Lucent Technologies
introduced this week an intelligent network (IN) software solution that the company said will enable Internet users to receive call-waiting notification while online.
Lucent said “The Internet Call Waiting” solution, which service providers can install on local telephone networks, is designed to alert those on the Web to incoming calls via a pop-up screen message without disconnection.
The service, which is slated to become available during the third quarter of this year, offers the option to take the call, relay it to voice mail, or ignore it completely.
Lucent said it employs the Lucent IN Server to allow the user to accept the call by disconnecting the online connection and transmitting the incoming call through a single phone line.
Other IN Server offerings include unified messaging which accesses voice mail and e-mail, caller information such as an ID service, and user-defined flexible call treatment. Lucent said the solution will comply
with existing customer networks and is scalable for new customers.
The company added that future plans call for further enhancements to the call waiting service that will enable Web users to not only take incoming calls, but stay connected to the Web while on the phone.
In related news, Cincinnati
Bell Telephone announced a similar service yesterday that allows users to receive incoming phone calls on the same phone line while online.
