WO1998042116A1

WO1998042116A1 - Operating a communications network

Info

Publication number: WO1998042116A1
Application number: PCT/GB1998/000745
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Trevor Ashworth
Original assignee: British Telecommunications Public Limited Company
Priority date: 1997-03-18
Filing date: 1998-03-12
Publication date: 1998-09-24
Also published as: EP0972396A1

Abstract

In making a long distance telephone call to a called party (14), a calling party (10) has the option of a time advice service. The time advice service is provided from an international switch (22) which can access a service control point (24) having an associated look-up table (26), speech recognition equipment (28), a tone receiver (30) and clock and recorded announcement equipment (32). At the commencement of the call, the calling party (10) indicates, for example, by dialling a predetermined code or speaking a predetermined command, that the time advice service is required. The calling party then dials all or part of the telephone number of the dialled party and the calling party is then advised of the time and location of the called party. The calling party then has an opportunity to provide confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party. The calling party may provide such confirmation, for example, by dialling the remainder of the telephone number of the called party or by holding without hanging up. No attempt is made to establish a connection to the called party while waiting for such confirmation. If the calling party provides such confirmation, then a connection is established to the called party.

Description

OPERATING A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

This invention relates to a method of operating a communications network. When a calling party makes a call to a called party in a different time zone, for example in a different country, the calling party may be unsure of the time at the location of the called party. Consequently, when a calling party is making such a call, it would be helpful to provide a service which enables the calling party to check on the risk of disturbing the called party at an unsociable time. In US patent 5 539 809, there is described a method of making a connection between a calling party and a called party for a long distance telephone call. In this method, while the connection is being established, the calling party is advised of the time at the location of the called party. If the calling party decides that the time is unsociable, the calling party then hangs up. This method takes advantage of the relatively long time which is required at present to make a connection between a calling party and a called party for a long distance telephone call. However, the time required to make such a connection is gradually diminishing and may soon be too short to provide the required time information. According to this invention, there is provided a method of operating a communications network comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a calling party and a node in said network; receiving from the calling party an indication of at least part of the network address of another party; providing the calling party with the time at the geographical location of the other party; waiting for confirmation from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party, and without attempting to establish a connection to the other party while waiting for such a confirmation; in the event of not receiving such confirmation, terminating the connection between the calling party and said node; and in the event of receiving such confirmation, establishing a connection between the calling party and the other party. A further problem with the method described in US patent 5 539 809 is that the calling party is always informed of the time at the location of the called party. Where a calling party is familiar with the time at a particular location, the calling party may not wish to receive this information. Preferably, the method includes the additional step of: before said step of providing the calling party with the time at the location of the other party, checking for an indication from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the other party; and in the absence of such an indication from the calling party, connecting the calling party to the other party without performing the steps of providing the calling party with the time at the location of the other party and waiting for confirmation from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party.

This invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the network components which are used in establishing a call between a calling party and a called party when performing the method in accordance with this invention; and

Figures 2 to 1 1 each show a flow chart which illustrates a respective embodiment of this invention.

Referring now to Figure 1 , there are shown the network components which are used to establish a connection between a calling party 1 0 connected to a national network 1 2 located in one country and a called party 14 connected to another network 1 6 located in another country. The network 1 2 may be, for example, BT's public telecommunications network located in the United Kingdom. In order to establish a connection between the calling and called parties 10, 14, a connection is established from the calling party 10 through a local switch 1 8 and a main switch 20 to an international switch 22. The connection is then completed from the international switch 22 through the other network 1 6 to the called party 14. The local switch 1 8 may be, for example, a GPT System X switch or an Ericsson AXE10 switch. The main switch 20 may be, for example, a GPT System X switch and the international switch 22 may be an Ericsson AXE10 switch or a Nortel DMS300 switch. In order to process intelligent network calls, the international switch 22 can access a service control point 24 supplied, for example, either by Ericsson or Nortel. The service control point 24 can access a computer database containing a look-up table 26. The look-up table 26 is a table of country codes and, where appropriate, area codes against the corresponding country names and time offsets relative to Greenwich Mean Time.

