Courtesy answering solution for wireless communication devices

• US 20030153364A1
• Filed: 02/13/2002
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Inventors: Osann, Robert Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,231,232 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/567
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6058 involving the use of a headset accessory device connected to the portable telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/045 Call privacy arrangements, e.g. timely inhibiting the ring signal

Abstract

A solution for answering a call on a mobile phone is described including a “courtesy answering mode”. Here, the receiving party manually activates a recorded or automatically constructed message to be played for the caller, indicating to the calling party in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly, and/or is relocating to a location where they will be able to properly receive the call. The receiving party can then move in a quiet and unhurried manner, without feeling compelled to start talking to the calling party. When the receiving party reaches the appropriate location, they will activate the phone to initiate the conversation. In addition, various remote controller/communicator accessories are described to further aid in answering or processing an incoming call in a manner courteous to those in close proximity to the receiving party.

Claims

1. A method for answering an incoming call made to a mobile phone, comprising:

optionally manually activating, by the receiving party, a special courtesy mode feature on the phone;

playing a courtesy message to the calling party, indicating in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or that they should wait while the receiving party relocates in order to be able to better receive their call;

having the receiving party complete their current activity and/or relocating the receiving party to a location where they are better able to receive the call and have a phone conversation with less disturbance to others around them;

activating the phone, by the receiving party, to initiate the conversation.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

observing the Caller ID display, by the receiving party, to determine whether or not to accept the call.

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

placing the calling party on hold while the receiving party completes their current activity and/or relocates, the calling party remaining on hold until the receiving party activates said mobile phone to initiate the conversation or until said courtesy mode is otherwise terminated.

4. The method of claim 3 further including the step of:

removing the calling party from hold and sending them to voicemail, executed by the receiving party at the receiving party'"'"'s discretion.

5. The method of claim 3 further including the step of:

removing the calling party from hold and sending them to voicemail, executed automatically after a pre-determined time-out period has elapsed since said courtesy mode was initiated, without the receiving party having activated the phone to initiate a conversation.

6. The method of claim 1 further including:

answering the call in the normal manner from the perspective of the mobile service provider;

playing said courtesy message, provided from within said mobile phone, to the calling party;

putting the calling party on hold, performed at said mobile phone.

7. The method of claim 1 further including:

signaling the mobile service provider from said mobile phone that the receiving party has activated courtesy mode;

playing said courtesy message to the calling party, performed by the mobile service provider;

placing the calling party on hold, performed by the mobile service provider;

signaling the mobile service provider from said mobile phone that the receiving party desires to initiate the conversation;

8. The method of claim 1 further including:

pre-determining said courtesy message;

pre-storing said courtesy message on said mobile phone.

9. The method of claim 1 further including:

pre-determining said courtesy message;

pre-storing said courtesy message at the service provider.

10. The method of claim 1 further including:

synthesizing said courtesy message from a pre-determined script.

11. The method of claim 1 further including:

synthesizing said courtesy message according to a sequence of button presses made by the receiving party on said mobile phone.

12. The method of claim 11 further including:

including in said courtesy message an approximate waiting time the caller will have to wait until the receiving party will initiate the conversation, said waiting time determined by said sequence of button presses.

13. A method for answering a call made to a mobile phone, comprising:

observing the Caller ID display, by the receiving party, to determine whether or not to accept the call, and to aid in the decision of what action to take,

optionally manually activating, by the receiving party, a special courtesy mode feature on said mobile phone, said courtesy mode displaying, to the receiving party, a menu of possible actions to be taken, one of which is the primary courtesy mode where a message is played to the calling party indicating in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or that they should wait while the receiving party relocates in order to be able to better receive their call;

selecting from said menu of possible actions, by the receiving party, the action to be taken relative to answering and processing the call.

