Communication system

• US 20080182555A1
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Sopieva, Natasha Valerie, Corr, Nick, Madanes, Rodrigo, Nilsson, Linus
• Granted Patent: US 8,667,136 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/232 Orthographic correction, e.g. spell checking or vowelisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

A method of updating a data record stored in a data store with information supplied by at least one of a plurality of users of a communication network includes storing a communication identifier in association with the data record; providing information to update the data record from a user together with a communication identifier associated with the user providing the information; and comparing the identifier stored in association with the data record to the communication identifier associated with the user providing the information. If the information is the first type of information, the data record is updated with the information only if the identifier associated with the user providing the information is the same as the identifier stored in association with the data record and if the information is the second type of information the data record is updated with the information.

Claims

1. A method of updating a data record stored in a data store with information supplied by at least one of a plurality of users of a communication network, said data record comprising a first type of information and a second type of information;

each of said users having an associated communication identifier identifying an endpoint in the communication network for receiving a communication event, said method comprising;

storing a communication identifier in association with the data record;

providing information to update the data record from a user together with a communication identifier associated with the user providing the information;

comparing the identifier stored in association with the data record to the communication identifier associated with the user providing the information;

wherein if the information is the first type of information, the data record is updated with the information only if the identifier associated with the user providing the information is the same as the identifier stored in association with the data record and wherein if the information is the second type of information the data record is updated with the information.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the communication identifier associated with the user is authenticated by the communication network when the user logs into the communication network.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising creating a data record on the data store by one of a plurality of users.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the identifier stored in association with the data record is not associated with the user that created the data record.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising providing from one of said plurality of users the first type of information to search the data store;

identifying the data record located by the first information;

transmitting at least part of the data record to the one of said plurality of users; and

displaying to the one of said plurality of users at least part of the data record, wherein the part of the data record displayed comprises the first type and the second type of information.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the identifier associated with each user is the login name of the user in the communications network.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first type of information comprises at least one of contact information and keywords.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second type of information comprises at least one of rating information and comments.

9. A method of updating a data store with information identifying users capable of communicating in a communication network, said method comprising:

receiving from a first user a first set of information to search the data store;

searching the data store with the first set of information;

providing the first user with means to post the first set of information on a request page if the first set of information does not match any data stored in the data store, wherein the first information is posted in the form of a request;

storing the request in association with a request identifier associated with the first user;

receiving from a second user a second set of information in response to the request;

transmitting the second set of information together with the request identifier to the data store;

storing the second set of information in the data store;

identifying the first user from the request identifier; and

notifying the first user of the second set of information stored in the data store.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the request identifier is stored in association with a user identifier.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the request identifier is a user identifier.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the user identifier identifies an endpoint in the communication network for receiving a communication event.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the user identifier is authenticated by the communication network when the user logs into the communication network.

14. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the second set of information is a link to a data record on the data store.

15. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the request page is a webpage that is available to a plurality of users of the communication network.

16. A method of searching a data store for information relating to a recipient device capable of receiving a communication event in a communications network, the method comprising:

processing information at a user terminal in the communications network to carry out a first action that is unrelated to searching the data store, wherein said information comprises an identifier for the recipient device;

detecting the identifier for the recipient device in response to processing the information;

searching the data store with the identifier of the recipient device for information relating to the recipient device;

transmitting information relating to the recipient device to the user terminal; and

displaying the information relating to the recipient device to the user of the user terminal.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein processing comprises establishing a communication event from the user terminal to the recipient device via the communication network.

18. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein processing comprises searching a document to identify a sequence that satisfies a predetermined set of rules.

19. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the identifier of the recipient device identifies an endpoint in the communication network for receiving a communication event

20. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the identifier of the recipient device is authenticated by the communication network when a user of the recipient device logs into the communication network.

21. A method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising prompting a user of the user terminal to input information relating to the recipient device to be stored on the data store if no information relating to the recipient device is stored on the data store.

22. A method as claimed in claim 18 wherein the document is a webpage.

23. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein information stored on the data store relating to the recipient device is used to perform a secondary search to identify other recipient devices associated with the recipient device.

