METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR PROVIDING A USER
WITH CHARGING-RELATED VOICE SERVICE
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication network, more
particularly, to a solution for providing charging-related voice
announcement and interactive voice response (IVR) in an IP multimedia
subsystem (IMS).
Background of the Invention
As the network evolves to next generation network, an IP-based
IMS network will provide calling services such as Voice over IP (VoIP).
The capability of providing voice announcement and interactive voice
response is a very important user experience for end users. For example,
a user expects a charging system to provide voice announcement about
subscriber account balance, awards and the like and when the balance is
too low, to provide interactive voice response for performing recharging
by inputting scratch-card number and PIN number, etc..
3GPP TS 32.260 standard defines that the online charging for IMS
call is based on Diameter credit control protocol. In particular, an online
charging client (also referred to as Diameter client) such as IMS gateway
(IMSGW), application server (AS) or media resource function controller
(MRFC) etc. request quota for resource usage from an online charging
system (OCS) based on Ro interface; the OCS grants the quota, such as
allowing the user to call for a period of time, to the user according to
account profile such as the balance, and sends the quota to the online
charging client via Ro interface; the online charging client controls the
charging for calling according to the quota for resource usage received
from the OCS.
However, because the interface to the OCS is Ro interface, the
OCS cannot control IMS calls to provide voice announcement and
interactive voice response to, for example, notify an end user of account
profile or operate on the account profile, etc.. Moreover, Diameter credit
control protocol does not have the capability of providing announcement
and interactive voice response, either. Thus, the existing system cannot
provide charging-related voice announcement and interactive voice
response.
Without voice announcement or interactive voice response, user's
experience for IMS call charging is greatly impacted. This will be an
obstacle for operators to deploy prepaid voice services over IMS network,
such as IMS fixed line calling card solution.
Summary of the Invention
Accordingly, an aim of the present invention is to a ubiquitous
solution for providing charge-related voice service such as voice
announcement or interactive voice response in an IP multimedia
subsystem.
In particularly, an online charging system detects the subscriber
account profile of a user terminal to determine whether there is an event
for providing an end user with voice announcement or interactive voice
response. If there is such voice announcement event or interactive voice
response event, the online charging system will enter "redirection state"
and send an instruction to an online charging client for instructing the
online charging client to redirect the user terminal to a first sever for
providing voice announcement or interactive voice response such that the
first server provides the user terminal with voice announcement or
interactive voice response.
The online charging client may comprise an IP multimedia
subsystem network gateway, session initiation protocol application server
or media resource function controller. The first server may comprise a
media resource function device or an interactive voice response device,
etc..
In case of voice announcement event, the online charging system can
include the address of the media resource function device in the instruction
sent to the online charging client; next, the online charging client performs
redirection operation according to this address so as to redirect the call of the
user terminal in the online charging client to the media resource function
device; next, the media resource function device provides the user terminal
with charging-related voice announcement.
In case of interactive voice response event, the online charging system
can include the address of the interactive voice response device in the
instruction sent to the online charging client; next, the online charging client
performs redirection operation according to this address so as to redirect the
call of the user terminal in the online charging client to the interactive voice
response device; next, the interactive voice response device provides the user
terminal with charging-related interactive voice response. The interactive
voice response device comprises an interactive voice response application
server, for example.
Preferably, after said first server completes said voice announcement
and/or interactive voice response, the online charging client instructs the
online charging system to end the "redirection state" and to redirect said user
terminal to the counterpart user terminal so as to resume the normal calling
procedure.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided with
a method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in an online
charging system of an IP multimedia subsystem. It comprises the following
steps: determining whether there exists an event of providing said user with
said voice service according to account profile of said user; if said event
exists, sending, to an online charging client, a first instruction for instructing
said online charging client to redirect said user to a first server for providing
said voice service, wherein said first instruction includes an identifier of said
first server and a first information related to content of said voice service.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided
with a method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in an
online charging client of an IP multimedia subsystem. It comprises the
following steps: receiving, from an online charging system, a first instruction
for instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to a first server
for providing said voice service, wherein said first instruction includes an
identifier of said first server and a first information related to content of said
voice service; according to said first instruction, sending a first message
including said first information to said first server so as to redirect said user
to said first server.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided
with a method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in a
media resource function device of an IP multimedia subsystem. It comprises
the following steps: receiving, from an online charging client or an
interactive voice response device, a second information for instructing said
media resource function device to perform voice announcement related to
said voice service; generating corresponding announcement information
according to said second information, and play said announcement
information to said user.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided
with a method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in an
interactive voice response device of an IP multimedia subsystem. It
comprises the following steps: receiving, from an online charging client, a
third information for instructing said interactive voice response device to
perform interactive voice response related to said voice service; performing a
corresponding interactive operation according to said third information.
