INTEGRATED CONTACT CARD COMMUNICATION

• US 20120260189A1
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Published: 10/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Howard, Gregory Alan, Frijlink, Naud, Davis, Shawna Julie, Garbis, Christer, King, Joseph Spencer, Aiwazian, Yili, Todd, Ian Hunter
• Granted Patent: US 9,407,753 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/739
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57

Abstract

Embodiments provide integrated reply functionality within the context of a contact card or panel. Contact information is provided for display in the contact card (e.g., a portion of a user interface of a computing device). The contact information is associated with a contact. The contact information identifies one or more transport modes for communication with the contact. In some embodiments, the computing device receives a request from a user to communicate with the contact via at least one selected transport mode. Based on the received request, the computing device provides an input field within the contact card. In other embodiments, the transport mode is automatically selected and the input field is displayed. Data from the user is received into the input field for communication to the contact. The computing device sends the data received into the input field to the contact via the selected transport mode. The integrated reply functionality is accessible from a conversation history displayed in the contact card.

Claims

1. A system for integrated messaging within a contact card of a user interface, said system comprising:

a memory area associated with a mobile computing device, said memory area storing contact information elements associated with a contact, said contact information elements identifying one or more transport modes for communication with the contact, said memory area further storing presence information associated with the contact; and

a processor programmed to;

define at least a portion of a user interface of the mobile computing device to display the contact information elements stored in the memory area, said defined portion of the user interface representing a contact card;

display, in the defined portion of the user interface, one or more of the contact information elements stored in the memory area;

display, in the user interface, the presence information stored in the memory area;

receive a request from a user of the mobile computing device to communicate with the contact via at least one of the transport modes, said at least one of the transport modes being selected by the user based at least in part on the presence information displayed in the user interface;

based on the received request, create an input field within the defined portion of the user interface;

receive, into the created input field, data from the user to communicate to the contact; and

send the data received into the input field to the contact via said at least one of the transport modes.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to create the input field by creating a type of input field based on the transport mode selected by the user.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to execute an address book application to display the contact information elements, create the input field, receive the data from the user, and send the data to the contact.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is programmed to display the contact information elements, create the input field, receive the data from the user, and send the data to the contact without executing an application separate from the address book application.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for providing integrated reply functionality within the portion of the user interface displaying the contact information elements.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for providing the input field within the portion of the user interface displaying the contact information elements to enable the user to initiate communication with the contact from therewithin.

7. A method comprising:

providing contact information for display in a portion of a user interface of a computing device, said contact information being associated with a contact, said contact information including one or more transport modes;

based on the provided contact information, providing an input field for display within the portion of the user interface;

receiving, into the input field, data from a user for communication to the contact; and

sending, by the computing device, the data received into the input field to the contact via at least one of the transport modes.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving data from the contact; and

providing the received data for display to the user in the portion of the user interface.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the contact information comprises providing contact information collected from a plurality of contact information directories.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting said at least one of the transport modes based on one or more of the following:

a presence status of the user, previous interactions between the user and the contact, and sensors in the computing device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the contact information for display in the portion of the user interface comprises providing the contact information for display in one or more of the following user interface elements:

a frame, a panel, a bubble, and a popup.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the computing device executes an address book application to provide the input field, receive the data into the input field, and send the data to the contact.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the computing device provides the input field, receives the data into the input field, and sends the data to the contact without executing an application separate from the address book application.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the contact information displayed in the portion of the user interface represents an address book card for the contact, and wherein the computing device provides the input field, receives the data into the input field, and sends the data to the contact within the context of the address book card for the contact.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising providing a conversation history for display in a portion of a user interface of a computing device, said conversation history corresponding to a set of previous communications between the user and the contact.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the computing device comprises a mobile computing device, and further comprising displaying one or more communications from the set of communications on a home screen of the mobile computing device.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media embodying computer-executable components, said components comprising:

a contact panel component that when executed causes at least one processor to display contact information in a contact panel of a user interface of a computing device, said contact information being associated with a contact, said contact information including a conversation history and one or more transport modes;

a user interface component that when executed causes at least one processor to receive a request from a user to communicate with the contact via at least one of the transport modes, said at least one of the transport modes being selected by the user based at least in part on the conversation history displayed in the contact panel of the user interface,

wherein the contact panel component provides, based on the received request, an input panel within the displayed contact panel,

wherein the user interface component receives, into the input panel provided by the contact panel component, data from the user for communication to the contact; and

a communications interface component that when executed causes at least one processor to send the data received into the input panel to the contact via said at least one of the transport modes.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the conversation history describes a plurality of interactions between the user and the contact via a plurality of the transport modes.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the contact panel component displays the plurality of interactions sorted in chronological order.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the communications interface component obtains at least a portion of the conversation history from a cloud service.