Environmentally driven phone behavior

• US 20050197138A1
• Filed: 03/02/2004
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kaminsky, David L., Ogle, David M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,496,352 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• 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 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations

Abstract

A method for controlling the behavior of a telephone using policies, the method comprising a Policy Creation Program (PCP) and a Behavior Control Program (BCP). The policies comprise telephone behavior instructions and three criteria conditions: location criteria, context criteria, and caller criteria. Each policy is also assigned a policy priority number based on the importance of the policy, which is used to resolve conflicts between the policies. The PCP allows the user to create the policies and stores the policies in a policy table based on the policy priority numbers. The BCP detects an incoming telephone call and determines the location, context, and caller conditions. The BCP compares the location, context, and caller conditions to a plurality of the policies and determines the policy that matches the conditions. The BCP then controls the telephone'"'"'s behavior according to the telephone behavior instructions in the policy.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a storage readable medium;

wherein the storage medium comprises instructions for a processor to perform steps comprising;

detecting an incoming telephone call;

determining a plurality of conditions associated with a telephone;

comparing the conditions to a plurality of policies, each policy comprising a plurality of condition criteria and a telephone behavior instruction;

identifying a single policy within the policies, the single policy containing the condition criteria corresponding to the conditions; and

adjusting a telephone behavior according to the telephone behavior instruction for the single policy.

2. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the policies further comprise:

a policy priority number; and

wherein the policy priority number resolves any outcome conflicts between the policies.

3. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the policies are stored in a policy table according to the policy priority number.

4. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:

the telephone; and

wherein the storage medium is a memory within the telephone.

5. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the steps further comprise:

allowing a user to define the policies using a policy creation program.

6. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of the condition criteria is a location criterion;

and wherein the location of the telephone is determined using a GPS network.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of the condition criteria is a location criterion;

and wherein the location of the telephone is determined using triangulation.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of the condition criteria is a context criterion;

and wherein the context is determined by accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of the condition criteria is a caller criterion;

and wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of the condition criteria is a caller criterion;

and wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call and accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion and a context criterion.

12. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion and a caller criterion.

13. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the condition criteria comprise a context criterion and a caller criterion.

14. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion, a context criterion, and a caller criterion.

15. An method comprising:

installing a telephone behavior control program on a storage medium;

wherein the storage medium comprises instructions for a processor to perform steps comprising;

detecting an incoming telephone call;

determining a plurality of conditions associated with a telephone;

comparing the conditions to a plurality of policies, each policy comprising a plurality of condition criteria and a telephone behavior instruction;

identifying a single policy within the policies, the single policy containing the condition criteria corresponding to the conditions; and

adjusting a telephone behavior according to the telephone behavior instruction for the single policy.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the policies further comprise:

a policy priority number; and

wherein the policy priority number resolves any outcome conflicts between the policies.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the policies further comprise:

a policy priority number; and

wherein the policies are stored in a policy table according to the policy priority number.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the computer usable medium is a memory within the telephone.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the steps further comprise:

allowing a user to define the policies using a policy creation program.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein one of the condition criteria is a location criterion;

and wherein the location of the telephone is determined using a GPS network.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein one of the condition criteria is a location criterion;

and wherein the location of the telephone is determined using triangulation.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein one of the condition criteria is a context criterion;

and wherein the context is determined by accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.

23. The method of claim 15 wherein one of the condition criteria is a caller criterion;

and wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein one of the condition criteria is a caller criterion;

and wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call and accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.

25. The method of claim 15 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion and a context criterion.

26. The method of claim 15 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion and a caller criterion.

27. The method of claim 15 wherein the condition criteria comprise a context criterion and a caller criterion.

28. The method of claim 15 wherein the condition criteria comprise a location criterion, a context criterion, and a caller criterion.

29. An apparatus comprising:

means for detecting an incoming telephone call;

means for determining a plurality of conditions associated with a telephone;

means for comparing the conditions to a plurality of policies, each policy comprising a plurality of condition criteria and a telephone behavior instruction;

means for identifying a single policy within the policies, the single policy containing the condition criteria corresponding to the conditions;

means for adjusting a telephone behavior according to the telephone behavior instruction for the single policy;

wherein the policy priority number resolves any outcome conflicts between the policies;

wherein the policies are stored in a policy table according to the policy priority number;

means for allowing a user to define the policies using a policy creation program; and

wherein the storage medium is a memory within the telephone.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the location of the telephone is determined using a GPS network.

31. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the location of the telephone is determined using triangulation.

32. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the context is determined by accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.

33. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call.

34. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the caller identity is determined by analyzing the caller ID data associated with the incoming telephone call and accessing a PDA program stored on the telephone.