Brief Description of Drawings
With reference to the following detailed description of the
non-restrictive embodiments in combination with the accompany
drawings, other features, advantages of the present invention will be more
apparent.
Fig.l illustrates a block diagram of a system for providing a user
with charging-related voice service according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
Fig. illustrates a flow chart of a method of providing a user with
charging-related voice announcement according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
Fig. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example of the method in Fig. .
Fig.4 illustrates a flow chart of a method of providing a user with
charging-related interactive voice response according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
Fig.5 illustrates a flow chart of an example of the method in Fig.4.
wherein, same or similar reference numerals refer to same or
similar step features or apparatus (module) features.
Detailed Description of Embodiments
For the illustrative purpose, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) in the
3GPP architecture is taken as an example to describe the present
invention in below. Those skilled in the art should understand based on
the description in below that the solution for providing charging-related
voice service proposed by the present invention is also applicable for any
other communication network architecture based on packet switch.
Fig.l illustrates a block diagram of a system for providing a user
with charging-related voice service according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
In the IP Multimedia Subsystem, user equipment (UE) 5 1 and user
equipment 52 can perform calling service based on Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP). Call Session Control Function (CSCF) is a function entity
inside the whole IMS and can be categorized into Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF),
Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) and Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) according to
the function. Essentially, they are all SIP servers and process SIP
signaling. Online Charging System (OCS) 10 uses Credit Control
Protocol based on Diameter to perform online charging for user session
such as calling session, for example to grant the quota of network
resource usage according to account balance and deduct the
corresponding charge from subscriber account. As online charging client,
IMS Gateway (IMS GW) 20 requests online charging system 10 to grant
a quota of resource usage via Ro interface on the one hand, and controls
user session according to the corresponding granted quota via SIP
interface on the other hand. These are described in detail in the 3GPP
specifications, and are therefore briefly introduced herein.
Online charging system 10 has subscriber account profile for each
user, for example including balance, charging rate, bonus, etc.. Online
charging system 10 determines whether there exists an event for
providing the user with charging-related voice service according to
subscriber account profile. Such event can be divided into two types:
event for providing a user with voice announcement and event for
providing a user with interactive voice response (IVR), which are also
referred to as announcement event and IVR event. Announcement event
mainly relates to notifying a user of charging-related information, for
example including account balance, bonus, discount, alert, etc.; and IVR
event mainly relates to events requiring user interactions, e.g. user
performing operations such as inquiring, modification or recharging to
subscriber profile by inputting related information.
Online charging system 10 can trigger announcement event or IVR
event according to pre-stored rules, such as:
- asking a user to perform IVR recharging when its account
balance is too low;
- playing announcement to alert a user when its spending limit
threshold is reached; or
- playing announcement to notify a user of bonus information
when a usage bonus is awarded to the user.
According to the type of the triggered event, online charging
system 10 instructs IMS gateway 20 to redirect the user to a first server to
provide the corresponding voice service. The first server comprises media
resource function device (MRF) or interactive voice response application
server (IVR application server, IVR AS). In particular, if an
announcement event is triggered, the user is redirected to media resource
function device 30 and media resource function device 30 plays the
corresponding announcement to the user; if an IVR event is triggered the
user is redirected to IVR application server 40 and IVR application server
40 provides the user with interactive voice service, which includes, for
example, performing "Prompt and Collection" operation, namely playing
prompts and collecting user input, by making use media resource function
device 30, and performing operations on subscribe profile in online
charging system 10 via application program interface (API).
