Method and apparatus for controlling a computer to implement telephone functions with an enhanced minidialer function

• US 6,980,641 B1
• Filed: 10/29/1998
• Issued: 12/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Stanford, Michael D., Langham, Ronald Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Isen, Forester W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAROLD, JEFFEREY F
• Application Number:
  US09/182,833
• Time in Patent Office: 2,616 Days
• Field of Search: 379/355.01, 379/355.02, 379/355.05, 379/356.01, 379/354, 379/201.01, 379/201.02, 379/110.01, 345/835
• US Class Current: 379/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2473 Telephone terminals interfacing a personal computer, e.g. using an API (Application Programming Interface) details of API H04M7/0021
• 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 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/428 Arrangements for placing incoming calls on hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80

Abstract

An enhanced telephone emulation computer system including a minidialer program for controlling a computer to add telephony functions which can be invoked from whatever active program is currently controlling the computer. The minidialer program controls the computer to alter its processing depending upon the context existing at the time when a mouse click or hot key combination event is detected indicating the user wishes to invoke a telephony function. The minidialer program determines whether the user has highlighted any text or numbers in the active window of the application currently controlling the computer and whether the highlighted material is a name or a phone number, and if a name, whether the name is stored with a phone number in a phone book or file maintained on the computer. Processing and telephony menu options displayed as available also depend upon whether the user is or is not on the phone at the time the mouse click or hot key event occurs. In some embodiments, if the user has highlighted a URL, a browser will be launched and the web page corresponding to the URL will be opened.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a computer controlled by an operating system program and having a telephone function library of programs that control the computer to implement conventional telephone functions, said operating system controlling said computer to implement a telephony application programmatic interface (TAPI), comprising a plurality of function calls that are invoked to implement various telephone functions, said operating system being configured to run a dialer program and at least one application program that differs from the dialer program,

wherein the at least one application program does not comprise a telephone application program or an operating system navigation utility,

wherein the dialer program has an associated phone book file, the phone book file not being associated with the at least one application program, and

wherein the dialer program determines activity status of the at least one application program;

a TAPI compliant telephony device (TAPI device) coupled to said computer by a data path and structured for connection to a telephone line from a telephone service provider, said TAPI device being interfaced with a TAPI compliant driver program, said driver program being capable of receiving telephone function commands from said programs in said telephone function library and converting the telephone function commands to commands and/or signals specific to said TAPI device and for sending said commands and/or signals to said TAPI device to cause the TAPI device to carry out telephone functions;

a keyboard coupled to said computer for providing user inputs;

a pointing device coupled to said computer for providing user inputs; and

a video display coupled to said computer,

wherein the dialer program is configured to retrofit a dialer representation on a title bar of a window of the at least one application program lacking telephony capabilities only when the at least one application program is active to provide the telephony capabilities to the at least one application program,

wherein, when a user selects, via the keyboard or the pointing device, the retrofitted dialer representation, the dialer program accesses the phone book file to search for a phone number to be dialed by the dialer program, and

wherein the searching of the phone book file is based on a search key, the search key comprising text that is displayed in a window of the at least one application program and highlighted by the user via the keyboard or the pointing device before the user selects the retrofitted dialer representation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program retrofits the dialer representation so as to always be visible on a title bar of a window of an active application program.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said dialer program retrofits the dialer representation near the title bar of a currently active window of a currently active application program.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said dialer program also displays a dialer icon in or near the system tray of a Windows 95 operating system driven desktop video display.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program displays one or more drop down menus when a pointing device click on said dialer representation is detected, the menu options displayed on said drop down menus being dependent upon whether the user is or is not currently engaged in a telephone conversation via said TAPI device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program displays one or more drop down menus when a hot key combination event is detected comprising pressing a predetermined combination of several keys on said keyboard simultaneously, the menu options displayed on said drop down menus being dependent upon whether the user is or is not currently engaged in a telephone conversation via said TAPI device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program stores names and telephone numbers in the phone book file stored in memory or on a hard disk of said computer and displays menu options which depend upon one or more of the following factors:

whether the user has any text or numbers selected in a window of the current application program;

whether the selected text or numbers appear to contain a phone number or not;

if not a phone number, whether the selected text matches any stored name in the phone book file;

whether or not the user is or is not currently using said TAPI device in an ongoing telephone conversation; and

regardless of whether the user is or is not currently engaged in a telephone conversation, whether or not a telephone number has been highlighted in a window of the current application program.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said dialer program further displays menu options which depend upon one or more of the following factors:

if the selected text does not contain a phone number and does not match a name in said phone book file, whether the selected text appears to be a URL.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein an application program controlling said computer is a web browser program and wherein said dialer program controls said computer to launch said web browser if the user has selected text in the active window of the active application program which is a URL and to cause said web browser to open the web page located on the world wide web at the URL which is highlighted.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program displays all available telephony function options in a menu when a hot key combination is pressed with the available options for the particular context displayed in contrasting color to options which are not available.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program displays all available telephony function options in a menu when a pointing device click on a dialer icon is detected with the available options for the particular context displayed in contrasting color to options which are not available.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dialer program displays all available telephony function options in a menu when a hot key combination is pressed or a pointing device click on a dialer icon is detected with the available options for the particular context signalled to the user.

13. A method for a computer coupled to a telephony device to implement telephony functions, comprising:

executing, on an operating system platform, a dialer program and at least one application program that differs from the dialer program,

wherein the at least one application program does not comprise a telephone application program or an operating system navigation utility, and

wherein the dialer program has an associated phone book file, the phone book file not being associated with the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, determining activity status of the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, retrofitting a dialer representation on a title bar of a window of the at least one application program lacking telephony capabilities only when the at least one application program is active to provide the telephony capabilities to the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, accessing the phone book file to search for a phone number to be dialed by the dialer program, the accessing being triggered when a user selects, via an input device, the retrofitted dialer representation; and

by the dialer program, searching the phone book file for the phone number based on a search key, the search key comprising text that is displayed in a window of the at least one application program and highlighted by the user via the input device before the user selects the retrofitted dialer representation.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining an active program which is currently controlling the computer and adding dial, conference, transfer and hold telephony functions to said active program and wherein said dial, conference, transfer and hold telephony functions can be carried out by a user by invoking selections from a telephony menu.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising adding one or more telephony functions to an active application program including the ability to determine if a highlighted section of text in the active window painted by said active program is a phone number or a name and if the highlighted text is a name, looking up the phone number for the name in the phone book file and displaying menu options for dial and pop which the user can select, and, if the dial option is selected, controlling said TAPI device to dial the number, and if the pop option is selected, controlling said computer to launch an application process which stores records of people or organizations which can be searched by name or telephone number and searching a file of people or organizations maintained on said computer using the highlighted name or phone number and displaying any record which matches the name or number.

16. An article, comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in the following;

executing, on an operating system platform, a dialer program and at least one application program that differs from the dialer program,

wherein the at least one application program does not comprise a telephone application program or an operating system navigation utility, and

wherein the dialer program has an associated phone book file, the phone book file not being associated with the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, determining activity status of the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, retrofitting a dialer representation on a title bar of a window of the at least one application program lacking telephony capabilities only when the at least one application program is active to provide the telephony capabilities to the at least one application program;

by the dialer program, accessing the phone book file to search for a phone number to be dialed by the dialer program, the accessing being triggered when a user selects, via an input device, the retrofitted dialer representation; and

by the dialer program, searching the phone book file for the phone number based on a search key, the search key comprising text that is displayed in a window of the at least one application program and highlighted by the user via the input device before the user selects the retrofitted dialer representation.