Method and apparatus for internet co-browsing over cable television and controlled through computer telephony

• US 6,425,131 B2
• Filed: 12/30/1998
• Issued: 07/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Weimer, David M, Crandall, Evan Stephen, Fernstedt, Anders, Greenspan, Steven Lloyd
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V.
• Application Number:
  US09/223,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20010003523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,301 Days
• Field of Search: 348/7, 348/12-13, 709/219, 370/401, 725/99, 725/103, 725/106, 725/109, 725/112, 725/118
• US Class Current: 725/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/14 cable networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 where the data service is an information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1215 where a cable TV network is used as an access to the PSTN/ISDN

Abstract

A novel mechanism is disclosed by which a sender can direct information such as an audiovisual signal to a particular recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device, such as a cable television set and, thereby, share information between the sender and the recipient. In one embodiment of the invention, a calling party originates a telephone call and associates that telephone call with audio-visual information that exists on the caller'"'"'s personal computer or on an Internet server. The called party answers the call, and can tune an associated cable television to the appropriate channel in order to view the audio-visual information. The caller can modify the audio-visual information during the call. Accordingly, the current invention ties together the telephone, cable, and IP networks in a manner that does not require large investments from cable or telephone service providers. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a called party, such as a representative at a customer service center or an interactive voice response unit, can associate audio-visual information with the call such that the calling party can see the data on the appropriate television channel. In another embodiment, the telephone keypad can be used to move forwards and backwards through a series of audio-visual screens. In another embodiment, the cable subscriber can preset the television to a particular URL which can be viewed, but not navigated, without the telephone call.

Claims

1. A method of sharing information between a sender with access to a data network and a recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device, the recipient being identified by a voice communication network address and a data communication network address, the method comprising the steps of:

pre-associating the recipient'"'"'s voice communication network address with the recipient'"'"'s data communication network address;

establishing an initial voice connection on a voice communication network between the sender and the recipient;

associating the connection with information to be sent across the data network to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device based on the pre-association between the recipient'"'"'s voice communication network address with the recipient'"'"'s data communication network address; and

initiating a broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the recipient'"'"'s reception of the broadcast begins after the recipient authorizes the broadcast.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by remaining on the connection for a designated period of time.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the voice communication network.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the data network.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

receiving input from the recipient or sender;

changing the information broadcast to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device based on the input from the recipient or sender.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the input is a signal transmitted across the voice communication network.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the input is a signal transmitted across the data network.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the signal is a DTMF signal.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the signal is a voice command.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the sender is an automated interactive response system.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of ending the broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device when the connection between the sender and the recipient ends.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the broadcast is ended by overwriting the broadcast with a default transmission.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the connection is established to a plurality of recipients, each recipient with an audiovisual display device capable of receiving the information broadcast.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of storing the broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is an audiovisual signal.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is a Web page.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is a facsimile.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is a television set.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is a cable television set.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.

22. A computer readable medium containing executable program instructions for sharing information between a sender with access to a data network and a recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device, the recipient being identified by a voice communication network address and a data communication network address, the medium comprising:

means for associating the recipient'"'"'s voice communication network address with the recipient'"'"'s data communication network address;

means for receiving notification that an initial voice connection has been established between the recipient and the sender on a voice communication network;

means for receiving from the sender a designation of information associated with the connection; and

means for initiating the broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising means for initiating the connection on the voice communication network.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the broadcast is initiated by sending a signal to a server attached to the data network and capable of broadcasting the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising means for receiving the recipient'"'"'s authorization for broadcast.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by remaining on the connection for a designated period of time.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the voice communication network.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the data network.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising means for ending the broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device when the connection between the sender and the recipient ends.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29 wherein the broadcast-ending means further comprises means for overwriting the broadcast with a default transmission.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising means for storing the broadcast of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the information is an audiovisual signal.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the information is a Web page.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the designation of information is a URL.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the information is a facsimile.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the audiovisual display device is a television set.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the audiovisual display device is a cable television set.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.

39. A computer readable medium containing executable program instructions for sharing information between a sender with access to a data network and a recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device, the recipient being identified by a voice communication network address and a data communication network address related to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device, the medium comprising:

means for associating the recipient'"'"'s voice communication network address and data communication network address related to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device;

means for designating information to be broadcast to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device;

means for associating the information with a connection to be established across a voice communication network with the recipient; and

means for sending the designation of information to a server capable of initiating the broadcast.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39 further comprising:

means for receiving input from the recipient;

means for changing the information to be broadcast to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device based on the input from the recipient.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein the recipient'"'"'s input is a signal transmitted across the voice communication network.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41 wherein the signal is a DTMF signal.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 41 wherein the signal is a voice command.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein the recipient'"'"'s input is a signal transmitted across the data network.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the sender is an automated interactive response system.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the connection is established to a plurality of recipients, each recipient with an audiovisual display device capable of receiving the information broadcast.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the information is an audiovisual signal.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the information is a Web page.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the designation of information is a URL.

50. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the information is a facsimile.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the audiovisual display device is a television set.

52. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the audiovisual display device is a cable television set.

53. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.

54. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving information broadcast on a data network and associated with an initial connection between a sender and a recipient on a voice communication network;

means for identifying that a broadcast is directed to the recipient and for decoding that broadcast;

means for rejecting broadcasts not intended for the recipient; and

means for transmitting the information to an audiovisual display device, wherein a previously established association is made between a voice communication network address of the recipient and a data communication network address of the recipient, the data communication network address related to the audiovisual display device.

55. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for receiving notification that the recipient authorizes the broadcast.

56. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for storing the information broadcast to the audiovisual display device.

57. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for printing the information broadcast to the audiovisual display device.

58. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for forwarding the information to another audiovisual display device.

59. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for ending the transmission of the information to the recipient'"'"'s audiovisual display device by overwriting the broadcast with a default transmission.

60. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is an audiovisual signal.

61. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is a Web page.

62. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is a facsimile.

63. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display device is a television set.

64. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display device is a cable television set.

65. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.

66. A method for sharing information, the method comprising the steps of:

associating an initial voice connection previously established over a voice communication network with information to be provided across a data network to at least one recipient; and

providing the information to the at least one recipient, wherein each recipient is identified by a voice communication network address which has been previously associated with a data network address belonging to the recipient.

67. A method of sharing information, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing an association between at least one potential recipient of multimedia information and a voice communication identifier and a data network identifier which both belong to the recipient;

providing an originating voice communication connection over a voice network between a sender and at least one recipient of multimedia information;

associating the voice connection with multimedia information to be provided across a data network to the at least one recipient; and

providing the multimedia information to the at least one recipient over the data network, wherein the data network is separate from the voice network.

68. A method comprising the steps of:

establishing an initial voice communication connection over a voice network between a sender and at least one recipient of multimedia information;

associating the voice connection with multimedia information to be provided across a data network to the at least one recipient, wherein the association is performed according to a previously established relationship between the recipient'"'"'s voice network ID and the data network ID;

established a connection over the network between a sender and at least one recipient of multimedia information; and

providing the multimedia information to the at least one recipient over the data network.

69. A method comprising the steps of:

determining if a first user and at least one second user have established an initial voice communication;

associating voice communication with multimedia information to be provided across a data network to the at least one second user based on a predetermined relationship between the second user'"'"'s voice network address and data network address; and

providing the multimedia information to the at least one second user over the data network, wherein the at least one second user receives the multimedia information on a device which is distinct from the device the users established the initial voice communication on.