Online charging system can provide a user with charging-related
voice service at any time as needed. For example, before a call, namely
before connecting user terminal 5 1 to counterpart user terminal 52,
announcement about the rate of this call can be played to user terminal 51;
during the call, the user can be asked to perform IVR recharging when
this call is to be interrupted due to insufficient balance; after the call, e.g.
after the hang-up of user terminal 52, user terminal 5 1 can be notified of
the charge for this call or can be provided with an opportunity to operate
on its subscriber account profile.
Furthermore, online charging system 10 can determine whether to
provide voice service in response to a charging-related request from IMS
gateway 20. Additionally or alternatively, online charging system 10 can
determines whether to provide voice service by itself. For example,
during a call, the subscriber profile changes, and so online charging
system 10 determines to notify the user of such change.
The method of providing voice announcement and the method of
providing interactive voice response are respectively described in details
by taking the case before a call as an example in the following.
Fig.2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of providing a user with
charging-related voice announcement according to an embodiment of the
present invention. Fig.3 illustrates a flow chart of an example of the
method in Fig.2.
Referring to Fig.2, firstly, in step S201, an inviting message
INVITE sent by calling user equipment 5 1 to called user equipment 52 is
routed to IMS gateway 20. For example, such inviting message is routed
to S-CSCF via P-CSCF, I-CSCF, and then sent to IMS gateway 20, as
shown in steps S301 to S302 in Fig. 3. Optionally, S-CSCF may perform
the corresponding interaction with other SIP application servers based on
initial filter criteria (iFC) before routing this inviting message to IMS
gateway 20.
After receiving this inviting message, IMS gateway 20 sends a first
request to online charging system 10 in step S202. This first request is
related to the online charge for the call invited by user equipment 51. In
the example of Fig. 3, this step is implemented by step S303. In step S303,
IMS gateway 20 sends credit control request (CCR) message, namely
initial charging request CCR (Initial) for detecting whether the balance of
the calling party is enough to fund this call.
After receiving the first request, online charging system 10
determines, in step S203, whether there exists an event for providing user
51 with voice service according to the account profile of calling user 51.
In this example, there exists an event for voice announcement. Then, in
step S204, online charging system 10 enters "redirection" state, and sends
a first instruction for instructing redirection to IMS gateway 20. This first
instruction comprises the identifier of media resource function device 30
for providing voice announcement, the identifier of calling user 51 and a
second information related to the content of the voice announcement.
Steps S203 and S204 correspond to S304 and S305 in Fig. 3, respectively.
In step S304, online charging system 10 detects that the expense of
calling user 5 1 has reached an alerting threshold and thus determines to
provide user 5 1 with the corresponding alert. Then, in step S305, online
charging system 10 sends, to IMS gateway 20, a credit control answer
(CCA) message CCA (FUI), which includes "Final-Unit-Indication
(FUI)" attribution value pair (AVP). In this "Final-Unit-Indication"
attribution value pair, "Final-Unit-Action" is set to REDIRECT, and
"Redirect- Server-Address" is set as SIP universal resource identifier (SIP
URI). SIP URI includes the address of media resource function device 30
and second information related to the content of the announcement. This
second information can comprise the announcement information itself or
the identifier of the announcement information, and can further comprise
variable part. For example, this variable part can indicate the number of
the account balance.
After receiving the first instruction, in step S205, IMS gateway 20
connects user equipment 5 1 to the first server namely media resource
function device 30 according to the identifier of the first server and the
identifier of the user in the first instruction, and forwards the second
information in the first instruction to media resource function device 30.
This step corresponds to steps S307 to S309 of Fig. 3. In particular, in step
S307, IMS gateway 20 sends SIP inviting message INVITE to media
resource function device 30 via S-CSCF. This inviting message includes
the second information included in credit control answer message
CCA (FUI). In step S308, after receiving this SIP inviting message, media
resource function device 30 detects whether resources are available for
the announcement, and if yes, sends message 200 OK which includes
session description protocol (SDP) information of media resource
function device 30 to IMS gateway 20 via S-CSCF so as to establish a
session based on real-time transport protocol (RTP) for voice
announcement; and IMS gateway 20 sends in turn message 200 OK to
user equipment 5 1via IMS gateway 20. In step S309, if accepting the SDP
information in message 200 OK, user equipment 5 1 sends SIP
acknowledgement message ACK to IMS gateway 20 and media resource
function device 30 via S-CSCF. At this point, a RTP session for bearing
voice announcement is established between media resource function
device 30 and user equipment 51.
