METHODS AND APPARATUS TO PROVIDE CONTACT MANAGEMENT WITH DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE TECHNICAL FIELD

• US 20130272517A1
• Filed: 06/12/2013
• Published: 10/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pearson, Larry B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,270,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/218.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4933 with operator assistance

Abstract

Methods and an apparatus for providing contact management with directory assistance. An example method includes obtaining, via a processor, a billing record generated to track usage of a directory assistance service by a caller, the billing record comprising a first data object conveyed to the caller in association with the usage of the directory assistance service; querying, via the processor, a first directory with the first data object of the billing record to obtain listing information associated with the first data object; and conveying a contact record including the obtained listing information to a device associated with the caller.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, via a processor, a billing record generated to track usage of a directory assistance service by a caller, the billing record comprising a first data object conveyed to the caller in association with the usage of the directory assistance service;

querying, via the processor, a first directory with the first data object of the billing record to obtain listing information associated with the first data object; and

conveying a contact record including the obtained listing information to a device associated with the caller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record further comprises a second data object associated with the caller, and further comprising storing the obtained listing information in a second directory in association with the second data object.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising querying a second directory with the second data object to identify user records associated with the second data object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein querying the first directory with the first data object comprises querying the first directory with a telephone number provided to the caller during the usage of the directory assistance service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein conveying the contact record comprises transferring the contact record to the user device prior to a user request for the contact record.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user device comprises a voice over Internet Protocol telephone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user device comprises a cellular phone.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory having machine readable instructions stored thereon;

a processor to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising;

obtaining a billing record generated to track usage of a directory assistance service by a caller, the billing record comprising a first data object conveyed to the caller in association with the usage of the directory assistance service;

querying a first directory with the first data object of the billing record to obtain listing information associated with the first data object; and

conveying a contact record including the obtained listing information to a device associated with the caller.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the billing record further comprises a second data object associated with the caller, and further comprising storing the obtained listing information in a second directory in association with the second data object.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise querying a second directory with the second data object to identify user records associated with the second data object.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein querying the first directory with the first data object comprises querying the first directory with a telephone number provided to the caller during the usage of the directory assistance service.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein conveying the contact record comprises transferring the contact record to the user device prior to a user request for the contact record.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user device comprises a voice over Internet Protocol telephone.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user device comprises a cellular phone.

16. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the billing record further comprises a second data object associated with the caller, and further comprising storing the obtained listing information in a second directory in association with the second data object.

18. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein querying the first directory with the first data object comprises querying the first directory with a telephone number provided to the caller during the usage of the directory assistance service.

19. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the user device comprises a voice over Internet Protocol telephone.

20. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the user device comprises a cellular phone.

15. A tangible machine readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

obtaining a billing record generated to track usage of a directory assistance service by a caller, the billing record comprising a first data object conveyed to the caller in association with the usage of the directory assistance service;

querying a first directory with the first data object of the billing record to obtain listing information associated with the first data object; and

conveying a contact record including the obtained listing information to a device associated with the caller.

17. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise querying a second directory with the second data object to identify user records associated with the second data object.