System and method for using telephony controls on a personal computer
First Claim
1. A general purpose computer system for executing a telephony application, comprising:
- an application having telephony functionality for handling telephony-related communication signals, the application being enabled to execute telephony-related communication tasks and telephony functionality in response to user input;
a graphical user interface providing a telephony control for inputting a plurality of telephony commands, the graphical user interface enabled to receive user commands;
an operating system comprising control handling logic and indicator/display logic, and being operably coupled to the telephony control and the application, the operating system being enabled to receive an input command from the telephony control and to send the input command to the application; and
a communications controller enabling a user to connect to each of a plurality of communications channels, the controller enabled to provide on-demand transitioning during a phone call, and the controller enabled to receive data and output data on each of a plurality of devices.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method including telephony controls for handling telephony applications on a personal computer with integrated telephony capabilities is provided. The telephony controls include a hook switch, a talk button, a speakerphone button, a mute button, a flash button, a conference button, a microphone button, and a voice mail button. There may also be other telephony control buttons such as an optional record button in close proximity to the telephony controls for use in responding to voice mail. An indicator light may be located adjacent to or integrated into each telecommunication control button. The system and method allow a number of user interaction scenarios with respect to real-time communications, including handling an incoming telephone call, making a telephone call, and handling voice mail.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. A general purpose computer system for executing a telephony application, comprising:
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an application having telephony functionality for handling telephony-related communication signals, the application being enabled to execute telephony-related communication tasks and telephony functionality in response to user input; a graphical user interface providing a telephony control for inputting a plurality of telephony commands, the graphical user interface enabled to receive user commands; an operating system comprising control handling logic and indicator/display logic, and being operably coupled to the telephony control and the application, the operating system being enabled to receive an input command from the telephony control and to send the input command to the application; and a communications controller enabling a user to connect to each of a plurality of communications channels, the controller enabled to provide on-demand transitioning during a phone call, and the controller enabled to receive data and output data on each of a plurality of devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. In a computing environment, a method for providing telephony controls, the method comprising:
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providing a telephony control in a graphical user interface enabled to receive user input for a plurality of telephony tasks; receiving a control input for a telephony task through the telephony control; the telephony control forwarding the control input to an operating system, the operating system comprising control handling logic and indicator display logic and being coupled to the telephony control and to a telephony application; the operating system forwarding the control input to the telephony application; the telephony application performing a telephony task in response to the control input; and providing a communications controller enabling a user to connect to each of a plurality of communications channels, the controller enabled to receive data and output data on each of a plurality of devices, and the controller enabled to provide transitioning during telephone calls by applying real-time communication rules based at least in part on user-configurable settings and a current operating state. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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Specification