Apparatus for call management and method thereof

Abstract

An apparatus for extending during a conference call the number of telephone connections being utilized beyond strict numerical capacity is disclosed, together with a method. The method for call management comprises storing a conference table for recording information of agent endpoints that have joined a conference call and having two or more DSP channels. A call is received and the callee endpoint is identified. The number of available agent endpoints in the conference table is also identified, an agent endpoint being identified as available if the number of the DSP channels of the agent endpoint is greater than zero. If there are multiple available agent endpoints, the priority of each available agent endpoint is calculated and the call is redirected to the callee endpoint, with the high-priority agent endpoint in between.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for call management of a conference call, comprising:
 a processor;   a computer readable storage medium for storing instructions and a conference table for recording information of at least one agent endpoint that has joined the conference call, wherein the instructions are executed by the processor, and performs the following steps:   receiving a call;   determining whether a plurality of available agent endpoints in the conference table, wherein each of the available agent endpoints has a number of digital signal processor channels that is greater than zero;   selecting an available agent endpoints from the plurality of available agent endpoints; and   redirecting the call to the selected available agent endpoint.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting an available agent endpoint comprises calculating a priority value of each of the available agent endpoints, and selecting the available agent endpoint with a highest priority. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the step of redirecting the call to the selected available agent endpoint comprises identifying an endpoint related to the call, and setting up a connection between the identified endpoint and the selected available agent endpoint. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein step of identifying an endpoint related to the call further comprises:
 if the call is an outgoing call, the call related endpoint is a caller; and if the call is an incoming call, the call related endpoint is a callee.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the step of calculating the priority of each of the available agent endpoints is calculated according to an equation: α×RTT local +β×QoS proxy +γ×Cap proxy +ω×RTT external , wherein α, β, γ, and ω are weighted parameters, RTT local  is a round trip time between the call related endpoint and the available agent endpoint, QoS proxy  is a QoS setting value of the available agent endpoint, Cap proxy  is a number of digital signal processor channels of the available agent endpoint, and RTT external  is a round trip time between the available agent endpoint and a gateway. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein a sum of α, β, γ, and ω is equal to one. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the available agent endpoint with a calculated priority value which is lower has a higher priority. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further performs the following step:
 updating the conference table based on the number of digital signal processor channels of the selected available agent point.   
     
     
         9 . A method for call management of a conference call, comprising:
 receiving a call;   determining whether a plurality of available agent endpoints of the conference call, wherein each of the available agent endpoints has a number of digital signal processor channels that is greater than zero;   selecting an available agent endpoint from the plurality of available agent endpoints; and   redirecting the call to the selected available agent endpoint.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the method of selecting an available agent endpoint comprises calculating a priority value of each available agent endpoint, and selecting the available agent endpoint with a highest priority. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the method of redirecting the call to the selected available agent endpoint comprises identifying an endpoint related to the call, and setting up a connection between the identified endpoint and the selected available agent endpoint. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the method of identifying an endpoint related to the call further comprises:
 if the call is an outgoing call, the call related endpoint is a caller; and if the call is an incoming call, the call related endpoint is a callee.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method of calculating the priority of each of the available agent endpoints is calculated according to an equation: α×RTT local +β×QoS prox +γ×Cap proxy +ω×RTT external , wherein α, β, γ, and ω are weighted parameters, RTT local  is a round trip time between the call related endpoint and the available agent endpoint, QoS proxy  is a QoS setting value of the available agent endpoint, Cap proxy  is a number of digital signal processor channels of the available agent endpoint, and RTT external  is a round trip time between the available agent endpoint and a gateway. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein a sum of α, β, γ, and ω is equal to one. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the available agent endpoint with a calculated priority value which is lower has a higher priority. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 updating the number of digital signal processor channels of the selected available agent point.