System and Methodology for Peer-To-Peer Voice Communication Employing a Pushed Interactive Multimedia Announcement

• US 20070263798A1
• Filed: 08/11/2006
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZAD Mobile, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Emotive Communications (ZAD Mobile, Inc.)
• Inventors: Newton, M. Dean, Dewing, Shane Richard, Stonefield, Anthony Pierre
• Granted Patent: US 7,421,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.130
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation

Abstract

A system, method and corresponding software application installed on communication devices of the system for communicating a media-based call alert from a calling-party device to a called-party device prior to establishing the voice call therebetween. The media-based call alert is played on the called-party device prior to (or concurrent with) the establishment of the voice call. Preferably, the communication of the media-based call alert is realized as part of a service that is available to subscribers of the service.

Claims

1. A system for communicating a multimedia announcement from a calling party to a called party as part of a voice call therebetween, the system comprising:

a calling party device operated by the calling party, a called party device operated by the called party, and a server operably coupled to said calling party device and to said called party device over a communication network therebetween;

wherein said server includes or interfaces to at least one database for storing presence data and permissions data for a plurality of users, wherein presence data and permissions data for the called party is specified by communication from said called party device;

wherein said calling party device includes first means for identifying the called party, second means for selecting a given multimedia announcement, third means for communicating with said server to determine serviceability of the called party based upon said presence data and said permissions data for the called party, and fourth means for selectively initiating communication of the given multimedia announcement from said calling party device to said called party device based upon serviceability of the called party as determined by said third means; and

wherein said called party device includes means for receiving the given multimedia announcement and means for playing the given multimedia announcement in conjunction with a call made from said calling party device to said called party device over said communication network.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

said called party device include means for updating presence data and permissions data for the called party as stored in the at least one database in accordance with user input provided by the called party, and said calling party device includes means for updating the presence data and permission data for the calling party as stored in the at least one database in accordance with user input provided by the calling party.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein:

said called party device includes a graphical user interface for updating presence data and permissions data for the called party, and said calling party device includes a graphical user interface for updating presence data and permissions data for the calling party.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the presence data for the called party represents general availability of the called party.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the permission data for the called party represents whether communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party to the called party should be allowed or blocked.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

said calling party device and said called party device each include a list of users and associated permission information displayed thereon.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

said fourth means selectively initiates communication of the given multimedia announcement from said calling party device to said called party device in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be allowed.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

said fourth means does not initiate communication of the given multimedia announcement from said calling party device to said called party device in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally not-available, and

said fourth means does not initiate communication of the given multimedia announcement from said calling party device to said called party device in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be blocked.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device includes communicating from the calling party device to the called party device a first command that identifies the given multimedia announcement and information related thereto, wherein the called party device receives and analyzes information contained in said first command to determine if the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device, and returns a first reply that indicates whether the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device.

10. A system according to claim 9, further comprising:

in the event that said first reply indicates that the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device, communicating from said calling party device to said called party device a second command that includes at least the given multimedia announcement.

11. A system according to claim 10, further comprising:

in the event that said first reply indicates that the given multimedia announcement cannot be received and processed by the called party device, communicating from said calling party device to said server a third command that includes at least the given multimedia announcement, wherein said server processes said third command and forwards the given multimedia announcement to said called party device in a form suitable for processing by said called party device.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein:

in processing said third command, said server transcodes the given multimedia announcement supplied thereto by the calling party device.

13. A system according to claim 11, wherein:

in response to successful receipt of the given multimedia announcement, said called party device communicates to said calling device a fourth command that indicates successful receipt of the given multimedia announcement, said calling party device receiving said fourth command and initiating the call from said calling party device to said called party device over said communication network in response to said fourth command.

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein:

initiation of the call from said calling party device to said called party device requests provisioning of resources of said communication network for the call subsequent to receiving said fourth command.

15. A system according to claim 13, wherein:

in conjunction with initiating communication of the fourth command, said called party device adapts the incoming call processing carried out by said called party device such that any incoming call originating from said calling party device will be announced by playing the given multimedia announcement.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein:

the incoming call processing carried out by said called party device compares caller identifier information for each incoming call and automatically invokes an application for playing the given multimedia announcement in the event that the caller identifier information corresponds to an identifier assigned to said calling party device.

17. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the given multimedia announcement is stored in a file that is protected by a digital rights management mechanism for controlling access thereto.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein:

said called party device acquires digital rights management license information that allows access to the file storing the given multimedia announcement for at least playing the given multimedia announcement on said called party device.

19. A system according to claim 18, wherein:

said digital rights management license information controls access to the file storing the given multimedia announcement for other functions selected from the group including;

allowing the file to be copied and/or saved on the called party device, prohibiting the file to be copied and/or saved on the called party device, allowing the file to be used only for intended purposes, prohibiting the file to be used for non-intended purposes, allowing the file to be forwarded to another device, prohibiting the file to be forwarded to another device, allowing the file to played a certain number of times and then automatically deleted from the called party device, and allowing the file to played until a certain date and then automatically deleted from the called party device.

20. A system according to claim 18, wherein:

said server supplies said digital rights management license information to said called party device.

21. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

said called party device is adapted to announce the call made from said calling party device to said called party device by playing the given multimedia announcement and to communicate at least one interactive message between said called party device and said calling party device in conjunction with the call.

22. A method for communicating a multimedia announcement from a calling party to a called party as part of a voice call therebetween, the method comprising:

providing a calling party device operated by the calling party, a called party device operated by the called party, and a server operably coupled to the calling party device and to the called party device over a communication network therebetween, wherein the server includes or interfaces to at least one database for storing presence data and permissions data for a plurality of users, wherein presence data and permission data for the called party is specified by communication from the called party device;

operating the calling party device to identify the called party and select a given multimedia announcement in accordance with user input by the calling party;

communicating between the calling party device and the server to determine serviceability of the called party for communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device, the serviceability based upon the presence data and the permissions data for the called party as stored in the at least one database;

selectively initiating communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device based upon serviceability of the called party as determined by the communication with the server;

receiving the given multimedia announcement at the called party device; and

playing the given multimedia announcement at the called party device in conjunction with a call made from the calling party device to the called party device over the communication network.

23. A method according to claim 22, further comprising:

communicating information from the called party device to update the presence data and permissions data for the called party as stored in the at least one database; and

communicating information from the calling party device to update the presence data and permission data for the calling party as stored in the at least one database.

24. A method according to claim 23, further comprising:

presenting a graphical user interface on the calling party device for updating the presence data and permission data for the calling party; and

presenting a graphical user interface on the called party device for updating the presence data and permissions data for the called party.

25. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

the presence data for the called party represents general availability of the called party.

26. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

the permissions data represents whether communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party to the called party should be allowed or blocked.

27. A method according to claim 22, further comprising:

displaying a list of users and associated permission information on each of the calling party device and the called party device.

28. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be allowed.

29. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is not initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally not-available, and

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is not initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be blocked.

30. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device includes communicating from the calling party device to the called party device a first command that identifies the given multimedia announcement and information related thereto, wherein the called party device receives and analyzes information contained in said first command to determine if the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device, and returns a first reply that indicates whether the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device.

31. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

in the event that said first reply indicates that the given multimedia announcement can be received and processed by the called party device, communicating from said calling party device to said called party device a second command that includes at least the given multimedia announcement.

32. A method according to claim 31, further comprising:

in the event that said first reply indicates that the given multimedia announcement cannot be received and processed by the called party device, communicating from said calling party device to the server a third command that includes at least the given multimedia announcement, wherein the server processes said third command and forwards the given multimedia announcement to the called party device in a form suitable for processing by the called party device.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein:

in processing said third command, said server transcodes the given multimedia announcement supplied thereto by the calling party device.

34. A method according to claim 32, wherein:

in response to successful receipt of the given multimedia announcement, the called party device communicates to the calling device a fourth command that indicates successful receipt of the given multimedia announcement, the calling party device receiving said fourth command and initiating the call from the calling party device to the called party device over the communication network in response to said fourth command.

