SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALTERNATIVELY COMMUNICATING WITH AN IM CONTACT USING ADDRESS BOOK VERBS
First Claim
1. A method of communicating with an Instant Messaging (IM) contact using a communication device comprising an IM application, one or more alternative communication applications and an address book storing address book contact information for communicating using said alternative communication applications, said method comprising:
- in an user interface of the IM application, providing a context sensitive menu of options for invoking respective alternative communication abilities of the communication device to communicate with the IM contact, said context sensitive menu of options comprising one or more actions associated with the alternative communication applications as determined from available address book contact information for the IM contact;
receiving user input selecting a particular action; and
invoking the alternative communication application with the respective address book contact information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for alternatively communicating with an Instant Messaging (IM) contact from an IM application using address book verbs is provided. In an IM application, a context sensitive menu of options is presented to permit a user to invoke alternative communication capabilities (e.g. email, voice, SMS, etc.) of the communication device with the IM contact. Address book contact information stored separately from the IM application is pulled for the IM contact and, for available alternative contact information, respective actions are presented as options (e.g. ‘Call contact’, ‘Email contact’, ‘SMS contact’, etc.). If particular contact information (e.g. phone number is not available) associated alternative communication actions are not presented. Selection of an action invokes the associated alternative application with the appropriate contact information from the IM application.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of communicating with an Instant Messaging (IM) contact using a communication device comprising an IM application, one or more alternative communication applications and an address book storing address book contact information for communicating using said alternative communication applications, said method comprising:
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in an user interface of the IM application, providing a context sensitive menu of options for invoking respective alternative communication abilities of the communication device to communicate with the IM contact, said context sensitive menu of options comprising one or more actions associated with the alternative communication applications as determined from available address book contact information for the IM contact; receiving user input selecting a particular action; and invoking the alternative communication application with the respective address book contact information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A communication device for communicating Instant Messaging (IM) messages with IM contacts, said device comprising a processor and memory storing instructions and data for execution by the processor, said instructions and data defining an IM application, at least one alternative communication application and an address book comprising address book contact information for communicating using said at least one alternative communication application, said instructions and data configuring the processor for:
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providing, in an user interface for communicating IM messages, a context sensitive menu of options for invoking respective alternative communication abilities of the communication device to communicate with the IM contact, said context sensitive menu of options comprising at least one action associated with alternative communication applications as determined from available address book contact information for the IM contact; receiving user input selecting a particular action; and invoking the alternative communication application with the respective address book contact information. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification