Integrated telephone call and context notification mechanism

The present invention generally relates to telephone technology. More specifically, the present invention integrates a phone call with a notification about contextual information about the phone call, thereby whether or not to answer the phone call, and with respect to the situation of phone call rejection if rejected. , Regarding the mechanism for making a decision with more information.

The ability to interact is an integral part of all human beings. The telephone is considered to be one of the most important advances in communication technology that has allowed individuals to participate in real-time oral conversations over very long distances. Modern advances have made it possible to conduct telephone conversations over traditional analog telephones and more than the analog telephone network. Telephone conversations can now be conducted via analog and digital mobile phones. In addition, telephone conversations can be conducted using a computer that uses a technology called Voice over IP (VoIP). In this modern era, many other forms of communication have been developed, including, for example, fax, email, instant messaging, and so on. Each form of communication has its distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Telephones are convenient because they allow real-time voice conversations, and this real-time voice conversations more because they simulate the voice of face-to-face conversations without the two being physically close together. It is considered a form of intuitive dialogue. But the phone can be quite intrusive. Traditionally, the called person often did not have information about the call before deciding whether to answer the call. Caller ID notification service is a technology that informs the called party of the telephone number (sometimes with the caller's relevant identity information). This technique is fairly widespread because it allows the called person to identify the caller. Therefore, the called person can decide whether or not to accept the call after obtaining more information.

However, even with caller ID notification services, callees often want to talk about what the caller wants to say, how important the caller considers the call, or the call is at work. I still don't know if it's related or private. Such information is quite useful in making more informed decisions about whether a called person will accept a phone call. In addition, if the called party rejects the call, the caller remains unaware of why the call was rejected.

Of course, there are ways to let people know the context of a phone call. The method usually involves some sort of separate communication. For example, the caller can pre-talk to the called party to inform them of the expected future purpose of the call. Alternatively, the user can send an instant message indicating the subject or importance of the phone call that the caller plans to make or is making. However, these mechanisms require separate communications at a significant additional time cost. This additional time cost is quite intolerable, as wasting time is one of the biggest problems associated with answering unwanted phone calls or responding to the desired phone call at the wrong time. obtain.

In addition, rejecting a phone call can itself give rise to unwanted messages. For example, rejecting a call may tell the caller that the caller does not consider the caller important, especially if he or she knows that the caller will be answered. May leave the caller feeling ignored. This can put the caller in an unpleasant situation, wondering when the caller's problem will be addressed.

<p num="0007"> Therefore, a mechanism for providing a context that gives more information about a phone call (or call rejection) is convenient without the significant incremental cost of establishing a separate communication for the phone call.</p>

<p num="0008"> The above problems of the prior art are overcome by the principles of the present invention, which cover a mechanism for making a call and at the same time transmitting a context for a phone call. For example, when making a call, the caller tells the callee the subject, importance, and nature of the call before telling the callee whether to accept the call. I can tell. On the other hand, if the callee rejects the phone call, the callee can deliver a statement to the caller without actually receiving the call. According to the present invention, all this can be done using the same user interface used to make and answer calls, thereby providing a separate communication channel to convey that information. The time required to establish can be avoided.</p><p num="0009"> The caller uses a mechanism on the user interface to instruct the caller-side computing system to call the called-side computing system. Using the same user interface, the caller also identifies some contextual information about the phone call, such as the subject, severity and / or type of the phone call. The caller-side computing system then constructs a call invitation data structure that includes both the callee invitation to join the telephone conversation and the contextual identity of the telephone call entered by the user. The calling party computing system then sends the call invitation data structure to the called party computing system.</p><p num="0010"> Upon receiving the call invitation data structure, the called party computing system reads the contextual identity of the phone call and then takes appropriate action based on the context of the phone call. For example, the called party computing system can display a user interface that allows the called party to answer the phone call or reject the phone call with a statement returned to the caller. Contextual information can be placed in the call log along with other call information. In addition, contextual information can be used to determine the appropriate rerouting of phone calls. When rejecting a call, the called party computing system can make a statement to the caller regardless of whether the original call invitation contained context for the phone call.</p><p num="0011"> Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in the following description, some of which are apparent from the description or can be found by practicing the present invention. The features and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and combinations detailed in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description and the appended claims and will be known by practicing the present invention as described below.</p><p num="0012"> In order to describe the above and other ways in which the advantages and features of the present invention can be obtained, a more detailed description of the present invention, which has been briefly described above, is provided in its concrete implementation as shown in the accompanying drawings. Provided by reference to the form. By using the accompanying drawings, with the understanding that these drawings merely represent typical embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered to limit their scope. The present invention will be described and described in more detail and in detail.</p>

