Method and apparatus for context based querying
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a query request to find information for a destination from a user;
determining a context for the query request using previously stored information associated with the user, including at least one of incoming calls to the user and outgoing calls to the user, the context for the query request indicating a geographic location of the user;
obtaining information from a directory, the information related to the destination and based on the query request and the context of the query request; and
providing the obtained information to the user.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This invention provides methods and apparatus for context based querying to more efficiently provide directory services. In particular, methods and apparatus for querying a database to resolve contact information, e.g., a phone number, based on the context of the query are provided. By querying based on context, the query may be searched using a smaller field of search. Moreover, a context based query allows private phone numbers to be provided when the context of the query has been authenticated and approved for disclosure of the private phone number. Thus, when processing a query for a phone number, the present invention evaluates the context of the query in addition to the query itself to determine what results to provide to a user.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving a query request to find information for a destination from a user; determining a context for the query request using previously stored information associated with the user, including at least one of incoming calls to the user and outgoing calls to the user, the context for the query request indicating a geographic location of the user; obtaining information from a directory, the information related to the destination and based on the query request and the context of the query request; and providing the obtained information to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A method, comprising:
-
receiving an information request from a requester, the information request including query parameters; comparing requester identifying information to previously stored subscriber information to determine whether the requester is a service subscriber; determining a context for the information request when it is determined that the requester is a service subscriber, wherein the context is determined based at least in part on the previously stored subscriber information, and wherein the context indicates a geographic location associated with the information request; searching stored directory information using the query parameters and the context to identify matching directory information of the stored directory information; providing a response to the requester, the response including the matching directory information. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A system comprising:
-
a subscriber database storing subscriber information; a directory database storing information related to contact information for a plurality of destinations; and a server system, communicatively coupled to the subscriber database, the directory database, and a data network over which the server system may receive an information retrieval request containing query parameters from a requester, the server system including a context processor configured to determine context information associated with the information retrieval request, the context information including a geographic location associated with the information retrieval request, and a query server coupled to the context processor and configured to receive the information retrieval request, determine identification information associated with the requester, determine whether the requester is a subscriber using the identification information and the subscriber database, and when the requester is a subscriber retrieve subscriber information of the requester from the subscriber database, obtain the context information from the context processor, provide a query request to the directory database, the query request including the query parameters and the context information, obtain a response to the query request from the directory database, and provide the response to the requester, wherein the context information is determined at least in part based on the subscriber information of the requester. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification