DE10151749B4 - Web-based search engine for finding communication links - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for providing the connection data (128b) for communication links (136) via an enterprise or organization-specific intranet (110) having a gateway (112a) to the Internet (114) by using the search engine (106) of a client application (120)
in which
- connection data (128a) of a communication connection (136) already known by a user can be entered,
Unknown connection data (128b) required by the search engine (106) to be set up on the Internet (114) to establish the communication connection (136),
- after completion of the search, a result set (130) of the connection data (128b) found on the Internet (114) for establishing possible communication connections (136) is displayed, and
In the search for the unknown connection data (128b) for establishing communication connections (136) the search technology of at least one classical search engine (126) used for searching on the Internet is used,
while searching the unknown connection data (128b) in web pages of the Internet.

Description

The underlying invention is based on a method of providing the connection data for Communication connections (such as telephone numbers, fax numbers and / or e-mail addresses) the intranet of a company, an authority, an institution or an organization, where to build these communication links in particular the search technology of classical search engines used that's usually for research used on the internet. In addition, according to the invention is a search engine intended to carry out of such a method in the context of a client application suitable is.

On In particular, the teachings of the following are within the scope of the invention Publications known.

From publication WO 00/08838 A1 A method for providing connection data for communication connections is known, according to which a telephone apparatus contains special software which makes it possible to query a special database in which connection data for communication connections are stored in electronic form.

The publication WO 98/56158 A2 discloses a method for providing data, including a search engine, an intranet or Internet data network and one or more databases in this data network, the search engine specializing in so-called "catalog data" relating to persons and / or organizations to find.

The publication EP 0 457 077 A2 discloses a method for accessing - in particular self-managed and / or trusted - databases or directory services. It is either a standalone database or a database built into a PBX.

The publication US 5,457,738 also discloses a method for accessing - in particular self-managed and / or trusted - databases or directory services. This document provides a database in which a record contains an index to other records.

The publication US 5,923,736 A discloses a telephone with an HTML-based user interface for accessing web pages without reference to providing connection data or using search engines.

Around Understand the central idea of the underlying invention can, will be briefly to some embodiments of conventional electronic address and telephone directories according to the state of Technology as well as the main features of the X.500 standard International Telecommunications Union (ITU) directory service on the Internet and access to X.500 directory systems via the "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) To be received.

To the Establishing a telephone, fax or e-mail connection must be a communication participant the connection data (ie the telephone number, the fax number and / or the e-mail address) of the desired Communication partner either already know or access to have a directory in which they contain connection data are. To this end, today there is a multitude of public, internal administrative or private address and telephone directories in printed, handwritten or electronic form (eg on CD-ROM) in which the connection data Must be searched by the user. However, printed address or telephone directories are often just not at hand when a particular communication participant should be found quickly. The search ends then usually unsuccessful, there the entries the telephone directory in question are no longer up-to-date. For this reason, electronic communication data about the Internet offered. A user who has a communication connection (via phone, E-mail or fax), must do this in distributed directory servers on the Internet for the connection data of the desired Communication subscriber search.

in the In 1988, the International Standards Organization (ISO) began development under the OSI reference model with the X.500 standard a universal, distributed directory service (English: "Directory Service"), around the X.400 standards for Message handling systems (MHS) in telephone or telex networks too support. For this reason, X.500 has been mostly just as a kind of electronic Address and telephone directory for considered the message communication, or just as one Set of logs.

In a message handling system users are called by user agents (UAs) represents to help users create, send and receive messages can. When sending messages, a user passes the message and additional Parameters (eg name and address of the recipient) to his user agent. This transmitted then the message to the user agent of the recipient. To communicate the individual user agents with each other via a so-called "message Transfer system "(MTS), which consists of a number spatially distributed "message Transfer Agents "(MTAs) is formed. The message transfer agents transfer the message through the message transfer system until it gets to the user agent of a receiver can be delivered. For this purpose, the message is transported via the individual message transfer agents according to the storage or Paketvermitt principle (English: "Packet Switching "). One application of X.400, for example, is e-mail correspondence within a company or between different companies.

• – Mnemonische Adressen: Einzelne Kommunikationsteilnehmer werden anhand ihrer Position innerhalb einer Organisation identifiziert.
• – Numerische Adressen: Verwendet werden Nummern, um UAs innerhalb einer Management Domain zu identifizieren.
• - Postalische Adressen: Diese Adressen entsprechen den Zustelladressen für Brief- und Paketpost.
• – Endgeräte-Identifikationen: Diese Adressen entsprechen den Rufnummern der jeweiligen Endgeräte in einem Telekommunikationsnetz.