<figref num="1">FIG. 5 is a diagram of a computing system in which the principles of the present invention can be used.</figref><figref num="2">FIG. 5 is a diagram of a network environment including a calling side computing system and a called side computing system that can facilitate real-time voice conversation between each user.</figref><figref num="3">A flow chart of methods for caller and callee computing systems that facilitate making a call and at the same time including notifications about the context of the phone call.</figref><figref num="4">FIG. 5 is a diagram of a user interface that allows a user to both make a call and notify the called party of the context information of a phone call at the same time.</figref><figref num="5A">FIG. 5 is a diagram of a user interface that can be displayed when a called party computing system receives an incoming call, where the user interface informs the called party of the context of the call.</figref><figref num="5B">FIG. 5 is a diagram of a user interface that allows a called person to reject a phone call and at the same time inform the caller of the call rejection context.</figref>

The principles of the present invention relate to a mechanism for making a call and at the same time communicating the context of the call (subject, importance and / or nature, etc.). The caller uses a mechanism on the user interface to instruct the caller-side computing system to call the called-side computing system. Also using the same user interface, the caller identifies some contextual information about the call, such as the subject, importance and / or type of the call. The caller-side computing system then constructs a call invitation data structure that includes both the callee's invitation to join the telephone conversation and the user-input identification information of the call context. Upon receiving the call invitation data structure, the called party computing system reads the identification information of the call context and takes appropriate action based on the call context. Regardless of whether the call invitation data structure contains the context of the call, the called party can reject the call with a denial statement communicated to the caller.

References to drawings with the same reference number indicating similar elements show the invention implemented within a suitable computing environment. The following description is based on the illustrated embodiments of the invention and should not be regarded as limiting the invention with respect to alternative embodiments not expressly shown herein.

In the following description, unless otherwise indicated, the present invention is described with reference to operations performed by one or more computers, and symbolic representations of the operations. Therefore, it will be understood that these actions and operations, sometimes considered to be performed by a computer, involve manipulating electrical signals representing data in a structured manner by a computer's processing equipment. This manipulation transforms or maintains the data in a location within the computer's memory system, and it reconstructs the computer's operations in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. Or change it in another way. The data structure in which the data is maintained is the physical location of memory with specific attributes defined by the format of the data. However, although the invention is described in the above context, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is not limited to some of the actions and operations described below, and in FIG. A schematic diagram of an exemplary computer architecture that can be used is shown.

For illustration purposes, the architecture depicted is merely an example of a suitable environment and is not intended to suggest limitations regarding the use or scope of functionality of the present invention. A computing system should not be construed as having a dependency or requirement for any or a combination of the components shown in Figure 1.

The present invention operates in a number of other general purpose or dedicated computing or communication environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments and configurations suitable for use in the present invention include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, pocket computers, personal computers, servers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, etc. Includes a distributed computing environment that includes minicomputers, mainframe computers, and any of the systems or devices described above.

In its most basic configuration, the computing system 100 typically includes at least one processor 102 and memory 104. The memory 104 may be volatile (RAM, etc.), non-volatile (ROM, flash memory, etc.), or any combination of the two. In Figure 1, this most basic configuration is shown by the dashed line 106.

The storage medium may have additional features and functions. For example, it may include additional storage devices (retrievable and fixed), including, but not limited to, PCMCIA cards, magnetic disks and optical disks, and magnetic tapes. FIG. 1 shows these additional storage devices with a retrievable storage device 108 and a fixed storage device 110. Computer storage media are volatile and non-volatile, retrievable and fixed, implemented by any method or technique for storing information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Includes medium. The memory 104, the retrievable storage device 108, and the non-retrievable storage device 110 are all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media are not limited to that, but RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, other memory technologies, CD-ROMs, digital versatile disks, other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage devices, etc. Includes magnetic storage devices, and any other medium that can be used to store desired information and is accessible from a computing system.

