Call management system

• US 8,660,543 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2010
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Turner, Andre R., Wang, Dongchen, Xiao, Hong
• Primary Examiner(s): Daniel, Jr., Willie J
• Application Number:
  US12/974,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20120157067A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,162 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/417
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1008 Calls without connection establishment for implicit information transfer or as a service trigger
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/651 Text message transmission triggered by call
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/48 Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy

Abstract

A method, performed by a user device, may include detecting an incoming call; determining whether the incoming call is associated with a very important person contact; directing the incoming call to a voicemail system, when the incoming call is not associated with a very important person contact; and providing, when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, an instant response message to a device associated with the incoming call without answering the incoming call. The method may further include providing reminder, including a ranked callback list of missed calls, to the user at particular intervals.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user device, the method comprising:

detecting, by the user device, an incoming call;

determining, by the user device, whether the incoming call is associated with a very important person contact;

directing, by the user device, the incoming call to a voicemail system, when the incoming call is not associated with the very important person contact;

providing, by the user device and when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, an instant response message to a device associated with the incoming call without answering the incoming call;

determining, by the user device and when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, whether the instant response message is accepted by a calling contact associated with the incoming call,

the calling contact being the very important person contact; and

directing, by the user device, the calling contact to the voicemail system when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact and when the instant response message is accepted by the calling contact.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the instant response message, from a plurality of instant response messages, based on a very important person label associated with the incoming call.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting, when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, a user, associated with the user device, to select the instant response message, from a plurality of instant response messages, to send to the calling contact; and

determining, when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, a selection of the instant response message before providing the instant response message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the instant response message is associated with an instruction to create a calendar event; and

creating a calendar event to remind a user, associated with the user device, to return the incoming call, when the instant response message is associated with the instruction to create the calendar event.

5. The method of claim 4,

where the instant response message specifies a particular time in which the incoming call will be returned, and

where the calendar event is created based on the particular time.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

providing a reminder to a user, associated with the user device, based on the created calendar event.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the instant response message is associated with an instruction to initiate an instant messaging session; and

initiating an instant messaging session with the device associated with the incoming call based on determining that the instant response message is associated with the instruction to initiate the instant messaging session.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a callback score for the incoming call; and

placing information regarding the incoming call on a ranked callback list based on the generated callback score,

the ranked callback list including a ranked list of missed calls associated with the user device.

9. The method of claim 8, where the callback score is based on two or more of:

whether the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact;

whether the incoming call is marked as urgent;

an age associated with the incoming call,

the age of the incoming call being based on a quantity of time that has elapsed between detecting the incoming call and generating the callback score;

whether the incoming call is associated with a calendar event;

or

a call history associated with a contact associated with the incoming call.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing a reminder to a user, associated with the user device, at particular intervals, the reminder including the ranked callback list.

11. The method of claim 10, where the ranked list of missed calls includes at least one of:

an option for the user to call a number associated with the incoming call,

an option for the user to schedule a reminder to call the number, or

an option for the user to dismiss the call in the ranked list of missed calls.

12. A server device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

detect an incoming call intended for a user device,

the user device being different from the server device;

determine whether the incoming call is associated with a contact, of a plurality of contacts associated with the user device, that has been identified as a very important person contact;

direct the incoming call to a voicemail system when the incoming call is not associated with the contact that has been identified as the very important person contact;

provide an instant response message to a device associated with the incoming call without sending the incoming call to the user device when the incoming call is associated with the contact that has been identified as the very important person contact;

determine, when the incoming call is associated with the contact that has been identified as the very important person contact, whether the instant response message is accepted by the contact; and

direct the calling contact to the voicemail system when the incoming call is associated with the contact that has been identified as the very important person contact and when the instant response message is accepted by the contact.

13. The server device of claim 12, where the processor is further to:

select the instant response message, from a plurality of instant response messages, based on detecting a particular label associated with the incoming call.

14. The server device of claim 13,

where the memory is further to:

store the plurality of instant response messages, and

where, when selecting the instant response message, the processor is further to;

access the memory to obtain the instant response message.

15. The server device of claim 13, where, when selecting the instant response message, the processor is further to:

prompt a user, associated with the user device, to select the instant response message from the plurality of instant response messages; and

receive, from the user, a selection of the instant response message.

16. The server device of claim 13, where the processor is further to:

determine that the instant response message is associated with an instruction to create a calendar event; and

send an instruction to the user device to create the calendar event.

17. The server device of claim 13, where the processor is further to:

determine that the instant response message is associated with an instruction to initiate an instant messaging session; and

send an instruction to the user device to initiate the instant messaging session.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

detect an incoming call intended for a user device;

determine whether the incoming call is associated with a contact included in a particular set of contacts;

direct the incoming call to a voicemail system when the incoming call is not associated with the contact included in the particular set of contacts;

provide an instant response message to a device associated with the incoming call, without a user associated with the user device answering the incoming call, when the incoming call is associated with the contact included in the particular set of contacts;

determine, when the incoming call is associated with the contact included in the particular set of contacts, whether the instant response message is accepted by the contact; and

direct the contact to the voicemail system when the incoming call is associated with the contact included in the particular set of contacts and when the instant response message is accepted by the contact.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

determine a callback score for the incoming call based on one or more of;

whether the incoming call is associated with the contact included in the particular set of contacts,

whether the incoming call is marked as urgent,

an age associated with the incoming call,

the age of the incoming call being based on a quantity of time that elapsed between detecting the incoming call and generating the callback score,

whether the incoming call is associated with a calendar event, or

a call history associated with a contact associated with the incoming call;

place information regarding the incoming call on a ranked callback list based on the callback score; and

provide a reminder regarding the incoming call based on the ranked callback list.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where the instructions further comprise at least one of:

one or more instructions to provide an option for the user to call a number associated with the incoming call based on a list of missed calls,

one or more instructions to provide an option for the user to schedule a reminder to call the number, or

one or more instructions to provide an option for the user to dismiss the call in the list of missed calls.