Call holding management

• US 10,135,975 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2017
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Gabbai, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Quynh
• Application Number:
  US15/398,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20170118332A1
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 37920101, 37921101
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/18 Comparators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/558 Databases
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4285 Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold, e.g. Music On Hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4286 Notifying a held subscriber when his held call is removed from hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4288 Notifying a called subscriber of an incoming call during an ongoing call, e.g. Call Waiting
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing

Abstract

A system or a method may be provided that automatically distinguishes between a hold status and when someone live is talking on the phone. For example, the caller'"'"'s phone may detect when the call holding has ended and a customer service representative is now actually on the line. The phone may alert the user to pick up the call at that time, such as utilizing a call-back mechanism. In an embodiment, the system may analyze and learn the various call holding music or recordings of call centers. The system may detect when the call holding music or recording ends in a telephone call and may alert the user.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method, comprising;

detecting an electronic communication between a first communication device and a second communication device;

determining an identifier associated with the second communication device;

determining an audible communication holding routine associated with the second communication device based, at least in part, on the identifier associated with the second communication device;

monitoring the electronic communication to automatically determine whether the electronic communication is put on hold by the second communication device based, at least in part, on detecting that the audible communication holding routine is included in the electronic communication, said detecting the audible communication holding routine being performed by using an audio pattern signature of the audible communication holding routine; and

when it is determined that the electronic communication is put on hold, presenting one or more communication holding options to the first communication device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic communication is a telephone communication.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a telephone number of the second communication device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication holding options are implemented via a mobile app on the first communication device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication holding options comprises one or more of:

displaying call statistical information;

displaying advertisements;

displaying news;

or

setting up notification options to provide a notification to a user of the first communication device when the hold on the communication ends.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication holding routine associated with the second communication device is retrieved from a communication holding routine database using the identifier associated with the second communication device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining that the electronic communication is put on hold comprises:

monitoring the electronic communication using the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine to detect whether a communication holding has occurred; and

determining that the electronic communication is put on hold when one or more portions of the electronic communication match the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine.

8. A method, comprising:

detecting an electronic communication between a first communication device and a second communication device;

determining an identifier associated with the second communication device;

determining an audible communication holding routine associated with the second communication device based, at least in part, on the identifier associated with the second communication device;

automatically determining whether the electronic communication is put on hold by the second communication device based, at least in part, on the audible communication holding routine associated with the second communication device and a comparison with an audio pattern signature of the audible communication holding routine; and

when it is determined that the electronic communication is put on hold, presenting one or more communication holding options to the first communication device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the electronic communication is a telephone communication.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the identifier is a telephone number of the second communication device.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more communication holding options are implemented via a mobile app on the first communication device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more communication holding options comprises one or more of:

displaying call statistical information;

displaying advertisements;

displaying news;

or

setting up notification options to provide a notification to a user of the first communication device when the hold on the communication ends.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine associated with the second communication device is retrieved from a communication holding routine database using the identifier of the second communication device.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining that the electronic communication is put on hold comprises:

monitoring the electronic communication using the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine to detect whether a communication holding has occurred; and

determining that the electronic communication is put on hold when one or more portions of the electronic communication match the audio pattern signature of the audible communication holding routine.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoding computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method, comprising:

monitoring an electronic communication between a first device and a second device;

determining an audible communication holding routine associated with the communication device based, at least in part, on an identifier associated with the second device;

automatically determining when a hold is applied to the electronic communication based, at least in part, on detecting the audible communication holding routine associated with the second device by performing a comparison between an audio pattern signature of the audible communication routine with the electronic communication; and

when it is determined that the hold has been applied, presenting one or more communication holding options to the first device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the electronic communication is a telephone communication.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the identifier is a telephone number of the second device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more communication holding options are implemented by a mobile app executing on the first device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more communication holding options comprises one or more of:

displaying call statistical information;

displaying advertisements;

displaying news;

or setting up notification options to provide a notification to a user of the first communication device when the hold on the communication ends.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the determining that the electronic communication is put on hold comprises:

monitoring the electronic communication using the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine to detect whether a communication holding has occurred; and

determining that the electronic communication is put on hold when one or more portions of the electronic communication match the audio pattern signature of the communication holding routine.