Presence enhanced outcalling

• US 20060072720A1
• Filed: 09/30/2004
• Published: 04/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Siemens Enterprise Communications, Inc. (Atos SE)
• Inventors: Blohm, Jeffrey M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,596,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.220
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2016 Call initiation by network rather than by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42093 Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53375 Message broadcasting

Abstract

An outcalling system considers subscriber presence information in determining when to initiate attempts to deliver messages to the subscriber. The subscriber presence state may provide insight into the likelihood of successful message delivery. The outcalling system may decide to initiate or may forgo initiation of a delivery attempt based in part on the subscriber presence state.

Claims

1. An outcalling method comprising:

obtaining a presence state for a subscriber to a voice messaging system;

determining that a message is available for the subscriber; and

considering the presence state in determining when to initiate a delivery attempt for the message to the subscriber.

2. The method of claim 1, where considering comprises:

determining whether the presence state indicates an improved likelihood of successful delivery of the message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deciding to initiate the delivery attempt for the message when the presence state indicates that the subscriber is presently available to receive the message.

4. The method of claim 3, where deciding comprises:

deciding to initiate the delivery attempt when the presence state is ‘

Online’

or ‘

Available’

.

5. The method of claim 1, where considering comprises:

considering an aggregated media presence state in determining when to initiate the delivery attempt of the message to the subscriber.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

forgoing the delivery attempt when the presence state indicates that the subscriber is unlikely to receive the message.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forgoing the delivery attempt when the presence state indicates that the subscriber is unlikely to receive the message.

8. The method of claim 7, where deciding comprises:

forgoing the delivery attempt when the presence state is ‘

Busy’

, ‘

Out of Office’

, or ‘

No Interruptions’

.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subscribing to a presence information system and receiving presence information for the subscriber from the presence update system.

10. The method of claim 9, where receiving presence information comprises:

receiving presence state updates over time for the subscriber.

11. An outcalling system comprising:

a memory comprising;

a presence state for a subscriber to a voice messaging system;

an outcalling program comprising presence state evaluation instructions that determine an impact on a delivery attempt for the message to the subscriber based on the presence state;

a processor coupled to the memory that executes the presence state evaluation program.

12. The outcalling system of claim 11, where the presence state is an aggregated media presence state.

13. The outcalling system of claim 11, further comprising a network interface, and where the processor is operable to receive presence state updates for the subscriber over the network interface.

14. The outcalling system of claim 13, where the presence state updates are subscribed presence state updates received from a presence information system.

15. The outcalling system of claim 11, where the outcalling program determines to initiate the delivery attempt when the presence state is consistent with likely subscriber reception of the message.

16. The outcalling system of claim 11, where the outcalling program determines to initiate the delivery attempt when the presence state is ‘

Online’

or ‘

Available’

.

17. The outcalling system of claim 11, where the outcalling program determines to forgo initiation of the delivery attempt when the presence state is inconsistent with likely subscriber reception of the message.

18. The outcalling system of claim 11, where the outcalling program determines to forgo initiation of the delivery attempt when the presence state is ‘

Busy’

, ‘

Out of Office’

, or ‘

No Interruptions’

.

19. A machine readable medium embodying instructions executable on a machine, the instructions comprising instructions for:

obtaining a presence state for a subscriber to a voice messaging system;

determining that a message is available for the subscriber; and

considering the presence state in determining when to initiate a delivery attempt for the message to the subscriber.

20. The product of claim 19, where the instructions that obtain the presence state comprise:

instructions that obtain an aggregated media presence state.

21. The product of claim 19, where the medium further comprises instructions that:

subscribe to a presence information system for obtaining updates to the presence state.

22. The product of claim 19, further comprising instructions on the medium for:

deciding to initiate the delivery attempt for the message when the presence state indicates that the subscriber is presently available to receive the message.

23. The product of claim 19, further comprising instructions on the medium for:

deciding to initiate the delivery attempt for the message when the presence state is ‘

Online’

or ‘

Available’

.

24. The product of claim 19, further comprising instructions on the medium for:

deciding to forgo initiation of the delivery attempt for the message when the presence state indicates that the subscriber is presently unavailable to receive the message.

25. The product of claim 19, further comprising instructions on the medium for:

deciding to forgo initiation of the delivery attempt for the message when the presence state is ‘

Busy’

, ‘

Out of Office’

, or ‘

No Interruptions’

.