After receiving the second information related to the content of the
announcement, in step S206, media resource function device 30
determines announcement information according to the second
information and plays this announcement information to user equipment
51. Preferably, media resource function device 30 comprises a database.
In the case that the second information includes the identifier of the
announcement information, media resource function device 30 acquires
the corresponding announcement information, such as the corresponding
voice file, from the database according to this identifier. In the case that
the second information includes a variable part, media resource function
device 30 constructs announcement information including this variable
part. Referring to Fig. 3, in step S3 10, the corresponding voice
announcement is played through the established RTP session.
After the voice announcement ends, in step S207, media resource
function device 30 sends a second message for indicating the end of the
voice announcement to IMS gateway 20. This step corresponds to steps
S311 to S312 in Fig. 3. In step S3 11, after the voice announcement is
successfully played, media resource function device 30 sends SIP
goodbye message BYE to IMS gateway 20 via S-CSCF so as to release
the RTP session between it and user equipment 51. In step S312, in
response to the received SIP goodbye message BYE, IMS gateway 20
sends SIP message 200 OK to media resource function device 30 via
S-CSCF. At this point, the RTP session between media resource function
device 30 and user equipment 5 1 is released.
In step S208, IMS gateway 20 sends a second requires for
indicating the end of voice service to online charging system 10. As
shown by step S3 13 of Fig.3, based on the received message 200 OK,
IMS gateway 20 knows that the session redirected to media resource
function device 30 has ended, and then sends an update charging request
CCR (Update) to request a quota for resource usage based on the current
charging rate.
After receiving the second request for indicating the end of the
voice service, in step S209, online charging system 10 sends, to IMS
gateway 20, a second instruction, which instructs IMS gateway 20 to
redirect calling user equipment 5 1 to called user equipment 52. This
corresponds to steps S3 14 to S3 15 in Fig. 3. In step S3 14, in response to
the received update charging request CCR (Update), online charging
system 10 exits "redirection" state, and allocates resource quota to user
equipment 52 based on the current charging rate; next, in step S315,
online charging system 10 sends credit control answer (CCA) message
CCA (GSU) to IMS gateway 20. This credit control answer includes
"Granted-Service-Unit (GSU)" attribute value pair, which including the
allocated resource quota.
After receiving the second instruction, in step S210, IMS gateway
20 redirects calling user 5 1 to called user 52 such that calling user
equipment 5 1 can perform voice communication with called user
equipment 52. In particular, this step S210 can be implemented by steps
S316 to S325 in Fig.3.
Firstly, in step S3 16, after receiving the resource quota allocated
by online charging system 10, IMS gateway 20 sends, to the counterpart
user equipment 52, inviting message INVITE (called party, calling party,
SDP information of calling party), which includes the identifier of the
called party, the identifier of the calling party and the SDP information of
the calling party. Next, in step S317, after receiving the inviting message,
the called user equipment 52 sends, to IMS gateway 20, response
message 180 Ring, which includes the SDP information of user
equipment 52. After receiving this response message, IMS gateway 20
sends, in step S3 18, acknowledgement message PRACK to the called
user equipment 52 via S-CSCF. Then, in step S3 19, user equipment 5
sends a response 200 OK for this acknowledgement message PRACK to
IMS gateway 20 via S-CSCF. Once receiving the response message sent
by user equipment 52 in step S3 17, IMS gateway 20 sends, in step S320,
inviting reply message re-INVITE to the calling user equipment 5 1 via
S-CSCF. This message includes the SDP information of user equipment
52. In step S321, when user equipment 5 1 receives the inviting reply
message and recognizes that this inviting reply message is a reply to the
inviting that has been sent, user equipment 5 1 sends the corresponding
acknowledgement message 200 OK to IMS gateway 20. Once the called
user answers the call, the called user equipment 52 sends, in step S322, a
reply 200 OK to the inviting message in step S3 16 to IMS gateway 20 via
S-CSCF. Then, in steps S323 and S324, IMS gateway 20 respectively
sends acknowledgement message ACK to user equipments 5 1 and 52 via
S-CSCF. At this point, a voice session is established between user
equipments 5 1 and 52. In step S325, the calling party 5 1 and the called
party 52 can perform voice communication.
