Presence change alert

• US 8,930,829 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2008
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ShoreTel Incorporated (Mitel Networks Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ShoreTel Incorporated (Mitel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Patel, AshvinKumar, Okita, Glen, Tsai, Meigy, Tovino, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): SONG, DAEHO D
• Application Number:
  US12/241,552
• Publication Number:
  US 20100083142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,289 Days
• Field of Search: 715/758, 715/736, 715/741
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for monitoring availability of a contact are described. The apparatus includes an interface module for receiving a selection from a user that indicates the contact to be monitored. The apparatus also includes a presence change alert manager that is coupled to the interface module and is coupled to a network. The presence changer alert manager is configured to determine at least one relevant type of availability for the contact and to determine if availability information obtained from the network corresponds to a change in a relevant type of availability for the contact. The apparatus further includes a notification manager coupled to the presence change alert manager. If the presence change alert manager determines that the obtained availability information corresponds to a change of a relevant type of availability for the contact, the notification manager generates a notification alerting the user of the change.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring availability of a contact, the method comprising:

receiving a selection indicating the contact from a user;

determining a type of communication for which the contact was unavailable when the contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication;

determining at least one relevant type of availability associated with the contact based at least in part on a type of availability of interest to the user, the at least one relevant type of availability including a first type of availability that corresponds to the type of communication for which the contact was unavailable when the contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication;

determining that the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact has changed based at least in part on availability information from a network; and

responsive to determining that the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact has changed, displaying a notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact, the notification including a time indicator icon that conveys a time of day when the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact occurred.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises telephonic availability.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises telephonic availability and instant messaging availability.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises telephonic availability and scheduling availability.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises instant messaging availability and scheduling availability.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises at least two types of availability selected from the group consisting of telephonic availability, instant messaging availability, scheduling availability, video conferencing availability, and location-based availability.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection indicating the contact comprises:

displaying an interface including a contact icon associated with the contact; and

responsive to the user selecting the contact icon, displaying a contact options menu associated with the contact and including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection indicating the contact comprises:

responsive to the user initiating a call to the contact, displaying an interface including a call cell window associated with the call, the call cell window including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection indicating the contact comprises:

responsive to the user initiating an instant message to the contact, displaying an interface associated with the instant message and including a contact options menu, the contact options menu including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection indicating the contact comprises:

responsive to the user entering text associated with the contact into a text entry field, displaying an interface including an options menu, the options menu including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one relevant type of availability for the contact comprises:

responsive to the contact being unavailable for a second type of availability upon receiving the selection, determining that the second type of availability is a relevant type of availability for the contact.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one relevant type of availability for the contact comprises analyzing default settings associated with the contact.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein determining at least one relevant type of availability for the contact comprises analyzing a selection process employed by the user.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification is an interface that remains visible until a user input is received.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising, responsive to the user input comprising a selection of a call icon included in the notification, calling the contact.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising, responsive to the user input comprising a selection of an instant message icon included in the notification, launching an instant messaging session for the contact.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising, responsive to the user input comprising a selection of a snooze icon included in the notification:

after waiting a specified delay, monitoring the network to obtain additional availability information; and

responsive to determining that the additional availability information corresponds to a subsequent change of at least one relevant type of availability for the contact, displaying a subsequent notification alerting the user of the subsequent change.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the specified delay is selected by the user from a menu included in the notification.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability information includes scheduling information describing a schedule of the contact, and a determination that the at least one relevant type of availability has changed is based on the schedule of the contact.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability information is determined based on geo-location information that describes a physical location of the contact, and a determination that the at least one relevant type of availability has changed is based on the physical location of the contact.

19. A method for monitoring availability of a plurality of contacts, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of selections indicating the plurality of contacts from a user;

determining, for each contact in the plurality of contacts, a type of communication for which the respective contact was unavailable when the respective contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication;

determining, for each contact in the plurality of contacts, at least one relevant type of availability associated with the respective contact based at least in part on a type of availability of interest to the user, the at least one relevant type of availability associated with the respective contact including a first type of availability that corresponds to the type of communication for which the respective contact was unavailable when the respective contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication;

determining the at least one relevant type of availability for a first contact included in the plurality of contacts has changed based at least in part on a first availability information from a network; and

responsive to determining that the at least one relevant type of availability for the first contact included in the plurality of contacts has changed, displaying a first notification alerting the user of the first change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the first contact, the notification including a time indicator icon that conveys a time of day when the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the first contact occurred.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

responsive to determining that second availability information obtained from a network corresponds to a second change of at least one relevant type of availability for a second contact included in the plurality of contacts, displaying a second notification alerting the user of the second change.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second notification is displayed concurrently with the first notification.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

displaying a list of the plurality of contacts; and

removing a contact from the plurality of contacts in response to a user input.

23. An apparatus for monitoring availability of a contact, the apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the computer-executable code comprising;

an interface module for receiving a selection indicating the contact from a user;

a presence change alert manager for determining a type of communication for which the contact was unavailable when the contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication, the presence change alert manager determining at least one relevant type of availability associated with the contact based on at least in part on a type of availability of interest to the user, the at least one relevant type of availability including a first type of availability that corresponds to the type of communication for which the contact was unavailable when the contact was selected to communicate via the type of communication, the presence change alert manager determining the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact has changed based at least in part on availability information from a network, the presence change alert manager coupled to the interface module and coupled to the network; and

a notification manager for, responsive to the presence change alert manager determining that the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact has changed, generating and displaying a notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact, the notification manager coupled to the presence change alert manager and the notification including a time indicator icon that conveys a time of day when the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact occurred.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the at least one relevant type of availability comprises telephonic availability.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 further comprising:

a first display device for displaying an interface generated by the interface module, the first display device coupled to the interface module; and

a first input device for receiving user input, the first input device coupled to the interface module.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the interface module receives a selection indicating the contact from a user by:

generating an interface including a contact icon associated with the contact; and

responsive to the user selecting the contact icon, generating a contact options menu associated with the contact and including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the interface module receives a selection indicating the contact from a user by:

responsive to the user initiating a call to the contact, generating an interface including a call cell window associated with the call, the call cell window including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the interface module receives a selection indicating the contact from a user by:

responsive to the user initiating an instant message to the contact, generating an interface associated with the instant message and including a contact options menu, the contact options menu including a selectable alert icon, the selectable alert icon, when selected, allows for a change in whether the notification alerting the user of the change of the at least one relevant type of availability for the contact is displayed.

29. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the presence change alert manager determines at least one relevant type of availability for the contact by:

responsive to the contact being unavailable for a second type of availability upon receiving the selection, determining that the second type of availability is a relevant type of availability for the contact.

30. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the presence change alert manager determines at least one relevant type of availability for the contact by analyzing default settings associated with the contact.

31. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the presence change alert manager determines at least one relevant type of availability for the contact by analyzing a selection process employed by the user.

32. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein:

the first display device is further configured to display the notification generated by the notification manager and is coupled to the notification manager; and

the first input device is coupled to the notification manager.

33. The apparatus of claim 25 further comprising:

a second display device for displaying the notification generated by the notification manager, the second display device coupled to the notification manager; and

a second input device for receiving user input, the second input device coupled to the notification manager.

34. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the apparatus is included in a Voice over Internet Protocol telephone having a display.