Automated Selection and Presentation of Pertinent Contacts

• US 20140011481A1
• Filed: 07/03/2012
• Published: 01/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kho, Nancy Ellen
• Granted Patent: US 8,938,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system for automatic selection and presentation of pertinent contacts having a mobile communication device, a plurality of information sources and an application operating based on a method of automatic selection and presentation of pertinent contacts. When a user attempts to establish a connection with a person, the method provides a prioritized list of suggested pertinent contacts that the user is likely to want to call. The method combines information from the plurality of information sources to suggest a plurality of appropriate contacts to be contacted. The application analyses a multitude of information including current context, calendar information, past call history, information from social network/social networking application, current time, location, any information from the navigational tool running on the mobile communication device, publicly available information etc to suggest a plurality of appropriate contacts to the user.

Claims

1. A method for automatic selection and presentation of pertinent contacts in a mobile communication device, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying a plurality of user information from a plurality of information sources utilizing the mobile communication device;

suggesting a plurality of appropriate contacts based on information received from the plurality of information sources in the mobile communication device;

providing a prioritized list of the plurality of appropriate contacts suggested by the method; and

establishing communication in response to a user input with at least a contact selected from the plurality of appropriate contacts available in the mobile communication device;

wherein the method suggests the plurality of appropriate contacts to be contacted by analyzing a combination of information received from the plurality of information sources in the mobile communication device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of information sources includes information associated with user calendar information, call history, call duration, information from a plurality of social networks, current time, current location obtained from a navigational tool information in the mobile communication device or publicly available information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of information sources provides the plurality of user information and a plurality of contacts information in the mobile communication device, the plurality of contacts information is utilized to select the plurality of appropriate contacts.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of appropriate contacts is selected and sorted to provide the prioritized list by analyzing each and/or the combination of information received in the mobile communication device from the plurality of information sources.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the prioritized list of the plurality of appropriate contacts is presented to the user by displaying on a screen or through voice output in the mobile communication device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the prioritized list may include a plurality of contacts not listed in a contact list of the mobile communication device, the plurality of contacts is extracted from the user'"'"'s context based information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile communication device is able to establish communication with a contact present in the prioritized list by a touch, pressing of a button or a voice command of the user.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile communication device has an internet connectivity for obtaining user'"'"'s current context including social network associations, social network activities, scheduled events, status information of friends on messaging applications, publicly available information from online directories and events information and current location obtained from the navigational tool and from checking in status on a social networking application.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the prioritized list of the plurality of appropriate contacts received on the mobile communication device includes a first contact with a greater chance of establishing a successful communication with the user than a second contact.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each contact from the prioritized list of the plurality of appropriate contacts are selected, starting from the first contact, the mobile communication device attempts a connection recursively until a successful communication is made.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile communication device automatically selects a next best contact to call from the plurality of appropriate contacts whenever an attempt to connect with a current contact is unsuccessful.

12. A communication system for suggesting a plurality of pertinent contacts based on a plurality of information obtained from a plurality of information sources, the system comprising:

a mobile communication device including a display, an input, and a receiver for receiving the plurality of information;

an application configured in the mobile communication device to;

determine the plurality of contacts associated with a user of the mobile communication device;

suggest a plurality of pertinent contacts based on the plurality of information received from the plurality of information sources;

provide a prioritized list of a plurality of pertinent contacts that the user is likely to be contacted; and

a plurality of network resources for providing the plurality of information to the mobile communication device.

13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the mobile communication device starts the application in response to an input from the user.

14. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the application having a plurality of modules including a call suggesting module and a plurality of information gathering modules.

15. The communication system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of information gathering modules extracts information from the plurality of information sources utilizing the plurality of network resources.

16. The communication system of claim 14, wherein the call suggesting module analyses a combination of the plurality of information received from the plurality of information sources.

17. The communication system of claim 14, wherein the call suggesting module provides a prioritized list of the plurality of pertinent contacts to the user of the mobile communication device.

18. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the application automatically establishes connection to a top contact of the prioritized list upon receiving an input from the user.

19. An article of manufacture comprising:

a mobile communication device having a display, an input and a receiver for receiving a plurality of information from a network, a storage unit;

a data processing module for processing the plurality of information received from a plurality of modules of an application operating from the mobile communication device; and

a storage unit storing computer code, the computer code, which when executed by a processor of the mobile communication device, causes the processor to;

identify a plurality of user information from a plurality of information sources utilizing the mobile communication device;

suggest a plurality of appropriate contacts based on information received from the plurality of information sources in the mobile communication device;

provide a prioritized list of the plurality of appropriate contacts suggested by the method; and

establish communication in response to a user input with at least a contact selected from the plurality of appropriate contacts available in the mobile communication device;

wherein the method suggests the plurality of appropriate contacts to be contacted by analyzing a combination of information received from the plurality of information sources in the mobile communication device.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein the data processing module analyses the plurality of information to suggest a prioritized list of pertinent contacts to a user of the mobile communication device.