System and method of delivering notifications

• US 20070115389A1
• Filed: 10/13/2005
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Lee, Chris, McCarthy, Mary, Cox, Ross, Haeuser, Tony, Pettit, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 9,083,564 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/461
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/06 Message adaptation to terminal or network requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method of delivering notifications. The method can include receiving a communication at a server within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, where the communication is directed to a destination device outside of the IPTV network. The method can also include identifying the destination device and associating the destination device with a set-top box device. The method can also include transmitting a notification of the communication to the set-top box device via a private data network within the IPTV network.

Claims

1. A method of delivering notifications, the method comprising:

receiving a communication at a server within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, wherein the communication is directed to a destination device outside of the IPTV network;

identifying the destination device;

associating the destination device with a set-top box device; and

transmitting a notification of the communication to the set-top box device via a private data network within the IPTV network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the destination device with a user account; and

associating the user account with at least one identifier of the set-top box device, wherein the at least one identifier is;

an IP address of the set-top box device, data associated with at least one communication line coupled to the set-top box device, or an alphanumeric identifier of the set-top box device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the communication line is a fiber optic cable.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises a telephone call and wherein the notification comprises at least one of the following:

a caller name, a caller telephone number, a caller address, a date of the telephone call, and a time of the telephone call.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising obtaining caller identification (caller ID) information corresponding to a source of the telephone call and wherein the notification further comprises the caller ID information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises a voice mail message and wherein the notification comprises at least one of the following:

a caller name, a caller telephone number, a caller address, a date of the voice mail message, and a time of the voice mail message.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising converting the voice mail message to a text message and transmitting at least a portion of the text message to the set-top box device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the notification further comprises an audio file including at least a portion of the voice mail message.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising storing the voice mail message at the server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises an e-mail message and wherein the notification comprises at least one of the following:

a sender name, a sender e-mail address, an e-mail subject, a date of the e-mail message, and a time of the e-mail message.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing the e-mail message at the server.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a menu of at least one stored message; and

transmitting the menu to the set-top box device.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a stored message on the menu;

retrieving the selected stored message from a message store; and

transmitting the selected stored message to the set-top box device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message from the set-top box device; and

communicating the message to a wireless device outside of the IPTV system.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising communicating the message to a telephone outside the IPTV system.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the message comprises a status of a digital video recorder within the set-top box device.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising communicating the message via a wireless access protocol (WAP).

18. A method of receiving notifications, the method comprising:

receiving a notification at a set-top box device via a private data network within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, wherein the notification is associated with a communication to a destination device outside of the IPTV network.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the destination device is associated with the set-top box device.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising transmitting the notification to a display device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the display device comprises a television monitor.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving a voice mail message and storing the voice mail message at the set-top box device.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising converting the voice mail message to a text message at the set-top box device and transmitting at least a portion of the text message to a display device.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising broadcasting the voice mail message as an audio message at the display device.

25. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

transmitting a menu of at least one stored message to a display device;

receiving a selection of a stored message at the set-top box device; and

transmitting the selected stored message to the display device.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

transmitting a request for the selected stored message to a server; and

receiving the selected stored message from the server.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising communicating a message from the set-top box device to a communication device outside the IPTV network.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the message is communicated to a wireless device via a wireless network.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising monitoring a digital video recorder within the set-top box device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the message comprises a status of the digital video recorder.

31. A set-top box within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, the set-top box comprising:

a processor;

a memory accessible to the processor; and

a computer program embedded in the memory, the computer program comprising instructions to receive a notification of a communication to a destination device outside of the IPTV system, wherein the notification is received at the set-top box device via a private network within the IPTV network.

32. A computer program embedded in a computer-readable medium, the computer program comprising:

instructions to receive at a set-top box device a notification of a communication to a destination device outside of an IPTV network; and

wherein the notification is received at the set-top box device via a private network within the IPTV network.