The international switch 22 is also provided with speech recognition equipment 28, a tone receiver 30 for recognising tones generated by terminal equipment in response to keying operations by their users, and clock and recorded announcement equipment 32. By way of modification, the international switch 22 may have access to a speech applications platform which provides the functionality of the speech recognition equipment 28, the tone receiver 30 and the clock and recorded announcement equipment 32. It is to be noted that some embodiments of the invention described below do not require the functionality of the tone receiver 30 and some of the embodiment do not require the functionality of the speech recognition equipment 28.

The local switch 1 8, the main switch 20, the international switch 22 and the service control point 24 are examples of nodes in a telecommunications network. Various embodiments of the method of this invention will now be described with reference to the flow charts shown in Figures 2 to 1 1 . As will become apparent from the following description, each embodiment provides a method of making a telephone call in which a calling party is advised of the time at the location of the called party before establishing a connection between the calling and called parties. If the calling party does not wish to continue with the call after being informed of the time at the location of the calling party, the call may be terminated without establishing the connection.

Referring now to Figure 1 , in an initial step 50, a calling party 1 0 dials "00* ". "00" is the international access code. As a result of dialling "00", the calling party 10 is connected through switches 1 8 and 20 to the international switch 22. The addition of " * " indicates that the calling party 10 wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the called party.

If the calling party 1 0 simply dials "00" without the addition of " * ", the call is progressed as an ordinary call in which the calling party is not informed of the time at the location of the called party and is not given the opportunity to terminate the call in the event that the time at the location of the called party is unsuitable for completing the call.

As a result of the calling party 10 dialling "* ", in a step 52, the international switch 22, using the clock and recorded announcement of equipment 32, transmits a speech message to the calling party 10 as follows:

"Dial either country code following by area code or first seven digits of the number."

Figure 2 shows a modification of this embodiment in which the calling party 10 initially dials "8463". Some modern telephone key pads have letters of the alphabet associated with each numeral. If using these letters the word "TIME" is dialled, this is the same as keying the code "8463". As a result of dialling "8463", the calling party 10 is connected to the international switch 22. In a step 56, the international switch then transmits the same instruction announcement to the calling party 10 as it does in step 52.

After receiving the instruction announcement of step 52 or 56, the calling party 10 dials the country code and area code for called party 14 or the first seven digits of the telephone number of called party 14. This is sufficient to define the location of the called party 14. Next, in a step 58, the international switch 22, using the clock and recorded announcement equipment 32, transmits a speech message containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area in that country of the called party together with the time at the location of the called party. After transmitting the time, the international switch 22 transmits the following announcement to the called party 10:

"If suitable dial the rest of the number for connection. If not, please hang up and call again later."

If the calling party 10 wishes to establish a connection to the called party 14, in a step 60, the calling party 10 dials the remainder of the telephone number of the called party 14. If the calling party 10 does not wish to establish a call to the called party 14, the calling party 10 simply hangs up.

By dialling the remainder of the telephone number of the called party 14, the calling party 10 provides confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party. While the international switch 22 is waiting for this confirmation, it does not extend the connection to the called party 14 beyond itself. Thus, prior to receiving this confirmation, no attempt is made to form a connection between international switch 22 and the other network 16.

In a step 62, which is effectively performed continuously after step 58, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number of the called party. In the event that the calling party 10 dials the remainder of the number, the international switch 22 completes the connection to the called party 14 in a step 64. In the event that the calling party 1 0 hangs up without dialling the remainder of the number, or fails to dial the remainder of the number during a time-out period, the call is aborted and the connection between the calling party 10 and the international switch 22 is terminated.

In step 58, in order to determine the time at the location of the called party 14, the international switch 22 transmits a message to the service control point 24 containing an indication that time advice is required and the digits dialled by the calling party following step 52 or step 56. The service control point 24 uses these digits to access the look-up table 26 and the look-up table 26 then supplies the country name and time offset from Greenwich Mean Time to the service control point 24. The service control point 24 then returns this message to the international switch 22.

