Method and apparatus for iconifying and automatically dialing telephone numbers which appear on a Web page

• US 6,870,828 B1
• Filed: 06/03/1997
• Issued: 03/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Giordano, Joseph III
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
• Application Number:
  US08/868,216
• Time in Patent Office: 2,849 Days
• Field of Search: 370351-356, 370/400, 370/401, 370/402, 370/252, 370/270, 370/271, 370/261, 709203-206, 707/10, 707/513, 707/500, 707/501, 707/520, 379/88.17, 379/93.17, 379/93.15, 379/90.01, 379/90, 379/349, 379/93, 379/96, 379/67, 379 88- 89, 379/93.25, 379/93.19, 379/93.29, 379/93.08, 379/110.01, 379/707, 345/762, 345/133, 345/348, 345/375, 345/704, 340/825.44, 455412-415, 455/340, 395/200, 395/203, 395/349, 395/600, 395/613
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2478 Telephone terminals specially adapted for non-voice services, e.g. email, internet access centralized arrangements where telephones services are combined H04M7/0024; for recording text messages H04M3/5322; for accessing Internet H04M3/4938
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for recognizing and accessing telephone numbers from a Web page. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, an HTML code of an accessed Web page is parsed and converted. A parsing algorithm applied to the text in the HTML document pattern-recognizes telephone numbers. Coding is added to iconify the recognized telephone numbers. The user'"'"'s Internet-capable telephone displays the iconified telephone numbers. All previously-active links and graphical displays supported by the Internet-capable telephone are maintained in this display. To call a phone number, the user selects the icon, and the Internet-capable phone determines how to initiate the call. For a two-line phone, the Internet-capable telephone initiates a telephone call to the selected number. For a one-line phone, the Internet-capable telephone determines whether the line is available for a call. If the line is not currently being used, the Internet-capable telephone initiates a voice call to the selected number. However, if the user is connected to the Web, the Internet-capable telephone optionally transparently disconnects from the Internet and initiates a voice call to the selected telephone number. At the conclusion of the telephone call, the Internet-capable telephone optionally transparently re-connects to the Web.

Claims

1. A method performed on a Web page containing text-based information other than previously iconified information, said method performed by a communication system including a Web page server containing said Web page, an access server, and an access device capable of communicating with said Web page server through said access server, said method performed during a communication session and comprising:

at said access server;

retrieving said Web page contained on said Web page server;

parsing said text-based information within said Web page;

recognizing a text-based telephone number contained within said text-based information of said parsed Web page, said text-based telephone number including a plurality of number symbols and at least one text symbol interspersed with said plurality of number symbols;

converting an HTML code representation of said Web page; and

adding a representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at said access device, transparently disconnecting from said communication session upon selection of said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number to initiate a telephone call session.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising at said access device:

recognizing the termination of said telephone call session; and

transparently re-connecting to said communication session.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising at said access server:

transmitting said Web page with said iconic representation of said recognized text-based telephone number to said access device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said access device is an Internet-capable telephone.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said iconified telephone number is identified by one of a button surrounding the number, font appearance, underlining, or highlighting.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein all recognized telephone numbers are iconified.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein telephone numbers meeting a specific criteria are iconified.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said parsing and recognizing further comprises:

developing a set of Picture Formats for the patterns of telephone numbers;

reading an accessed Web page;

checking every character in said text-based information within said Web page to determine if said character is a numeric character;

applying a pattern-recognition algorithm to sequentially check a character following an identified numeric character to determine if said following character is any of a numeric or an interspersed text or punctuation character;

caching a series of consecutive identified numeric characters; and

comparing said cached series to said Picture Formats;

wherein a matching format indicates a text-based telephone number.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein said transparently disconnecting from said communication session upon selection of said iconified text-based telephone number and calling said telephone number further comprises at said access device:

selecting said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number in a display of said access device;

initiating a telephone call with said access device to said selected recognized text-based telephone number if a telephone line or sufficient bandwidth is available;

transparently disconnecting said access device from said session if a telephone line is not available, and thereupon initiating a telephone call to said selected recognized text-based telephone number;

recognizing with said access device the termination of said telephone call; and

optionally transparently re-connecting said access device to said communication session.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising at said access device:

automatically storing said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number in an address book.

12. A method for utilizing an access server to recognize and iconify telephone numbers from a Web page, said method comprising:

retrieving said Web page during an Internet session linking a Web page server to an access device, wherein said Web page is retrieved by said access server from said Web page server at the request of said access device;

parsing the HTML code of said Web page;

applying a parsing algorithm to text-based information other than previously iconified information within said Web page to pattern-recognize a text-based telephone number contained therein;

converting said HTML code to a representation of said Web page;

adding coding to said representation of said Web page to produce a selectable telephone number icon associated with said recognized text-based telephone number; and

transmitting said representation of said Web page with said selectable telephone number icon to said access device for display.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said applying said parsing algorithm further comprises:

developing a set of Picture Formats for the patterns of text-based telephone numbers;

reading an accessed HTML document using a software program on said access server;

checking every character in said text-based information of said HTML document to determine if said checked character is a numeric character;

using pattern-recognition algorithm to sequentially check a character following an identified number to determine if said character is any of numeric or interspersed text or punctuation character;

caching a series of consecutive numeric characters; and

comparing said cached series to said Picture Formats;

wherein a matching format indicates a text-based telephone number.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said selectable telephone number icon is identified by one of a button surrounding the number, font appearance, underlining, or highlighting.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein all recognized telephone numbers are iconified.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein telephone numbers meeting a specific criteria are iconified.

