Apparatus and methods for providing an event driven notification over a network to a telephony device

• US 6,907,455 B1
• Filed: 06/29/2000
• Issued: 06/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martin, Steven J., Danner, Ryan A., Wolfe, William M.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US09/606,727
• Time in Patent Office: 1,811 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/224, 709/229, 709/217, 709/223, 709/220, 707/200, 707/4, 370/275, 370/352, 704/275, 704/360, 701/300, 340/825, 375/219, 74/1
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data

Abstract

The invention is directed to techniques for notifying a client device of the occurrence of an event using a web application activated based on an application-state data record. A persistent process monitors incoming data for the occurrence of an event and provides the application-state data record that can be used to activate a session of an event notification application. The persistent process provides an event indicator to a proxy browser which then activates the event notification application. The event notification application provides an event notification to the proxy browser, which in turn provides an audio notification of the event to the client device, which may be a telephony device or other two-way audio communication device. The user of the client device can then respond to the event notification or otherwise interact with the event notification application via the proxy browser.

Claims

1. A method for notifying a telephony device over a network of an occurrence of an event detected by an independent process, comprising the steps of:

receiving an event indicator over the network in response to the occurrence of the event, the event indicator capable of activating a session of a web application based on an application-state data record created by the independent process, the event indicator comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) request identifying a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup language document comprising i) an identifier of the telephony device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event;

activating the session of the web application based on the application-state data record in response to receiving the event indicator; and

providing an event notification over the network, the event notification suitable for providing audio output to the telephony device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of activating the session of the web application comprises activating the session based on an application-defining document identified in the application-state data record.

3. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

opening a socket with an application server; and

forwarding the event indicator to the application server to activate the session of the web application at the application server based on the application-state data record created by the independent process.

4. A method as in claim 3 further comprising:

receiving a response from the application server indicating to make a phone call based on a target phone number associated with the telephony device.

5. A method as in claim 4 further comprising:

based on the response from the application server, establishing the phone call with the telephony device.

6. A method as in claim 5 further comprising:

generating a message to the application server that the phone call has been established.

7. A method of claim 6 further comprising:

supporting communications between the telephony device and the application server, enabling a user of the telephony device to access the session of the web application and obtain responses to requests by the user.

8. An application server configured for providing a notification for a telephony device over a network of an occurrence of an event detected by an independent process, comprising:

a network interface;

an application runtime environment, wherein;

the network interface is configured to receive an event indicator over the network from a proxy browser in response to the occurrence of the event, the event indicator capable of activating a session of a web application executing in the application runtime environment based on an application-state data record created by an independent process and specified in the event indicator, the event indicator including a uniform resource locator (URL) request identifying a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup language document comprising i) an identifier of the telephony device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event;

the application runtime environment is configured to activate the session of the web application based on the application-state data record in response to receiving the event indicator; and

the network interface is configured to provide an event notification over the network to the proxy browser, the event notification suitable for providing audio output to the telephony device.

9. The application server of claim 8, further comprising a document database, wherein the application-state data record identifies an application-defining document in the document database and the application runtime environment activates the session of the web application based on the application-defining document.

10. A computer program product that includes a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for notifying a telephony device over a network of a occurrence of an event detected by an independent process, such that the instructions, when carried out by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of:

receiving an event indicator over the network in response to the occurrence of the event, the event indicator capable of activating a session of a web application based on an application-state data record created by the independent process, the event indicator including a uniform resource locator (URL) request identifying a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup language document comprising i) an identifier of the telephony device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event;

activating the session of the web application based on the application-state data record in response to receiving the event indicator; and

providing an event notification over the network, the event notification suitable for providing audio output to the telephony device.

11. A computer program product as in claim 10 in which the computer additionally performs operations of:

opening a communication session with an application server; and

via use of the communication session, forwarding the event indicator to the application server to activate the session of the web application at the application server based on the application-state data record created by the independent process.

12. A computer program product as in claim 11 in which the computer additionally performs an operation of:

receiving a response from the application server indicating to make a phone call based on a target phone number associated with the telephony device.

13. A computer program product as in claim 12 in which the computer additionally performs an operation of:

based on the response from the application server, establishing the phone call with the telephony device.

14. A computer program product as in claim 13 in which the computer additionally performs an operation of:

generating a message to the application server that the phone call has been established.

