Method and system for invoking push-to-service offerings

• US 20070123222A1
• Filed: 11/29/2005
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dheap, Vijay, Mandalia, Baiju, Cox, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 7,529,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/553 Data upload
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

The present invention includes a method and system for invoking service offerings. The method can include the steps of initiating (320) a push-to-service request, enabling (304) a Voice Recognition Server (VRS), ranking (306) a list of supported service offerings, and presenting the list on a display for identifying at least one service offering that is available as a service to the user. The method and system can include speaking (308) a voice request for selecting at least one service presented on the display, and establishing (310) a communication dialogue with a service provider of the service for connecting the service provider for providing the service to the user.

The push-to-service request can be invoked by a user depressing a service button (120) on the first communication unit (100) using a push-action. The VRS (220) can handle the voice request and generate a list of service offerings ranked by priority for presentation on the display. The process can include a control protocol to negotiate at least one device characteristic with at least one service provider.

Claims

1. A system for invoking service offerings, the system comprising:

a push-action button on a first communication device to initiate a push-to-service request;

a display positioned on the first communication device adjacent to the push-action button activated by a user depressing the push-action button, wherein the display unit and push-action button are cooperatively connected by the first communication device;

a processor positioned within the first communication device and operatively coupled to the push-action button and to the display unit to process the push-to-service request and present a list of service offerings on the display, said process including a control protocol to negotiate at least one device characteristic with at least one service provider; and

an audio unit communicatively coupled to the processor to receive a voice request from the user for selecting said at least one service offering presented on the display.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second communication device having a voice response server (VRS) to handle the voice request from the audio unit of the first communication device, the VRS providing to the processor the list of service offerings supported by the second communication unit, wherein the second communication unit has access to the service offerings available to the first communication device, wherein the VRS supports a proxy for push-to-talk services.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio unit synthesizes voice from the list of service offerings provided by the VRS, the list of service offerings being in a voice markup format.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor ranks the list of service offerings by a priority and presents the list on the display for providing at least one service offering that is available as a service to the user based on the priority, and wherein the priority comprises a time stamp, a calendar, an address book, a voice mail, a contact, a personal message, and a personal profile.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the time-stamp identifies what service offerings that are timely to the user, and the processor ranks the list of service offerings on a scale based on timeliness.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the calendar expresses the availability of the user, and the processor ranks the list of service offerings based on the availability of the user in view of the calendar.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the processor ranks the list of services based on a predefined importance to the user, and wherein the importance corresponds to one of the time of day, service usage history, user information, and preference.

8. A method for invoking service offerings, the method comprising the steps of:

initiating a push-to-service request from a first communication unit to a second communication unit, wherein the push-to-service request is invoked by a user depressing a service button on the first communication unit, wherein the depressing is a push-action;

enabling a Voice Recognition Server (VRS) at the second communication unit after receiving the push-to-service request, wherein the push-action notifies the second communication unit that the user is intending to interact with the VRS;

ranking a list of service offerings supported by the second communication unit and presenting the list on a display of the first communication device for identifying at least one service offering that is available as a service to the user;

speaking a voice request into the first communication device for selecting at least one service presented on the display, wherein the voice request is sent to the second communication unit for handling the voice request within the VRS; and

establishing a communication dialogue with a service provider of the service for connecting the service provider to the first communication device for providing the service to the user.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising establishing a push-to-service control protocol between the first communication unit and the second communication unit for communicating a user profile to the VRS in response to said step of initiating a push-to-service request, wherein the VRS has access to the service offerings for establishing a communication dialogue, wherein the user profile contains personal information and account information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the initiating further comprises the steps of:

embedding a push-to-service message in a data packet responsive to said push-action;

transmitting the data packet from the first communication unit to the second communication unit; and

configuring the second communication unit based on the push-to-service message;

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the message includes at least one of a time stamp, a calendar, an address book, a voice mail, a contact, and a personal message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the time-stamp identifies what service offerings are timely to the user, and the step of configuring ranks the list of service offerings on a scale of timeliness.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the calendar expresses the availability of the user, and the step of configuring ranks the list of service offerings based on the availability of the user in view of the calendar.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuring further includes the step of ranking the list of services based on a predetermined importance to the user, and wherein the importance corresponds to one of the time of day, service usage history, user information, and preference.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the VRS converts the voice request to one of a text format and VoiceXML format.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the VRS converts the list of service offerings from a text format to a VoiceXML format for playing synthesized voice out of the first communication device.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the first communication device is a wireless device and wherein the step of establishing a communication dialogue is over one of a cellular communication channel and an internet connection.

18. A method for configuring a list of service offerings, the method comprising the steps of:

categorizing a list of service offerings, the list containing services the user has registered for, each service corresponding to at least one category, the categorizing producing a set of categories each containing a list of services;

based on a priority, narrowing the list of services in each category to identify an appropriate set of services for each category in view of the priority;

wherein the priority identifies in each category service offerings that are timely to the user, and wherein the step of narrowing ranks the list of services within each category on a scale of timeliness to generate a narrowed list.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one category corresponds to one of a time of day, a usage history, a preference, an importance, and a personal profile.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of transmitting the narrowed list to a communication device.