Fig.4 illustrates a flow chart of a method of providing a user with
charging-related interactive voice response according to an embodiment
of the present invention. Fig.5 illustrates a flow chart of an example of
the method in Fig.4.
Referring to Fig.4, firstly, in step S401, an inviting message
INVITE sent by calling user equipment 5 1 to the called user equipment
52 is routed to IMS gateway 20. For example, this inviting message can
be routed to S-CSCF via P-CSCF and I-CSCF and then sent to IMS
gateway 20, as shown in steps S501 to S502 in Fig.5. Optionally, S-CSCF
may perform the corresponding interaction with other SIP application
servers based on initial filter criteria (iFC) before routing this inviting
message to IMS gateway 20.
After receiving this inviting message, IMS gateway 20 sends a first
request to online charging system 10 in step S402. This first request is
related to the online charge for the call invited by user equipment 51. In
the example of Fig.5, this step is implemented by step S503. In step S503,
IMS gateway 20 sends credit control request (CCR) message, namely
initial charging request CCR (Initial) for detecting whether the balance of
the calling party is enough to fund this call.
After receiving the first request, online charging system 10
determines, in step S403, whether there exists an event for providing user
51 with voice service according to the account profile of calling user 51.
In this example, there exists an event for interactive voice response. Then,
in step S404, online charging system 10 enters "redirection" state, and
sends a first instruction for instructing redirection to IMS gateway 20.
This first instruction comprises the identifier of interactive voice
response application server (IVR AS) 40 for providing interactive voice
response, the identifier of calling user 5 1 and a third information related
to the content of the interactive voice response. Steps S403 and S404
correspond to S504 and S505 in Fig. 5, respectively. In step S504, online
charging system 10 detects that the balance of calling user 5 1 is too low
and thus determines to prompt user 5 1 to recharge the account
immediately through interactive voice response. Then, in step S505,
online charging system 10 sends, to IMS gateway 20, a credit control
answer (CCA) message CCA (FUI), which includes
"Final-Unit-Indication (FUI)" attribution value pair (AVP). In this
"Final-Unit-Indication" attribution value pair, "Final-Unit-Action" is set
to REDIRECT, and "Redirect-Server-Address" is set to SIP universal
resource identifier (SIP URI). SIP URI includes the address of interactive
voice response application server 40 and the third information related to
the content of the determined interactive voice response. This third
information can comprise the access code indicating the determined
interactive voice response.
After receiving the first instruction, in step S405, IMS gateway 20
connects user equipment 5 1 to the first server, namely interactive voice
response application server 40, according to the identifier of the first
server and the identifier of the user in the first instruction, and forwards
the third information in the first instruction to interactive voice response
application server 40. This step corresponds to step 507 in Fig.5. In step
S507, IMS gateway 20 sends SIP inviting message to interactive voice
response application server 40 via S-CSCF, wherein this inviting message
includes the access code in credit control answer message CCA (FUI).
After receiving access code, in step S406, interactive voice
response application server 40 determines the corresponding interactive
voice response according to this access code, and generates second
information for instructing media resource function device 30 to perform
the corresponding voice announcement and "Prompt and Collection"
operation. The "Prompt and Collection" operation refers to prompting a
user to input and collecting inputs from the user. Preferably, interactive
voice response application server 40 comprises a database and can
acquire the corresponding interactive voice response from the database
according to the access code. In the example of Fig.5, in step S508,
interactive voice response application server 40 recognizes, by inquiring
its internal database, that the interactive voice response corresponding to
the access code is to notify the user that the balance is too low and to
prompt the user to input scratched card number and PIN number to
recharge. Thus, the second information generated by interactive voice
response application server 40 instructs, for example, media resource
function device 30 to perform the following operations: firstly, greeting
announcement is played to notify the user that the balance is too low;
then, "Prompt and Collection" operation is performed to notify the user
of inputting scratched card number and PIN number and to collect the
user inputs.
