(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2002/0101854 A1
`(43) Pub. Date: Aug. 1, 2002
`
`Siegrist et al.
`
`US 20020101854A1
`
`(54)
`
`(76)
`
`REMOTE MEDIA CONTROL FOR VOICE
`OVER INTERNET TELEPHONY AND
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`Inventors: Joseph Siegrist, Silver Spring, MD
`(US); Amen Zwa, Owings Mills, MD
`(US)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`Supervisor, Patent Prosecution Services
`Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe LLP
`1200 Nineteenth Street, NW.
`Washington, DC 20036-2412 (US)
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. N0.:
`
`09/771,992
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Jan. 30, 2001
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51)
`(52)
`
`Int. C1.7 ........................... H04L 12/66; H04L 12/56
`US. Cl.
`............................................ 370/352; 370/401
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Aperson receiving a Voice over IP call, such as a call center
`agent, remotely controls media settings on a caller’s multi-
`media terminal device functioning as a telephone terminal
`device. In some embodiments, the call center agent may
`remotely control media settings by entering a DTMF (dual
`tone multi-frequency) sequence from the telephone keypad.
`The DTMF sequence may be recognized by a gateway
`through which an Internet-to-PSTN call is made, stripped
`out of the audio stream and sent to the caller’s multimedia
`
`terminal device in a separate command message through the
`Internet, or the DTMF sequence may be encoded into
`packets along with the voice information for detection and
`translation into a command message by software at the
`caller’s terminal device. In pure VOIP applications, com-
`mand packets may be sent directly. When a command
`message is received at the caller’s terminal device, software
`on the end user computer makes the corresponding media
`setting changes without requiring any intervention on the
`part of the caller.
`
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`Patent Application Publication
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`US 2002/0101854 A1
`
`Aug. 1, 2002
`
`REMOTE MEDIA CONTROL FOR VOICE OVER
`INTERNET TELEPHONY AND RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0001]
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`[0002] This invention relates to the provision of commu-
`nications services using terminal devices that have adjust-
`able audio controls.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Discussion of the Background
`
`[0004] Users of personal computers (PCs) and other gen-
`eral purpose digital computing devices have been able to
`engage in voice communications using these devices for
`many years. One example of software for enabling PC-to-
`PC communication over the Internet
`is the SpeakFreely
`shareware which has been available since 1991. More
`
`recently, refined commercial grade products have emerged
`such as those offered by VocalTec, Net2Phone, Netspeak,
`and many others. By utilizing the Internet or other packet
`switched networks, such products have given rise to con-
`vergent voice and data solutions as well as created the
`potential for commercial applications in the realm of e-com-
`merce.
`
`[0005] The assignee of the present application, eStara Inc.,
`has addressed some of the limitations of these solutions by
`inventing methods for installing and initializing media appli-
`cations using a “thin client” model. These methods are
`described in US. patent application Nos. 09/272,139,
`entitled “Public Web Phone System,” 09/637,805, entitled
`“Universal Internet Based Telephony System That Provides
`Ubiquitous Access For Subscribers From Any Terminal
`
`Device,” and 09/
`, entitled “Internet Telephony for
`e-Commerce.” The contents of each of these applications are
`hereby incorporated herein by reference. These methods and
`processes created a particular opportunity for enabling PC
`users to make contact with call centers operated by mer-
`chants associated with a web site by clicking on icons
`displayed on web pages. The resulting voice connections
`link a PC user and a call center agent who may be using
`either a telephone or a voice-over-Internet enabled computer
`device.
`
`the microphone
`In Internet telephony situations,
`[0006]
`and speakers of the end user’s terminal device function like
`a telephone handset. In contrast to the typical telephone
`handset, however,
`the terminal device’s microphone and
`speaker settings (such as volume control, tone, and muting)
`and echo cancellation/suppression features (collectively
`referred to herein as media settings), may not be optimized
`for a two-way or multi-party voice conversation. The quality
`of sound experienced by the person at the other end of the
`connection is affected by media control settings on the
`originating multimedia customer terminal device. Many
`casual users are not aware of the means to adjust these
`settings or may not know what settings are most conducive
`to a voice conversation. This is especially true in the
`e-commerce situation described above.
