SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALLER IDENTIFICATION CUSTOMIZATION AND REMOTE MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNICATION DEVICES

• US 20080137828A1
• Filed: 12/12/2006
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: CHMAYTELLI, Mazen
• Granted Patent: US 9,148,431 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/142.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

Methods, devices, systems and computer program products are described for implementing on a communication device customized caller ID and remote functional management of a communication device via shared secret exchange between calling and called parties. Customized caller ID provides for a calling party to identify themself regardless of the device they are using to place to call. In addition, other remote functional management, such as call priority tagging, provides for the calling party to prioritize the call or otherwise customize a call ID message to the called party. By exchanging shared secrets amongst the calling and called parties, the customized caller ID method and remote functional management are secure, thereby eliminating the likelihood of unauthorized tampering by unknown parties. Shared secret exchange also provides for authorized callers to remotely access and manage the communication device, such as, for example, to remotely lock down or place the communication device in an off state.

Claims

1. A method for managing a communication device, comprising:

receiving a communication call including shared secret data;

verifying the shared secret; and

performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying the shared secret further comprises referencing a predetermined database in response to receipt of the shared secret and referencing a predetermined entry in the database associated with the shared secret.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret further comprises providing an output signal to identify a caller associated with the shared secret.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein providing an output signal to identify a caller associated with the shared secret further comprises displaying a caller identification to identify a caller associated with the shared secret.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein providing an output signal to identify a caller associated with the shared secret further comprises providing an audio signal to identify a caller associated with the shared secret.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret further comprises providing an output signal to identify a priority of the call.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing an output signal to identify a priority of the call further comprises displaying a priority message to identify a priority of the call.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret further comprises providing a caller access to one or more communication device functions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret further comprises locking the device in an off mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a communication call including shared secret data further comprises receiving a communication call including a trigger and shared secret data.

12. A computer readable medium tangibly storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed, cause a computer device to perform the actions of:

receiving a communication call including shared secret data;

verifying the shared secret; and

performing a communication device function based on the verification of the shared secret.

11. The method of claim 12, wherein verifying the shared secret further comprises referencing a predetermined database associated with the trigger and referencing a predetermined entry in the database associated with the shared secret.

13. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving a communication call including shared secret data;

verifying the shared secret; and

performing a communication device function based on the verification of the shared secret.

14. A communication device, comprising:

a means for receiving a communication call having a shared secret;

a means for verifying the shared secret; and

a means for performing a communication device function associated with the verified shared secret.

15. A method for caller identification on a communication device, comprising:

receiving a communication call including shared secret data;

accessing a database to determine a contact associated with the shared secret; and

providing an output signal that identifies the contact associated with the shared secret.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein providing an output signal that identifies the contact associated with the shared secret further comprises displaying a caller identification associated with the contact associated with the shared secret.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein providing an output signal that identifies the contact associated with the shared secret further comprises providing an audio signal associated with the contact associated with the shared secret.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving a communication call having a shared secret further comprises receiving a communication call having a trigger and a shared secret and wherein accessing a database to determine a contact associated with the shared secret further comprises accessing a database associated with the trigger to determine a contact associated with the shared secret.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising accessing a database to determine communication priority associated with the shared secret.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing an output signal that identifies the communication priority associated with the shared secret.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein providing an output signal that identifies the communication priority associated with the shared secret further comprises displaying a communication priority identifying message associated with the shared secret.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein providing an output signal that identifies the communication priority associated with the shared secret further comprises providing an audio signal that identifies the communication priority associated with the shared secret.

23. A communication device, comprising:

a personal information manager that includes one or more databases that associate shared secrets with shared secret information;

a call manager module including shared secret recognition logic operable to recognize a shared secret in a communication call and access at least one database to determine shared secret information associated with the shared secret and shared secret function logic operable for performing a communication device function based on at least one of the shared secret and shared secret information.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the shared secret function logic further comprises caller identification logic operable to identify a caller associated with the shared secret and to provide an output signal to identify the caller.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the caller identification logic operable to provide an output signal to identify the caller is further operable to display a caller identification to identify a caller associated with the shared secret.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein caller identification logic operable to provide an output signal to identify the caller is further operable to provide an audio signal to identify a caller associated with the shared secret.

27. The device of claim 23, wherein the shared secret function logic further comprises call priority logic operable to identify a priority of the communication call based on the shared secret and display a priority message.

28. The device of claim 23, wherein the shared secret function logic further comprises call priority logic operable to identify a priority of the communication call based on the shared secret and provide an audio signal associated with the identified priority.

29. The device of claim 23, wherein the shared secret function logic further comprises communication device management logic operable to provide caller access to communication device functionality based on the shared secret

30. The device of claim 23, wherein the shared secret function logic comprises communication device lock-down logic operable to lock down the communication device based on the shared secret.

31. A communication device, comprising:

a means for storing shared secrets and associated shared secret information;

a means for recognizing a shared secret in a communication call;

a means for accessing the means for storing to determine shared secret information associated with the shared secret; and

a means for performing a communication device function based on at least one of the shared secret and shared secret information.

32. A communication device, comprising:

a contact database that associates a contact with a shared secret; and

a call manager module including shared secret recognition logic operable to recognize a shared secret in a communication call and access the contact database to determine a contact associated with the shared secret and caller identification logic operable to provide an output signal that identifies the contact associated with the shared secret as the calling party.

33. The communication device of claim 32, wherein the caller identification logic is further operable to display a caller identification associated with the contact associated with the shared secret.

34. The communication device of claim 33, wherein the caller identification logic is further operable to provide an audio signal that identifies the contact associated with the shared secret.

35. The communication device of claim 32, further comprising call priority logic operable to identify a call priority based on the shared secret.

36. A method for providing communication device management at a network device, comprising:

receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret; and

communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number and the shared secret.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret further comprises receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number, a trigger and a shared secret.

38. The method of claim 37, communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number and the shared secret further comprises communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number, the trigger and the shared secret.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the called party receives the call request, verifies the shared secret and performs a communication device function that is associated with the shared secret.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the called party receives the call request, verifies the shared secret and provides an output signal that identifies a caller associated with the shared secret.

41. A computer readable medium tangibly storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed, cause a computer device to perform the actions of:

receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret; and

communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number and the shared secret.

42. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret; and

communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number and the shared secret.

43. A method for identifying a caller identification in a communication network, comprising:

receiving, at a network device, a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret;

referencing a client database to determine a caller identification associated with the shared secret; and

communicating a call request to a called party that includes the caller identification associated with the shared secret.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising referencing a predetermined database to determine a call priority associated with the shared secret.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein communicating a call request to a called party that includes the caller identification associated with the shared secret further comprises communicating a call request to a called party that includes the call priority.

46. A network device comprising a shared secret forwarding module that includes shared secret recognition logic operable for recognizing a shared secret in a communication call request and shared secret forwarding logic operable to communicate the shared secret to a called party associated with the communication call request.

47. A network device, comprising:

a client database that associates shared secrets with caller identification;

a shared secret module that includes shared secret recognition logic operable to recognize a shared secret in a call request and reference the client database to determine a caller identification associated with the shared secret; and

a communications module operable to communicate to a called party the call request that includes the caller identification associated with the shared secret.

48. A network device, comprising:

a means for receiving a communication call request including a calling device identification number and a shared secret; and

a means for communicating a call request to a called party that includes the calling device identification number and the shared secret.