14. The method of claim 13 further including, if said primary courtesy mode is chosen from said menu of possible actions:

placing the calling party on hold;

having the receiving party complete their current activity and/or relocating the receiving party to a location where they are better able to receive the call and have a phone conversation with less disturbance to others around them;

activating said mobile phone, by the receiving party, to initiate the conversation.

15. The method of claim 13 further including:

using a single button on said mobile phone to both display said menu of possible actions and select said primary courtesy mode as the default action.

16. A method for answering a call made to a mobile phone, comprising:

observing the Caller ID display, by the receiving party, to determine whether or not to accept an incoming call, and to aid in the decision of what action to take in processing the call;

optionally pressing a sequence of numerical buttons on said mobile phone, by the receiving party, the function to be initiated by said sequence of numerical button presses to be interpreted according to what function key is subsequently pressed;

optionally pressing a function key on said mobile phone, the action initiated by said function key being influenced by said previously entered sequence of numerical button presses, and determining how said incoming call is to be answered and processed.

17. The method of claim 16 where said function key initiates a special courtesy mode feature on said mobile phone where a message is played to the calling party indicating in effect that the calling party should wait for a period of time, and that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or will relocate to a location where they are better able to receive the call, said period of time defined by said previously entered sequence of numerical button presses.

18. The method of claim 17 where, if no sequence of numerical button presses has been entered prior to pressing said function key, the message played for the calling party is in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or the receiving party will relocate in order to be able to better receive their call, with no time period specified.

19. The method of claim 16 where said function key initiates a voicemail greeting feature on said mobile phone where a message is played to the calling party indicating in effect that the receiving party will call them back after a specific period of time, followed by sending them to voicemail, said period of time defined by said previously entered sequence of numerical button presses.

20. The method of claim 19 where, if no sequence of numerical button presses has been entered prior to pressing said function key, the calling party will be sent to voicemail with a normal or special voicemail greeting that does not mention a specific call-back timeframe.

21. A method for answering a call made to a mobile phone, comprising:

observing the Caller ID display, by the receiving party, to determine whether or not to accept an incoming call, and to aid in the decision of what action to take in processing the call;

optionally pressing a sequence of numerical buttons on said mobile phone, by the receiving party, the function of said sequence of numerical button presses to be interpreted according to what function key is subsequently pressed;

optionally pressing one of two function keys on said mobile phone, the action initiated by each of said function keys being influenced by said previously entered sequence of numerical button presses, and where one of said function keys initiates a courtesy mode function including a message played for the calling party in effect stating that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or the receiving party is relocating in order to be able to better receive their call, and the other of said function keys initiates a mode that includes sending the caller to voicemail.

22. The method of claim 21 where said two function keys are soft keys whose functions may change from moment to moment.

23. A method for providing an indication of an incoming call on a flip-type mobile phone, including:

Upon opening the flip-type mobile phone, the call is not answered, however any audible ring indication is terminated or reduced in volume.

24. The method of claim 23 where upon terminating any audible ring indication or reducing its volume, a silent vibrating ring indication is initiated.

25. The method of claim 23 where upon terminating any audible ring indication, including a vibrating indication that is audible, a flashing icon on the display of said mobile phone continues to provide a ring indication.

26. A wireless remote controller/communicator device for assisting in the answering of a mobile phone, said device having bi-directional communications with said mobile phone, and including:

a vibrating ring indication, responsive to information transmitted from said mobile phone,

a display, capable of displaying caller ID information transmitted from said mobile phone, and

the ability to send command information to said mobile phone to control how an incoming call is processed.

27. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 26, further including numerical buttons for optionally entering information for use in automatically constructing a message to be sent to the caller.

28. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 26, where said command information includes a command sent to said mobile phone causing a message to be sent to the caller, where said message is determined by entering information using numerical buttons on said remote controller/communicator device, followed by pressing a specific function key on said remote controller/communicator device, said specific function key determining the type of action to be taken and initiating said action.

29. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 28, where said specific function key is one of a plurality of function keys, and said action to be taken is determined by said information entered using said numerical buttons followed by the user'"'"'s choice of which of said specific function keys is subsequently pressed, the pressing of said chosen specific function key actually causing said message to be sent to the caller.

30. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 26, where said command information includes at least one command that initiates a special courtesy mode, said courtesy mode causing a message to be played for the caller indicating in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or that they should wait while the receiving party relocates in order to be able to better receive their call.

31. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 30 where said courtesy mode is initiated by pressing a specific function key.

32. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 26, where said command information includes at least one command that indicates to said mobile phone that the caller should be sent to voicemail.

33. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 32 where said command information sent to said mobile phone indicating that the caller should be sent to voicemail is initiated by pressing a specific function key.

34. The remote controller/communicator device of claim 32 where said command information sent to said mobile phone indicating that the caller should be sent to voicemail causes a voicemail greeting to be played for the caller indicating that the receiving party is aware of their call and will call back shortly.

35. A wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device for assisting in the answering of a mobile phone, said device containing a wireless headset voice communications capability as well as command and control communications with said mobile phone including:

a vibrating ring indication, responsive to information transmitted from said mobile phone, and

the ability to send command information to said mobile phone indicating how a particular call should be answered and processed, and

an integrated wireless headset function, capable of sending and receiving audio information to and from said mobile phone.

36. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 35 where said command information sent to said mobile phone includes a command causing an alteration of the ring mode of said mobile phone

37. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 36 where said command information sent to said mobile phone includes a command causing any audible ring indication to be terminated.

38. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 37 where said audible ring indication includes a vibrating ring indication.

39. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 35, also including a display, capable of displaying caller ID information transmitted from said mobile phone.

40. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 35 where the command information sent to said mobile phone indicating how a particular call should be answered and processed includes a command that initiates a courtesy mode where a courtesy message is sent to the calling party, indicating in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or that they should wait while the receiving party relocates in order to be able to better receive their call.

41. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 35 where the command information sent to said mobile phone indicating how a particular call should be answered and processed includes a command that causes the calling party to be sent to voicemail.

42. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 39, including at least two specific function keys, including:

a button to answer and end a call in the conventional manner, and

a button that causes command information to be sent to said mobile phone that causes the calling party to be sent to voicemail.

43. The wireless remote controller/communicator/headset device of claim 42, including at least one additional specific function key that causes command information to be sent to said mobile phone that initiates a courtesy mode where a courtesy message is sent to the calling party, indicating in effect that the receiving party will take their call shortly and/or that they should wait while the receiving party relocates in order to be able to better receive their call.

44. A wireless remote communicator device for assisting in the answering of a mobile phone, said device capable of receiving ring indication information transmitted from said mobile phone, and including a vibrating ring indication capability, responsive to said information transmitted from said mobile phone.

45. A wireless remote controller/communicator device for assisting in the answering of a mobile phone, said device having bi-directional communications with said mobile phone, and including:

a vibrating ring indication, responsive to information transmitted from said mobile phone, and

the ability to send command information to said mobile phone to control how an incoming call is processed.

46. The wireless remote controller/communicator device of claim 45, where said command information includes a command indicating that the caller should be sent to voicemail.

47. The wireless remote controller/communicator device of claim 45, where said command information includes a command indicating that any audible ring indication emitted from said mobile phone should terminate.

48. The wireless remote controller/communicator device of claim 45, where said command information includes a command indicating that any audible ring indication emitted from said mobile phone should terminate and be replaced by a silent vibrating ring indication, or a flashing icon ring indication, or both.

49. A method for controlling the ring indication of a mobile phone, comprising:

Designating a button or set of buttons such that an incoming call is answered when said button or set of buttons are pressed;

Causing the cessation of any current audible ring indication upon pressing any buttons on said mobile phone except said designated button or set of buttons.

50. The method of claim 49 further including:

Initiating or continuing a flashing icon ring indication upon said cessation of any audible ring indication.