METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING IDENTIFICATION OF A PARTY IN A COMMUNICATION TRANSACTION

• US 20080088700A1
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Published: 04/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: MORNHINEWAY, DAVID, KARNALKAR, ANUP D., PEARSON, LARRY B., WALTER, EDWARD
• Granted Patent: US 8,649,489 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improving identification of a party in a communication transaction is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device having a User Interface (UI) element that presents an image identifier that identifies one among a calling party in at least one among an unanswered call and a voicemail message, and a called party in a dialed call. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium in a terminal device, comprising computer instructions for presenting an image identifier in a call log that identifies one among a calling party and a called party.

2. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the call log comprises at least one among a received call, a dialed call, and a voicemail message.

3. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

detecting a match between a caller ID associated with an unanswered call initiated by the calling party and an entry in a contact book; and

retrieving the image identifier from the entry in the contact book.

4. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

detecting a match between a caller ID associated with the called party and an entry in a contact book; and

retrieving the image identifier from the entry in the contact book.

5. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the image identifier comprises one among a still image and moving image for identifying one among the calling party and the called party.

6. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for presenting selectable GUI elements with the image identifier to process one or more entries in the call log.

7. The storage medium of claim 6, wherein the selectable GUI elements comprise at least one among a contact book icon, voicemail icon, a call back icon, a memo icon, and a delete icon.

8. The storage medium of claim 7, wherein the call log comprises at least one among a received call, a dialed call, and a voicemail message, and wherein the storage medium comprises computer instructions for:

presenting one or more entries in a contact book in response to an end user of the terminal device selecting the contact book icon;

retrieving the voicemail message in response to the end user selecting the voicemail icon;

initiating a call to the calling party in response to the end user selecting the call back icon;

generating a memo in response to the end user selecting the memo icon; and

deleting one among the received call, the dialed call, and the voicemail in response to the end user selecting the delete icon.

9. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for receiving the image identifier in an incoming call initiated by the calling party.

10. A terminal device, comprising a User Interface (UI) element that presents an image identifier that identifies one among a calling party in at least one among an unanswered call and a voicemail message, and a called party in a dialed call.

11. The terminal device of claim 10, comprising a controlling element that detects a match between a caller ID associated with an unanswered call initiated by the calling party and an entry in a contact book, and retrieves the image identifier from the entry in the contact book.

12. The terminal device of claim 10, comprising a controlling element that detects a match between a caller ID associated with the called party and an entry in a contact book, and retrieves the image identifier from the entry in the contact book.

13. The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the UI element presents selectable GUI elements with the image identifier to process one among the received call, the dialed call, and the voicemail message, and wherein the selectable GUI elements comprise at least one among a contact book icon, voicemail icon, a call back icon, a memo icon, and a delete icon.

14. The terminal device of claim 13, wherein the UI element presents one or more entries in a contact book in response to an end user of the terminal device selecting the contact book icon, retrieves the voicemail message in response to the end user selecting the voicemail icon, initiates a call to the calling party in response to the end user selecting the call back icon, generates a memo in response to the end user selecting the memo icon, and deletes one among the received call, the dialed call, and the voicemail in response to the end user selecting the delete icon.

15. The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the image identifier comprises one among a still image and moving image for identifying one among the calling party and the called party.

16. A method, comprising presenting an image identifier retrieved from a voice-only incoming call initiated by a calling party for identifying said calling party.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the image identifier comprises one among a still image and moving image for identifying the calling party.

18. The method of claim 16, comprising presenting selectable GUI elements with the image identifier to process one or more entries in a call log generated in response to the incoming call being unanswered.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the selectable GUI elements comprise at least one among a contact book icon, voicemail icon, a call back icon, a memo icon, and a delete icon.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the call log comprises at least one among a received call and a voicemail message, and wherein the method comprises:

presenting one or more entries in a contact book in response to an end user of the terminal device selecting the contact book icon;

retrieving the voicemail message in response to the end user selecting the voicemail icon;

initiating a call to the calling party in response to the end user selecting the call back icon;

generating a memo in response to the end user selecting the memo icon; and

deleting one among the received call and the voicemail in response to the end user selecting the delete icon.

21. A memory, comprising an image identifier associated with a call log that identifies one among a calling party and a called party.