In the description of the embodiments illustrated with reference to Figures 3 to 1 1 , some of the details which have already been described with reference to the embodiment of Figure 2 will not be described again.

Referring now to Figure 3, in an initial step 80, the calling party dials "00* ", thereby indicating that the calling party wishes to make an international call in which the calling party is informed of the time at the location of the called party.

Then, in a step 82, the international switch 22 transmits the following instruction announcement to the calling party 10: "Dial the rest of the international number and wait for time advice announcement. "

After receiving the instruction announcement of step 82, in a step 84 the calling party dials the remainder of the international number. Figure 3 shows a modification to this embodiment. In this modification, in an initial step 86, the calling party dials "8463" to indicate that the calling party wishes to make an international call with time advice. After step 86, the international switch 22 transmits the following instruction announcement to the calling party 10:

"Dial the international number and wait for time advice announcement." After receiving the instruction announcement of step 88, in a step 90, the calling party dials the complete international number of the called party including the access code "00". After step 84 or step 90, in a step 92, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party 10 containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area in the country, and the time at the location of the called party. The message also includes the following announcement: "If suitable hold on and we will connect you. If not, please hang up and call again later."

After receiving the announcement of step 92, in a step 94 the calling party either holds without taking any other action or hangs up. By holding, the calling party 10 provides confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party. In a step 96, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has held or hung up. If the calling party has held, in a step 98, the connection is completed to the called party. If the calling party has hung up then the call is aborted in a step 100.

Referring now to Figure 4, in this embodiment the calling party 1 0 initially dials "00* " in a step 1 10, then receives an instruction announcement in a step 1 1 2 and then dials the remainder of the telephone number of the called party at step 1 14. In a modification, the calling party initially dials "8463" in a step 1 1 6, and then receives an instruction announcement in a step 1 1 8 and then dials the complete international telephone number of the called party in a step 1 20. Steps 1 10, 1 1 2 and 1 14 are identical to steps 80, 82, and 84 of the embodiment described with reference to Figure 3. Similarly, steps 1 1 6, 1 1 8 and 1 20 are identical to steps 86, 88 and 90 described with reference to the embodiment of Figure 3. After either step 1 14 or 1 20, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party 10 containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area and the time at the location of the called party. The speech message also includes the following announcement: "If suitable dial 1 and we will connect you. If not please hang up and call again later."

Then, in a step 1 24, if the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party, the calling party dials "1 ". Alternatively, if the calling party does not wish to be connected to the called party, in a step 1 24 the calling party hangs up. Thus, by dialling "1 ", the calling party provides an indication that the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party.

In a step 1 26, using the tone receiver 30, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has dialled "1 " or has hung up. If the calling party has dialled "1 ", in a step 1 28, the connection is completed to the called party. If the calling party has hung up, in a step 1 30, the call is aborted.

Referring now to Figure 5, in this embodiment the calling party initially dials "00" in a step 1 50. As a result of dialling "00" the calling party is connected to the international switch 22.

Next, in a step 1 52, if the calling party wishes to be advised of the time at the location of the party to be called, the calling party pauses before dialling further digits. Alternatively, if the calling party does not wish to be advised of the time at the location of the called party, the calling party dials the remainder of the number of the called party without a pause. Thus, by pausing after dialling "00", the calling party provides an indication that it wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the called party.