`
`[0007] What is needed is a method to optimize media
`settings on an end-user terminal for Internet (or other data
`packet network) telephony.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0008] The present invention meets the foregoing need to
`a great extent by providing a method and apparatus that
`
`allows a person receiving a Voice over IP call, such as a call
`center agent, to remotely control the media settings on the
`caller’s multimedia terminal device functioning as a tele-
`phone terminal device. In some embodiments, particularly
`useful in e-commerce situations in which a call center agent
`receives a call from a caller through a Internet/PSTN gate-
`way over the public switched telephone network, the call
`center agent may remotely control media settings by enter-
`ing a DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency) sequence from the
`telephone keypad. The DTMF sequence may be recognized
`by the gateway, stripped out of the audio stream and sent to
`the caller’s terminal
`in a separate command message
`through the Internet, or the DTMF sequence may be encoded
`into packets along with the voice information for detection
`and translation into a command message by the Internet
`telephony software at the caller’s terminal. In “pure” VoIP
`applications (in which packets are directly exchanged
`between the calling and called parties), command packets
`may be sent directly. When a command message is received
`at
`the caller’s terminal
`through any of these methods,
`software on the end user computer makes the corresponding
`media setting changes without requiring any intervention on
`the part of the caller.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0009] Amore complete appreciation of the invention and
`many of the attendant advantages and features thereof will
`be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood
`by reference to the following detailed description when
`considered in connection with the accompanying drawings,
`wherein:
`
`[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
`communication system incorporating the teachings of the
`present invention.
`
`[0011] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of
`remote media controls using telephone device touch-tones in
`accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
`
`[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of
`remote media controls using telephone device touch-tones in
`accordance with a second embodiment of the present inven-
`tion.
`
`[0013] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of
`remote media controls using computer displays in accor-
`dance with a third embodiment of the present invention.
`
`[0014] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a command message win-
`dow used with the method described in the flowchart of
`FIG. 4.
`
`[0015] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a self-test method
`for adjusting media controls according to a fourth embodi-
`ment of the present invention.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`[0016] The present invention will be discussed with ref-
`erence to preferred embodiments of remote media control
`applications. Specific details are set forth in order to provide
`a thorough understanding of the present
`invention. The
`preferred embodiments discussed herein should not be
`understood to limit the invention. Furthermore, for ease of
`understanding, certain method steps are delineated as sepa-
`
`

`

`US 2002/0101854 A1
`
`Aug. 1, 2002
`
`rate steps; however, these steps should not be construed as
`necessarily distinct nor order dependent
`in their perfor-
`mance.
`
`In Internet telephony applications, the microphone
`[0017]
`and speakers of the user’s multimedia terminal device T1
`function in a manner analogous to a telephone handset. If
`there is no headset on the customer terminal device and
`
`speakers are used to reproduce the voice of the other party,
`the audio output of the speakers can be picked up by the
`microphone, creating an acoustic echo. This acoustic echo is
`transmitted to the other party as a delayed echo of their
`voice. The acoustic echo is not heard by the end user at their
`multimedia terminal device and the end user is therefore
`
`unaware of the presence and severity of the acoustic echo.
`The acoustic echo makes it difficult to conduct a normal
`
`conversation and degrades the value of voice over Internet
`protocol applications that rely on multimedia PCs.
`
`[0018] Acoustic echo can be corrected in two ways: by
`echo suppression (which disables the microphone when
`voice is being delivered through the speakers), or by echo
`cancellation (in which signal processing software “sub-
`tracts” the sound picked up from the speakers from the
`sound relayed from the microphone to the listener). Either
`method of correcting acoustic echo has shortcomings. Echo
`suppression methods typically create a half duplex connec-
`tion, in which only one party can speak at a time. While
`preferable to the echo, a half duplex connection can seem
`choppy and is less desirable than a full duplex connection.
`One the other hand, echo cancellation is processor intensive
`and is particularly difficult in Internet telephony where both
`network latency and the acoustic configuration of the con-
`necting PCs are variable.
`
`[0019] The speaker and microphone settings of also have
`a great effect on the quality of an Internet telephony con-
`nection. For example,
`if a party placing a call from a
`multimedia terminal device to a standard telephone con-
`nected to the PSTN has their microphone turned down too
`low or turned up too high, the called party will experience
`difficulty. While some compensation may be made at the
`called party’s telephone handset by adjusting the volume at
`the handset, the amount of compensation may not be suffi-
`cient. Thus, for example, where the caller’s microphone
`volume is too low, turning the volume to maximum at the
`called party’s handset may not be sufficient to allow the
`caller’s voice to be heard. Furthermore, even if the called
`party’s handset volume can be adjusted sufficiently so that
`the caller’s voice may be heard, there may be additional
`distortion or interference as compared to a situation in which
`the caller’s microphone volume was properly adjusted.