15. A computer program product as in claim 14 in which the computer additionally performs operations of:

supporting communications between the telephony device and the application server, the communications enabling a user of the telephony device to access the session of the web application and obtain responses to requests by the user.

16. An application server configured for providing a notification for a telephony device over a network of an occurrence of an event detected by an independent process, comprising

a network interface;

means for providing notification of the event, wherein;

the network interface is configured to receive an event indicator over the network from a proxy browser in response to the occurrence of the event, the event indicator capable of activating a session of a web application based on an application-state data record created by an independent process and specified in the event indicator, the event indicator comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) request identifying a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup language document comprising i) an identifier of the telephony device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event;

the providing notification means is configured to activate the session of the web application based on the application-state data record in response to receiving the event indicator; and

the network interface is configured to provide an event notification over the network to the proxy browser, the event notification suitable for providing audio output to the telephony device.

17. A method in a persistent process executing on a server for providing notification over a network of an occurrence of an event, comprising the steps of:

monitoring data for the occurrence of the event;

generating an application-state data record specifying a session of a web application in response to the occurrence of the event, the generated application-state data record comprising a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup language document comprising i) an identifier of a client device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event; and

providing an event indicator including i) a uniform resource locator (URL) identifying the persistent XML document and ii) a location of the web application over the network to a proxy browser in response to the generating of the application-state data record, the proxy browser capable of requesting activation of the session of the web application based on the uniform resource locator.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of monitoring data comprises accessing data in a web site.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of monitoring data comprises monitoring data incoming over the network.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of providing the application-state data record comprises storing the application-state data record in a database accessible to an application server capable of executing the session of the web application.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of providing the application-state data record comprises providing a telephony number associated with a client device.

22. A system for providing notification over a network of an occurrence of an event, comprising:

a network interface; and

a persistent process in communication with the network interface, wherein the persistent process is configured to;

generate an application-state data record specifying a session of a web application capable of execution on an application server in response to the occurrence of the event;

provide an event indicator over the network using the network interface in response to the generation of the application-state data record, the event indicator capable of activating the session of the web application based on the application-state data record; and

wherein the persistent process is configured to generate within the application-state data record a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document comprising i) an identifier of a client device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event; and

the event indicator comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) identifying the persistent XML document and a location of the web application, wherein the persistent process provides the event indicator to a proxy browser that is capable of requesting activation of the session of the web application based on the URL.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the persistent process is configured to access data in a web site.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the persistent process is configured to monitor data incoming over the network.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the persistent process stores the application-state data record in a database accessible to an application server capable of executing the session of the web application.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the application-state data record comprises a telephony number associated with a client device.

27. A computer program product that includes a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for providing notification of an event over a network, such that the instructions, when carried out by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of:

monitoring data for the occurrence of the event;

generating an application-state data record specifying a session of a web application in response to the occurrence of the event, the generated application-state data record comprising a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the extensible markup document comprising i) an identifier of a client device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event; and

providing an event indicator over the network in response to the generating of the application-state data record, the event indicator capable of acting the session of the web application based on the application-state data record.

28. A computer program propagated product embodied in a computer readable medium, having instructions for providing notification of an event over a network, such that the instructions, when carried out by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of:

monitoring data for the occurrence of the event;

generating an application-state data record specifying a session of a web application in response to the occurrence of the event, the generated application-state data record comprising a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document, the persistent extensible markup document comprising i) an identifier of a client device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event; and

providing an event indicator including i) a uniform resource locator (URL) identifying the persistent XML document and ii) a location of the web application over the network to a proxy browser in response to the generating of the application-state data record, the event indicator capable of activating the session of the web application based on the application-state data record, the proxy browser capable of requesting activation of the session of the web application based on the URL.

29. A system for providing notification over a network of an occurrence of an event, comprising:

a network interface; and

means for producing an event indicator, the producing means in communication with the network interface, wherein the producing means is configured to;

generate an application-state data record specifying a session of a web application capable of execution on an application server in response to the occurrence of the event;

provide an event indicator over the network using the network interface in response to the generation of the application-state data record, the event indicator capable of activating the session of the web application based on the application-state data record;

wherein the producing means is configured to generate within the application-state data record a persistent extensible markup language (XML) document comprising i) an identifier of a client device, ii) a reference to an application-defining XML document, and iii) event information based on the occurrence of the event; and

the event indicator comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) identifying the persistent XML document and a location of the web application, wherein the producing means provides the event indicator to a proxy browser capable of requesting activation of the session of the web application based on the URL.