System and method for active mobile collaboration

• US 8,041,020 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2004
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schramm, Steven D., Chatterjee, Saurav, Drewry, John S., White, Michael A., Nakaso, Andre M., Fulton, Paul R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Matar; Ahmad F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Khai N
• Application Number:
  US10/890,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20050041793A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,652 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.17, 379/211.01, 379/201.01, 379/201.02, 379/211.02, 455/414.1, 455/417, 455/445
• US Class Current: 379/211.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1091 Fixed mobile conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/206 composed of PSTN and wireless network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42093 Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• 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 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54

Abstract

A communication system is provided that uses loosely-coupled client-server architectures to improve the efficiency of communications. The communication system includes client and facilitator applications. The client application is a component of processor-based mobile communication devices. The facilitator application is hosted on one or more servers or other processor-based devices, and communicates with the client application via one or more couplings. The facilitator application can also be distributed among one or more portable processor-based devices including the communication devices hosting the client application. The communication system improves efficiency of voice communications by allowing communication device users to dynamically manage how and when mobile calls take place, intelligently screen calls based on caller identity, urgency, and subject matter, determine which contacts in a directory are available to talk and which ones choose not to be disturbed, and increase accessibility of enterprise and personal contact information from mobile phones.

Claims

1. A method for communicating, comprising:

transferring context information for a plurality of target devices to a calling device, wherein the context information comprises data representative of at least one of the group consisting of an availability profile and a connectivity state for each of the plurality of target devices;

after receiving the context information, selecting, from the plurality of target devices, at least one recipient associated with a selected at least one target device to receive a voice call from a caller using the calling device;

generating a call request at the calling device responsive to selecting the at least one recipient;

wherein the connectivity state includes a reachable state and an unreachable state, wherein the selected at least one target device is in a reachable state when the selected at least one target device is in a powered state and connected to the communication network, and wherein the at selected least one target device is in an unreachable state when the selected at least one target device is in an un-powered state, disconnected from the communication network or engaged in a voice call;

wherein the availability profile includes one of a group consisting of information manually selected by the recipient, information automatically selected in response to profile information of the at least one target device, call filter information, location of the at least one target device and calendar information;

queuing the call request so as to defer transfer of the call request to the selected at least one target device in accordance with context information of both the selected at least one target device and the calling device;

in accordance with the context information of both the selected at least one target device and the calling device indicating a reachable state, automatically delivering the call request from the calling device to the selected at least one target device of the selected at least one recipient via a data coupling;

providing a delivery confirmation to the caller at the calling device in response to delivery of the transferred call request to the selected at least one target device;

generating a plurality of response options on the selected at least one target device in response to receipt of the call request, wherein the response options include at least one of accepting the call request, postponing the call request, generating a return data message including a text message to the calling device or a voice message to the calling device, and initiating the voice call; and

generating a response message in response to selection of a response option by the recipient on the selected at least one target device and transferring the response message to the calling device over the data coupling.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the call request to at least one selected additional target devices associated with at least one selected additional recipients, wherein the at least one selected target device and the at least one selected additional target devices form a recipient group of target devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability profile includes information of at least one of control parameters of the selected at least one target device and call screening filters selected by the recipient.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the call screening filters include at least one filter that filter the call request using at least one of identity of a caller originating the call request, priority of the call request, subject of the request, and requested time of the voice call.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the call screening filters include at least one of priority filters, allow filters, and block filters, wherein the priority filters define a minimum level of message priority for which the at least one recipient is willing to receive notification, wherein the allow filters define at least one list of callers from whom the at least one recipient will receive messages and calls, wherein the block filters define at least one list of callers from whom the at least one recipient will not receive messages and calls.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the control parameters of the at least one target device include at least one of speaker volume, ringer volume, audible alert type, audible alert volume, at least one vibrate alert parameter, and at least one visual alert parameter.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a mapping between the caller and the calling device and establishing a mapping between the at least one recipient and the at least one target device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling device at which the caller selects the at least one recipient is a first device of the caller to which the caller is electronically mapped at a time of the selection.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling device at which the caller receives the response message is an Nth device of the caller to which the caller is electronically mapped at a delivery time of the response message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one target device at which the at least one recipient receives the call request is a first device of the at least one recipient to which the at least one recipient is electronically mapped.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected at least one target device at which the at least one recipient selects the response option is an Nth device of the at least one recipient to which the at least one recipient is electronically mapped.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the context information in at least one list of contact information of the target device, wherein the context information is displayed to correspond to the at least one recipient mapped to the selected at least one target device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically transferring updates of the context information of the plurality of target devices to the calling device over the data coupling before delivering a call request from the calling device to the at least one target device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically transferring a request for updates of the context information from the calling device over the data coupling.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring a state of the call request and transferring state messages including the call request state to the calling device via the data coupling.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the state of the call request includes at least one of not sent, in transit, delivered, failed to deliver, request expired, being retracted, and failed to retract states.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the call request includes at least one of a request priority, a text subject, a voice subject, a phone number of a caller originating the request, and an expiration time.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically scheduling the voice call for a future time with the selected at least one target device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising automatically generating a reminder at the future time and providing the reminder on the at least one target device, wherein the reminder includes at least one of reminder messages, visual alerts, vibrate alerts, and audible alerts, wherein the reminder includes a prompt for use in initiating communication with the calling device.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising automatically generating a reminder at the future time and providing the reminder on the calling device, wherein the reminder includes at least one of reminder messages, visual alerts, vibrate alerts, and audible alerts, wherein the reminder includes a prompt for use in initiating communication with the target device.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein queuing comprises automatically scheduling the voice call when context information of the caller and the at least one recipient indicates the caller and the at least one recipient are available.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein queuing comprises automatically initiating the voice call when context information of the caller and the at least one recipient indicates the caller and the at least one recipient are available.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically transferring a notification message to the calling device upon a change in a current availability state of at least one of the plurality of target devices before delivering the call request from the calling device to the at least one target device.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving at the calling device the response message accepting the call request, wherein the response message includes a prompt for use in initiating the voice call.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the calling device the response message postponing the call request;

queuing a reminder in accordance with a postponement period of the response message.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing an alert message to the caller on the calling device in response to expiration of the postponement period and an available state of the at least one target device, wherein the alert message includes at least one prompt for use in one of initiating the call and re-sending the call request to the at least one target device.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing an alert message to the caller on the calling device in response to expiration of the postponement period and an unavailable state of the at least one target device, wherein the alert message includes at least one prompt for use in one of initiating the call, re-sending the call request to the at least one target device, and requesting monitoring of the unavailable state of the at least one target device and notification when the unavailable state changes to an available state.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the call request is a data message.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the data message includes at least one of a text message and a voice message.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring the call request further comprises automatically transferring contents of the call request to the selected at least one target device in at least one of an electronic message of at least one form.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the electronic message includes at least one of an electronic mail message, an instant message, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message, and an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) message.

32. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring a context of the selected at least one target device and automatically broadcasting information of the context to the calling device.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the availability profile includes data representative of an availability of the at least one recipient is determined using at least one of identity information of the caller, priority of the call request, subject of the request, and requested time of the voice call.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising automatically broadcasting information of the context to a plurality of other client devices.

35. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring a context of the calling device and automatically broadcasting information of the context to the selected at least one target device and a plurality of other client devices.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the context information includes at least one of information of a state of connectivity of the calling device to a communication network and availability of the caller.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting the context information of the selected at least one target device to a first group of devices including the calling device via the data coupling.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising automatically maintaining and displaying information of a current availability state of the selected at least one recipient in at least one phonebook of devices of the first group using the broadcasted context information.

39. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting the context information of the calling device to a second group of devices including the selected at least one target device via the data coupling.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising automatically maintaining and displaying information of a current availability state of the caller in at least one phonebook of devices of the second group using the broadcasted context information.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the availability state of the caller is at least one of manually selected by the caller and automatically selected in response to at least one of profile information, call filter information, location of the selected at least one target device, and calendar information.

42. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling device includes a communication device on which the caller is currently logged in for use, wherein the mapping is in response to caller login and comprises updating on the calling device at least one of contact list information, information of one or more caller communication events, and currently-selected caller availability profiles including information of at least one of control parameters of the calling device and call screening filters.

43. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected at least one target device includes a communication device on which the selected at least one recipient is currently logged in for use, wherein the mapping is in response to the selected at least one recipient login and comprises updating on the at least one target device with at least one of contact list information, information of one or more recipient communication events, and currently-selected recipient availability profiles including information of at least one of control parameters of the at least one target device and call screening filters.

44. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving contact information at the calling device, wherein the contact information includes identification information of each of a plurality of target devices including the selected at least one target device, wherein the call request is transferred using the contact information.

45. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a plurality of contact lists using information from one or more sources of contact information, wherein the contact information includes identification information of each of the plurality of target devices including the at selected least one target device; and

accessing the plurality of contact lists using the calling device, wherein selecting the selected at least one recipient includes selecting the at least one recipient from one of the contact lists.

46. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the selected at least one recipient further includes selecting one or more recipients using availability information of the recipients and contact information of the recipients.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the availability information is in one or more availability databases and the contact information is in one or more contact databases.

48. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling device is at least one of a mobile device, a voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) device, a private branch exchange device, a soft client, and a desktop client.

49. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one target device is at least one of a mobile device, a voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) device, a private branch exchange device, a soft client, and a desktop client.

57. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability profile for each of the plurality of target devices comprises data representative of willingness and ability of a recipient associated with the target device to receive a communication.

50. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving context information for a plurality of target devices at a calling device, wherein the context information comprises data representative an availability profile for each of the plurality of target devices;

means for outputting the context information;

means for selecting at least one recipient associated with a selected at least one target device to receive a voice call coupled to the means for outputting;

means for generating a call request to the selected at least one target device responsive to the means for selecting;

wherein the availability profile for each of the plurality of target devices comprises data representative of willingness and ability of a recipient associated with the target device to receive a communication;

means for queuing the call request in accordance with the recipient having an inability to receive a communication;

means for automatically delivering the call request to the selected at least one target device in accordance with the context information of the selected at least one target device indicating an ability to receive a communication and context information of the calling device indicating an ability to send a communication;

means for receiving a delivery confirmation that the call request was delivered to the selected at least one target device; and

means for receiving a response message for the call request from the selected at least one target device.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the availability profile includes information of at least one of control parameters of the selected at least one target device and call screening filters selected by the recipient.

52. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for automatically receiving updates of the context information of the plurality of target devices;

wherein the means for outputting is responsive to the means for automatically receiving updates to output the updated context information.

53. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for receiving a state of the call request;

wherein the state of the call request includes at least one of not sent, in transit, delivered, failed to deliver, request expired, being retracted, and failed to retract states.

54. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the call request includes at least one of a request priority, a text subject, a voice subject, a phone number of a caller originating the request, and an expiration time.

55. The apparatus of claim 50, further comprising means for automatically scheduling a voice call for a future time with the selected at least one target device in response to the selected response options of accepting the call request and postponing the call request.

56. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising means for automatically generating a reminder at the future time;

wherein the reminder includes at least one of reminder messages, visual alerts, vibrate alerts, and audible alerts, wherein the reminder includes a prompt for use in initiating communication with the selected at least one target device.