Method and apparatus for an enhanced VoIP call initiation interface

• US 7,593,355 B1
• Filed: 01/10/2001
• Issued: 09/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Surazski, Luke, Huart, Pascal
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad; Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wong; Blanche
• Application Number:
  US09/758,911
• Time in Patent Office: 3,177 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/353, 370/354, 370/355, 370/356, 370/395.2, 370/395.31
• US Class Current: 370/261
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2889 Multiservice, e.g. MSAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1046 Call controllers; Call servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/42 Graphical user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/14 with services dependent on location
• 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 3/42093 Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13097 Numbering, addressing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13175 Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed for providing an improved interface to a caller during the initiation of a VoIP call. The present invention includes placing, by the caller, a request for information regarding a party to be called; returning a URL responsive to the request; and displaying to the caller one or more connection options corresponding to the URL. Additional aspects of the present invention include choosing, by the caller, at least one of the one or more connection options, and placing a call responsive to the one or more connection options chosen by the caller.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initiating a Voice over Internet Protocol call via a protocol server, wherein initiating the Voice over Internet Protocol call includes requesting information about a party to be called from a protocol server;

receiving a Universal Resource Locator in response to the request for the information about the party to be called from the protocol server; and

displaying to a caller one or more connection options in a first web page, wherein displaying the one or more connection options includes accessing the first web page at the Universal Resource Locator and using group scheduling software to determine an appointment schedule of the party to be called and modifying the one or more connection options based on the appointment schedule of the party to be called, wherein displaying the one or more connection options includes modifying the one or more connection options based on a location of the party to be called, wherein the location is determined by a presence server.

2. A device to provide an interface to a caller during initiation of a Voice over Internet Protocol call, the device comprising machine-readable media and a programmed processor, wherein the machine-readable media includes instructions executable with the programmed processor to:

receive a first request for information about a party to be called, wherein the first request includes a user identifier to identify the party to be called;

receive a Universal Resource Locator corresponding to the user identifier from a mapping service;

return the Universal Resource Locator in response to the first request,

determine a location of the party to be called based on a presence server;

modify one or more connection options based on the location of the party to be called; and

generate a web page, the web page including the one or more connection options;

transmit the web page in response to a second request addressed to the Universal Resource Locator.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the one or more connection options are encoded using Session Initiation Protocol.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the one or more connection options are also modified based on an identity of the caller.

5. The device of claim 2, wherein the one or more connection options correspond to a phone number of the party to be called.

6. The device of claim 2, wherein the one or more connection options correspond to a schedule of the party to be called.

7. The device of claim 2, wherein said one or more connection options are modified by group scheduling software to correspond to a schedule of the party to be called.

8. A computer readable media encoded with computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions when executed are operable to:

receive a first request including an identifier of a party to be called over Voice over Internet Protocol;

request from a mapping service a Universal Resource Locator associated with the identifier of the party to be called;

returning the Universal Resource Locator in response to the first request;

receive a second request issued to the Universal Resource Locator;

determine a location of the party to be called from a presence server;

modify one or more connection options based on the location of the party to be called;

generate a web page, wherein the web page includes the one or more connection options; and

return the web page in response to the second request.

9. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the one or more connection options are encoded using Session Initiation Protocol.

10. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the one or more connection options are also modified based on an identity of the caller.

11. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the identifier of the party to be called includes phone number of the party to be called.

12. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the one or more connection options are also modified based on a location of the party to be called.

13. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the one or more connection options are also modified based on a schedule of the party to be called.

14. The computer readable media of claim 8, wherein the one or more connection options are modified by group scheduling software to correspond to a schedule of the party to be called.