System and method for providing messages to a mobile device

• US 20070184857A1
• Filed: 02/07/2006
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership A Nevada Limited Partnership Composed of As Its SOLE Partner Intervoice GP Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Hudson, Kieron, Pollock, Ruth
• Granted Patent: US 7,949,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system and method in which data messages, which otherwise would be displayed on the screen of a mobile device are delivered in audible format. The message itself, in one embodiment does not contain the audible message, but rather the message triggers the retrieval of an audible message (or if the user chooses, he/she can be prompted to view additional information in a text or video format on the phone). The audible, message that is ultimately delivered can be prestored in the mobile device; can be created based upon data sent to the device; can be retrieved from an external source, such as from a web server accessed by the mobile device in accordance with data contained in the message received by the mobile device; or it can be sent by the sender as a “whisper” message.

Claims

1. A system for delivering messages to a mobile device user;

said system comprising;

means for delivering a data message to said mobile device; and

means for using data contained within said data messages for obtaining audible messages for delivery to said mobile device user.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said delivering means comprises the SMS channel of said mobile device.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said obtaining means comprises:

means for retrieving a prestored message from memory.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said memory is contained within said mobile device.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein said memory is located remote from said mobile device.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said mobile device comprises:

means responsive to received data messages for establishing a communication link between said mobile device and a particular remote location, said particular location at least partially defined by data contained within said data message.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said particular location is selected from the list of:

web servers, stock services, sports services, news services, prompt servers.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for delivering a return message from said mobile device, said return message sent as a data message in response to a commend received from a user of said mobile device and said return message directed to a location at least partially controlled by data contained within said data message.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein at least a portion of said return message is prestored.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said return message is controlled, at least in part, by an IVR switch interposed between a calling party and said remote device.

11. A mobile device comprising:

at least one speaker;

at least one communication channel for allowing bidirectional communication between the mobile device user and a remote device;

at least one messaging channel independent from said communication channels for receiving data from a remote device, and

means operable in response to at least one message received over said messaging channel for providing audible content to said speaker.

12. The mobile device of claim 11 wherein said audible content is obtained from a source other than said messaging channel.

13. The mobile device of claim 12 wherein said source is said remote device.

14. The mobile device of claim 11 wherein said device is a cellular telephone and said messaging channel is an SMS port.

15. The mobile device of claim 11 further comprising:

means for communicating with external devices under at least partial control of data contained in said received message.

16. The mobile device of claim 15 wherein said last-mentioned communicating means comprises:

an IVR switch interposed between said remote device and said mobile device.

17. The mobile device of claim 12 wherein said speaker is wirelessly coupled to said mobile device.

18. The mobile device of claim 11 further comprising:

memory for storing audible messages; and

means for accessing selected ones of said stored audible messages under at least partial control of data contained in said received message.

19. The mobile device of claim 11 wherein said audible message arrives from a sender remote from said device and delivered to said speaker even if said speaker is receiving communication from another source.

20. A method of providing audible messages to a cellular telephone user;

said method comprising;

sending an SMS message to a particular port of a cellular telephone, said SMS message containing data to be used by said particular telephone to obtain, from a source other than said SMS port, an audible message to be delivered to a speaker associated with said particular telephone.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said sending is from a notification server adapted to send SMS messages to a plurality of mobile devices.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

retrieving said audible message from storage by said mobile device under control of said contained data.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said retrieving comprises:

obtaining prestored information from a memory internal to said mobile device, said prestored data identified, at least in part, by said contained message.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein said retrieving comprises:

obtaining prestored information from a memory external to said mobile device, said prestored data identified, at least in part, by said contained message.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein said retrieving comprises:

concatenating said audible message based, at least in part, on said contained message.

26. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

returning a message from said cellular telephone to a location at least partially determined by said data contained in said SMS message, said returned message prompted by said sending of said SMS message and wherein said returned message is a SMS message.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said returned message is a prestored message triggered by said particular telephone user.

28. A telecommunication device comprising:

at least one transducer for converting electrical signals into human intelligible sounds;

means for receiving communications from calling parties;

means for delivering certain received communications to said transducer only when said transducer is not otherwise in use; and

means for delivering at least a portion of certain received communications to said transducer even while said transducer is otherwise in use.

29. The device of claim 28 wherein at least one of said transducers of said device is adapted such that human intelligible sounds produced by said transducer can be heard in private by a user of said device;

and wherein said last-mentioned means delivers said portion o said communications only to said privacy adapted transducer.

30. The device of claim 29 further comprising:

means for determining which of said delivering means will be activated at any point of time.

31. The device of claim 30 wherein said determining means is operative based upon at least one of the following:

signals received with a particular message;

the origin of a particular message;

the nature of a particular message.

32. The device of claim 28 wherein said delivering means comprises:

means for allowing a device user to selectively listen to whisper messages.