Method for establishing an IP video-conference using a telephone network for voice transmission
A method of establishing video-conferences between audio communication equipments (ACE 1, ACE 2 ) comprises a) using a user audio communication equipment (ACE 1 ) to initiate a first call with another user audio communication equipment (ACE 2 ), b) routing the first call to an exchange node (SSPN) of the telephone network (TN) in order it transmits a message, comprising the telephone numbers of the user audio communication equipments (ACE 1, ACE 2 ), to a service node (SN) connected to the telephone (TN) and Internet (IN) networks, c) authorizing the exchange node (SSPN) to establish the first call when the telephone numbers are stored in a memory (MY) of the service node (SN), in order to set up an audio communication between the audio communication equipments (ACE 1, ACE 2 ), d) determining, if required, the addresses of the user video communication equipments (VCE 1, VCE 2 ) in order to establish a video communication therebetween, in parallel with the audio communication.
1. Method for establishing a video-conference between audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ), each associated to a user and to a telephone number and connected to a telephone network (TN), and video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ), each associated to one of said users and to an IP address and each connected to a video equipment (VE 1 , VE 2 ) and to an Internet network (IN), characterized in that it comprises:
a) using an audio communication equipment (ACE 1 ), associated to a calling user, to initiate a first call with at least another audio communication equipment (ACE 2 ), associated to a called user,
b) routing said first call to a chosen exchange node (SSPN) of said telephone network (TN) so that it transmits a message comprising the telephone numbers of the audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) of said calling and called users, to a service node (SN) connected to said telephone network (TN) and to the Internet network (IN),
c) authorizing said exchange node (SSPN) to establish said first call when said telephone numbers are stored in a memory (MY) of said service node (SN), in order to set up an audio communication between the audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) of said calling and called users,
d) determining, if required, the addresses of the video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) of said calling and called users which are associated in the memory (MY) of said service node (SN) to said telephone numbers in order to establish a video communication between said video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ), in parallel with said audio communication;
wherein the establishment of said video communication is triggered by one of the video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) of said calling and called users having established a first call, managed by said service node (SN), between the respective audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 );
wherein the establishment of said video communication is triggered by means of a user action on a dedicated key of the video communication equipment (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ).
2. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in step d) the establishment of said video communication is triggered by one of the audio communication equipment (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) of said calling and called users.
3. Method according to claim 2 , characterized in that in step d) the triggering of the video communication establishment is carried out by means of a second call at a called number defined by a service access code routed to a chosen exchange node (SSPN), after holding said first call.
4. Method according to claim 3 , characterized in that in step d) when said exchange node (SSPN) receives said second call it transmits a message to said service node (SN) comprising the telephone number of the audio communication equipment (ACE 1 ) of either said calling or called users and said service access code.
5. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in steps b) and d) said messages are transmitted by means of an INAP protocol.
6. Method according to claim 5 , characterized in that said INAP protocol is CS1.
7. Method according to claim 4 , characterized in that in step d) when said service node (SN) receives said message it determines if the telephone number that triggered this message is stored in said memory (MY) and if the audio communication equipment (ACE 1 ) associated to this telephone number has established a first call, managed by itself (SN), and in this case it establishes said video communication between the addresses of the video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) of said calling and called users of the managed call.
8. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in step d) the establishment of said video communication is triggered by means of a user action on a dedicated key of the audio communication equipment (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ).
9. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in step d) the triggering of the video communication establishment is carried out by means of the transmission of a video request, comprising the address of the video communication equipment (VCE 1 ) of either said calling or called users and a second address in said service node (SN), at a dedicated address of a dedicated service server (SS) arranged to route said video request to said service node (SN), through said Internet network (IN).
10. Method according to claim 9 , characterized in that in step d) when said service node (SN) receives said video request it determines if the address having generated it is stored in said memory (MY) and if the audio communication equipment (ACE 1 ) associated to this address is engaged in a first call, managed by said service node (SN), and in this case said service node (SN) establishes said video communication between the addresses of the video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) of said calling and called users.
11. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in step d) said service node (SN) automatically triggers the establishment of said video communication if i) the telephone numbers of the audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) of said calling and called users are stored in said memory (MY) in correspondence with data representative of an automatic video establishment authorization, and ii) it has received from said telephone network (TN) a message signaling that the audio communication has been effectively established between the audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) of said calling and called users.
12. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that in step d) said service node (SN) establishes said video communication by means of a SIP call between the addresses of the video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) of said calling and called users.
13. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that during said video communication said service node (SN) removes any audio data from said video data transmitted by one of said video communication equipments (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) to the other in order to only transmit video streams.
14. Method according to claim 7 , characterized in that when said exchange node (SSPN) detects that the audio communication between said audio communication equipments (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) is finished, it transmits a message to said service node (SN), and when said service node (SN) receives this message it stops said video communication.
15. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that said audio communication establishment is controlled by means of a first module (M 1 ) of said service node (SN) and said video communication establishment is controlled by means of a second module (M 2 ) of said service node (SN), connected to said first module (M 1 ).
16. Method according to claim 1 , wherein each audio communication equipment (ACE 1 , ACE 2 ) is chosen in a group comprising at least a fixed telephone and a mobile telephone.
17. Method according to claim 1 , wherein each video communication equipment (VCE 1 , VCE 2 ) is chosen in a group comprising at least a personal computer and a TV connected to a set-top-box.
18. Method according to claim 1 , wherein each video equipment (VE 1 , VE 2 ) is a digital video camera.