For addressing, four different address types are used in a message handling system:

• - Mnemonic addresses: Individual communication participants are identified by their position within an organization.
• - Numeric addresses: Numbers are used to identify UAs within a management domain.
• - Postal addresses: These addresses correspond to the delivery addresses for letter and parcel post.
• Terminal Identifications: These addresses correspond to the phone numbers of the respective terminals in a telecommunication network.

meanwhile the standard X.500 has evolved, and the previous one narrow view has greatly expanded. Like the developers of the standard X.500 today can be used for distributed information storage for all IT and telephony services are used, as well as a tool for the Search, retrieve and manage information.

today The standard X.500 serves as the basis of the electronic data exchange between the individual institutions of the EU. He describes one Directory service for providing an electronic telephone and address directory for Telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, network resources, public keys etc., which are used by both humans and computers can. Core of the directory service provided by X.500 This is a distributed database architecture in which the corresponding directory information NEN in the respective companies, authorities, organizations or institutions be maintained locally. This local information forms one about the whole network distributed big Directory service.

The application independent, hierarchical data model of the X.500 standard is there with its clear Tree structure in practice relatively easy to handle. Furthermore This manufacturer and platform independent protocol has already been added many companies and institutions around the world as standard for one full range of people, equipment and network data enforced. X.500 is also considered the key Building block for a big Long-term goal - the Creating a global, distributed and hierarchical structure electronic data directory for communication links of all kinds, the world names, addresses and information about persons, Organizations, groups, datastores, devices, services etc. available.

in the Center of the information model (English: "Information Model") are the entries (English: "Entries"), the consist of attributes (English: "Attributes"). Each attribute has a type and one or more values. Which Values are allowed is determined by the attribute syntax. The Attributes allowed or required in an entry are determined by the object class. Object classes are z. As "person", "organization", etc. The entries are in a hierarchical tree, the Directory Information Tree (DIT) arranged. about everyone receives the position of the entry in this hierarchy Entry a unique name (English: "Distinguished Name", DN). Individual components of the DN become "Relative Distinguished Name" (RDN) called. X.500 defines functional operations in the areas Search and Read, Modification and Authentication. The DIT is physically over various X.500 servers ("Directory System Agents ", DSAs), both geographically and organisationally. For the client it does not matter who we are Server he is connected. He always has the same view on it Directory. Can not a server answer the client request? so the server can forward the request or the client to a refer to other servers.

To ensure a globally consistent database, the X.500 standard beats basic Object classes and attributes. The following overview contains the elementary attributes defined here, sorted column by column according to alphabetical order: Business Category Facsimile Telephone Number localityName Common name generationQualifier Member Country name Given name OrganizationalUnit name description HouseIdentifier Organization name Destination Indicator Initials owner dnQualifier International ISDNNumber PhysicalDelivery OfficeName EnhancedSearchGuide Knowledge Information Postal Address Postal code Search Guide Telephone Number PostOfficeBox SeeAlso Teletex Terminal Identifier Preferred Delivery Method Serial Number telex Number PresentationAddress stateOrProvinceName title Protocol information Street Address Unique Identifier registered address Supported ApplicationContext Unique member RoleOccupant surname X121Address

Of the Standard deliberately only defined elementary attributes here, enough free space for the user for correspond de to leave application-specific extensions. A disadvantage is however, such extensions do not provide a worldwide unified view to the data content.

at a primary Use as directory for Emails and organizational information, similar to a phone book, can X.500 for that used to search for a particular recipient, as well as information about names, Addresses, telephone numbers as well as over E-mail addresses to receive.

Everyone Users of the X.500 directory will be logged in through the directory authenticated. As a result, he is granted access to the information assigned. The one part of X.500 that's through the use security mechanisms provided by the directory service to carry out of tasks to authenticate users is X.509. A user has the opportunity Services, confidentiality and liability to guarantee. About that In addition, the contents of the directory become accessible through access control mechanisms protected. For example, if a user works in finance, could he has the right to share some or all of the information regarding To see finances to a certain level. With the lowest Access rights could an anonymous user, for example, will be able to do the business Phone number and fax number of an entry to see, but not the private address and the private telephone number. An anonymous Outside users So you can only see the name, phone number, fax number, e-mail and postal address and the Information that the organization wants to communicate to the outside.

outgoing from the above-mentioned prior art, is the present Invention the object of the invention to provide a method with its help authorized communication participants all required connection data (eg telephone and fax numbers as well as e-mail addresses) for setting up can be provided by communication links.

