System and method for providing presence information to voicemail users

• US 7,623,633 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2005
• Issued: 11/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gatzke, Alan D., Belcher, Aaron J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/116,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20060245556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,671 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.16, 379/201.07, 379/210.01, 379/88.12, 379/74, 379/88.26, 379/93.23, 379/142.08, 704/270.1, 709/227, 709/203, 370/352, 455/422.1
• US Class Current: 379/88.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/10 with dictation recording and playback systems
• 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: H04M 3/53383 Message registering commands or announcements; Greetings

Abstract

A method of providing telecommunication service includes receiving a call for a called party from a calling party. The method also includes determining a presence status of the called party and communicating a greeting for the calling party, wherein the greeting identifies the presence status of the called party.

Claims

1. A method of providing telecommunication service comprising:

receiving a call for a called party from a calling party;

receiving presence information, the presence information comprising text and indicating a presence status of the called party;

determining whether any of a plurality of stored greetings are associated with the presence information;

in response to determining that one of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, communicating the associated stored greeting to a communication device associated with the calling party; and

in response to determining that none of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, generating audio data based on the text and communicating the audio data to the to the communication device associated with the calling party.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the greeting comprises:

selecting a greeting from a plurality of stored greetings, based on the determined presence status of the called party; and

communicating the selected greeting to the calling party.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the greeting to the calling party comprises:

generating a plurality of data packets, each data packet comprising at least a portion of the greeting; and

transmitting the data packets to a communication device associated with the calling party.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the call comprises receiving a device identifier that identifies a communication device associated with the called party, and wherein determining a presence status of the called party comprises:

determining a user associated with the communication device; and

determining a presence status of the user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a presence status of the user comprises:

transmitting a presence request comprising a user identifier to a presence server, the user identifier identifying the user associated with the communication device;

receiving a presence response from the presence server, the presence response comprising presence information that indicates a presence status of the user associated with the communication device.

6. A device for providing telecommunication service comprising:

a memory operable to store processor instructions;

a text-to-speech (TTS) module operable to generate audio signals based on text received by the TTS module; and

a processor operable to;

receive a call for a called party from a calling party;

receive presence information, the presence information comprising text and indicating a presence status of the called party;

determine whether any of a plurality of stored greetings are associated with the presence information;

in response to determining that one of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, communicate the associated stored greeting; and

in response to determining that none of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, communicating audio signals generated by the TTS module to the calling party, the audio signals generated by the TTS module based on text included in the presence information.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the memory is further operable to store a plurality of greetings and wherein the processor is operable to communicate the greeting by:

selecting, based on the determined presence status of the called party, a greeting from the plurality of stored greetings; and

communicating the selected greeting.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein the processor is operable to communicate the greeting to the calling party by:

generating a plurality of data packets, each data packet comprising at least a portion of the greeting; and

transmitting the data packets to a communication device associated with the calling party.

9. The device of claim 6, wherein the processor is operable to receive the call by receiving a device identifier that identifies a communication device associated with the called party, and wherein the processor is operable to determine a presence status of the called party by:

determining a user associated with the communication device; and

determining a presence status of the user.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the processor is operable to determine the presence status of the user by:

transmitting a presence request comprising a user identifier to a presence server, the user identifier identifying the user associated with the communication device; and

receiving a presence response from the presence server, the presence response comprising presence information that indicates a presence status of the user associated with the communication device.

11. A system for providing communication service comprising:

a first communication device operable to initiate a call to a second communication device;

the second communication device;

a call manager operable to forward the call to a server if a called party associated with the second communication device does not answer the call;

a server, comprising a text-to-speech (TTS) module operable to generate audio signals based on text received by the TTS module, wherein the server is operable to;

receive the call forwarded by the call manager;

receive presence information, the presence information comprising text and indicating a presence status of the called party;

determine whether any of a plurality of stored greetings are associated with the presence information;

in response to determining that one of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, communicate the associated stored greeting; and

in response to determining that none of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information, communicate audio signals generated by the TTS module to the calling party, the audio signals generated by the TTS module based on text included in the presence information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is further operable to store a plurality of greetings and wherein the server is operable to communicate the greeting by:

selecting, based on the determined presence status of the called party, a greeting from the plurality of stored greetings; and

communicating the selected greeting.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is operable to communicate the greeting to the calling party by:

generating a plurality of data packets, each data packet comprising at least a portion of the greeting; and

transmitting the data packets to the first communication device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is operable to receive the call by receiving a device identifier that identifies the second communication device, and wherein the processor is operable to determine a presence status of the called party by:

determining the called party associated with the second communication device; and

determining a presence status of the called party.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a presence server operable to:

determine a presence status for each of a plurality of users;

store presence information associated with each of the plurality of users, the presence information indicating the presence status of that user;

receive a presence request from a remote element, the presence request identifying one of the users, and

in response to receiving the presence request, transmit a presence response to the remote element, the presence response including presence information associated with the identified user; and

wherein the server is operable to determine the presence status of the called party by;

transmitting a presence request comprising a user identifier to the presence server, the user identifier identifying the called party; and

receiving a presence response from the presence server, the presence response comprising presence information that indicates a presence status of the user associated with the communication device.

16. A system for providing communication service comprising:

means for receiving a call for a called party from a calling party;

means for receiving presence information, the presence information comprising text and indicating a presence status of the called party;

means for determining whether any of a plurality of stored greetings are associated with the presence information;

means for communicating the associated stored greeting in response to determining that one of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information; and

means for generating audio data based on the text and communicating the audio data to the calling party in response to determining that none of the stored greetings is associated with the presence information.