Multi-modal communications method

• US 8,126,121 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2008
• Issued: 02/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Labs Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Labs Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Parolkar, Satish, Bhavsar, Vikram
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahee, Md S
• Application Number:
  US12/111,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20080260129A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,400 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/76, 379/88.11, 379/88.12, 379/88.13, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/265.09, 379/900, 379/908, 709/206, 370352-354
• US Class Current: 379/88.17
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/053 remote terminal provisioning, e.g. of applets
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1016 Telecontrol
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/553 Data upload
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80

Abstract

A method of collecting information includes sending a text markup programming language query script, using a session initiation protocol message, to a communications device. The query script includes at least one location query to determine a location of the communications device. The method of collecting information also includes receiving a response to the query script including at least one response to the at least one location query from the communications device. The at least one response to the at least one location query is automatically generated by the communications device.

Claims

1. A method of collecting information for a recipient from a user communications device, comprising:

sending a text markup programming language query script, using a session initiation protocol message, to the communications device, the query script including at least one location query to determine a location of the communications device; and

receiving a response to the query script including at least one response to the at least one location query from the communications device, the at least one response to the at least one location query being automatically generated by the communications device.

2. The method of collecting information of claim 1,

wherein the received at least one response to the at least one location query comprises information of the location of the communications device.

3. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a personal identification of the user of the communications device provided based upon input by the user of the communications device.

4. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a type of the communications device automatically generated by the communications device.

5. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a communications format used by the communications device automatically generated by the communications device.

6. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a communications mode desired by the user of the communications device provided one of automatically by the communications device or based upon input by the user of the communications device.

7. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises an account number of the user of the communications device.

8. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a password of the user of the communications device provided based upon input by the user of the communications device.

9. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises billing information of the user of the communications device provided based upon input by the user of the communications device.

10. The method according to claim 2,

wherein the received response to the query script further comprises a preferred language of the user of the communications device provided one of automatically by the communications device or based upon input by the user of the communications device.

11. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the received response to the query script a textual representation of one of a DTMF tone, VoiceXML and HTML speech tags.

12. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the query script is sent from a call queue to the communications device.

13. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one location query is presented to the user via a user interface associated with the communications device.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a call destination based on the received at least one response.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

providing the received at least one response to an agent at the call destination.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one response is used to pre-screen caller information of a user using the communications device.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the query script is sent from an information service to the communications device.

18. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a communications connection between the communications device and one of a plurality of agent devices based on the at least one response.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing a computer program, recorded on the computer readable medium, that collects information the communications device, comprising:

a query script sending code segment that sends a text markup programming language query script, using a session initiation protocol message, to the communications device, the query script including at least one location query to determine a location of the communications device; and

a response receiving code segment that receives a response to the query script including at least one response to the at least one location query from the communications device, the at least one response to the at least one location query being automatically generated by the communications device.

20. An information-collecting apparatus collecting information for a recipient from a user communications device, comprising:

a query script sender that sends a text markup programming language query script, using a session initiation protocol message, to the communications device, the query script including at least one location query to determine a location of the communications device; and

a response receiver that receives a response to the query script including at least one response to the at least one location query from the communications device, the at least one response to the at least one location query being automatically generated by the communications device.