These Task is achieved by the characteristics of the independent claims solved. advantageous Embodiments, which further develop the idea of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

The underlying invention disclosed, corresponding to the preceding Section defined task, an efficient method of deployment of connection data for establishing communication links via the Intranet of a company, an authority, an institution or an organization. In this context, according to the invention, the search technology classic search engines are commonly used for searches used on the internet. In addition, according to the invention is a search engine intended to carry out This method is suitable in the context of a client application.

To an embodiment The underlying invention is a special web-based search engine for communication connections It provides the user with the required communication connections via the intranet let search. This search engine is specifically for searching be provided by communication links, with certain Search criteria for searching the respective communication connection data be used. For example, after entering the name a desired one Communication partner (eg "Meier") and one Place of residence (eg "Munich") in the available Databases by telephone number, mobile number, e-mail address and fax number of the communication participants named "Meier" in the metropolitan area "Munich" searched. The obtained hits are then displayed on the screen of the user displayed. Such subject-specific search engines are also off known on the Internet, such as in the area of special Directory servers that download MP3-encoded audio or Enable video files.

Of the innovative step is the Internet technology of search engines for communication data to be found around communication links to build up.

Further Features, features, benefits and applications of the underlying Invention result from the subordinate dependent claims and from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, which is shown in the following drawings.

there demonstrate:

1 : a simplified block diagram 100 to illustrate the system architecture to provide the required connection data 128b for establishing communication links 136 with the help of a web-based search engine 106 according to an embodiment of the underlying invention;

2 : a flowchart 200 to illustrate the method according to the invention for providing the required connection data 128b for establishing communication links 136 ;

3a an input window 300a the user interface of a browser 118 to enter search queries for the search engine 106 ; and

3b an output window 300b the user interface of the browser 118 to output from the search engine 106 returned result set 130 ,

In the following the functions of the components contained in an embodiment of the underlying invention, as in FIGS 1 and 2 shown, described in more detail.

Referring to 1 , The present invention will first be explained schematically. Shown is a simplified block diagram 100 to illustrate the system architecture used in the context of the inventive solution. In the embodiment sketched here, according to the invention, an ISDN comfort telephone is provided 102 with display 104 , which has a function for displaying names and telephone numbers, with a search engine 106 to combine. The search engine 106 serves to provide unknown connection data 128b for communication connections 136 and is via a corporate or organization-specific intranet 110 with gateway 112a with the Internet 114 connected. In this context, for example, a digital, at a PBX 108 connected system telephone 102 be used with a display 104 is equipped and via a so-called "Display Phonebook" (DTB) application 120 and one with the private branch exchange 108 connected client 116a on which a search engine 106 to provide unknown connection data 128b running. The ISDN comfort telephone 102 and the client 116a are assigned to a first participant A. Furthermore, an ISDN comfort phone 102b and a client 116b another participant B shown.

• – das Erstellen von individuellen Adress- und Telefonverzeichnissen 132b (z. B. Firmenverzeichnis, persönliches Verzeichnis, Firmennamen-Liste),
• – ein Rufjournal 134 zur Speicherung von bis zu 20 kommenden und gehenden Anrufen (optional),
• – die Möglichkeit einer täglichen Aktualisierung der in dem individuellen Adress- bzw. Telefonverzeichnis 132b gespeicherten Daten
• – die Möglichkeit, Kommunikationsverbindungen direkt durch ein menügesteuertes Wählen des Namens eines gewünschten Kommunikationsteilnehmers aus dem individuellen Adress- bzw. Telefonverzeichnis 132b oder dem Rufjournal 134 aufzubauen,
• – die Identifizierung von Anrufern hinsichtlich ihres Namens und/oder ihrer Telefon-Nummer (optional) sowie
• – einen individuellen Passwortschutz.