In step S407, interactive voice response application server 40
sends the generated second information to media resource function device
30. As shown in Fig.5, in step S509, interactive voice response
application server 40 sends inviting message INVITE which includes the
generated second information to media resource function device 30.
After receiving the second information, in step S408, media
resource function device 30 determines announcement information
according to the second information, and plays the announcement
information to user 5 1 as well as collects the user inputs. This step
corresponds to steps S510 to S512 in Fig.5. In particular, in step 510,
media resource function device 30 detects whether resources are
available for the announcement, and if yes, sends message 200 OK
including session description protocol (SDP) information of media
resource function device 30 to IMS gateway 20 via S-CSCF so as to
deliver the capability of RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) session of
media resource function device 30; next, IMS gateway 20 sends his
message 200 OK to user equipment 5 1 via S-CSCF. In step S511, if
accepting the SDP information in message 200 OK, user equipment 5 1
sends SIP acknowledgement message ACK to IMS gateway 20 and
interactive voice response application server 40 via S-CSCF; finally, this
acknowledgment message ACK is forwarded to media resource function
device 30. At this point, a RTP session capable of bearing voice
announcement is established between media resource function device 30
and user equipment 51. Next, in step S512, media resource function
device 30 plays the corresponding voice announcement to user equipment
51, including notifying the user of a too low balance as well as prompting
the user to input scratched card number and PIN number and collecting
the user inputs.
After receiving the inputs from the user, in step S409, media
resource function device 30 generates a third message indicating the user
inputs and sends this third message to interactive voice response
application server 40. Preferably, this third message uses media server
control markup language (MSCML). As shown in Fig.5, in step S513,
media resource function device 30 generates MSCML response which
includes information representing the card number and the PIN number
input by the user, and sends SIP message INFO including this MSCML
response to interactive voice response application server 40 via S-CSCF.
In step S514, interactive voice response application server 40 sends reply
message 200 OK for this SIP message to media resource function device
30 via S-CSCF.
After receiving the third message indicating the user inputs, in step
S410, interactive voice response application server 40 performs
predetermined operation according the third message. In this case, the
third message is used to instruct operation on the account profile of the
user, and thus, interactive voice response application server 40 generates
the corresponding operation request and sends this operation request to
online charging system 10. In the example of Fig. 5, in step S515,
interactive voice response application server 40 obtains the card number
and the PIN number from the third message, and sends the obtained card
number and PIN number to online charging system 10. Preferably,
interactive voice response application server 40 can verify the card
number and PIN number before sending. For example, when the length of
the card number input by the user does not conform with the
predetermined length, interactive voice response application server 40
may prompt the user to re-input.
After receiving the operation request, in step S411, online charging
system 10 performs the corresponding operation on the account profile of
user equipment 51 according to the received operation request, and sends
the operation results to interactive voice response application server 40.
As shown in Fig. 5, in step S516, online charging system 10 performs
recharging for user equipment 5 1 according to the card number and PIN
number included in the operation request, and sends an operation
response back to interactive voice response application server 40,
wherein the operation response includes a result of successful recharging.
After receiving the operation result from online charging system,
in step S412, interactive voice response application server 40 notifies
user equipment of this operation result and generates another "Prompt
and Collection" operation to instruct user 5 1 to perform the next
operation. Next, in step S413, interactive voice response application
server 40 sends second information for instructing the next operation to
media resource function device 30; in step S414, media resource function
device 30 performs the corresponding "Prompt and Collection" operation;
in step S415, media resource function device 30 sends the collected user
inputs to interactive voice response application server 40. In the example
of Fig. 5, the above steps S412 to S415 correspond to steps S517 to S523,
which are described in the following.
In step S517, based on the result of successful recharging received
from online charging system 10, interactive voice response application
server 40 generates the corresponding second information for instructing
media resource function device 30 to notify the user of recharging result
and prompt the user to select the next operation according to the menu.
