Attribute and location based entity presentation in presence based communication systems

• US 8,190,135 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2009
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Gupta, Amit, Battacharjee, Avronil
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lebassi, Amanuel
• Application Number:
  US12/357,626
• Publication Number:
  US 20100184416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,223 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/414.3, 455/456.1, 455/414.2, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/414.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Presence information and communication options for contact entities (people and other) of a user are provided to the user based on the user'"'"'s own location. The user'"'"'s location information is used as initial criterion to filter contact entities. Further filtering is performed based on presence attributes of nearby contacts such as their expertise, availability, location, and similar attributes. Prioritization and ordering may also be carried out based on the same criteria.

Claims

1. A method executed at least in part on a computing device for using location and presence attributes in processing contact lists, the method comprising:

determining human and non-human contact entities within a predefined distance of a subscriber based on received location information associated with the subscriber;

receiving published dynamic and static presence information associated with the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance;

prioritizing the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance employing the presence information according to one of a default rule and a user preference;

presenting the prioritized human and non-human contact entities to the subscriber such that at least one communication mode from a set of communication services is provided through an actionable item associated with the human and non-human prioritized contact entities;

recommending the at least one available communication mode to the subscriber based on the location of the subscriber and the presence information of the human and non-human contact entities;

facilitating communication with one of the nearby human and non-human contact entities upon selection of the nearby contact entity and a communication mode by the subscriber; and

in response to receiving a selection of the nearby contact entity and the communication mode by the subscriber, providing the selected communication mode by activating an application associated with the selected communication mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information associated with the subscriber is determined based on at least one from a set of:

Global Positioning Service (GPS) information, cellular network information, and information obtained from an active connection of the subscriber to a non-cellular network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined distance is determined based on at least one default rule customized by the subscriber.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-human contact entities include one or more of:

computing network peripherals, a printing device, and an imaging device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the nearby contact entities are ordered based on one of:

explicit subscriber preferences and automatically inferred rules associated with the presence information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordered nearby contact entities are updated upon one of:

expiration of a predefined time period a request by the subscriber, a change of the subscriber'"'"'s location, and a change in the presence information of any one of the contacts.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the nearby contact entities are ordered based on the presence information employing at least one from a set of:

a branch-and-bound algorithm, a progressive improvement algorithm, and a heuristic algorithm.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the nearby contact entities are ordered and presented to the subscriber by an application executed on at least one from a set of:

a smart phone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a handheld computer, and a smart automobile console.

9. A system for using location and presence attributes in processing contact lists, the system comprising:

a server and a communication management framework, the server configured to execute the communication management framework and further configured to;

determine human and non-human contact entities within a predefined distance of a subscriber based on received location information associated with the subscriber;

receive published dynamic and static presence information associated with the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance;

prioritize the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance employing the presence information according to one of a default rule and a user preference;

present the prioritized human and non-human contact entities to the subscriber such that at least one communication mode from a set of communication services is provided through an actionable item associated with the human and non-human prioritized contact entities;

recommend the at least one available communication mode to the subscriber based on the location of the subscriber and the presence information of the human and non-human contact entities;

facilitate communication with one of the nearby human and non-human contact entities upon selection of the nearby contact entity and a communication mode by the subscriber; and

in response to receiving a selection of the nearby contact entity and the communication mode by the subscriber, provide the selected communication mode by activating an application associated with the selected communication mode.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the server is further configured to enable the communication management framework to activate another application for performing an action selected by the subscriber from a presented contact list.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein elements and configuration of a user interface for presenting the prioritized human and non-human contact entities to the subscriber are dynamically modified based on a type and presence attributes of the nearby contact entities.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the the nearby contact entities and associated actionable items are presented employing at least one from a set of:

a graphical shape-based scheme, an icon scheme, a color scheme, and a text-formatting scheme.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the non-human contact entities include one of a printing device and an imaging device, and wherein the presence information includes at least one from a set of:

an availability of the device, a network address of the device, an access attribute associated with the device, and a document size information associated with the device.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the human contact entities are ordered based on at least one from a set of:

their expertise, their relationship to the subscriber, and their availability.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for using location and presence attributes in processing contact lists, the actions comprising:

determine human and non-human contact entities within a predefined distance of a subscriber based on received location information associated with the subscriber;

receive published dynamic and static presence information associated with the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance;

prioritize the human and non-human contact entities within the predefined distance employing the presence information according to one of a default rule and a user preference;

present the prioritized human and non-human contact entities to the subscriber such that at least one communication mode from a set of communication services is provided through an actionable item associated with the human and non-human prioritized contact entities;

recommend the at least one available communication mode to the subscriber based on the location of the subscriber and the presence information of the human and non-human contact entities;

facilitate communication with one of the nearby human and non-human contact entities upon selection of the nearby contact entity and a communication mode by the subscriber; and

in response to receiving a selection of the nearby contact entity and the communication mode by the subscriber, providing provide the selected communication mode by activating an application associated with the selected communication mode.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further comprise:

automatically prioritize human contact entities based on their availability, schedule, location, and expertise; and

enable the subscriber to perform at least one from a set of;

schedule a meeting with, place a call to, send an email to, and send an instant message to one of the prioritized entities based on the prioritization.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the prioritized human and non-human contact entities are updated in response to a change in a predefined number of human and non-human contact entities.