System and method for ringtone shuffle

• US 20090156265A1
• Filed: 12/17/2007
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lumbirt, Charles E., Morrill, Robert J., Sweeney, Jeffrey M., Robinson, Michael C., Rooks, Kelsyn D. SR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,145,278 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/567
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

A system and method for shuffling ringtones. An identifier associated with a calling party is received. A selection of ringtones is received. The identifier is associated with the selection of ringtones. A communication is received from the calling party. Playback of one of the selection of ringtones is initiated on a communications device based on a user preference in response to determining the communication is associated with the identifier.

Claims

1. A method for shuffling ringtones, the method comprising:

receiving an identifier associated with a calling party;

receiving a selection of ringtones;

associating the identifier with the selection of ringtones;

receiving a communication from the calling party; and

initiating the play of one of the selection of ringtones on a communications device based on a user preference in response to determining the communication is associated with the identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifier is any of a caller identification, phone number, email address, user name, and IP address.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of ringtones identifies an performance artist.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of ringtones identifies a music genre.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of ringtones is made automatically based on a criteria.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

automatically updating the selection of ringtones.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein automatically updating further comprises:

downloading the selection of ringtones to the communications device at a specified interval.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user preferences are configured to play one of the selection of ringtones randomly based on the communication from the calling party.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user preferences are configured to play one of the selection of ringtones sequentially based on the communication from the calling party.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of ringtones includes one or more of an artist, songwriter, composer, compact disk album, genre, era, rating, chart record, musical category, and user-defined category.

11. A communication system for shuffling ringtones, said system comprising:

a server in communication with a user interface and a wireless device, the user interface configured to receive one or more identifiers associated with a calling party, and associate the one or more identifiers with a selection of ringtones;

the wireless device configured to communicate with the server through a wireless network, wherein the wireless device receives an incoming call, and plays one of the selection of ringtones based on a user preference in response to determining the communication is associated with the identifier.

12. The system according to claim 11, further comprising:

a database in communication with the server, the database configured to store and update the selection of ringtones, wherein the selection of ringtones and user preferences entered through the user interface are uploaded to the wireless device.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more identifiers and the selection of ringtones are synchronized between the server and the wireless device based on input received from the user.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the selection or ringtones includes ringtones separated by any of artist, album, era, and music type.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the communication is any of a phone call, text message, email message, chat message, voicemail message, wherein the selection or ringtones may be played based on a sequence, or randomly.

16. A wireless device configured for ringtone shuffle, said device comprising:

a processor for executing a set of instructions; and

a memory for storing the set of instructions, wherein the set of instructions are configured to receive an identifier associated with a calling party, associate the identifier with a selection of ringtones, receive a communication from the calling party, and play one of the selection of ringtones on a communications device based on user preferences in response to determining the communication is associated with the identifier.

17. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the set of instructions:

update the selection of ringtones through a communications network as specified by the user preferences.

18. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the communication is a phone call.

19. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the communication is any of a text message, chat message, email message, picture message, and voicemail message.

20. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the selection of ringtones is played in sequence or randomly based on the user preferences.