MONITORING AND CONTROLLING THE STATUS OF A COMMUNICATION SESSION

• US 20170257400A1
• Filed: 03/07/2017
• Published: 09/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Precision Biometrics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Precision Biometrics, Inc.
• Inventors: Peters, Michael Lawrence, Marcarian, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,516,703 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• 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

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to a communication-session (CS) module that monitors the status of a communication session and at least partially controls the status. The CS module provides a party participating in a communication session an indication of whether a status of a microphone the user is employing to participate in an audio and/or video communication session is in a mute (or off) state, or whether the microphone status is in a live (or on) state. Likewise, a CS module may indicate to a user whether a status of a camera that the user is employing to participate in a video communication session is in an off state, or whether the camera status is in an on (or live) state. As such, a CS module provides users reminders of whether or not the microphone and/or camera, is in a live state, a mute state, or is otherwise turned on or off.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a communication-session (CS) status of one or more communication sessions with a computer that performs actions, comprising:

associating, over a network, a CS module with the one or more communication sessions, wherein at least one of one or more microphones or one or more cameras are employed to participate in the one or more communication sessions;

providing, over the network, the CS status of the one or more communication sessions, wherein the CS status includes at least one of a status of the one or more microphones or a status of the one or more cameras;

employing the CS module to provide one or more status indicators based on the CS status, wherein the one or more status indicators indicate at least one of the status of the one or more microphones or the status of the one or more cameras; and

in response to an update of the CS status, updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising;

receiving a request to update the CS status based on a user selection of one or more CS controls included in CS module;

updating the CS status based on the received request; and

updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

employing one or more event sensors included in the CS module to detect one or more trigger events;

updating the CS status based on the trigger event; and

updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more status indicators include at least one of one or more visual indicators, one or more audible indicators, or one or more haptic indicators.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

training the CS module to recognize a voice specific to an individual user of the CS module.

6. A communication-session (CS) module for monitoring a CS status of one or more communication sessions with a computer, comprising:

one or more status indicators;

one or more event sensors;

one or more controls;

a processor device that performs actions, including;

associating, over a network, the CS module with the one or more communication sessions, wherein at least one of one or more microphones or one or more cameras are employed to participate in the one or more communication sessions;

providing, over the network, the CS status of the one or more communication sessions, wherein the CS status includes at least one of a status of the one or more microphones or a status of the one or more cameras;

controlling a mode of the one or more status indicators based on the CS status, wherein the mode of the one or more status indicators indicates at least one of the status of the one or more microphones or the status of the one or more cameras; and

in response to an update of the CS status, updating the mode of the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

7. The module of claim 6, wherein

the one or more status indicators includes at least one of one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs), one or more audio emitters, or one or more haptic interfaces;

the one or more event sensors includes at least one of one or more photon sensors or one or more audio sensors; and

the one or more controls includes at least one of a keypad or a touch interface.

8. The module of claim 6 further comprising at least one of a coupler that couples the CS module to a display of a computer employed to participate in the one or more communication sessions or a rechargeable power source.

9. The module of claim 6, wherein the update of the CS status includes at least one of transitioning the one or more of microphones between an mute state and an on state or transitioning the one or more cameras between an off state and an on state.

10. The module of claim 6, wherein

the one or more status indicators indicates at least one of whether the one or more microphones is in a mute state or whether the one or more cameras is in an off state;

and

the one or more controls generate a request to transition at least one of the one or more microphones to the mute state or the one or more cameras to the off state.

11. The module of claim 6, wherein the CS module is implemented as one or more of a physical device, a software module or a firmware module.

12. A processor readable non-transitory storage media that includes instructions to monitor a communication-session (CS) status of one or more communication sessions with a computer, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processor devices performs actions, comprising:

associating, over a network, a CS module with the one or more communication sessions, wherein at least one of one or more microphones or one or more cameras are employed to participate in the one or more communication sessions;

providing, over the network, the CS status of the one or more communication sessions, wherein the CS status includes at least one of a status of the one or more microphones or a status of the one or more cameras;

employing the CS module to provide one or more status indicators based on the CS status, wherein the one or more status indicators indicate at least one of the status of the one or more microphones or the status of the one or more cameras; and

in response to an update of the CS status, updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

13. The media of claim 12, further comprising;

receiving a request to update the CS status based on a user selection of one or more CS controls included in CS module;

updating the CS status based on the received request; and

updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

employing one or more event sensors included in the CS module to detect one or more trigger events;

updating the CS status based on the trigger event; and

updating the one or more status indicators based on the updated CS status.

15. The media of claim 12, wherein the one or more status indicators include at least one of one or more visual indicators, one or more audible indicators, or one or more haptic indicators.

16. The media of claim 12, further comprising:

training the CS module to recognize a voice specific to an individual user of the CS module.