Providing call alerts using social network data

• US 8,958,537 B1
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Saylor, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Joseph J
• Application Number:
  US13/735,074
• Time in Patent Office: 771 Days
• Field of Search: 379/142.01, 379/142.07, 379/207.16, 379/207.01, 379/207.13
• US Class Current: 379/207.16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile

Abstract

Alerts are provided for calls, where the alerts are indicative of the relationship of a caller to a call recipient in a social networking platform. An identifier for a calling device is used to access social network data that is descriptive of a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform. An alert option for a call is selected, from among multiple, different alert options, based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform.

Claims

1. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an electronic device and from a caller, a call, the electronic device being associated with a call recipient;

obtaining an identifier associated with a calling device from which the call originated;

using the identifier to access social network data that is descriptive of a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in a social networking platform;

selecting, from among multiple, different alert options, an alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises;

identifying, based on the social network data, a first location associated with the caller, the first location being a location of the caller at a time of the call;

identifying a second location associated with the call recipient, the second location being a location of the call recipient at the time of the call;

determining a distance between the first location and the second location;

accessing a threshold distance;

comparing the distance between the first location and the second location to the threshold distance;

based on comparison results, determining that the distance between the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

selecting the alert option for the call based on determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

using the selected alert option to output an alert associated with the call.

2. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein receiving, at the electronic device and from the caller, a call, the electronic device being associated with a call recipient, comprises receiving, at a phone associated with the call recipient, an incoming phone call;

and

wherein obtaining the identifier associated with the calling device from which the call originated comprises identifying a phone number associated with a phone from which the call originated.

3. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting, from among multiple, different alert options, an alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises selecting, from among multiple, different ringtones, a ringtone for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform;

and

wherein using the selected alert option to output an alert associated with the call comprises outputting the selected ringtone in response to receiving the call.

4. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting, from among multiple, different alert options, an alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises selecting, from among multiple, different audible alerts, an audible alert for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform;

and

wherein using the selected alert option to output an alert associated with the call comprises outputting the selected audible alert after the call has terminated.

5. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform;

accessing alert data that associates each of the multiple, different alert options with a particular relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform;

comparing the determined relationship to the call recipient to the accessed alert data; and

based on comparison results, selecting an alert option designated for calls received from callers having the determined relationship to the call recipient.

6. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein, selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, a connection type of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, the connection type being selected from a set of connection types including at least connection types of directly connected, indirectly connected, and unconnected; and

in response to determining the connection type of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, selecting, as the alert option for the call, an alert option associated with the determined connection type prior to receiving the call, the alert option being selected from among at least an alert option associated with the connection type of directly connected, an alert option associated with the connection type of indirectly connected, and an alert option associated with the connection type of unconnected.

7. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1:

wherein the operations further comprise;

receiving first user input designating a first alert option for calls received from callers having a first relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform; and

receiving second user input designating a second alert option for calls received from callers having a second relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform, the second alert option being different from the first alert option, and the second relationship being different from the first relationship; and

wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises;

determining, based on the social network data, that, in the social networking platform, the caller has the first relationship to the call recipient; and

in response to determining that, in the social networking platform, the caller has the first relationship to the call recipient, selecting the first alert option.

8. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that, in the social networking platform, the caller is a friend of the call recipient; and

in response to determining that, in the social networking platform, the caller is a friend of the call recipient, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from callers that are not friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform.

9. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that the caller is included in a predefined subset of friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform; and

in response to determining that the caller is included in the predefined subset of friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform that are included in the predefined subset and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform that are not included in the predefined subset, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform that are included in the predefined subset.

10. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that, in the social networking platform, the caller is a friend of a friend of the call recipient; and

in response to determining that, in the social networking platform, the caller is a friend of a friend of the call recipient, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from callers having a relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform other than being a friend of a friend, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from friends of friends of the call recipient in the social networking platform.

11. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that, in the social networking platform, the caller is designated as a family member of the call recipient; and

in response to determining that, in the social networking platform, the caller is designated as a family member of the call recipient, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from callers designated as family members of the call recipient in the social networking platform and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from callers not designated as family members of the call recipient in the social networking platform, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from callers designated as family members of the call recipient in the social networking platform.