35. A method according to claim 34, wherein:

initiation of the call from the calling party device to the called party device requests provisioning of resources of the communication network for the call subsequent to receiving said fourth command.

36. A method according to claim 34, wherein:

in conjunction with initiating communication of the fourth command, the called party device adapts the incoming call processing carried out by the called party device such that any incoming call originating from the calling party device will be announced by playing the given multimedia announcement.

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein:

the incoming call processing carried out by the called party device compares caller identifier information for each incoming call and automatically invokes an application for playing the given multimedia announcement in the event that the caller identifier information corresponds to an identifier assigned to the calling party device.

38. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

the given multimedia announcement is stored in a file that is protected by a digital rights management mechanism for controlling access thereto.

39. A method according to claim 38, further comprising:

communicating digital rights management license information to the called party device, the digital rights management license information allowing access to the file storing the given multimedia announcement for at least playing the given multimedia announcement on the called party device.

40. A method according to claim 39, wherein:

said digital rights management license information controls access to the file storing the given multimedia announcement for other functions selected from the group including;

allowing the file to be copied and/or saved on the called party device, prohibiting the file to be copied and/or saved on the called party device, allowing the file to be used only for intended purposes, prohibiting the file to be used for non-intended purposes, allowing the file to be forwarded to another device, prohibiting the file to be forwarded to another device, allowing the file to played a certain number of times and then automatically deleted from the called party device, and allowing the file to played until a certain date and then automatically deleted from the called party device.

41. A method according to claim 39, wherein:

said digital rights management license information is communicated from the server to the called party device in response to a request from the called party device.

42. A method according to claim 22, wherein:

said called party device is adapted to announce the call made from said calling party device to said called party device by playing the given multimedia announcement and to communicate at least one interactive message between said called party device and said calling party device in conjunction with the call.

43. In a communication system including a calling party device operated by the calling party, a called party device operated by the called party, and a server operably coupled to the calling party device and to the called party device over a communication network therebetween, a computer program product that is installed or installable onto a computer processing platform that is part of the calling party device, the computer program product readable by the computer processing platform, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer processing platform to perform methods steps for communicating a multimedia announcement from a calling party to a called party as part of a voice call therebetween, the method steps comprising:

operating the calling party device to identify the called party and select a given multimedia announcement in accordance with user input by the calling party;

communicating between the calling party device and the server to determine serviceability of the called party based upon presence data and permissions data for the called party retrieved from at least one database which is maintained by or interfaced to the server;

selectively initiating communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device based upon serviceability of the called party as determined by the communication with the server, and

automatically initiating a call from the calling party device to the called party device over the communication network upon notification communicated from the called party device that the given multimedia announcement has been successfully received at the called party device, wherein the given multimedia announcement is played at the called party device to announce said call.

44. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

the presence data for the called party represents general availability of the called party.

45. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

the permission data for the called party represents whether communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party to the called party should be allowed or blocked.

46. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be allowed.

47. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is not initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally not-available, and

communication of the given multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device is not initiated in the event that the presence data for the called party represents that the called party is generally available and the permission data for called party represents that communication of any multimedia announcement from the calling party device to the called party device should be blocked.

48. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

initiation of the call from the calling party device to the called party device requests provisioning of resources of the communication network for said call.

49. A computer program product according to claim 48, the method steps further comprising:

receiving a multimedia announcement communicated from another device over the network; and

adapting incoming call processing such that any incoming call originating from the another device will be announced by playing the multimedia announcement communicated therefrom.

50. A computer program product according to claim 49, wherein:

the incoming call processing compares caller identifier information for each incoming call and automatically invokes an application for playing the multimedia announcement in the event that the caller identifier information corresponds to an identifier assigned to the another device.

51. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

the given multimedia announcement is stored in a file that is protected by a digital rights management mechanism for controlling access thereto.

52. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

said computer program product is part of a downloadable application that is loaded onto the computer processing platform of the calling party device.

53. A computer program product according to claim 43, wherein:

said called party device is adapted to announce the call made from said calling party device to said called party device by playing the given multimedia announcement and to communicate at least one interactive message between said called party device and said calling party device in conjunction with the call.