Methods and systems for contact management

• US 20050157858A1
• Filed: 11/24/2003
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Data Services LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Zafar, Shadman, Rajagopalan, Mahesh, Rodrigues, Ruchir, Perumandla, Aravind, Basu, Shamik, Solleti, Anil
• Granted Patent: US 8,494,135 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/93.230
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0024 Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services arrangements which combine a telephonic equipment and a computer H04M7/0012

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for performing contact management services. Systems and methods may maintain one or more address books. Contacts may be added to the address book from one or more sources. Systems and method may receive a command to add a party to the address book. Contact-related information associated with the party may obtained and added to the address book. A user may be notified of an incoming call placed by a calling party and destined to a communication device associated with the user. Systems and methods may receive a command, responsive to the notification, to add the calling party to an address book associated with the user. An address book may be updated to reflect changes in the contact-related information.

Claims

1. A method for contact management comprising:

maintaining an address book;

providing a notification, via a user terminal, of an incoming call initiated by a calling party and directed to a communication device;

receiving a command, responsive to the notification, to add the calling party to the address book;

obtaining contact-related information associated with the calling party in response to the received command; and

adding the obtained contact-related information to the address book.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an address book in a server coupled to a network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an XML-over-HTTP web service in a database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a notification via a user terminal comprises providing a notification that indicates a telephone number associated with the incoming call.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a command responsive to the notification comprises receiving a command from the user via the user terminal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining at least one of a name, a home address, a business address, a facsimile number, an e-mail address, an instant messenger address, an IP address, a cell phone number, a landline telephone number, an image, an audio signal, and a public record associated with the calling party.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact information based on a telephone number associated with the calling party.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact information using a caller identification (CID) service.

9. A method for contact management comprising:

maintaining an address book for a user;

providing access to a contact source, the contact source including at least one listing representing a communication between the user and a second party;

receiving a request to add the second party to the address book;

obtaining contact-related information associated with the second party in response to the received request; and

storing the obtained contact-related information in the address book.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an address book in a server coupled to a network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an XML-over-HTTP web service in a database.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein providing access to the contact source comprises presenting the contact source to the user via a user terminal.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein providing access to the contact source comprises providing access to at least one of an incoming call history, an outgoing call history, an account statement, a billing statement, a caller ID (CID) display, an e-mail log, and a log of facsimile transmissions.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining at least one of a name, a home address, a business address, a facsimile number, an e-mail address, an IP address, an instant messenger address, a cell phone number, a landline telephone number, an image, an audio signal, and a public record associated with the party.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the contact source includes the contact information associated with the party and obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact-related information from the contact source.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact-related information from a source separate from the contact source using information included in the contact source.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact-related information using a telephone number included in the contact source.

18. A method for contact management comprising:

maintaining an address book for a user;

receiving a request to add a contact to the address book, wherein the contact is a party with which the user communicated prior to making the request;

accessing a communications log associated with the user;

searching the communications log for the contact;

obtaining contact-related information associated with the contact using information included in the communications log; and

storing the obtained contact-related information in the address book.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an address book in a server coupled to a network.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an XML-over-HTTP web service in a database.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein accessing a communications log comprises accessing at least one of an incoming call history, an outgoing call history, an e-mail log, and a log of facsimile transmissions.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining at least one of a name, a home address, a business address, a facsimile number, an e-mail address, an instant messenger address, an IP address, a cell phone number, a landline telephone number, an image, an audio signal, and a public record associated with the party.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the communications log includes the contact-related information associated with the party and obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact-related information from the communications log.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining the contact-related information using a telephone number included in the communications log.

25. A contact management system comprising:

a server configured to maintain an address book facility;

at least one contact source, the at least one contact source including listings representative of communications between the user and other parties; and

a first application, associated with the server, for obtaining contact information associated with the other parties using the contact source; and

a second application for storing the obtained contact information in the address book facility; and

a user terminal coupled to the server and configured to display the address book to a user.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the address book facility comprises an address book in a server coupled to a network.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the address book facility comprises an XML-over-HTTP web service maintained in a database.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the at least one contact source comprises at least one of an incoming call history, an outgoing call history, an account statement, a billing statement, a caller ID (CID) display, an e-mail log, and a log of facsimile transmissions.

29. A contact management system comprising:

a server configured to maintain an address book facility;

a first application module for providing a user with access to a contact source, the contact source including at least one listing representing a communication between the user and another party;

a user terminal, coupled to the first application module, configured to provide access to the address book facility and to receive a request to add the party to the address book;

a second application module, coupled to the user terminal, for obtaining contact information associated with the party in response to the request; and

a third application module, coupled to the second application module, for inserting the obtained contact information into the address book.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the address book facility comprises an address book in a server coupled to a network.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the address book facility comprises an XML-over-HTTP web service maintained in a database.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the contact source comprises one of an incoming call history, an outgoing call history, an account statement, a billing statement, a caller ID (CID) display, an e-mail log, and a log of facsimile transmissions.

33. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a system to perform a method, the system including at least one processor for executing the instructions, the method comprising:

maintaining an address book for a user;

providing access to a contact source, the contact source including at least one listing representing a communication between the user and another party;

receiving a request to add the party to the address book;

obtaining contact information associated with the party in response to the received request; and

inserting the obtained contact information into the address book.

34. A method for contact management comprising:

maintaining an address book for a user;

receiving a command to add a party to the address book;

obtaining contact-related information associated with the party in response to the received command;

adding the obtained contact-related information to the address book;

detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information associated with the party; and

updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an address book in a server coupled to a network.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein maintaining an address book comprises maintaining an XML-over-HTTP web service in a database.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining contact-related information from at least one network.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining at least one of a name, a home address, a business address, a facsimile number, an e-mail address, an instant messenger address, an IP address, a cell phone number, and a landline telephone number.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein obtaining contact-related information comprises obtaining at least one of an image, an audio signal, and a public record associated with the party.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information comprises detecting an addition to the obtained contact-related information.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information comprises receiving a message from a network indicating a change in the contact-related information.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information comprises detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information in response to a call received from the party.

43. The method of claim 34, wherein detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information comprises receiving a message from an address book associated with the party.

44. The method of claim 34, wherein detecting a change in the obtained contact-related information comprises:

searching a plurality of network-based resources for information; and

comparing said information with the obtained contact-related information.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein searching a plurality of network-based resources comprises periodically searching said resources.

46. The method of claim 34, wherein updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information comprises automatically updating the address book without user intervention.

47. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

notifying the user of the change in the contact-related information.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising:

updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information in response to a command from the user to update the address book.

49. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

generating a query to determine whether to update the address book, prior to updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information comprises updating the address book based on an affirmative response to the query.

51. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

receiving instructions from the user that specify preferences for updating the address book.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein updating the address book to reflect the change in the contact-related information comprises updating the address book based on the preferences.