Communication application server for converged communication services
View Patent ↗A communication application server for supporting converged communications in a communication system. The communication application server is responsive to communication service requests from external endpoints, applications or other c requesting entities, and in one embodiment comprises at least first and second components. The first component is operative: (i) to process a given one of the communication service requests to identify at least one corresponding communication service supported by the communication application server, (ii) to determine one or more executable communication tasks associated with the identified communication service; and (iii) to establish communication with one or more external servers to carry out execution of at least a subset of the one or more executable communication taks associated with the communication service. The second component is coupled between the first component and the one or more external servers, and provides, for each of the external servers, a corresponding interface for connecting the communication application server to the external server.
1. A system comprising: a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
in response to a communication service request from a requester, identifying a communication service supported by the system, the communication service request being associated with session information comprising (i) a session hierarchy for breaking the communication service into communication tasks to be processed in a recursive fashion and (ii) aggregation information for aggregating responses from each of the communication tasks based on response types;
executing the communication tasks in the recursive fashion to yield responses from the communications tasks, wherein at least two of the communication tasks are invoked and executed concurrently with each other;
based on the session information, aggregating the responses to yield an overall response; and
routing the overall response to the requester through a corresponding connector interface identified by the system for communicating the overall response.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
based on the session information, determining an executable communication task associated with the communication service, wherein identifying the communication service and determining the executable communication task is performed via a communication service and session management component, the communication service and session management component comprising a session manager and
establishing a communication with an external server to execute the executable communication task, wherein the communication is established via the corresponding connector interface.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the communication service and session management component further comprises:
a service event manager for processing the communication service request to identify the communication service;
a communication services manager adapted for interaction with a service event manager and operative to determine the executable communication task associated with the communication service; and
a routing element operative to establish communication with the external server.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the external server comprises one of an enterprise server or a communications server.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the communications server comprises a communication system telephony switch.
6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an access manager for controlling access of the requester to the system.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service request originates from an endpoint external to the system.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the communication service request originates from an application running on the endpoint.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service comprises a federated communication service.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service comprises a federated core service.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the federated core service comprises a communication service script.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the federated core service comprises a user profile database service.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the federated core service comprises one of a directory service, a registry service, a persistent store service, a QoS service, or a security service.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system receives communication service requests from a plurality of external applications, and provides communication services in response to the communication requests, utilizing an external server.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service request is received via a portal associated with the system.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication comprises one of a telephony session, a messaging session, or an instant messaging session.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication corresponds to an executable communication task associated with the communication service, and involves execution of at least a portion of the communication task by an external server.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service comprises a plurality of executable communication tasks, each of at least a subset of the plurality of executable communication tasks comprising a specified processing step.
19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service comprises additional communication services, the additional communication services having executable communication tasks associated therewith.
20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication service is implemented in accordance with a communication workflow specified in a service creation environment associated with the system.
21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a communication application server.
22. The system of claim 1 , wherein the executable communication task is executed substantially within the system.
23. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the communication tasks is executed via an external server, wherein the external server comprises a server implemented on a common processing platform with the system.
24. A communication application server comprising: a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
processing a communication service request to identify a communication service supported by the communication application server;
managing session information associated with the communication service request, the session information comprising (i) a session hierarchy for breaking the communication service into executable communication tasks to be processed in a recursive fashion and (ii) aggregation information for aggregating responses from each of the executable communication tasks based on response types;
determining the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service;
establishing communication with an external server to carry out an execution of the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service to yield responses from the executable communication tasks, wherein at least two of the executable communication tasks are invoked and executed concurrently with each other;
based on the session information, aggregating the responses to yield an overall response; and
routing the overall response to a requester of the communication requester.
25. A method comprising:
processing, via a communication application server, a communication service request to identify a communication service supported by the communication application server;
managing session information associated with the communication service request, the session information comprising (i) a session hierarchy for breaking the communication service into executable communication tasks to be processed in a recursive fashion and (ii) aggregation information for aggregating responses from each of the executable communication tasks based on response types;
determining the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service;
establishing communication with an external server to carry out execution of the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service to yield responses from the executable communication tasks, wherein at least two of the executable communication tasks are invoked and executed concurrently with each other;
based on the session information, aggregating the responses to yield an overall response; and
routing the overall response to a requester of the communication requester.
26. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
processing, via a communication application server, a communication service request to identify a communication service supported by the communication application server;
managing session information associated with the communication service request, the session information comprising (i) a session hierarchy for breaking the communication service into executable communication tasks to be processed in a recursive fashion and (ii) aggregation information for aggregating responses from each of the executable communication tasks based on response types;
determining the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service;
establishing communication with an external server to carry out execution of the executable communication tasks associated with the communication service to yield responses from the executable communication tasks, wherein at least two of the executable communication tasks are invoked and executed concurrently with each other;
based on the session information, aggregating the responses to yield an overall response; and
routing the overall response to a requester of the communication requester.