`
`[0020] These problems are exacerbated in certain situa-
`tions. For example, in the e-commerce arena, the assignee of
`the present invention has invented a service whereby an end
`user viewing a web site can simply click on a icon and
`automatically establish an Internet telephony call to a call
`center associated with the web site. In this service, the end
`user is automatically provided with Internet telephony soft-
`ware. This allows even the casual user who has never before
`
`Internet telephony. Thus, the present invention provides a
`method and apparatus for remotely controlling these media
`settings.
`
`[0021] Referring now to the drawings, wherein like ref-
`erence numerals designate identical or corresponding parts
`throughout the several views, FIGS. 1 illustrates a commu-
`nications system 100 including a data packet network 110
`such as the Internet. Connected to the data packet network
`are end user terminal 120 and end user terminal 130, which
`is connected to the data packet network 110 through the
`PSTN (public switched telephone network) 171 using a
`typical dial-up connection to an Internet service provider
`with a modem (not shown in FIG. 1). End users at the
`terminals 120, 130 may view web pages from a variety of
`sources, including merchant web servers 140,142 which are
`also connected to the data packet network 110.
`
`[0022] Each of the merchant web servers includes an icon
`for establishing a VoIP telephone call to an associated call
`center. Preferably, the icon causes an Internet telephony
`software application, which may be in the form of an applet,
`to be downloaded to an end user terminal 120, 130 and
`automatically establish the telephone call without requiring
`previously-installed software at the end user terminal 120,
`130. When the web page and icon are provided by the
`merchant web server 141, a “pure” internet telephony call is
`established between the respective end user terminal 120,
`130 and the VoIP-ready call center 150 associated with the
`merchant web server 141 (as indicated by dashed line 142).
`In this case, packets are exchanged between the respective
`end user terminal 120, 130 and the call center 150 directly
`through the data packet network 110 without using the
`PSTN (except for the portion of the PSTN 171 through
`which the end user terminal 132 is connected to the data
`
`packet network 110).
`
`[0023] When the web page an icon are provided by
`merchant web server 143, the VoIP telephone call must be
`routed through a gateway 160 and the PSTN 172 to a
`conventional call center 180, which is not VoIP-ready,
`associated with the merchant web server 143 as indicated by
`the dashed line 144. In this situation, a packet is sent from
`an end user terminal 120, 130 to the gateway 160. The
`gateway 160 unpacks the packet, converts the digital infor-
`mation to analog form, and transmits it to the call center 180
`over the PSTN 172 (PSTN 171 and PSTN 172 may be part
`of the same public switched telephone network, but are
`shown separately in FIG. 1 for the purposes of illustration).
`The gateway also receives voice information in analog form
`from the PSTN call center 180, digitizes and packetizes the
`analog information, and sends the packets to the appropriate
`end user terminal 120, 130.
`
`[0024] As discussed above, the media settings on an end
`user terminal 120, 130 may require adjustment for a call to
`a call center 150 or 180. The following describes how this
`may be accomplished in either of these situations.
`
`Remotely Controlling Media Settings Using
`Telephone Touch-Tone Sequences
`
`attempted an Internet telephony call or previously installed
`any Internet
`telephony software to establish an Internet
`telephony call. In such situations, the end user may have no
`knowledge of echo suppression/cancellation features or of
`how to properly adjust the microphone and/or speakers for
`
`[0025] One technique, which is especially useful in a call
`to a PSTN call center 180, is to enable the representative at
`call center 180 to remotely control the media settings at end
`user terminal 120, 130 using DTMF tones generated by the
`call center representative with, for example, a telephone
`
`

`

`US 2002/0101854 A1
`
`Aug. 1, 2002
`
`keypad. The technique is illustrated by the flowchart 200 of
`FIG. 2. The Internet telephone call to PSTN call center 180
`through the gateway 160 is established at step 210. This may
`be accomplished in any variety of ways, including those
`discussed above. If the agent at the call center 180 deter-
`mines that a change to a media setting is required, the agent
`generates a DTMF sequence using the touch-tone dialpad at
`step 220. Various touch-tone sequences represent different
`commands (e.g., *22 could mean increase microphone vol-
`ume by 20%; *82 could mean reduce speaker volume by
`20%; *55 could mean enable echo cancellation; etc.). The
`gateway 160 is equipped to detect DTMF sequences. Upon
`detecting a DTMF sequence, the gateway 160 removes the
`DTMF sequence from the digitized and packetized data that
`is sent to the terminal 120, 130 at step 230. This prevents the
`end user from hearing the DTMF sequence, which prove
`annoying to some end users. The gateway 160 then creates
`a corresponding digital command message and transmits it
`to the terminal 120, 130 at step 240. This command message
`may form part of a packet containing digitized voice data, or
`may be sent in a separate packet. The terminal 120, 130
`receives the command packet and makes the corresponding
`change to the media settings at step 250. If additional
`changes are required at step 260,
`the agent generates an
`additional DTMF sequence at step 220 and the process is
`repeated.
