Methods, systems, and devices for providing contact information

• US 8,144,853 B1
• Filed: 02/02/2005
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aboujaoude, Roger, Eslambolchi, Hossein, McCanuel, John, Shariati, Saeid
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sharifzada, Ibraham
• Application Number:
  US11/048,832
• Time in Patent Office: 2,610 Days
• Field of Search: 37920101-20105
• US Class Current: 379/201.05
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems

Abstract

Certain exemplary embodiments comprise a method, comprising storing, within a telecommunications network, contact information for each of a plurality of contacts, the contact information for at least one of the plurality of contacts comprising a telephone availability status; and updating the telephone availability status for said at least one of the plurality of contacts.

Claims

1. A method for providing contact information, comprising:

storing, in a telecommunications network, contact information for each of a plurality of contacts, the contact information for at least one of the plurality of contacts comprising a telephone availability status;

updating the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts based upon an activation of the contract information;

automatically providing, to a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network, the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts and an updated list of the plurality of contacts stored on the telephone, the telephone adapted to convert audio signals into a form transmittable via a public switched telephone network;

causing the telephone to render, to a user of the telephone, the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts; and

responsive to an indication from a first user, securely sharing the contact information and the updated telephone availability status with an information device operated by a second user, wherein the information device is not a telephone.

2. A method for providing contact information, comprising:

storing, in a telecommunications network, contact information for each of a plurality of contacts, the contact information for at least one of the plurality of contacts comprising a telephone availability status;

updating the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts, based upon an activation of the contract information, only when a first or second user accesses a list of the plurality of contacts, and providing to a telephone the updated list of the plurality of contacts stored on the telephone, the telephone adapted to convert audio signals into a form transmittable via a public switched telephone network; and

responsive to an indication from the first user, securely sharing the contact information and the updated telephone availability status with an information device operated by the second user, wherein the information device is not a telephone.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

requesting the contact information for each of the plurality of contacts, responsive to a determination that the telephone is out of range, the telephone adapted to resort back to a most recent version of a contact list.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving the contact information for each of the plurality of contacts.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

allowing authorized network access to the contact information for each of the plurality of contacts, the access specified by a Media Access Control address.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a selection of the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

via Media Gateway Control signals, requesting the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

via H.323 signals, receiving the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

via H.225 signals, determining the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

allowing authorized network access to the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein:

responsive to a status of the at least one of the plurality of contacts being out-of-range a timer is set, the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts is updated periodically via the timer.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts is updated aperiodically.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts is updated continuously.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts is updated on-demand.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein:

responsive to a status of the at least one of the plurality of contacts being out-of-range a timer is set, the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts is updated in real-time via the timer; and

repetitions of checking the telephone availability status are caused to cease by one of;

a request by the user for a cessation thereof;

a status change of the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts;

or

a determination that a call is successfully placed to the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

16. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

automatically providing the contact information for each of the plurality of contacts.

17. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

automatically providing the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

18. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

automatically providing, to a user of a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network, the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

19. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to a user of a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network attempting to utilize the telephone, automatically providing to the telephone the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

20. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to a user of a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network attempting to access a contact list stored on the telephone, automatically providing to the telephone the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

21. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to a user of a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network attempting to access contact information for the at least one of the plurality of contacts, automatically providing to the telephone the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

22. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to a user of a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network requesting contact information for the at least one of the plurality of contacts, automatically providing to the telephone the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

23. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

automatically causing a telephone coupled to the telecommunications network to render the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine readable instruction for providing contact information comprising:

storing, within a telecommunications network, contact information for each of a plurality of contacts, the contact information for at least one of the plurality of contacts comprising a telephone availability status;

updating the telephone availability status for the at least one of the plurality of contacts based upon an activation of the contract information, and providing to a telephone an updated list of the plurality of contacts stored on the telephone, the telephone adapted to convert audio signals into a form transmittable via a public switched telephone network; and

responsive to an indication from a first user, securely sharing the contact information and the updated telephone availability status with an information device operated by a second user, wherein the information device is not a telephone.