Next, in a step 1 54, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has paused after dialling "00". If the calling party has not paused, the call is progressed as an ordinary call in which time advice is not given. This is indicated as step 1 56. If the calling party has paused, then in a step 1 58, the calling party dials the country code and, where appropriate, the area code for the called party. Next, in a step 1 60, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the called party 1 0 containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area, and the time at the location of the called party. It also makes the following announcement:

"If suitable dial the rest of the number for connection. If not, please hang up and call again later." If the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party, the calling party then dials the remainder of the number of the called party in a step 1 62. In a step 1 64, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number. If the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number, in a step 1 66, the connection to the called party is completed. If the remainder of the number has not been dialled, in a step 1 68, the call is aborted. Referring now to Figure 6, in this embodiment the calling party dials "00" in an initial step 1 80. Then, in a step 182, the calling party pauses if the calling party wishes to receive time advice. In a step 1 84, the international switch 22 checks for the presence of a pause in the dialling. In the absence of such a pause, as indicated by step 1 86, the call is progressed as an ordinary call.

Steps 1 80, 1 82, 1 84 and 1 86 are identical to steps 1 50, 1 52, 1 54 and 1 56 described with reference to Figure 5.

After step 1 84, in a step 1 88, the calling party dials the remainder of the international telephone number of the called party. Next, in a step 1 90, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area and the time at the location of the called party. The message also includes the following announcement:

"If suitable, hold on and we will connect you. If not please hang up and call again later."

Then, in a step 1 92, the calling party then either holds or hangs up. In a step 1 94 the international switch 22 checks whether the caller has held or hung up. If the calling party has held, then in a step 1 96 the international switch 22 contacts the calling and called parties. If the caller has hung up in a step 1 98, the call is aborted.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, in an initial step 210, the calling party dials the international access code "00". Then, in a step 21 2 the calling party speaks the word: "TIME", thereby giving an indication that the calling party wants time advice. Although not shown in Figure 7, if the calling party does not speak the word "TIME", the call is progressed as an ordinary call without time advice. The international switch uses the speech recognition equipment 28 to detect whether the calling party has spoken the word "TIME".

In a step 214, the international switch 22 sends a speech message to the calling party containing the following instruction announcement:

"Dial either country code followed by area code, or first seven digits of number."

Next in a step 21 6, the calling party dials either the country code and area code for the called party or the first seven digits of the telephone number of the called party.

Next in a step 21 8, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the area and the time at the location of the called party and then the following announcement: "If suitable dial the rest of the number for connection. If not, please hang up and call again later."

In a step 220, the calling party either dials the remainder of the number of the called party or hangs up.

In a step 222, the international switch checks to determine whether the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number or hung up. If the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number, in a step 224, the call is connected. If the calling party has hung up, in a step 226, the call is aborted.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, in an initial step 240, the calling party dials the international access code "00" and then in a step 242 speaks the word: "TIME". Steps 240 and 242 correspond to steps 210 and 21 2 of the embodiment shown in Figure 7.

In a step 244, the international switch transmits the speech message to the calling party containing the following instruction announcement:

"Dial the rest of the international number and wait for time advice announcement."

In a step 246, the calling party dials the remainder of the telephone number of the called party.

In a step 248, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the country name and, where appropriate the area name, and the time at the location of the called party, and then the following announcement:

"If suitable hold on and we will connect you. If not, please hang up and call again later." In a step 250, the calling party either holds or hangs up. In a step 252, the international switch 22 checks to determine whether the calling party has held or hung up. If the calling party has held, in step 254, a connection is established between the calling and called parties. If the calling party has hung up, the call is aborted in a step 256. Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figure 9, in an initial step 270, the calling party dials "00* ". In this embodiment, this indicates that the calling party wishes to make an international call with an additional service. Next, in step 272, if the calling wants time advice, the calling party speaks the word "TIME", thereby indicating that the calling party wants time advice. In a step 274, the international switch 22 sends a speech message to the calling party containing the following instruction announcement:

"Dial either country code followed by area code or first seven digits of number."

In a modification to this embodiment, the calling party initially dials the code "4357", thereby indicating that the calling party wishes to make a call with an additional service, in the case of a telephone keypad in which the keys are provided with the letters as well as numerals, "4357" corresponds to the word "HELP".

In a step 278, if the calling party wants time advice, the calling party speaks the words "TIME", thereby indicating that the calling party wants time advice.