`
`In the above-described embodiment, the gateway
`[0026]
`160 must be equipped to detect the DTMF sequences and
`translate them into corresponding command messages.
`Where such specially equipped gateways 160 are not avail-
`able or practical, a second technique illustrated by the
`flowchart 300 in FIG. 3 may be used. The call to the call
`center 180 is established through the gateway 160 at step
`310. When a media setting change is required, the agent
`generates the appropriate DTMF command sequence at step
`320 in the manner described above. The gateway 160, rather
`than detecting and stripping the DTMF sequence out as
`above, simply digitizes and packetizes the DTMF command
`sequence along with the other voice data at step 330. The
`packets are transmitted to the terminal 120, 130, which
`decodes the DTMF command sequence at step 340 and
`makes the corresponding media setting changes at step 350.
`If additional changes are required at step 360, steps 320 et
`seq. are repeated for the additional changes.
`
`[0027] An important advantage to this embodiment is that
`it does not require a specially-equipped gateway 160. How-
`ever, it does suffer from some disadvantages as compared to
`the embodiment wherein DTMF command sequences are
`detected at the gateway. First, detecting the DTMF com-
`mand sequences at
`the gateway avoids the problem of
`missing tones due to packet loss. Second, detecting DTMF
`command sequences at the gateway avoids the inaccuracies
`that can be caused by variations in compression technologies
`on the packet switched and circuit switched (i.e., PSTN)
`networks. The choice between the two techniques will be
`application dependent.
`
`Remotely Controlling Media Settings Using
`Computer-Displayed Controls
`
`[0028] A second technique, which is especially useful in
`“pure” VoIP call to a VoIP-ready call center 150 wherein the
`call center representative will receive the call on a multi-
`media computer terminal, is to provide a call center agent
`
`with a display with through which automated media setting
`commands may be generated and sent
`to an end user
`terminal 120, 130. This technique is illustrated in flowchart
`400 of FIG. 4. At step 410, an Internet telephony call
`between an end user terminal 120, 130 and a call center 150
`is established through the Internet without use of a gateway
`160. If a media setting change at the end user terminal 120,
`130 is necessary, the agent opens a media setting change
`window 500, as shown in FIG. 5. The agent then adjusts one
`or more controls such as microphone controls 510, speaker
`controls 520, echo suppression controls 530 and echo can-
`cellation controls 540. The agent presses the “Done” button
`550 when finished making the desired adjustments, which
`causes a command message to be generated at step 420. The
`command message is transmitted from the call center 150
`terminal to the end user terminal 120, 130 at step 430. The
`end user terminal 120, 130 receives the command message
`and makes the corresponding change in media settings at
`step 440. If additional changes are necessary at step 450,
`steps 420 et seq. are repeated as necessary.
`
`Remotely Controlling Media Settings Using
`Pre-Programmed Controls
`
`[0029] The media application resident on an end user
`communication terminal device 120, 130 that is configured
`for remote media control could also be adjusted using
`pre-programmed controls built into communications soft-
`ware. This principle is embodied in two ways in the present
`invention:
`as pre-programmed default
`settings, or
`in
`dynamically determined adjustments based on the results of
`pre-programmed tests.
`
`[0030] As an example of the default approach, in a voice
`over Internet application,
`the applet (or other software
`program) that is downloaded and installs a PC-based media
`application at the start of a call automatically adjusts the
`Windows (or other operating system) sound drivers to set the
`microphone input level at 80%, a level that was selected as
`the best default setting for Internet telephony applications.
`At the conclusion of an Internet telephony connection, the
`applet restores the Windows sound drivers to the settings in
`effect prior to the connection.
`
`In an example of a test-driven approach, illustrated
`[0031]
`in the flowchart 600 of FIG. 6, a phone call is established
`between an end user terminal 120, 130 and a call center 150
`at step 610. A test applet, which may be separate from or
`included with an applet that establishes the call, is down-
`loaded to the end user terminal 120, 130 at step 620. Under
`control of the applet, the end user terminal 120, 130 gener-
`ates a “ping” or other audible sound at the terminal 120, 130
`at step 630. The ping is detected by a microphone at the end
`user terminal 120, 130 and the amplitude and delay is
`measured at step 640. The applet uses this data to calculate
`appropriate media settings including echo suppression
`parameters in a manner well known in the art.