As used herein, the term "module" or "component" may refer to a software object or routine running on a computing system. The different components, modules, engines and services described herein can be implemented as objects or processes running on a computing system (eg, as separate threads). The systems and methods described herein are preferably implemented in software, but software and hardware, or hardware implementation, are also possible and intended.

The computer system 100 may also include a communication channel 112 that allows the host to communicate with other systems and devices. The communication channel 112 is an example of a communication medium. Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and is any information delivery medium. including. By way of example, but not by limitation, communication media includes wired media such as wired networks and direct wired connections, as well as wireless media such as acoustic, wireless, infrared and other wireless media. The terms used herein Computer-readable media include both storage and communication media.

The computing system 100 may also have an input component 114, such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input component, touch input device, and the like. Output component 116 includes a display screen, speakers, printers, etc., and a rendering module (often referred to as an "adapter") for driving them. The computing system 100 has a power supply 118. All of these components are well known in the art and need not be discussed in detail here.

FIG. 2 shows a network environment 200 in which the principles of the present invention can be used. This network environment includes a caller-side computing system 210 and a callee-side computing system 220. The calling party computing system 210 can be connected to the called party computing system 220 via the bidirectional network 230. The computing systems 210 and 220 can be configured as described above for the computing system 100, respectively. But this does not have to be. The calling party computing system 210 and the called party computing system 220 can be any computing system, provided that, within the scope of this description and claims, the computing system processes the information. It is also defined as any device or system capable of transmitting telephone conversations over a network. Examples of such computing systems include desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet PCs, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Assistant), digital phones, etc. are included. The principles of the present invention are not limited to the structural or morphological elements of the calling or called party computing system. Arrows 241 and 251 represent some communication between the calling party computing system 210 and the called party computing system 220, which will be described in detail below with respect to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of Method 300 for the caller and callee computing systems to convey context about a phone call. Some operations of Method 300 are performed by the caller-side computing system 210, as shown under the heading "Caller" in the left column of FIG. Other actions of Method 300 are performed by the called party computing system 220, as shown under the heading "Callee" in the right column of FIG.

According to Method 300, the calling party computing system is instructed to call the called party computing system (action 301) and contextual identification information for the phone call entered by the user (action 302). To receive. The caller-side computing system 210 then constructs a call invitation data structure that includes both an invitation to the callee to participate in the telephone conversation and user input identification information about the context of the telephone call (operation 303). .. The calling party computing system 210 then transmits a call invitation data structure to the called party computing system (operation 304). Therefore, the caller-side computing system sends the call invitation with an indication about the context of the phone call. For example, as shown by arrow 241 in FIG. 2, the calling party computing system 210 transmits the call invitation data structure 242 to the called party computing system 220. The call invitation data structure 242 is a call invitation indication (call invitation). Contains both indication) 243 and contextual information 244.

Both the call call command and the contextual indication for the phone call can be issued by the user of the caller-side computing system 210. FIG. 4 shows a user interface 400 that the caller-side computing system 210 may display to the user. The user interface 400 includes a callee identification field 401 in which the user can enter a telephone number. In this case, the callee identification field 401 has a drop-down menu that can be linked to the contact list, which facilitates the identification of the callee.

The user interface 400 also includes a subject identification field 402 that allows the user to enter a custom statement regarding the expected subject of the telephone conversation. In addition to or instead, the user interface 400 also includes a severity field 403 that allows the caller to indicate the importance of the phone call to the called party. In addition, within the call nature field 404, the user can select the type of phone call, whether the call is of personal, professional, or commercial nature. Calls from one person to someone outside the profession are likely to be considered a personal call. A call from one expert to another within the scope of the profession can probably be considered a professional call. A call from an expert to someone who is only within the caller's professional range can probably be considered a commercial call. In certain embodiments, the call type may be automatically selected based on how the called person is categorized in the caller's contact list.

Call subject, importance and type, each of these factors, alone or in a special combination, is called when deciding whether to answer a phone call and how this phone call should be treated. Provide important information that is useful to the person. When the user properly interfaces with the various user interface mechanisms, the user interface program is instructed to call another component or module in the caller's computing system, and is associated with it. You can tell what the context is.

Upon receiving the call invitation data structure (action 311), the called party computing system reads the phone call context identification information from the call invitation data structure (action 312) and takes action according to the phone call context. Take (action 313). Appropriate processing involves displaying a user interface that provides the called party with the option of accepting or rejecting the phone call, rerouting the phone call, and / or recording the context of the phone call in the call log. obtain.