In the context of this DTB application 120 the user is using the menu-driven two-line display user interface 122 of the ISDN comfort telephone 102 guided and can over the display 104 execute the desired functions by pressing softkeys. These features include, among others

• - the creation of individual address and telephone directories 132b (eg company directory, personal directory, company name list),
• - a call journal 134 for storing up to 20 incoming and outgoing calls (optional),
• - The possibility of a daily update in the individual address or telephone directory 132b stored data
• - The ability to communicate connections directly by a menu-driven dialing the name of a desired communication subscriber from the individual address or telephone directory 132b or the call journal 134 build,
• - The identification of callers in terms of their name and / or their telephone number (optional) and
• - an individual password protection.

In addition, the DTB application allows 120 the access of digital ISDN comfort telephones 102 to a centrally stored address or telephone directory 132a , This can be done via the display 104 of the ISDN comfort telephone 102 on a name-related address or telephone directory 132a which allows a user to quickly and easily access current information about address data and telephone numbers. Another advantage of using the DTB application 120 is that the cost of updating, outputting and distributing connection data is significantly reduced.

In the context of the method according to the invention, users can already know known connection data 128a a communication connection 136 enter. From the search engine 106 then unknown unknown connection data 128b , to the establishment of the communication connection 136 be needed in spatially distributed directory servers 124 on the Internet 114 searched. After completion of the search can be via the display 104 of the ISDN comfort telephone 102 and / or the user interface of one on the client 116a running browser 118 a scrollable result set 130 the connection data found on the Internet 128b for establishing possible communication connections 136 are displayed. In addition, when searching for the unknown connection data comes 128b for establishing the desired communication connections 136 According to the invention, the search technology of at least one Internet-based search engine 126 for use.

In the searched connection data 128b This may be, for example, a telephone number, mobile phone number, fax number, e-mail address, WWW address and / or postal delivery address, consisting of the address data country, postal code, city, street and house number or PO Box , act. Accordingly, it may be in the communication link to be established 136 telephone, video, videoconferencing, Voice over IP (VoIP), facsimile, e-mail or telex transmission for the transmission of digitized voice, audio or video signals and / or text data.

In 2 is a flowchart 200 shown that the inventive method for providing the connection data 128b illustrated by the method according to the invention. In the following, the individual steps of this method will be explained in detail.

In a first step 202 become the connection data already known to a user 128a a communication connection 136 (eg the name of a desired communication subscriber) via the graphical user interface of the client 116a running browser 118 or the display 104 of the ISDN comfort telephone 102 entered. In the latter case, the next sub-step 204 Checks if the entered known connection data 128a (the name) already in the individual address or telephone directory 132b the user or the call journal 134 are included. If this is the case, using the connection data found there 128b (eg a telephone number) in the following sub-step 206 a communication connection 136 to the respectively desired communication subscriber (eg a telephone connection). If in the individual address or telephone directory 132b the user no corresponding entry was found, must in a further sub-step 208 from the search engine 106 further unknown connection data 128b , to the establishment of the communication connection 136 be needed in spatially distributed directory servers 124 on the Internet 114 be searched. After completion of the search will be in a sub-step 210 the result set 130 the on the internet 114 found connection data 128b for establishing possible communication connections 136 via the graphical user interface of the client 116a running browser 118 or via the display 104 of the ISDN comfort telephone 102 displayed. The user can in the next step 212 decide if the returned result set 130 already small enough, based on the obtained connection data 128b a communication connection 136 to build up to the desired communication participant or whether the result set 130 must be further limited. In the latter case, he has in the following sub-step 214 the possibility of entering further known connection data 128a the result set 130 the one from the search engine 106 returned connection data 128b to narrow down. In addition, in a further sub-step 216 be provided according to the invention that individual known Ver used as search criteria connection data 128a are defined as primary or secondary keys, and any remaining search criteria are treated as a child of lower priority. This way, sorting can be done by the search engine 106 returned result set 130 be enabled.

3a shows the input window 300a the user interface of the browser 118 to enter search queries for the search engine 106 , In the example outlined, the user desired communication type ("Fax"), the name of the desired Kommunkationteilnehmers ("Meier") and location ("Munich") and street ("Sun Street") the postal address of the desired Kommunkationteilnehmers were separated by spaces which means a search request resulting from an "AND" combination of the entered connection data 128a ("Fax", "Meier", "Munich" and "Sun Street"). In the process, the fax numbers of the relevant communication users are to be searched for throughout the World Wide Web (WWW). For the additional options for defining the primary and secondary key, a setting was selected in which a sort of the returned result set 130 after "name" and "place" is made.

