METHOD AND COMMUNICATIONS ARRANGEMENT FOR OPERATING A COMMUNICATIONS CONNECTION

• US 20100211684A1
• Filed: 09/20/2007
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Unify Patente GmbH & Co. KG (Atos Se)
• Inventors: Lederer, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,154,632 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1053 IP private branch exchange [PBX] functionality entities or arrangements circuit switched PBXs H04M3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0012 Details of application programming interfaces [API] for telephone networks; Arrangements which combine a telephonic communication equipment and a computer, i.e. computer telephony integration [CPI] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0027 Collaboration services where a computer is used for data transfer and the telephone is used for telephonic communication

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a communications arrangement for operating a communications connection between a communications terminal device (KE1) associated with a first participant and at least one first terminal device (KE2) associated with a second participant. For a process running on a second terminal device (RE1) integrating with a first communications terminal device (KE1) to be operated by the first participant, said process being free of functions for controlling the communications connection, at least one piece of information that is reproducible on a terminal device is extracted from a process-produced output (P1) to the second terminal device (RE1). Further, upon initiation of the communications connection between the communications terminal device (KE1) and the first terminal device (KE2), the reproducible information is transmitted to at one of the least one terminal devices (KE2, RE2) associated with the second participant.

Claims

1. A method for operating a first communications connection between a communications terminal device allocated to a first participant and a second communications terminal device allocated to a second participant, comprising:

for a process running on a first computer device that is interacting with a first communications terminal device that is to be operated by the first participant, said process being free of functions for controlling a communications connection, extracting at least one piece of information that is reproducible on a terminal device from an output effected by the process on the first computer device;

upon initiation of the communications connection between the first communications terminal device and the second communications terminal device transmitting the reproducible information to at least one device allocated to the second participant, selected from the group consisting of the second communications terminal device and a second computer device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising selecting as a target of the reproducible information the device allocated to the second participant that is configured to output the reproducible information.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising transmitting the transmitted reproducible information to the selected second communications terminal device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmission of the reproducible information is performed within the context of a signaling connection between the communications terminal device and the second communications device.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising establishing a data connection between the second communications terminal device and the second computer device, and transmitting the reproducible information within the context of the data connection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the process is an application for communicating with emails, and the output effected by the process constitutes at least one member of the group consisting of the content of an email and the content of an email attachment.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising, for the extraction of the reproducible information from the output effected by the process, evaluating only at least one of the visible area and the header of a user interface.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising evaluating a subject line of an email for the extraction of the reproducible information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reproducible information is at least one member selected from the group consisting of a character string, electronic graphics image, and video.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising activating a performance feature “

call forwarding”

on the second communications terminal device when an incoming communications connection is signaled and after the reproducible information is displayed to the second participant.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising redirecting the communications connection from the second communications terminal device to another communications terminal device based on the content of the transmitted reproducible information.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising:

providing a rule-based system in which at least one rule is defined for a piece of comparative information and, for the at least one rule, allocating an action applicable to the communications connection to the rule;

for each of the at least one rules, testing the content of the transmitted reproducible information for agreement with the comparative information of the respective rule; and

in case of agreement, performing the action allocated to the respective rule for the communications connection.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising altering the reproducible information according to the output options of the at least one device allocated to the second participant.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising extracting the reproducible information prior to initiating the communications connection, and keeping the reproducible information in readiness until the communications connection is initiated.

15. A communications system comprising:

a first communications terminal device for operating a communications connection between the first communications terminal device allocated to a first participant and at least one second communications terminal device allocated to a second participant,

a first computer device;

a process running on a said first computer device that is interacting with the first communications terminal device, said process being free of functions for controlling the communications connection, wherein the first computer device is to be operated by the first participant, and

at least one piece of information that is reproducible on a terminal device from an output effected by the process,

wherein upon initiation of the communications connection between the first communications terminal device and the second communications terminal device, the reproducible information is transmitted to at least one of the at least one terminal devices allocated to the second participant.