MOBILE STATION WITH VOICE CALL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND MISSED CALL SCHEDULING

• US 20100159964A1
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: FERRO, Javier
• Granted Patent: US 8,676,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/642 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72451 according to schedules, e.g. using calendar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/651 Text message transmission triggered by call automatic reactions in messaging within packet-switching networks H04L51/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A communication station has a circuit that receives an incoming voice call from a calling party, and an acknowledgement mechanism that produces an acknowledgement message sent to the calling party in response to the incoming call if a user of the communication station does not answer the call. In the examples, the communication station sends short message service (SMS) or multimedia message service (MMS) acknowledgement message to the calling party. Also, a scheduling mechanism may be provided for adding a calendar entry to a calendar implemented in the communication station so as to remind the user about the acknowledged incoming call.

Claims

1. A method of communication through a communication network, comprising the steps of:

responsive to an incoming voice call from a calling party, notifying a called party about the call, and

sending an acknowledgement message to the calling party, if the called party does not answer the call.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of scheduling a reminder to be provided to the called party if the called part does not answer the call.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of scheduling includes adding a calendar entry to a calendar of the called party.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication network includes a wireless mobile communication network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the acknowledgement message includes a short message service (SMS) message sent from the called party to the calling party.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the acknowledgement message includes a multimedia message service (MMS) message sent from the called party to the calling party.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling party is identified in response to the incoming voice call.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the acknowledgement message includes a message pre-set for a particular calling party.

9. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine readable storage medium; and

executable code for a mobile station embodied in the medium,

wherein execution of the code by a processor causes the mobile station to implement functions of the mobile station comprising;

responsive to an incoming voice call from a calling party, providing a notification signal to a user of the mobile station, and

producing an acknowledgement message to be sent to the calling party if the user does not answer the call.

10. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the function of producing the acknowledgement message is executed automatically if the user does not answer the call.

11. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the function of producing the acknowledgement message is executed in response to an operation performed by the user of the mobile station.

12. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the function of producing the acknowledgement message includes generation of a short message service (SMS) message to be sent by the mobile station to the calling party.

13. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the function of producing the acknowledgement message includes generation of a multimedia message service (MMS) message to be sent by the mobile station to the calling party.

14. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the functions of the mobile station implemented upon execution of the code further comprise:

identifying the calling party,

selecting a pre-set message corresponding to the calling party, and

sending the pre-set message to the calling party.

15. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the functions of the mobile station implemented upon execution of the code further comprise:

responsive to the incoming call from the calling party, scheduling a reminder notification to the user of the mobile station regarding the calling party if the user does not answer the call.

16. The article of manufacturing of claim 15, wherein the function of scheduling comprises adding a calendar entry to a calendar implemented in the mobile station.

17. The article of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the functions of the mobile station implemented upon execution of the code further comprise:

designating a key in the mobile station as an input for entering a command from the user to send the acknowledgement message.

18. A communication station for providing voice communications comprising:

a receiving circuit for receiving an incoming voice call from a calling party, and

an acknowledgement mechanism for producing an acknowledgement message sent to the calling party in response to the incoming call if a user of the communication station does not answer the call.

19. The communication station of claim 18, wherein the acknowledgement mechanism is configured for sending a data message to the calling party in response to the incoming call if a user of the communication station does not answer the call.

20. The communication station of claim 18 further comprising a scheduling mechanism responsive to the incoming voice call for adding a calendar entry to a calendar in the communication station so as to remind the user about the incoming call in a predetermined time period after receiving the incoming call.