SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SHARING MESSAGES AMONG MEMBERS OF A USER GROUP IN AN INTERNET PROTOCOL ENVIRONMENT

• US 20110320547A1
• Filed: 08/13/2010
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Vonage America Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: Vonage America Incorporated (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Lefar, Marc, Riley, John, Erickson, John, Ottur, Deepak, Brock, Andrew Robert, Tripp, Andrew H.
• Application Number:
  US12/856,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20110320547A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1457 using an account
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/385 Uniform resource identifier for session initiation protocol [SIP URI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5069 for group communication, multicast communication or broadcast communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4061 Push-to services, e.g. push-to-talk or push-to-video
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/31 Distributed metering or calculation of charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/56 for VoIP communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/765 Linked or grouped accounts, e.g. of users or devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/7652 shared by users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/77 involving multiple accounts per user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/771 per terminal or location, e.g. mobile device with multiple directory numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/773 : per technology, e.g. PSTN or wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/774 : per card
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8016 : based on quality of service [QoS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 : location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2044 : Group features, e.g. closed user group
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 : where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/465 : Arrangements for simultaneously calling a number of substations until an answer is obtained
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0024 : Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services arrangements which combine a telephonic equipment and a computer H04M7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 : User group management

Abstract

A IP telephony service allows customers to form user groups. Each user group can include multiple members, each of whom have their own telephony device. When a member of a user group sends a messages to another member of the user group, the message is posted to a group message board so that all members of the group can view the message. This could include sending information to each of the telephony devices for all members of the group so that each telephony device could display the message on a display screen. The displayed messages could also indicate who sent each message and to whom each message was directed. As a result, each member of the group can view messages passing back and forth between all members of the group.

Claims

1. A method of presenting messages to members of a user group in an Internet Protocol (IP) environment, comprising:

receiving a message from at least one member of a user group that includes a plurality of members, wherein the user group is identified by a group identifier; and

transmitting the message to a plurality of communication devices such that the communication devices can display the message on a display screen, each of the communication devices belonging to a member of the user group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group identifier is a telephone number.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a SMS message.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the received SMS message is directed to the group identifier.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the received SMS message is received from a first member of the user group, and wherein the received SMS message is directed to a second member of the user group.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the received SMS message is addressed to a telephone number associated with the second member of the user group.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the received SMS message is addressed to an identifier associated with the second member of the user group.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of obtaining handling instructions that indicate how messages should be distributed to members of the user group, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the message to the plurality of communication devices based on the handing instructions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the handling instructions indicate which members of the user group should receive a message, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the message to the communication devices of only those members that should receive the message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is received from a first member of the user group, wherein the message is directed to a second member of the user group, and wherein the transmitted message allows the plurality of communication devices to display the message on a display screen with indications that the message was sent from the first member and that the message was directed to the second member.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving and transmitting steps are repeated for a plurality of messages.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the transmitting step comprises sending information to the plurality of communication devices that allow the communication devices to simultaneously display a plurality of messages.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of the received messages is a reply message that was sent in reply to a previously received message.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting information that allows the communication devices to display a reply message immediately adjacent to the previously received message such that the reply message and the previously received message are visually tied to each other.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and transmitting steps are repeated for a plurality of messages, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting information that allows the communication devices to simultaneously display the plurality of messages.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of obtaining handling instructions that indicate how messages should be distributed to members of the user group, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting information to the plurality of communication devices based on the handing instructions.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the handling instructions indicate that some received messages are not to be sent to a first member of the user group, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the message to communication devices of all members of the group except the first member.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the message to a plurality of mobile communication devices, each of the mobile communication devices belonging to a member of the user group.

19. A system for presenting messages to members of a user group in an Internet Protocol (IP) environment, comprising:

means for receiving a message from at least one member of a user group that includes a plurality of members, wherein the user group is identified by a group identifier; and

means for transmitting the message to a plurality of communication devices such that the communication devices can display the message on a display screen, each of the communication devices belonging to a member of the user group.

20. A system for presenting messages to members of a user group in an Internet Protocol (IP) environment, comprising:

a receiving unit that receives a message from at least one member of a user group that includes a plurality of members, wherein the user group is identified by a group identifier; and

a transmitting unit that transmits the message to a plurality of communication devices such that the communication devices can display the message on a display screen, each of the communication devices belonging to a member of the user group.