`
`[0032] The presence of a self-test capability also enables
`a remote server to make appropriate decisions regarding the
`communications process. In the previous example of the
`“ping test,” for example, if no sound were detected at the
`microphone input port
`the test failure would trigger a
`message from the server to the device user indicating that
`either the PC speakers were inoperative or that a microphone
`was either not installed or not operating. (It should be noted
`
`

`

`US 2002/0101854 A1
`
`Aug. 1, 2002
`
`that, even when a headset is used, the ping sounded through
`the headset speakers will be detected at the headset micro-
`phone.) The end user is then advised to make appropriate
`adjustments or to use a fallback communications approach.
`
`[0033] Each of the above examples was discussed in the
`context of a simple two-party call. It will be readily under-
`stood by those of skill in the art that the techniques discussed
`herein may easily be extended to multiple party conference
`calls. In such embodiments, the end user terminals of each
`participant are assigned a temporary address (e.g., 1, 2, 3,
`etc.), and media change command messages include an
`address for each participant.
`
`[0034] Obviously, numerous modifications and variations
`of the present invention are possible in light of the above
`teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the
`scope of the appended claims, the invention may be prac-
`ticed otherwise than as specifically described herein.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. A method for remotely controlling a media setting
`comprising the steps of:
`
`establishing a telephone call from an end user computer
`connected to a packet network to a telephone connected
`to a public switched telephone network, the telephone
`call being routed through a gateway connected to the
`packet network and the public switched telephone
`network, the gateway being operable to convert digital
`voice data packets received from the end user computer
`on the packet network to analog form for transmission
`over the public switched telephone network and to
`convert analog signals received from the telephone to
`digital voice data packets for transmission to the end
`user computer;
`
`generating a dual
`telephone;
`
`tone multi-frequency signal at
`
`the
`
`receiving the signal at the gateway;
`
`transmitting a command message from the gateway to the
`end user computer; and
`
`changing a media setting at the end user computer in
`response to the command message.
`2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media setting is
`changed to a predefined value.
`3. The method of claim 1, wherein the command message
`is included in a voice data packet sent from the gateway to
`the end user computer.
`4. The method of claim 1, wherein the command message
`is included in a packet that does not include any voice data.
`5. A method for remotely controlling media settings
`comprising the steps of:
`
`establishing a telephone call from an end user computer
`connected to a packet network to a telephone connected
`to a public switched telephone network, the telephone
`call being routed through a gateway connected to the
`packet network and the public switched telephone
`network, the gateway being operable to convert digital
`
`voice data packets received from the end user computer
`on the packet network to analog form for transmission
`over the public switched telephone network and to
`convert analog signals received from the telephone to
`digital voice data packets for transmission to the end
`user computer;
`
`generating a dual
`telephone;
`
`tone multi-frequency signal at
`
`the
`
`receiving the signal at the gateway;
`
`encoding the signal in a digital voice data packet;
`
`transmitting the digital voice data packet to the end user
`computer; and
`
`changing a media setting at the end user computer in
`response to the digital voice data packet.
`6. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`microphone volume.
`7. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`speaker volume.
`8. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`echo suppression.
`9. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`echo cancellation.
`
`10. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`speaker balance.
`11. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`speaker bass.
`12. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`speaker treble.
`13. The method of claim 5, wherein the media setting is
`microphone mute.
`14. A method for configuring a remote computer for a
`voice over data packet network call comprising the steps of:
`
`downloading an applet to an end user computer;
`
`executing the applet at the end user computer, the applet
`being operable to cause an audible tone at a predeter-
`mined volume to be produced by a speaker connected
`to the end user computer and adjust a media setting in
`accordance with a parameter of a sound corresponding
`to the audible tone detected by a microphone connected
`to the end user computer.
`15. The method of claim 14, wherein the parameter is a
`time delay between the audible tone and the sound detected
`by the microphone.
`16. The method of claim 14, wherein the parameter is an
`amplitude of the sound detected by the microphone.
`17. The method of claim 14, wherein the media setting is
`echo suppression.
`18. The method of claim 14, wherein the media setting is
`echo cancellation.
`
`19. The method of claim 14, wherein the media setting is
`microphone volume.
`20. The method of claim 14, wherein the media setting is
`speaker volume.
`
`