17. A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for utilizing an access server to recognize and iconify telephone numbers from a Web page, said method comprising:

retrieving said Web page during an Internet session linking a Web page server to an access device, wherein said Web page is retrieved by said access server from said Web page server at the request of said access device;

parsing the HTML code of said Web page;

applying a parsing algorithm to text-based information other than previously iconified information within said Web page to pattern-recognize a text-based telephone number contained therein;

converting said HTML code to a representation of said Web page;

adding coding to said representation of said Web page to produce a selectable telephone number icon associated with said recognized text-based telephone number; and

transmitting said representation of said Web page with said selectable telephone number icon to said access device for display.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein said applying said parsing algorithm further comprises:

developing a set of Picture Formats for the patterns of text-based telephone numbers;

reading an accessed HTML document;

checking every character in said text-based information of said HTML document to determine if said checked character is a numeric character;

using pattern-recognition algorithm to sequentially check a character following an identified number to determine if said character is any of numeric or interspersed text or punctuation character;

caching a series of consecutive numeric characters; and

comparing said cached series to said Picture Formats,

wherein a matching format indicates a text-based telephone number.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein said selectable telephone number icon is identified by one of a button surrounding the text-based telephone number, font appearance, underlining, or highlighting.

20. The device of claim 17, wherein all recognized text-based telephone numbers are iconified.

21. The device of claim 17, wherein text-based telephone numbers meeting specific criteria are iconified.

22. A system for processing a Web page containing text-based information other than previously iconified information, said system including a Web page server containing said Web page, an access server, and an access device capable of communicating with said Web page server through said access server, said processing performed during a communication session, said system comprising:

said access server comprising;

means for retrieving said Web page contained on said Web page server;

means for parsing said text-based information within said Web page;

means for recognizing a text-based telephone number contained within said text-based information of said parsed Web page, said text-based telephone number including a plurality of number symbols and at least one text symbol interspersed with said plurality of number symbols;

means for converting an HTML code representation of said Web page; and

means for adding a representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said access device comprises:

means for transparently disconnecting from said communication session upon selection of said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number; and

means for automatically dialing said selected recognized text-based telephone number to initiate a telephone call session.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said access device further comprises:

means for recognizing the termination of said telephone call session; and

means for transparently re-connecting to said communication session.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein said access server further comprises:

means for transmitting said Web page with said iconic representation of said recognized text-based telephone number to said access device.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein said access device is an Internet-capable telephone.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number is identified by one of a button surrounding said recognized text-based number, font appearance, underlining, or highlighting.

28. The system of claim 22, wherein all recognized text-based telephone numbers are each converted to an iconic representation.

29. The system of claim 22, wherein recognized text-based telephone numbers meeting specific criteria are each converted to iconic representations.

30. The system of claim 22, wherein said means for parsing and means for recognizing further comprise:

means for developing a set of Picture Formats for the patterns of telephone numbers;

means for reading an accessed Web page;

means for checking every character in said text-based information within said Web page to determine if said character is a numeric character;

means for sequentially checking a character following an identified numeric character to determine if said following character is any of a numeric or an interspersed text or punctuation character;

means for caching a series of consecutive identified numeric characters; and

means for comparing said cached series to said Picture Formats;

wherein a matching format indicates a text-based telephone number.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein said means for transparently disconnecting and said means for automatically dialing further comprise:

means for selecting said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number in a display of said access device;

means for initiating a telephone call with said access device to said selected recognized text-based telephone number if a telephone line or sufficient bandwidth is available;

means for transparently disconnecting said access device from said session if a telephone line is not available, and thereupon initiating a telephone call to said selected recognized text-based telephone number;

means for recognizing with said access device the termination of said telephone call; and

means for optionally transparently re-connecting said access device to said communication session.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein said access device further comprises:

means for automatically storing said representation that iconifies said recognized text-based telephone number in an address book.

33. An access server apparatus for recognizing and iconifying telephone numbers from a Web page, said apparatus comprising:

means for retrieving said Web page during an Internet session linking a Web page server to an access device, wherein said Web page is retrieved by said access server from said Web page server at the request of said access device;

means for parsing the HTML code of said Web page;

means for applying a parsing algorithm to text-based information other than previously iconified information within said Web page to pattern-recognize a text-based telephone number contained therein;

means for converting said HTML code to a representation of said Web page;

means for adding coding to said representation of said Web page to produce a selectable telephone number icon associated with said recognized text-based telephone number; and

means for transmitting said representation of said Web page with said selectable telephone number icon to said access device for display.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein said means for applying said parsing algorithm further comprises:

means for developing a set of Picture Formats for the patterns of text-based telephone numbers;

means for reading an accessed HTML document;

means for checking every character in said text-based information of said HTML document to determine if said checked character is a numeric character;

means for sequentially checking a character following an identified number to determine if said character is any of numeric or an interspersed text or punctuation character;

means for caching a series of consecutive numeric characters; and

means for comparing said cached series to said Picture Formats;

wherein a matching format indicates a text-based telephone number.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein said selectable telephone number icon is identified by one of a button surrounding the text-based telephone number, font appearance, underlining, or highlighting.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein all recognized text-based telephone numbers are iconified.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein text-based telephone numbers meeting specific criteria are iconified.