Systems, methods and apparatus for tracking on-call activity

• US 7,844,038 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2007
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pappalardo, Susan, Yau, Debbie M. Y., Seres, Andy, Andrew, Felix Gti, Padawer, Andy, Dehlin, Joel P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/672,740
• Publication Number:
  US 20070127684A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,391 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.01, 379/88.26, 379/215.01, 379/221.09, 455/3.04, 455/422.1, 455/453, 455/560, 709/204, 709/217, 705/32, 718/104
• US Class Current: 379/88.26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/10 Tax strategies
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00

Abstract

A first electronic device engages in a voice communication with another electronic device. The voice communication is associated with data stored by the first electronic device. In some instances, the data is generated the first electronic device or received by the first electronic device from the second electronic device in response to, or as a consequence of the voice of the voice communication. During the voice communication, or sometime after the voice communication is terminated, the first electronic device determines that the data is associated with the voice communication. The data is then made available to an application program, so that the data can be associated with other data. Thus, a human user of the first electronic device is relieved of identifying data within a context, and relieved of the task associating the data with other data.

Claims

1. A system that conducts voice calls, each voice call having a context, the system comprising:

a processor configured to execute a plurality of applications that process application data within the contexts of a voice call; and

one or more components which are executable by the processor, the one or more components being configured to;

receive voice call data during the voice call, the voice call data including caller identification and date and/or time data;

determine the context of the voice call from a set of facts or circumstances that surround the voice call, wherein the context determination includes evaluating a timeframe in reference to a duration of the voice call;

determine that a first application data and a second application data are both within an overlapping voice call context by determining that the first application data and the second application data are generated, opened, accessed or referenced during the timeframe;

associate the first application data and the second application data by inserting the first application data into the second application data or by updating the first application data with the second application data.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more components are further configured to associate the context with a globally unique identifier, and to send application data that is associated with the globally unique identifier to an application program that is associated with the globally unique identifier and to send an integration message to the application program that is associated with the globally unique identifier.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the context of the voice call is determined with reference to a location of a party associated with the voice call within a time period that begins before and ends after the voice call;

and

one or more of the components reference application data that is based on the location.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the context of the voice call is determined at least in part on a characteristic of a party associated with the voice call;

and

one or more of the components reference application data that is based on the characteristic.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the one or more components are further configured to determine the context based at least in part on an identity of a receiver and at least in part on data and an application program that are accessed during the voice call.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more components are further configured to determine the context of the voice call at least in part from short-messaging-system calendar data formatted according to an open standard of calendar information that is accessed within a predetermined time period of the voice call, and at least in part from at least one operation on the short-messaging-system calendar data formatted according to an open standard of calendar information that is accessed within the predetermined time period of the voice call.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first application data and the second application data reside on different systems.

8. A system to leverage the value of application data in electronic commerce comprising:

a processor;

a storage device coupled to the processor; and

one or more components having computer-executable instructions stored on the storage device, the computer-executable instructions being executable by the processor to direct the system to perform operations comprising;

conducting a voice call having a context;

receiving voice call data during the voice call, the voice call data including caller identification and date and/or time data;

determining a context of the voice call from a set of facts or circumstances that surround the voice call, wherein the context-determining includes an evaluation of a timeframe in reference to a duration of the voice call;

identifying a first application data and a second application data that are both within the context of the voice call data by determining that the first application data and the second application data are generated, opened, accessed or referenced during the timeframe; and

associating the first application data and the second application data by, at least in part, an insertion of the first application data into the second application data or an update of the first application data with the second application data.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, the operations further comprising:

making the identified application data available to at least one application program that operates within the context of the voice call, and

wherein the conducting and the making is performed by a first electronic device, and wherein the making further comprises sending application data that is within the context of the voice call to an application program operable on a second electronic device (126) that manages data, and wherein the conducting further comprises initiating the voice call to the second device.

10. The system as recited in claim 8, the operations further comprising:

initiating the voice call with a receiver, the receiver having an identity;

determining the context of the voice call, based at least in part on the identity of the receiver;

identifying an application program (108) that is associated with the first application data; and

sending the first application data to the application program that is associated with the first application data.

11. The system as recited in claim 8, the operations further comprising:

initiating the voice call with a receiver, the receiver having an identity;

determining the context of the voice call, based at least in part on the identity of the receiver;

identifying an application program that is associated with the first application data;

receiving the first application data from the receiver; and

sending the first application data to the application program that is associated with the first application data.

12. The system as recited in claim 8, the operations further comprising:

initiating the voice call with a receiver, the receiver having an identity;

determining the context of the voice call, based at least in part on the identity of the receiver;

associating the context with a globally unique identifier;

identifying an application program that is associated with the first application data;

receiving the first application data from the receiver; and

sending the first application data that is associated with the globally unique identifier to an application program that is associated with the globally unique identifier.

13. The system as recited in claim 8, the operations further comprising:

initiating the voice call with a receiver, the receiver having an identity;

determining the context of the voice call, based at least in part on the identity of the receiver and upon an application program and data that is accessed during and before the voice call;

identifying an application program that is associated with the first application data;

receiving the first application data from the receiver; and

sending the first application data to the application program that is associated with the first application data.

14. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein determining the context of the voice call further comprises:

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from calendar schedule data having a temporal relationship to the voice call; and

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from at least one operation on the calendar schedule data that is accessed within the predetermined time period of the voice call.

15. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein determining the context of the voice call further comprises:

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from word processing data having a temporal relationship to the voice call; and

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from at least one operation on the word processing data that is accessed within the predetermined time period of the voice call.

16. A method comprising:

initiating a voice call via an apparatus configured for voice-calling communications;

receiving voice call data during the voice call, the voice call data including caller identification and date and/or time data;

determining a context of the voice call from a set of facts or circumstances that surround the voice call, wherein determining the context comprises evaluating a timeframe in reference to a duration of the voice call;

identifying a first application data and a second application data that are both within the context of the voice call data by determining that the first application data and the second application data are generated, opened, accessed or referenced during the timeframe; and

associating the first application data and the second application data by at least in part inserting the first application data into the second application data or updating the first application data with the second application data.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the determining the context further comprises determining the context of the voice call at least in part from an identity of a party engaged in the voice call.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the determining the context further comprises:

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from remotely-addressed data that is accessed within a predetermined time period of the voice call; and

determining the context of the voice call at least in part from at least one operation on the remotely-addressed data that is accessed within the predetermined time period of the voice call.

19. The method as recited in claim 16 the method further comprising:

making the identified application data available to at least one application program that operates within the context of the voice call; and

terminating the voice call either after or before the making.

20. The method as recited in claim 16 the method further comprising:

making the identified application data available to at least one application program that operates within the context of the voice call, and

wherein the initiating and the making are performed by a first electronic device, and wherein the making includes sending application data that is within the context of the voice call to an application program operable on a second electronic device that manages data.