On-Screen Caller ID with Video Playback and Storage Capability

• US 20130083150A1
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Howarter, Jamie C., Lesher, Charles M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,817,062 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/50 Telephonic communication in combination with video communication
• 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: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

Novel tools and techniques to enable video enhancements identifying the calling party of an incoming telephone call. In an aspect of some such tools, a video message from the calling party is sent to the receiving party through a communication channel in the provider network. Upon receiving an incoming telephone call at the provider network, the video message can be associated with the incoming telephone call, and routed to a set-top unit (also referred to herein as a “set-top box”) associated with the receiving party. The set-top unit might communicate with a visual display screen (e.g., a television), and/or cause the visual display screen to show the video message for the receiving party as an indication of the incoming telephone call and identification of the calling party.

Claims

1. A method of providing video caller identification, comprising:

providing a communication channel at a provider network to receive a video message from a calling party;

receiving the video message at the provider network;

receiving, at the provider network, an incoming telephone call directed to a receiving party;

associating the video message with the incoming telephone call;

routing the video message through the provider network to a set-top unit associated with the receiving party of the telephone call, the set-top unit being in communication with a visual display screen; and

causing the visual display screen to display the video message for the receiving party as an indication of the incoming telephone call and identification of the calling party.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

appending an automatic number identification (ANI) of the calling party to the video message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

terminating the telephone call at a telephone associated with the receiving party.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing, with the set-top unit, a user interface to allow the user to select whether to receive the telephone call;

wherein terminating the telephone call comprises terminating the telephone call in response to a user selection to receive the telephone call.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the video message is displayed simultaneously with terminating the incoming telephone call at a telephone associated with the receiving party.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the video message is displayed after terminating the incoming telephone call at the receiving party'"'"'s telephone.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the set-top unit as being associated with the receiving party.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, through the set-top unit, a user interface to allow the receiving party to specify whether the video message should be displayed; and

receiving, via the user interface, user input from the user to display the video message;

wherein causing the visual display screen to display the video message comprises causing the visual display screen to display the visual message in response to the user input.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface for the receiving party to select the video message as a video caller identification of the calling party for future incoming telephone calls.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface for the calling party to select the video message as a video caller identification for the telephone call.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface for the calling party to select the video message as a video caller identification for one or more telephone calls directed to the receiving party.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Providing a user interface for the receiving party to select the video message as a video caller identification for one or more telephone calls from the calling party.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling party records the video message with a device capable of recording and sending a video message.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling party records the video message and sends the telephone call and video message to the receiving party with a smartphone.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling party records the video message and sends the telephone call and video message to the receiving party with a personal computer and internet communication.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the calling party one or more additional video messages to the receiving party during the telephone call; and

causing the visual display device to display the additional video messages during the telephone call.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the video messages for future playback.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the video messages are stored at the set-top unit.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface for the receiving party to specify from which of a plurality of calling parties the receiving party is willing to accept video messages.

20. A computer system, comprising:

a provider network;

a communication channel to receive a video message at the provider network;

a computer system in communication with the provider network, the computer system comprising;

one or more processors; and

a computer readable medium in communication with one or more processors, the computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by the computer system to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising;

instructions for receiving the video message from a calling party via the communication channel;

instructions for associating the video message with an incoming telephone call received at the provider network and directed to a receiving party; and

instructions for routing the video message through the provider network to a set-top unit associated with the receiving party of the telephone call; and

the set-top unit in communication with a visual display screen, the set-top unit being configured to cause the visual display screen to display the video message for the receiving party as an indication of the incoming telephone call and identification of the calling party.