For example, the operations indicated in the menu comprises connecting
to the called party, ending the current call, modifying PIN, transfer
balance, etc.. In step S518, interactive voice response application server
40 sends message INFO (prompting to select the next operation)
including the generated second information to media resource function
device 30 via S-CSCF. In step S519, media resource function device 30
sends the corresponding reply message 200 OK to interactive voice
response application server 40 via S-CSCF. In step S520, media resource
function device 30 plays the voice announcement corresponding to the
second information to user 51. In step S521, media resource function
device 30 collects the inputs from the user, namely the selection for the
next operation. In this case, the user selects a specified digital for exiting
the IVR operation. In step S522, media resource function device 30
generates third message INFO (a digital for exiting) indicating the user
inputs, and sends the third message to interactive voice response
application server 40.
After receiving the third message for requesting exit, in step S416,
interactive voice response application server 40 sends a fourth message
for indicating the end of voice service to media resource function device
30. After receiving the fourth message, in step S417, media resource
function device 30 ends the voice service. In step S418, interactive voice
response application server 40 sends second message for indicating the
end of voice service to IMS gateway 20. In the example of Fig.5, steps
S416 to S418 are implemented by steps S524 to S528. In step S524,
interactive voice response application server 40 sends bye message BYE
to media resource function device 30 via S-CSCF so as to release the RTP
connection between media resource function device 30 and user
equipment 51. Media resource function device 30 sends reply message
200 OK to interactive voice response application server 40 via S-CSCF in
step S525, and releases the RTP connection between media resource
function device 30 and user equipment 5 1 in step S526. In step S527,
interactive voice response application server 40 further sends bye
message BYE to IMS gateway 20 via S-CSCF. After receiving the bye
message, in step S528, IMS gateway 20 sends SIP message 200 OK back
to interactive voice response application server 40 via S-CSCF.
The subsequent steps S419 to S421 is similar to the steps S208 to
S210 in Fig.2, and are therefore not repeated anymore. Likewise, the
steps S529 to S541 in Fig.5 are also similar to the steps S313 to S325 in
Fig. 3, and are therefore not repeated anymore.
The present invention has been described from the view of method
step in the above, and the present invention will be further described from
the view of apparatus in the below.
According to an aspect of the prevent invention, there is provided
with an apparatus for providing a user with charging-related voice service
in an online charging system of an IP multimedia subsystem. It comprises:
a first determining unit for determining whether there exists an event of
providing said user with said voice service according to account profile
of said user; a first sending unit, if said event exists, said first sending
unit sending, to an online charging client, a first instruction for
instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to a first server
for providing said voice service, wherein said first instruction includes an
identifier of said first server and a first information related to content of
said voice service.
According to another aspect of the prevent invention, there is
provided with an apparatus for providing a user with charging-related voice
service in an online charging client of an IP multimedia subsystem. It
comprises: a receiving unit for receiving, from an online charging system, a
first instruction for instructing said online charging client to redirect said
user to a first server for providing said voice service, wherein said first
instruction includes an identifier of said first server and a first information
related to content of said voice service; a second sending unit for sending a
first message including said first information to said first server according to
said first instruction so as to redirect said user to said first server.
According to another aspect of the prevent invention, there is
provided with an apparatus for providing a user with charging-related voice
service in a media resource function device of an IP multimedia subsystem.
It comprises: a second receiving unit for receiving, from an online charging
client or an interactive voice response device, a second information for
instructing said media resource function device to perform voice
announcement related to said voice service; a first processing unit for
generating corresponding announcement information according to said
second information, and play said announcement information to said user.
According to another aspect of the prevent invention, there is
provided with an apparatus for providing a user with charging-related voice
service in an interactive voice response device of an IP multimedia
subsystem. It comprises: a third receiving unit for receiving, from an online
charging client, a third information for instructing said interactive voice
response device to perform interactive voice response related to said voice
service; a second processing unit for performing a corresponding interactive
operation according to said third information.
The embodiments of the present invention have been described in
the above. It should be noted that, the present invention is not limited to the
above specific embodiments, and any variation or modification can be made
by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended
claims.

