said client. 7. A system, connected by telephone to a client workstation, for providing a multimedia program to a user on hold via a computer network, comprising: a local area network; and the local area network for playing multimedia. Means (54) stored in an area network; means (50) for transferring said playback means (54) from said local area network to said client workstation, wherein said program is locally implemented on said client workstation. A hold system for playing a video. 8. The holding system according to claim 7, wherein said reproducing means includes a media player program for reproducing said multimedia. 9. The holding system according to claim 7, wherein said reproduction means (54) is transferred from said server to said client and executed on said client workstation. 10. A system for providing multimedia programming to a caller placed on hold, a server, a client with mass storage communicating with the server, and a continuous stream of multimedia data. Means for transferring from the server to the client (96), the downloaded multimedia to the client in parallel with the continuous multimedia stream, the client to terminate the continuous stream, and the downloaded multimedia. Means (54) stored on the server configured to play media locally from the client, wherein the continuous multimedia data stream is transmitted when the caller is on hold. Providing real-time multimedia to the caller The multimedia data is pending system wherein the client is stored in the mass storage device, it is characterized.