Method and apparatus for detecting and responding to events occurring on remote telephone
View Patent ↗A process and a system are disclosed for detecting activity, e.g., three way calling, call forwarding, or the like, during a phone call. The process includes, and the system is configured for, establishing the call path between a first party and a second party, adding a reference tone to the call path, observing a reflected tone from the call path, and determining a relationship between the reference tone and the reflected tone. Information relating to the relationship may be reported for further analysis.
1. A method of detecting activity during a phone call, the method comprising:
establishing a call path between a first party and a second party;
adding a first reference tone of a first repetitive waveform to a first electrical signal from the first party to the second party via the call path, wherein the first reference tone has a frequency less than 300 Hz;
receiving a second electrical signal from the second party to the first party via the call path, the second electrical signal including a reflected tone of a second repetitive waveform, the second repetitive waveform representing the first reference tone reflected from the call path; and
detecting change in a phase difference between the first reference tone in the first electrical signal and the reflected tone in the second electrical signal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity detected during the call comprises a three-way call attempt or a call transfer attempt.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the change in the phase difference comprises determining a zero crossing of the reflected tone.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein detecting the change in the phase difference comprises determining a zero crossing for the first reference tone.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frequency of the first reference tone is fixed.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a second reference tone in the first electrical signal, the second reference tone in combination with the first electrical signal generating a first envelope in the first electrical signal and a second envelope in the reflected tone.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting information related to change in the phase difference.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting activity associated with the phone call.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of reporting activity comprises flagging the phone call.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, in response to the step of reporting activity, one of generating a warning associated with the phone call, recording the phone call, and terminating the phone call.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase difference is determined by comparing one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the first reference tone and one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the reflected tone.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting change in the phase difference comprises:
starting a timer responsive to detecting a first point of the first repetitive waveform;
stopping the timer responsive to detecting a second point of the second repetitive waveform;
determining a first phase indicator based on a start time and a stop time of the timer; and
comparing the first phase indicator with a reference phase indicator.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first point is one of zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the first repetitive waveform; and the second point is zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the second repetitive waveform.
14. A method of detecting activity during a phone call, the method comprising:
establishing a call path between a first party and a second party;
adding a first reference tone of a first repetitive waveform to a first electrical signal from the first party to the second party via the call path, wherein the first reference tone has a frequency less than 300 Hz;
adding a second reference tone to the first electrical signal of a second repetitive waveform, the second reference tone in conjunction with the first reference to generating a first tone envelope in the first electrical signal;
receiving a second electrical signal from the second party to the first party via the call path, the second electrical signal including a second tone envelope including a third repetitive waveform, the second tone envelope representing the first tone envelope reflected from the call path; and
detecting change in a phase difference between the first tone envelope in the first electrical signal and the second tone envelope in the second electrical signal.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein detecting the change in the phase difference comprises comparing inflection points of the first tone envelope and the second tone envelope.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein detecting the change in the phase difference comprises comparing one of minimum reference points and maximum reference points in the first tone envelope and the second tone envelope.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein detecting the change in the phase difference comprises analyzing zero crossings of the first tone envelope and the second tone envelope.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the frequency of the first reference tone is fixed.
19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising reporting information related to the change in the phase difference.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising reporting activity associated with the phone call.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein reporting the activity comprises flagging the phone call.
22. The method of claim 20 , further comprising, in response to the step of reporting activity, one of generating a warning associated with the phone call, recording the phone call, and terminating the phone call.
23. The method of claim 14 , wherein the phase difference is determined by comparing one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the first tone envelope and one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the second tone envelope.
24. The method of claim 14 , wherein the activity detected during the call comprises a three-way call attempt or a call transfer attempt.
25. The method of claim 14 , wherein detecting change in the phase difference comprises:
starting a timer responsive to detecting a first point of the first repetitive waveform;
stopping the timer responsive to detecting a second point of the second repetitive waveform;
determining a first phase indicator based on a start time and a stop time of the timer; and
comparing the first phase indicator with a reference phase indicator.
26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the first point is one of zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the first repetitive waveform; and the second point is zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the second repetitive waveform.
27. A system for detecting activity during a phone call, the system comprising:
a reference tone generator configured to generate a first reference tone of a first repetitive waveform;
a summing module configured to add the first reference tone to a first electrical signal from a first party to a second party via an established call path;
an interface configured to receive a second electrical signal from the second party to the first party via the call path, the second electrical signal including a reflected tone of a second repetitive waveform, the second repetitive waveform representing the first reference tone reflected from the call path, wherein the first reference tone has a frequency less than 300 Hz; and
a detection module configured to determine a change in a phase difference between the first reference tone in the first electrical signal and the reflected tone in the second electrical signal.
28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the reference tone generator is further configured to generate a second reference tone, the summing module is further configured to add the second reference tone to the first electrical signal to generate a first tone envelope.
29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the first reference tone is between 150 and 600 Hz.
30. The system of claim 27 , wherein the reflected tone is under 300 Hz.
31. The system of claim 27 , wherein the phase difference is detected by a zero crossing of the first reflected tone and a zero crossing of the reflected tone.
32. The system of claim 27 , wherein the phase difference is determined by comparing inflection points of the first reference tone and the reflected tone.
33. The system of claim 27 , wherein the phase difference is determined by comparing one of minimum reference points and maximum reference points in the first reference tone and the reflected tone.
34. The system of claim 27 , wherein the phase difference is determined by comparing one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the first reference tone and one of zero crossings, minimum reference points, and maximum reference points of the reflected tone.
35. The system of claim 27 , wherein the activity detected during the call comprises a three-way call attempt or a call transfer attempt.
36. The system of claim 27 , wherein the detection module is further configured to:
start a timer responsive to detecting a first point of the first repetitive waveform;
stop the timer responsive to detecting a second point of the second repetitive waveform;
determine a first phase indicator based on a start time and a stop time of the timer; and
compare the first phase indicator with a reference phase indicator.
37. The system of claim 36 , wherein the first point is one of zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the first repetitive waveform; and the second point is zero crossing point, a minimum reference point and maximum reference point of the second repetitive waveform.