Facilitating arrangement in a communication system
First Claim
1. A method for determining the availability of at least one target user for a specific type of communication, the method comprising:
- retrieving contact information of at least one target user from a memory of a requesting user terminal;
sending a request for communication status information of the at least one target user to a status network element, the status network element being arranged to provide the communication status information regarding the availability of the target user for the specific type of communication, wherein the request comprises at least a portion of the contact information of the at least one target user and identifies the specific type of communication;
receiving, as a response to the request, a response message from the status network element, wherein the response message comprises the communication status information of the at least one target user; and
modifying at least a portion of stored contact information when the received status information indicates that the target user is available for communication via the specific communication type, such that the modified contact information indicates on the requesting user terminal the current availability of the at least one user for communication via the specific communication type.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for determining the availability of at least one target user for a specific type of communication is described. The method comprises: retrieving contact information of at least one target user from a memory of a requesting user terminal; sending a request for communication status information of the at least one target user to a status network element, the status network element being arranged to provide the communication status information regarding the availability of the target user for the specific type of communication, wherein the request comprises at least a portion of the contact information of the at least one target user and identifies the specific type of communication; receiving, as a response to the request, a response message from the status network element, wherein the response message comprises the communication status information of the at least one target user; and modifying at least a portion of stored contact information when the received status information indicates that the target user is available for communication via the specific communication type, such that the modified contact information indicates on the requesting user terminal the current availability of the at least one user for communication via the specific communication type.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for determining the availability of at least one target user for a specific type of communication, the method comprising:
- retrieving contact information of at least one target user from a memory of a requesting user terminal;
sending a request for communication status information of the at least one target user to a status network element, the status network element being arranged to provide the communication status information regarding the availability of the target user for the specific type of communication, wherein the request comprises at least a portion of the contact information of the at least one target user and identifies the specific type of communication;
receiving, as a response to the request, a response message from the status network element, wherein the response message comprises the communication status information of the at least one target user; and
modifying at least a portion of stored contact information when the received status information indicates that the target user is available for communication via the specific communication type, such that the modified contact information indicates on the requesting user terminal the current availability of the at least one user for communication via the specific communication type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- retrieving contact information of at least one target user from a memory of a requesting user terminal;
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21. A requesting communication user terminal for determining the availability of at least one remote target user for a specific type of communication, the terminal comprising:
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a memory for storing contact information of a plurality of target users; a retriever for retrieving contact information of at least one target user from the memory; a transmitter for transmitting a request for communication status information of the at least one target user to a status network element, the status network element being arranged to provide the communication status information regarding the availability of the target user for the specific type of communication, wherein the request comprises at least a portion of the contact information of the at least one target user and identifies the specific type of communication; a receiver for receiving, as a response to the request, a response message from the status network element, wherein the response message comprises the communication status information of the at least one target user; and a modifier for modifying at least a portion of stored contact information when the received status information indicates that the target user is available for communication via the specific communication type, such that the modified contact information indicates on the requesting user terminal the current availability of the at least one target user for communication via the specific communication type. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A status network element for providing a communications availability status of a target networked user terminal for a specific type of communication channel, the status network element comprising:
- memory containing a database of registered user entries, each registered user entry including status information about a particular type of communications channel, the status information comprising;
the address of a registered user terminal within that channel and the status of the connection availability to the user terminal within the channel;
a compiler arranged to retrieve status information regarding a registered user from at least one networked communication element with which the target user terminal is registered for a particular type of communications and to store the same in the database;
a receiver arranged to receive a communications status request for a target user terminal and to retrieve the relevant registered user entry from the database; and
a communicator for transmitting the retrieved communication status and network address of the target user terminal to a requesting user terminal for updating an communications availability status of the target user within a stored list of target users. - View Dependent Claims (27)
- memory containing a database of registered user entries, each registered user entry including status information about a particular type of communications channel, the status information comprising;
Specification