24. A method as claimed in claim 22 wherein information provided on the webpage is used to perform a secondary search to identity other recipient devices associated with the recipient device.

25. A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the secondary search is performed in response to establishing a communication event using the identifier of the recipient device.

26. A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the secondary search is performed on the data store.

27. A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the secondary search is performed on a second data store.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27 wherein the data store and the second data store are updated independently.

29. A method of searching a data store for information relating to a plurality of recipient devices, the method comprising:

establishing a communication event with a recipient device identified on a document by an initiator device;

searching the document for character strings that satisfy a predetermined criteria in response to establishing the communication event;

searching the data store with at least one of said character strings that satisfy the criteria;

identifying information associated with at least one of said plurality of recipient devices, using the at least one character string;

transmitting the information associated with the at least one of said recipient devices to the initiator device; and

displaying the information relating to the recipient device to a user of the initiator device.

30. A method as claimed in claim 29 wherein the document is a webpage.

31. A communication network arranged to update a data record stored in a data store with information supplied by at least one of a plurality of users of the communication network, said data record comprising a first type of information and a second type of information;

each of said users having an associated communication identifier identifying an endpoint in the communication network for receiving a communication event, said communication network comprising;

the data store, wherein the data store is arranged to store a communication identifier in association with the data record; and

wherein said communication network further comprises a first user device arranged to provide information to update the data record from a user together with a communication identifier associated with the user providing the information;

wherein the data store is arranged to compare the identifier stored in association with the data record to the communication identifier associated with the user providing the information; and

wherein if the information is the first type of information, the data store is arranged to update the data record with the information only if the identifier associated with the user providing the information is the same as the identifier stored in association with the data record and wherein if the information is the second type of information the data store is arranged to update the data record with the information.

32. A communication network arranged to update a data store with information identifying users capable of communicating in a communication network, said communication network comprising;

the data store, wherein the data store is arranged to store data records associated with users capable of communicating in the communication network;

to receive from a first device a first set of information to search the data store; and

to transmit a response to the first user device indicating that the first set of information did not identify any users capable of communicating in the communication network if the first set of information does not match any of the stored data records; and

wherein the communication network further comprises;

the first device, wherein the first device is arranged to provide a user of the first device with means to post the first set of information on a request page in response to receiving the response indicating that the first set of information did not identify any users, wherein the first information is posted in the form of a request;

a request storage arranged to store the request in association with a request identifier associated with the first user;

to receive from a second user a second set of information in response to the request and to transmit the second set of information together with the request identifier to the data store;

to identify the first user from the request identifier; and

to notify the first user of the second set of information stored in the data store.

33. A communication network arranged to search a data store for information relating to a recipient device capable of receiving a communication event in a communications network, the communication network comprising:

a user terminal arranged to process information to carry out a first action that is unrelated to searching the data store, wherein said information comprises an identifier for the recipient device;

to detect the identifier for the recipient device in response to processing the information; and

to transmit to the data store a message to search the data store with the identifier of the recipient device for information relating to the recipient device;

to receive information transmitted from the data store relating to the recipient device; and

to display the information relating to the recipient device.

34. A communication network arranged to search a data store for information relating to a plurality of recipient devices, the network comprising:

an initiator device arranged to establish a communication event with a recipient device identified on a document, to search the document for character strings that satisfy a predetermined criteria in response to establishing the communication event; and

to transmit a message to the data store to search the data store with at least one of said character strings that satisfy the criteria;

to receive information transmitted from the data store associated with at least one of said plurality of recipient devices, identified using the at least one character string and to display the information relating to the recipient device to a user of the initiator device.

35. A device arranged to communicate with a data store in a communication network comprising:

call establishing means arranged to establish a communication event with a recipient device identified on a document,

searching means arranged to search the document for character strings that satisfy a predetermined criteria in response to establishing the communication event;

transmitting means arranged to transmit a message to the data store to search the data store with at least one of said character strings that satisfy the criteria;

receiving means arranged to receive information transmitted from the data store associated with at least one of said plurality of recipient devices, identified using the at least one character string; and

display means to display the information relating to the recipient device to a user of the initiator device.