For example, FIG. 5A shows an example of a user interface 500A that can be displayed on the display screen of the called party computing system when a call invitation data structure is received. The user interface 500A includes a mechanism 501 for accepting a telephone call and a mechanism 502 for rejecting a telephone call. Importantly, the user interface 500A also includes a context field 503A, which allows the called party to see important information related to accepting or rejecting the phone call.

For example, the called person may choose to automatically reject all commercial phone calls. In addition, if the callee attends a conference call for an annual performance review, the callee will have the importance of the call if the subject of the call from her husband is "Let's have lunch". If it is "normal" and / or if the call type is specified as "personal", you can choose not to answer the call. However, the callee receives a call from her husband, or the subject of the call is "My daughter had a serious accident at school and needs to speak now", or the importance is "Urgent". If specified, you can actually choose to leave an important video conference. This example is well informed about whether to answer the call if the user is not provided with sufficient context for the phone call, or if the user is only informed of the identity of the called person. It shows how you can make a decision without doing so.

By selecting the rejection mechanism 502, the user interface 500B shown in FIG. 5B can be displayed. This user interface 500B may be displayed regardless of whether the original call invitation data structure 242 contains or does not contain any context. User interface 500B includes a statement menu 503B that the called party can select to specify a statement to be returned to the caller when the call is rejected. This statement can be any statement that is useful to the caller in finding context about the called person who rejects the phone call. For example, the statement can include reasons for rejecting the call (for example, "I'm in a meeting", "I'm on the phone", etc.), or when the callee is answered ("15 minutes later"). Wrap back "etc.) can be indicated. The called party can also select "Custom" to enter a custom statement thereby regarding the context of call rejection. Referring to FIG. 2, the called party computing system 220 returns the rejected data structure 252 to the calling party computing system 210. The denial data structure 252 includes an indication 253 that the call was rejected and a context message 254 about the denial.

Instead of displaying a user interface that provides the called party with the option of accepting or rejecting a phone call, or in addition, the called party computing system takes other appropriate action depending on the context of the call. Can be taken. For example, the called party computing system can reroute the call to another device or system depending on the context. For example, a called party computing system may have a rerouting rule that specifies that any incoming call marked with importance "urgent" must be forwarded to a mobile phone number. Furthermore, all calls that contain the word "tax" in the subject should be rerouted to another computing system used for tax filing. There are countless other rerouting possibilities. Rerouting rules can be set by the called party. Another appropriate action may be to record the phone call in the call log. The call log may include the subject, importance and type specified for the call.

The network structure 230 used to propagate the call is, for example, in a plain-old-telephone-service (POTS), mobile network (such as GSM), or voice over IP (VoIP). possible. When using VoIP, call sessions can be negotiated using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Extensible markup language (XML: eXtensible Markup) using SIP during the first negotiation of call setup or after the first call setup Language) Documents can be exchanged. Contextual information can be provided with the call invitation data structure or after the initial call setup. The SIP call configuration currently includes a call invitation data structure. The call invitation data structure 242 of FIG. 2 can be extended to include an XML document containing context for a phone call, based on this principle. Similarly, if the call is rejected, the SIP call configuration now contains a rejected data structure. The deny data structure 252 of FIG. 2 can be extended to include an XML document containing a context for rejecting a phone call, based on this principle.

If the network structure 230 is a POTS or mobile phone network, the call invitation data structure 242 and the call rejection data structure 252 may be transmitted using signals suitable for these networks. However, both the caller and callee computing systems have an interpreter for decoding and digitally representing the call invitation data structure 242 and the rejected data structure 252 for further processing. There will be.

Therefore, we described the mechanism for making a call and at the same time communicating the context of the phone call. For example, when making a call, the caller can inform the callee of the subject, importance, and type of the call before the callee declares whether to accept the call. On the other hand, when the called person rejects the telephone call, he / she can give a statement to the caller without actually accepting the telephone call. According to the present invention, all this can be done using the same interface used to make and answer calls.

The present invention may be practiced in other particular forms without departing from its spiritual and essential characteristics. The above embodiments should be considered in all respects as merely exemplary, not restrictive. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the appended claims. The meaning of the equivalent of the claims and all changes that fall within the scope of the claims should be included within the scope of the claims.