If the calling party wants another service other than a time advice service, in step 272 or step 278 the calling party speaks the command word for that service. Such other services do not form part of this invention and so will not be described.

In a step 280, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the following instruction announcement:

"Dial either country code followed by area code or first seven digits of the telephone number". After step 274 or 280, the calling party dials the country code and area code for the called party or the first seven digits of the telephone number of the called party.

Next the international switch 22 transmits a speech message containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the name of the area, and the time at the location of the called party, and then the following announcement:

In step 284, the calling party either dials the remainder of the number or hangs up. In a step 286, the international switch checks whether the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number or hung up. If the calling party has dialled the remainder of the number, in a step 288, the international switch establishes a connection between the calling and called parties. If the calling party has hung up, the call is aborted in a step 290. In the embodiment shown in Figure 10, in an initial step 300, the calling party dials "00* ". This indicates that the calling party wants to make an international call with a special service. In a step 302, if the calling party wants time advice, the calling party speaks the word "TIME".

In a step 304, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message containing the following instruction announcement:

In a step 306, the calling party dials the remainder of the international number of the called party. In a modification, in a step 308, the calling party dials "4357". Then, in a step 310, if the calling party wants time advice, the calling party speaks the word "TIME".

Next in a step 31 2, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message containing the following instruction announcement: "Dial the international number and wait for time advice announcement."

In a step 314, the calling party dials the complete international number of the called party.

After either step 306 or step 314, in a step 31 6, the international switch 22 transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the name of the area and the time at the location of the called party, followed by the announcement:

"If suitable hold on and we will connect you. If not, please hang up and call again later." In a step 31 8, if the calling party wishes to be connected, the calling party holds. If not the calling party hangs up.

In a step 320, the international switch 22 checks whether the calling party has held or hung up. If the calling party has held, in a step 322, the calling and called parties are connected. If the calling party has hung up, in a step 324, the call is aborted.

In the various embodiments which have been described above, if the calling party wants time advice, the calling party provides an indication of this. If the calling party does not provide such an indication, the call is progressed as an ordinary call without time advice. This provides the advantage that the calling party can choose whether or not to receive time advice. In an alternative embodiment, the calling party is always provided with time advice for international calls. In another alternative embodiment, time advice is always provided to calling parties who have registered for this service. However, these alternative embodiments are not preferred as they remove the freedom from the calling party to decide on a call by call basis whether to receive time advice.

In each embodiment which has been described above, the international switch 22 is programmed so as to operate in accordance with that embodiment as described. Specifically, for each embodiment, the international switch 22 is programmed to respond to the indications, including dialled codes, made by the calling party, to transmit the speech messages and to establish a connection when a calling party indicates that this is required. Thus, in each embodiment, the international switch 22 provides a time advice service. By way of modification, the time advice service could be provided in another node of the network 1 2, for example, at the local switch 1 8 or the main switch 20. Although the various embodiments have been described with reference to calls made between the network 1 2 and networks located in other countries, the invention could also be used in a single network which spans more than one time zone for providing the time advice service to calling parties. Referring now to Figure 1 1 , there will be described an embodiment in which the time advice service is provided by an information system. The information system may be accessed for example, from either the main switch 20 or the international switch 22. In this embodiment, in an initial step 340, the calling party dials "8463", thereby indicating that the calling party wants a time advice service. The calling party is then connected to the information system.

In a step 342, the information system transmits the following speech message to the calling party: "Dial either country code followed by area code or first seven digits of number if time advice is required without call connection. Alternatively, dial the required international number if time advice is required followed by an option for call connection."

Next in a step 344, the calling party dials either the country code and area code or the first seven digits of the telephone number of the called party, if the calling party wishes only to receive time advice.

If the calling party wishes to receive time advice followed by an option for call connection, the calling party dials the whole number of the called party.

Next, in a step 346, the information system checks whether the calling party has dialled the whole number. If the calling party has not dialled the whole number, in step a 348, the information system transmits a speech message to the calling party containing the name of the country and, where appropriate, the name of the area, and the time at the location of the called party. Following step 348, the connection between the calling party and the information system is terminated and there is no option for call connection.

