Household internet connection monitoring and troubleshooting through voice based telephony devices

• US 7,747,732 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2003
• Issued: 06/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Twitter Inc (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mansey, Pradeep P., Gandhi, Shailesh B., Jaiswal, Peeyush, Patel, Anilkumar B.
• Primary Examiner(s): ISMAIL, SHAWKI SAIF
• Application Number:
  US10/731,778
• Publication Number:
  US 20050144502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,394 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-224
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

A method for monitoring an Internet connection can include the step of detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection. A problem contact point can be determined. A communication connection that is different from the household Internet connection can be established with the contact point. For example, a voice connection can be established with the contact point. A problem notification can be conveyed to the contact point through the established communication connection.

Claims

1. A household Internet connection monitoring and troubleshooting method comprising the steps of:

detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection, the household Internet connection connecting a household intranet to the Internet;

selecting a contact point from a list of multiple contact points of a maintainer of the household, the contact points including at least one among a mobile telephone number, a pager number, a work number, and a fax telephone number;

attempting to establish a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different from said household Internet connection;

if the attempt fails, selecting another contact point from the list and attempting to establish a communication connection with the other contact point until a communication connection is successfully established with one of the contact points in the list, wherein if all attempts fail, a message is left to one of the contact point;

conveying a problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection;

providing at least one option for troubleshooting the connectivity problem;

receiving a selection of one of the at least one option;

responsively performing an action relating to the Internet connection based on the received selection of option;

wherein said communication connection is a voice connection, and wherein said problem notification is a speech message; and

responsive to said detecting step, automatically generating a personalized problem report; and

text-to-speech converting said problem report resulting in said problem notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said selection comprises a Dual Tone Multiple Frequency input.

3. The method of claim 1, where said selection comprises a speech input, said method further comprising the step of:

speech-to-text converting said input, wherein said action is initiated responsive to said converted input.

4. A household Internet connection monitoring and troubleshooting system comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor configured to;

detect a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection, the household Internet connection connecting a household intranet to the Internet;

responsive to the detecting step, automatically generate a personalized problem report;

text-to-speech convert the problem report resulting in a problem notification;

select a contact point from a list of multiple contact points of a maintainer of the household, the contact points including at least one among a mobile telephone number, a pager number, a work number, and a fax telephone number;

attempt to establish a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different from said household Internet connection, and wherein the communication connection is a voice connection;

if the attempt fails, select another contact point from the list and attempt to establish a communication connection with the other contact point until a communication connection is successfully established with one of the contact points in the list, wherein if all attempts fail, a message is left to one of the contact point;

convey the problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection, wherein the problem notification is a speech message;

provide at least one option for troubleshooting the connectivity problem;

receive a selection of one of the at least one option; and

perform an action relating to the Internet connection based on the received selection of option.

5. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a processor for causing the processor to perform the steps of:

detecting a connectivity problem with a household Internet connection, the household Internet connection connecting a household intranet to the Internet;

selecting a contact point from a list of multiple contact points of a maintainer of the household, the contact points including at least one among a mobile telephone number, a pager number, a work number, and a fax telephone number;

attempting to establish a communication connection with said contact point, wherein said communication connection is different from said household Internet connection;

if the attempt fails, selecting another contact point from the list and attempting to establish a communication connection with the other contact point until a communication connection is successfully established with one of the contact points in the list, wherein if all attempts fail, a message is left to one of the contact point;

conveying a problem notification to the contact point through the communication connection;

providing at least one option for troubleshooting the connectivity problem;

receiving a selection of one of the at least one option;

responsively performing an action relating to the Internet connection based on the received selection of option;

wherein said communication connection is a voice connection, and wherein said problem notification is a speech message; and

responsive to said detecting step, automatically generating a personalized problem report; and

text-to-speech converting said problem report resulting in said problem notification.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein said selection comprises a Dual Tone Multiple Frequency input.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, where said selection comprises a speech input, said method further comprising the step of:

speech-to-text converting said input, wherein said action is initiated responsive to said converted input.