Presence management system

• US 20060239424A1
• Filed: 04/21/2005
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Walter, Edward
• Granted Patent: US 8,781,081 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.220
• 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 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components

Abstract

The present invention provides presence management to a multimodal communication network. A unified messaging system, providing the ability to deliver messages across multiple modes of communication, is integrated with a presence managing system. The presence management system provides an ability to locate a recipient of a message according to a stored schedule. The unified messaging system retrieves contact information from a presence management system. Upon received the message, the recipient can respond along the established line of communication. Multiple modes of communication comprises telephone, wireless telephone, electronic mail, pager, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), video, audio, picture, among others.

Claims

1. A method of providing presence management in a communication network, comprising:

a) receiving a message for a recipient from a sender;

b) retrieving contact information from a presence management system for the recipient; and

c) sending the message to the recipient in accordance with the contact information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a message response from the recipient and sending the response to the sender.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent in one of a plurality of communication modes and the message is received in one of a plurality of communication modes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is sent in a first communication mode and the message is received a second communication mode.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of communication modes comprises email, cell phone, text display, wireline telephone, Voice Over Internet Protocol, video, picture, audio and Personal Digital Assistant.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence management system provides a database for storing information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact information further comprises at least one of the set consisting of i) alternate telephone numbers;

ii) email addresses;

iii) pager numbers; and

iv) personal addresses.

8. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method of providing presence management in a communication network, comprising:

a) receiving a message for a recipient from a sender;

b) retrieving contact information from a presence management system for the recipient; and

c) sending the message to the recipient in accordance with the contact information.

9. The medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a message response from the recipient and sending the response to the sender.

10. The medium of claim 8, wherein in the method the message is sent in one of a plurality of communication modes and the message is received in one of a plurality of communication modes.

11. The medium of claim 8, wherein in the method the message is sent in a first communication mode and the message is received in a second communication mode.

12. The medium of claim 10, wherein the plurality of communication modes comprises email, cell phone, text display, wireline telephone, Voice Over Internet Protocol, video, picture, audio and Personal Digital Assistant.

13. The medium of claim 8, wherein in the method a presence management system provides a database for storing information.

14. The medium of claim 8, wherein in the method the contact information further comprises at least one of the set consisting of i) alternate telephone numbers;

ii) email addresses;

iii) pager numbers; and

iv) personal addresses.

15. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with an application program that provides presence management in a communication network, comprising:

a) a first interface that receives a message for a recipient from a sender;

b) a second application program interface that receives contact information from a presence management system for the recipient; and

c) a third application program interface that receives contact information for contacting the recipient in accordance with the contact information.

16. The set of application program interfaces of claim 15, further comprising:

a fourth application program interface for receiving a message response from the recipient and sending the response to the sender.

17. The set of application program interfaces of claim 15, wherein the message is sent in a first communication mode and the message is received in a second communication mode.

18. The set of application program interfaces of claim 15, wherein the plurality of communication modes comprises email, cell phone, text display, wireline telephone, Voice Over Internet Protocol, video, picture, audio and Personal Digital Assistant.

19. The set of application program interfaces of claim 15, wherein the presence management system provides a database for storing information.

20. The set of application program interfaces of claim 15, wherein the contact information further comprises at least one of the set comprising i) alternate telephone numbers;

ii) email addresses; and

iii) pager numbers; and

iv) personal addresses.