Household internet connection monitoring and troubleshooting through voice based telephony devices

• US 20050144502A1
• Filed: 12/09/2003
• Published: 06/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jaiswal, Peeyush, Patel, Anilkumar B., Mansey, Pradeep P., Gandhi, Shailesh B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

A method for monitoring an Internet connection can include the step of detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection. A problem contact point can be determined. A communication connection that is different from the household Internet connection can be established with the contact point. For example, a voice connection can be established with the contact point. A problem notification can be conveyed to the contact point through the established communication connection.

Claims

1. An Internet connection monitoring method comprising the steps of:

detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection;

determining a contact point;

establishing a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different than said household Internet connection; and

conveying a problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication connection is a voice connection, and wherein said problem notification is a speech message.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

responsive to said detecting step, automatically generating a personalized problem report; and

text-to-speech converting said problem report resulting in said problem notification.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing at least one option for troubleshooting said problem;

receiving a selection of said option; and

responsively performing an action relating to said Internet connection.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said selection comprises a Dual Tone Multiple Frequency input.

6. The method of claim 4, where said selection comprises a speech input, said method further comprising the step of:

speech-to-text converting said input, wherein said action is initiated responsive to said converted input.

7. The method of claim 1, said establishing step further comprising the step of:

if said communication connection fails, attempting to establish communication connections with alternative contact points until a communication connection can be established or until no alternative contact points remain.

8. A system for handling problems with home Internet connections comprising:

a household Internet connection device communicatively linked to an Internet;

a connection utility communicatively linked to the household Internet connection device, wherein said connection utility monitors said household Internet connection; and

a telephony device communicatively linked to said connection utility via a voice connection, wherein said connection utility automatically reports problems with the Internet communication link of the home Internet connection to the telephony device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said connection utility is remotely located from said household connection device and communicatively linked to said household connection device via the Internet.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said connection utility is a speech-enabled application.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein said connection utility is further configured to automatically perform at least one problem resolution action responsive to input from said telephony device.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

an application remotely located from said connection utility that is communicatively linked to said connection utility via a network, wherein said problem resolution action involves at least one operation executed by said application.

13. A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection;

determining a contact point;

establishing a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different than said household Internet connection; and

conveying a problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection.

14. The machine-readable storage of claim 13, wherein said communication connection is a voice connection, and wherein said problem notification is a speech message.

15. The machine-readable storage of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

responsive to said detecting step, automatically generating a personalized problem report; and

text-to-speech converting said problem report resulting in said problem notification.

16. The machine-readable storage of claim 13, further comprising the steps of:

providing at least one option for troubleshooting said problem;

receiving a selection of said option; and

responsively performing an action relating to said Internet connection.

17. The machine-readable storage of claim 16, wherein said selection comprises a Dual Tone Multiple Frequency input.

18. The machine-readable storage of claim 16, where said selection comprises a speech input, said method further comprising the step of:

speech-to-text converting said input, wherein said action is initiated responsive to said converted input.

19. The machine-readable storage of claim 13, further comprising the step of:

if said communication connection fails, attempting to establish communication connections with alternative contact points until a communication connection can be established or until no alternative contact points remain.

20. An Internet connection monitoring system comprising the steps of:

means for detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection;

means for determining a contact point;

means for establishing a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different than said household Internet connection; and

means for conveying a problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection.