Method of providing call forward of voice and messages and remote phone activation

• US 7,689,232 B1
• Filed: 01/17/2007
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AGIS Software Development LLC (AGIS Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Malcolm K. Beyer, Jr.
• Inventors: Beyer, Malcolm K. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pérez-Gutiérrez; Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Behrooz; Neda
• Application Number:
  US11/623,862
• Time in Patent Office: 1,168 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/457, 455/414.1, 342/357.09, 342/357.1
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/656 for recording conversations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72439 for image or video messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72513 On hold, intercom or transfer communication modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/62 user interface aspects of conference calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method, a combined cellular, PDA communication device and system having specialized software applications for allowing a plurality of combined cellular phone/PDA device users to monitor each others'"'"' locations and status, to initiate cellular phone calls by touching a symbol on the touch screen display with a stylus which can also include point to call conferencing calling. Each participant'"'"'s cellular phone/PDA device includes a GPS navigation receiver with application software for point to call cellular phone initiation to participants and geographical entities including vehicles, persons or events, conference calls and video transfers. The method, device and system also includes several features that allow each individual cell phone/PDA device user to: a) forward calls and data by touching the symbols associated with other participants; b) cause another phone to accept a phone call even though the remote phone is busy and put the remote call on hold; c) cause a remote phone speaker and microphone to turn on and receive voice message from the calling phone; and d) cause a voice recording to be heard when the a symbol that has an associated voice recording is hooked.

Claims

1. A method of providing a cellular phone communication network for designated participating users, each having a similarly equipped cellular phone that includes a CPU, GPS navigational system and a touch screen display having one or more soft switches and associated software to affect the cell phone operation to enable the user'"'"'s cell phone to perform various functions by hooking network participant'"'"'s symbols, comprising the steps of:

a) exchanging position and status information from one user among all of the other users equipped with cellular phone/PDA/GPS system and its associated software;

b1) entering of other entities of interest into the cellular phone CPU and assigning the other entities of interest a category;

b2) generating the latitude and longitude of the entities of interest along with their categories being automatically sent on the communications network;

c) generating rapid call initiation to one or more locations whose phone number is available in a geographical referenced database using the touch screen;

d) generating rapid call initiation to the users of the cellular phone/PDA/GPS network system using the touch screen;

e) generating rapidly sent text messages, photographs, and video to another cellular phone using the touch screen;

f) providing rapid conference calling multiple phones that are contained within the geographical referenced data base;

g) initiating remote control from one cellular phone/PDA/GPS system to any of the other cellular phone/PDA/GPS system phones, including the ability to control remote cellular phones to make verbal announcements, display images, place return calls, place calls to another phone number, vibrate, change sound intensity and process and display pre-stored data, images and video;

h) activating a soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards a voice call to another phone by hooking it;

i) activating a soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards text messages, photographs and video by hooking one or more symbols representing remote cellular phone devices or one soft switch to call all on the network; and

j) activating a soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that adds another party to an existing phone call by hooking the displayed remote phone symbol of the other party.

2. A method as in claim 1 of providing cell phone soft switches and associated software to affect the operation of a remote cell phone that are designed to enable communications where they are not normally possible, including the additional step of

k) activating a soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message(s) from a network participant to a remote network participant'"'"'(s) phone(s) causing a busy remote phone(s) to accept a high priority call from the network participant and to place the previous call on hold and to then reconnect the previous call when the high priority call is completed.

3. The method as in claim 1 including the additional step of:

l) activating a soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message to a remote network participant'"'"' (s) phone(s) causing the remote phone(s) to automatically answer (without operator action) a call and to activate the remote phone'"'"'s microphone and speaker so that the network participant initiating the call is immediately heard.

4. A communication system to provide a cellular phone network for a group of participants, each of the participants having an individual portable cellular phone that includes a voice communication, free and operator selected text messages, photographs and video, a CPU and a GPS navigational system that can accurately determine the location of each cellular phone, each of the cellular phones in the communications net of participants containing:

said CPU and memory;

a touch screen display;

symbol generator in said CPU that can generate symbols that represent each of the participants in the communication network on the display screen;

a database that stores the individual telephone numbers related to each of the symbols each of which represents a participant in the communication network;

cellular phone call initiating software in said CPU connected to the telephone number database and the touch screen and the symbols on the touch screen whereby touching an individual symbol will automatically initiate a cellular phone telephone call to the user represented by the symbol that includes said voice communication, free and operator selected text messages, photographs and video;

said display including databases that display geographical information that includes showing the geographical location of each of the symbols representing participants in the communication network, fixed locations, and entered items of interest;

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards a voice call to another phone by hooking the displayed symbol of the other party;

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards text messages, photographs and video by hooking each symbol or to all symbols on the network; and

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that adds another party to an existing phone call by hooking the other party'"'"'s symbol.

5. The system as in claim 4, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message(s) from a network participant to a remote network participant'"'"'(s) phone(s) causing a busy remote phone(s) to accept a high priority call from the network participant and to place the previous call on hold and to then reconnect the previous call when the high priority call is completed.

6. The system as in claim 4, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message to a remote network participant'"'"'(s) phone(s) causing the remote phone(s) to automatically answer (without operator action) a call and to activate the remote phone'"'"'s microphone and speaker so that the network participant initiating the call is immediately heard.

7. The system as in claim 4, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that permits a voice recording to be used to amplify a displayed symbol so that, when network participants hook the symbol, the voice recording associated with the symbol is heard.

8. A cellular phone for use in a communication network for a plurality of participants comprising:

cellular phone transmitter and receiver;

small handheld portable housing containing said cellular phone transmitter and receiver;

touch display screen mounted in said housing;

modem connected to said cellular phone transmitter and receiver;

CPU connected to said cellular phone transmitter and receiver;

GPS navigation system connected to said CPU and to said cellular phone transmitter and receiver on said touch screen;

database connected to said CPU that includes the symbol of a list of telephone numbers that relate to specific symbols;

symbol generator connected to said CPU and said database for generating symbols on said touch screen, each of said symbols representing a participant in a communication network that has a cellular phone;

CPU software for selectively polling other participants with a cellular phone;

call initiating software connected through said CPU and said telephone database and said symbol generator whereby when a user touches the symbol displayed on a display screen the cellular phone call is automatically initiated to the cellular phone represented by the symbol;

geographical database connected to said CPU to provide a geographical display on said touch screen representing a defined geographical area that also displays symbols representing each of the participants that has an identical cellular phone by latitude and longitude;

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards a voice call to another phone by hooking the other phone displayed symbol;

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that forwards text messages, photographs and video to one or more participants by hooking their displayed symbols; and

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that adds another party to an existing phone call by hooking the other party'"'"'s displayed symbol.

9. The cell phone as in claim 8, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message(s) from a network participant to a remote network participant'"'"'(s) phone(s) causing a busy remote phone(s) to accept a high priority call from the network participant and to place the previous call on hold and to then reconnect the previous call when the high priority call is completed.

10. The cell phone as in claim 8, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that sends a digital message to a remote network participant'"'"'(s) phone(s) causing the remote phone(s) to automatically answer (without operator action) a call and to activate the remote phone'"'"'s microphone and speaker so that the network participant initiating the call is immediately heard.

11. The cell phone as in claim 8, including:

soft switch and the software accessed by said soft switch that permits a voice recording to be used to amplify a displayed symbol so that when network participants hook the symbol the voice recording associated with the symbol is heard.