If it is found in step 346 that the calling party has dialled the whole number, in a step 348, the information system transmits the name of the country and, where appropriate, the name of the area, and the time at the location of the called party. It also transmits the following announcement: "Please dial 3 if you wish to complete the call."

In a step 350, the calling party dials "3" if the calling party wishes to complete the call. If the calling party does not wish to complete the call, the calling party hangs up. By dialling "3", the calling party provides confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the called party. In a step 352, the information system checks whether the calling party has dialled "3". If the calling party has not dialled "3", the connection between the calling party and the information system is terminated in a step 354.

If the calling party has dialled "3", the information system transmits an instruction message to the switch to which it is connected. The instruction message indicates that a connection is to be established between the calling and called parties. The connection is then established.

In the embodiments described above, the various announcements including the time announcements are transmitted as speech messages. By way of modification, if the telephone handset used by the calling party is equipped with a display device, the announcements could be transmitted as data which is then displayed on the display device of the telephone handset used by the calling party.

In the various embodiments described above, the calling party dials the telephone number of the called party. By way of modification, the calling party could supply all or part of the telephone number of the called party as a speech message or by dialling a short code.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a telephone network, its use is not limited to a conventional telephone network. For example, the invention could also be used in establishing a speech call between two computers connected to the Internet. In order to make this possible, an Internet server would have to be provided with the functionality to provide the time advice service.

In the examples described with reference to Figure 1 , the calling party provides the telephone number of the called party. As may be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the telephone number is merely a special example of a network address.

Claims

1 . A method of operating a communications network comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a calling party and a node in said network; receiving from the calling party an indication of at least part of the network address of another party; providing the calling party with the time at the geographical location of said other party: waiting for confirmation from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be connected to said other party, and without attempting to establish a connection to said other party while waiting for such confirmation; in the event of not receiving such confirmation, terminating the connection between the calling party and said node; in the event of receiving such confirmation, establishing a connection between the calling party and said other party.

2. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in Claim 1 , including the additional step of: before said step of providing the calling party with the time at the location of the other party, checking for an indication from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the other party; and in the absence of such an indication from the calling party, connecting the calling party to the other party without performing the steps of providing the calling party with the time at the location of the other party and waiting for confirmation from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party.

3. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which: in said step of receiving from the calling party an indication of at least part of the network address of the other party, the network receives from the calling party an indication of only part of the network address of the other party; in said step of waiting for confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party, the calling party provides such confirmation by supplying the remainder of the network address of the other party.

4. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in Claim 1 or

Claim 2, in which: in said step of receiving an indication of at least part of the network address of the other party, the network receives from the calling party an indication of the complete network address of the other party; in said step of waiting for confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party, the calling party provides such confirmation by holding without hanging up.

5. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which: in said step of receiving an indication of at least part of the network address of the other party, the network receives from the calling party an indication of the complete network address of the other party; in said step of waiting for confirmation that the calling party wishes to be connected to the other party, the calling party provides such confirmation by dialling a predefined code.

6. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in any one of Claims 2, in which: in said step of checking for an indication from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the other party, the calling party provides such an indication by dialling a predefined code.

7. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in any one of Claims 2, in which: in said step of checking for an indication from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be informed of the time at the location of the other party, the calling party provides such an indication by dialling an access code followed by a pause in dialling.

8. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in any one of Claims 2, in which: in said step of checking for an indication from the calling party that the calling party wishes to be informed of the time of the location of the other party, the calling party provides such an indication by dialling an access code and then speaking a predefined command.

9. A method of operating a communications network as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which: said at least part of the network address of the other party is received at said node; said node sends the time at the location of the other party to the calling party; and no attempt is made to make any connection beyond said node towards the calling party while waiting for confirmation that the calling party wishes to establish a connection to the other party.

10. A method operating a communications network as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which: the network address of the other party is the telephone number of the other party.