MANAGING CONTACT GROUPS FROM SUBSET OF USER CONTACTS

• US 20160078097A1
• Filed: 11/23/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Vance, Michael Steffen, Armantrout, Jeffrey Allen, Benson, Jared T., Robertson, Christian, Shah, Shilpa R., WHITE, GABRIEL J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,886,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums for managing a subset of user contacts on a telecommunications device are provided. In one embodiment, a software application executed by a processor of a telecommunications device determines at least two contact groups from a subset of contacts accessible by a telecommunications device. The software application executed by the processor of the telecommunications device also generates a contact display including at least one contact group associated with the subset of contacts based on a current context of a user of the telecommunications device. The current context can include, for example, one or more of a location, time, date, and the like.

Claims

1. A tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-executable component for displaying user contacts on a display of a mobile telecommunications device, the computer-executable component comprising:

a contact management component operative to;

identify a subset of contacts associated with a user of the mobile telecommunications device, wherein the subset of user contacts includes a portion of contacts accessible by the mobile telecommunications device and wherein the subset of contacts includes a plurality of contacts;

determine at least two contact groups from the identified subset of contacts, wherein membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups is automatically determined from the identified subset of contacts based on information maintained in a data store, the information including a context of the user and a plurality of user communication events associated with the context of the user, and wherein each contact of the identified subset of contacts is determined to be a member of at least one of the at least two contact groups;

store information associated with formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store;

automatically determine a current context of the user of the mobile telecommunications device;

compare the current context of the user with the stored information associated with the formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store; and

cause the generation of a contact display on the mobile telecommunications device, wherein the contact display includes a representation of a first contact group from the at least two contact groups and a first contact group identifier, the first contact group for display on the mobile telecommunications device automatically selected from the at least two contact groups stored in the data store based on the current context of the user.

2. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the subset of contacts is selected at least in part by the user of the mobile telecommunications device.

3. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the contact management component predetermines the membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups.

4. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the contact management component dynamically determines the membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups.

5. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of user communication events includes at least one of an event at a particular geographic location, an event on a particular day or date, an event during a particular time period, or an event associated with a context of one or more user contacts.

6. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the information maintained in the data store further includes, for each contact of at least a portion of the identified subset of contacts, an overall frequency of communication with the contact.

7. The tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein comparing the current context of the user with the stored information associated with the formation of the at least two contract groups in the data store includes comparing, for each of the at least two contact groups, the current context with a user context associated with formation of the at least two contact groups.

8. A method comprising:

identifying a subset of contacts associated with a user of a mobile telecommunications device, wherein the subset of user contacts includes a portion of contacts accessible by the mobile telecommunications device and wherein the subset of contacts includes a plurality of contacts;

determining at least two contact groups from the identified subset of contacts, wherein membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups is automatically determined from the identified subset of contacts based on information maintained in a data store, the information including a context of the user and a plurality of user communication events associated with the context of the user, and wherein each contact of the identified subset of contacts is determined to be a member of at least one of the two contact groups;

storing information associated with formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store;

automatically determining a current context of the user of the mobile telecommunications device;

comparing the current context of the user with the stored information associated with the formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store; and

causing the generation of a contact display on the mobile telecommunications device, wherein the contact display includes a representation of a first contact group and a first contact group identifier, the first contact group for display on the mobile telecommunications device automatically selected from the at least two contact groups stored in the data store based on the current context of the user,

wherein the method is implemented by a computing system.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the subset of contacts is selected at least in part by the user of the mobile telecommunications device.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein a portion of the one or more members of each of the at least two contact groups from the subset of contacts is determined based on selection by the user of the mobile telecommunications device.

11. The method as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

associating a context with each group of the at least two contact groups.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the context associated with each contact group includes at least one of date, time, and location.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the context associated with each contact group is a user-determined context.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups is determined from the identified subset of contacts prior to determining the current context of the user of the mobile telecommunications device.

15. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups is determined from the identified subset of contacts dynamically upon determining the current context of the user of the mobile telecommunications device.

16. A system comprising:

a data store for maintaining subsets of contacts, wherein each subset of contacts is associated with a user of a mobile telecommunications device, wherein each subset of contacts includes a portion of contacts accessible by the respective mobile telecommunications device, and wherein the portion of contacts includes a plurality of contacts; and

at least one computing device in communication with the data store, the at least one computing device configured to;

identify a subset of contacts associated with a user of the mobile telecommunications device;

determine at least two contact groups from the identified subset of contacts, wherein membership of one or more members in each of the at least two contact groups is automatically determined from the identified subset of contacts based on information maintained in the data store, the information including at least a context of the user and a plurality of user communication events associated with the context of the user, and wherein each contact of the identified subset of contacts is determined to be a member of at least one of the at least two contact groups;

store information associated with formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store;

automatically determine a current context of the user of the mobile telecommunications device;

compare the current context of the user with the stored information associated with the formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store; and

cause the generation of a contact display on the mobile telecommunications device, wherein the contact display includes a representation of a first contact group from the at least two contact groups and a first contact group identifier, the first contact group for display on the mobile telecommunications device automatically selected from the at least two contact groups stored in the data store based on the current context of the user.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to:

obtain a context associated with each contact group of the at least two contact groups; and

store the context associated with each contact group in the data store.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein comparing the current context of the user with the stored information associated with the formation of the at least two contact groups in the data store comprises, for each of the at least two contact groups, comparing the current context of the user with the context associated with the contact group.

19. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the plurality of user communication events includes at least one of an event at a particular geographic location, an event on a particular day or date, an event during a particular time period, or an event associated with a context of one or more user contacts.

20. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the information maintained in the data store further includes, for each of at least a portion of the identified subset of contacts, an overall frequency of communication with the contact.