CLAIMS
1. A method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in
an online charging system of an IP multimedia subsystem, comprising the
following steps:
b. determining whether there exists an event of providing said user with
said voice service according to account profile of said user;
c. if said event exists, sending, to an online charging client, a first
instruction for instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to a
first server for providing said voice service, wherein said first instruction
includes an identifier of said first server and a first information related to
content of said voice service.
2.A method according to claim 1, wherein
if said event is an event of providing said user with voice announcement,
said first server is a media resource function device, and said first
information includes a second information for instructing said media
resource function device to perform voice announcement related to said
event of voice announcement;
if said event is an event of providing said user with interactive voice
response, said first server is an interactive voice response device, and said
first information includes a third information for instructing said interactive
voice response device to perform interactive voice response related to said
event of interactive voice response.
3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising the following
steps after said step c if said first server is an interactive voice response
device:
dl: receiving, from said first server, an operation request for operating
said account profile;
d2: operating said account profile according to said operation request.
4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the following step
before said step b :
a : receiving, from said online charging client, a first request related to
online charging for a session between said user and a counterpart user; and
said step b further comprises: determining whether there exists said
event of providing said user with said voice service according to said first
request.
5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising the following
steps after said step c :
el. receiving, from said online charging client, a second request for
indicating end of said voice service;
e2. sending, to said online charging client, a second instruction for
instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to said counterpart
user.
6. A method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in
an online charging client of an IP multimedia subsystem, comprising the
following steps:
B. receiving, from an online charging system, a first instruction for
instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to a first server for
providing said voice service, wherein said first instruction includes an
identifier of said first server and a first information related to content of said
voice service;
C. sending a first message including said first information to said first
server so as to redirect said user to said first server, according said first
instruction,.
7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising the following
steps after said step C:
D: receiving, from said first server, a second message for indicating end
of said voice service;
E. sending, to said online charging system, a second request for
indicating end of said voice service in response to said second message.
8.A method according to claim 7,
further comprising the following step before said step B:
A. sending, to said online charging system, a first request related to
online charging for a session between said user and a counterpart user;
and further comprising the following step after said step E:
F. receiving, from said online charging system, a second instruction for
instructing said online charging client to redirect said user to said counterpart
user, and redirecting said user to said counterpart user according said second
instruction.
9. A method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in a
media resource function device of an IP multimedia subsystem, comprising
the following steps:
- receiving, from an online charging client or an interactive voice
response device, a second information for instructing said media resource
function device to perform voice announcement related to said voice service;
- generating corresponding announcement information according to said
second information, and play said announcement information to said user.
10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising: after said
playing ends, sending, to said online charging client, a second message for
indicating end of said voice service.
11. A method according to claim 9, wherein said second information is
further for instructing said media resource function device to perform an
operation which is related to said voice service and for collecting an input
from said user, and said method further comprises:
- receiving said input from said user;
- generating a third message for identifying said input according to said
input;
- sending said third message to said interactive voice response device.
12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising:
- receiving, from said interactive voice response server, a fourth
message for indicating end of said voice service,
- ending said voice service in response to said fourth message.
13. A method of providing a user with charging-related voice service in
an interactive voice response device of an IP multimedia subsystem,
comprising the following steps:
- receiving, from an online charging client, a third information for
instructing said interactive voice response device to perform interactive
voice response related to said voice service;
- performing a corresponding interactive operation according to said
third information.
14. A method according to claim 13, wherein said interactive operation
includes:
- generating a second information for instructing a media resource
function device to perform voice announcement related to said voice service
and an operation for collecting an input from said user, and sending said
second information to said media resource function device; and
- receiving, from said media resource function device, a third message
for identifying said input of said user, and performing a predetermined
operation according to said third message.
15. A method according to claim 14, wherein;
- if said third message is for instructing an operation to account profile
of said user,
- generating a corresponding operation request according to said third
message,
- sending said operation request to said online charge system;
- if said third message is for requesting exit,
- sending, to said media resource function device, a fourth message
for indicating end of said voice service;
- sending, to said online charging client, a second message for
indicating end of said voice service.