Single Point of Contact Personal Communication System
First Claim
1. A single point of contact personal communication system comprising:
- a device attributes database;
a subscriber database;
a computer linked to the device attributes database and the subscriber database;
a telephone interface attached to the computer;
an Internet interface attached to the computer; and
a computer program residing within the computer, wherein responsive to a request to contact an individual from a user received via at least one of the telephone interface and the Internet interface, the computer program searches the subscriber database and, responsive to finding a record matching the individual, finds a corresponding record in the device attributes database and uses at least one of the telephone interface and the Internet interface to send a message to at least one device in a list of devices found in the record in the device attributes database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer/telephony integrated single-point-of-contact system (CISS) enabling a user to contact another using multiple devices with a single contact attempt is disclosed. A plurality of computer programs residing in a computer use a subscriber database, authorization database, priority list database, and device attributes database to determine how to respond to a request to contact a subscriber. If the request is an emergency, the computer repeatedly contacts all of the subscriber'"'"'s devices until a response is received. Otherwise, the computer contacts the subscriber'"'"'s devices in a sequential order determined by the subscriber. The computer can also delete redundant un-received messages from a subscriber'"'"'s devices and create a real-time connection between the requester and the subscriber, if it is technically possible, at the subscriber'"'"'s request.
68 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A single point of contact personal communication system comprising:
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a device attributes database; a subscriber database; a computer linked to the device attributes database and the subscriber database; a telephone interface attached to the computer; an Internet interface attached to the computer; and a computer program residing within the computer, wherein responsive to a request to contact an individual from a user received via at least one of the telephone interface and the Internet interface, the computer program searches the subscriber database and, responsive to finding a record matching the individual, finds a corresponding record in the device attributes database and uses at least one of the telephone interface and the Internet interface to send a message to at least one device in a list of devices found in the record in the device attributes database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A single point of contact personal communication system comprising:
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a device attributes database; a subscriber database; a computer linked to the device attributes database and the subscriber database; a telephone interface attached to the computer and connected to a telephone switch; an Internet interface attached to the computer and an Internet service provider; a cable-television interface connected to a cable-television service provider; and a computer program residing within the computer, wherein the computer program, responsive to a request to contact an individual from a user received via at least one of the telephone interface and the Internet interface, searches the subscriber database and, responsive to finding a record matching the individual, finds a corresponding record in the device attributes database and uses at least one of the telephone interface, the Internet interface, and the cable-television interface to send a first message to at least one device in a list of devices found in the record in the device attributes database. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for contacting an individual comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a request from a user to contact an individual; (b) responsive to finding that the request is a phone call, ringing the individual'"'"'s telephone; (c) responsive to finding that the individual does not answer the telephone, giving the user a choice of leaving voicemail or tracking down the individual; (d) responsive to a request to track down the individual or finding that the request is text-based, checking an authorization database to verify the user is authorized to track down the individual; (e) responsive to finding that the user is authorized, taking a first message from the user for the individual; (f) sending a request to the user to indicate if the first message regards an emergency; (g) receiving a response from the user; (h) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the first message regards an emergency, locating a record for the individual in a device attributes database; (i) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the first message regards an emergency, sending the message to all devices in a list of devices in the record; (j) responsive to the response indicating the first message does not regard an emergency, locating a record for the individual in a priority list database and in a device attributes database and sending the first message to a first device in the record in the priority list database; (k) waiting a period specified in the record in the device attributes database; (l) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the message regards an emergency, and in the absence of a second message from the individual, repeating steps (i) and (j) until a message is received from the individual; (m) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the first message does not regard an emergency, and in the absence of receiving a second message from the individual, sending the first message to a subsequent device in the list of devices; (n) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the first message does not regard an emergency, and in the absence of receiving a second message from the individual, repeating steps (j) and (l) until a second message is received from the individual or the first message has been sent to all devices; (o) responsive to the response in step (g) indicating the first message does not regard an emergency, in the absence of receiving a second message from the individual, and when the first message has been sent to all devices, repeating steps (i), (j), (l), (m), and (n). - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for configuring a single point of contact personal communication system comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a request from a user to configure the system; (b) checking a subscriber database to verify the user is authorized to configure the system; (c) responsive to finding that the user is authorized, sending a request to the user to indicate if the user wishes to change their profile; (d) receiving a response from the user; (e) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, sending a request to the user to indicate if the user wishes to change their authorization list; (f) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, receiving a response from the user; (g) responsive to the response in step (f) indicating the user wishes to change their authorization list, sending a request to the user to indicate the changes to their authorization list; (h) responsive to the response in step (f) indicating the user wishes to change their authorization list, receiving a response from the user; (i) responsive to the response in step (f) indicating the user wishes to change their authorization list, changing the authorization list of the user to match the response received in step (h); (j) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, sending a request to the user to indicate if the user wishes to change their device attributes list; (k) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, receiving a response from the user; (l) responsive to the response in step (k) indicating the user wishes to change their device attributes list, sending a request to the user to indicate the changes to their device attributes list; (m) responsive to the response in step (k) indicating the user wishes to change their device attributes list, receiving a response from the user; (n) responsive to the response in step (k) indicating the user wishes to change their device attributes list, changing the device attributes list of the user to match the response received in step (m); (o) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, sending a request to the user to indicate if the user wishes to change their priority lists; (p) responsive to the response in step (d) indicating the user wishes to change their profile, receiving a response from the user; (q) responsive to the response in step (p) indicating the user wishes to change their priority lists, sending a request to the user to indicate the changes to their priority lists; (r) responsive to the response in step (p) indicating the user wishes to change their priority lists, receiving a response from the user; (s) responsive to the response in step (p) indicating the user wishes to change their priority lists, changing the priority lists of the user to match the response received in step (r); (t) sending a request to the user to indicate if the user wishes to change their status; (u) receiving a response from the user; (v) responsive to the response in step (u) indicating the user wishes to change their status, sending a request to the user to indicate their status; (w) responsive to the response in step (v) indicating the user wishes to change their status, receiving a response from the user; (x) responsive to the response in step (u) indicating the user wishes to change their status, changing the status of the user to match the response received in step (w).
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Specification