12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that the caller is not a friend of the call recipient in the social networking platform;

determining, based on the social network data, that the caller and the call recipient are both members of a group defined within the social networking platform; and

in response to determining that the caller and the call recipient are both members of a group defined within the social networking platform, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from members of the group defined within the social networking platform and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from callers that are not members of the group defined within the social networking platform, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from members of the group defined within the social networking platform.

13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, that, in the social networking platform, the caller does not have any relationship to the call recipient; and

in response to determining that, in the social networking platform, the caller does not have any relationship to the call recipient, selecting, from among at least a first alert option that is designated for calls received from callers that do not have any relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform and at least one other alert option designated for calls received from callers that have a relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform, the first alert option that is designated for calls received from callers that do not have any relationship to the call recipient in the social networking platform.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance comprises:

determining, based on the social network data, a relationship of the caller to the call recipient;

identifying a first alert option designated for calls received from callers having the determined relationship to the call recipient;

modifying the first alert option in response to determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

selecting the modified alert option as the alert option for the call.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising displaying, while the selected alert option is output as an alert associated with the call, information that indicates the relationship of the caller to the call recipient.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein using the identifier to access social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises accessing, from a storage unit of the electronic device, social network data received, prior to receiving the call, from a social networking service that operates the social networking platform, the social network data being descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein using the identifier to access social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises:

after receiving the call and before using the selected alert option to output the alert associated with the call;

providing the identifier to a social networking service that operates the social networking platform; and

receiving, over a network and from the social networking service that operates the social networking platform, the social network data.

18. A method comprising:

receiving, at the electronic device and from a caller, a call, the electronic device being associated with a call recipient;

obtaining an identifier associated with a calling device from which the call originated;

using the identifier to access social network data that is descriptive of a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in a social networking platform;

selecting, from among multiple, different alert options, an alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises;

identifying, based on the social network data, a first location associated with the caller, the first location being a location of the caller at a time of the call;

identifying a second location associated with the call recipient, the second location being a location of the call recipient at the time of the call;

determining a distance between the first location and the second location;

accessing a threshold distance;

comparing the distance between the first location and the second location to the threshold distance;

based on comparison results, determining that the distance between the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

selecting the alert option for the call based on determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

using the selected alert option to output an alert associated with the call.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a mobile device application that includes executable instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at the electronic device and from a caller, a call, the electronic device being associated with a call recipient;

obtaining an identifier associated with a calling device from which the call originated;

using the identifier to access social network data that is descriptive of a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in a social networking platform;

selecting, from among multiple, different alert options, an alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, wherein selecting the alert option for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises;

identifying, based on the social network data, a first location associated with the caller, the first location being a location of the caller at a time of the call;

identifying a second location associated with the call recipient, the second location being a location of the call recipient at the time of the call;

determining a distance between the first location and the second location;

accessing a threshold distance;

comparing the distance between the first location and the second location to the threshold distance;

based on comparison results, determining that the distance between the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

selecting the alert option for the call based on determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

using the selected alert option to output an alert associated with the call.

20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a phone and from a caller, an incoming phone call, the phone being associated with a call recipient;

identifying a phone number associated with a calling device from which the incoming phone call originated;

using the phone number to access social network data that is descriptive of a relationship of the caller to the call recipient in a social networking platform;

selecting, from among multiple, different ringtones, a ringtone for the incoming phone call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform, wherein selecting the ringtone for the call based on the social network data that is descriptive of the relationship of the caller to the call recipient in the social networking platform comprises;

identifying, based on the social network data, a first location associated with the caller, the first location being a location of the caller at a time of the call;

identifying a second location associated with the call recipient, the second location being a location of the call recipient at the time of the call;

determining a distance between the first location and the second location;

accessing a threshold distance;

comparing the distance between the first location and the second location to the threshold distance;

based on comparison results, determining that the distance between the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

selecting the ringtone for the call based on determining that the first location and the second location are within the threshold distance; and

outputting, by the phone, the selected ringtone in response to receiving the incoming phone call.