In 3b is the output window 300b the user interface of the browser 118 to output from the search engine 106 returned result set 130 shown. The search according to the example above gave three results. The user now has the option of modifying or expanding his search query (eg by entering the house number of the desired communication subscriber) 130 further restrict.

Claims (16)

Method for providing the connection data ( 128b ) for communication connections ( 136 ) via a company or organization-specific intranet ( 110 ) with Gateway ( 112a ) to the Internet ( 114 ) by using the search engine ( 106 ) of a client application ( 120 ), where - connection data already known by a user ( 128a ) a communication connection ( 136 ) can be entered by the search engine ( 106 ) unknown connection data ( 128b ) used to establish the communication connection ( 136 ), on the Internet ( 114 ), - after completion of the search, a result set ( 130 ) on the Internet ( 114 ) connection data ( 128b ) for establishing possible communication links ( 136 ), and - when searching for the unknown connection data ( 128b ) for establishing communication links ( 136 ) the search technology of at least one classical search engine used for searches on the Internet ( 126 ) and thereby the unknown connection data ( 128b ) are searched in web pages of the Internet. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the connection data ( 128a + b) at least one telephone number, mobile number, fax number, e-mail address, WWW address and / or postal delivery address, consisting of the address data country, post code, city, street and house number or PO Box , acts. Method according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it is in the communication links ( 136 ) are telephone, video, videoconferencing, voice-over-IP, facsimile, e-mail or telex connections for the transmission of digitized voice signals, audio or video signals and / or text data. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is in the known connection data ( 128a ) that may be entered by a user to be the name of a desired communication party, business, government agency, institution or organization. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that in addition from the user further already known connection data ( 128b ) as search criteria via the user interface of a client ( 116a ) running browser ( 118 ) can be entered to determine the result set ( 130 ) of the search engine ( 106 ) connection data ( 128b ) to narrow down. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that for the determination of further unknown connection data ( 128b ) initiates a hierarchical search using individual search criteria known connection data ( 128a ) are defined as primary or secondary keys, and any remaining search criteria are treated as a lower priority key. Method according to one of claims 5 to 6, characterized in that by means of the search engine ( 106 ) to the databases of at least one WWW server ( 126 ) on the Internet ( 114 ), in which - by a user via the graphical user interface of the client ( 116a ) running browser ( 118 ) a given search request to the WWW server (s) ( 126 ), the user of the client application ( 120 ) the status of a current search query is reported and - the user after successful completion of the search from the client application ( 120 ) the result set ( 130 ) of the search query is displayed. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the user has uniform access to connection data ( 128a + b) provided on directory servers ( 124 ) are stored in spatially distributed, heterogeneous networks, regardless of the data format of the connection data ( 128a + b) and the platform ( 124 ) on which they are stored. Method according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the user interface of the browser ( 118 ) has presentation programs for generating user-specific formatted texts in order to generate the result set ( 130 ) of the obtained connection data ( 128b ) in a uniform, easy-to-read format. Method according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that in the search of connection data ( 128b ) Agent programs are used as background processes, the user-entered search queries independently without further intervention by the user to further edit. Method according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that in the search for unknown connection data ( 128b ) at least one standardized directory service providing electronic telephone and address directories ( 132a ) is used for e-mail addresses, network resources, telephone numbers, fax numbers and / or public keys. Method according to Claim 11, characterized in that the directory service used is the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) X.500 standard for the presentation, storage and access to connection data ( 128a + b) in distributed directory servers ( 124 ) on the Internet ( 114 ) are stored. Search engine of a client application ( 120 ) for providing the connection data ( 128b ) for communication connections ( 136 ) via a corporate or organization-specific intranet ( 110 ) with a gateway ( 112a ) to the Internet ( 114 ), characterized in that a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 is used. Mobile telecommunication terminal, with a WAP-enabled graphical user interface ( 104 ) to access directory server ( 124 ) on the Internet ( 114 ), whereby a search engine ( 106 ) is used according to claim 13 for carrying out a method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. Software module for operating a search engine ( 106 ) according to claim 13, characterized in that a method according to one of claims 1 to 12 for providing the connection data ( 128b ) for communication connections ( 136 ) is carried out. Software module according to claim 15, characterized in that the portability of the search engine ( 106 ) is supported by the software used for use in various operating system environments.