Method and apparatus for content presentation in association with a telephone call

• US 9,071,670 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2014
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vusura Technology LLC
• Original Assignee: Wendell Brown
• Inventors: Brown, Wendell D.
• Primary Examiner(s): SING, SIMON P
• Application Number:
  US14/327,293
• Publication Number:
  US 20140321626A1
• Time in Patent Office: 356 Days
• Field of Search: 379/114.13, 379/93.01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/00 Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers subscriber services or facilities provided at exchanges H04M3/00; prepayment telephone coin boxes H04M17/00; current supply arrangements H04M19/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72439 for image or video messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/61 based on the service used
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/83 Notification aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8351 before establishing a communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8353 during the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8355 after the end of the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/846 optical, e.g. icon
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/848 Tone, e.g. beeper
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/85 characterised by the type of condition triggering a notification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6054 Biometric subscriber identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7231 by SIM, e.g. smart card account in SCP, SDP or SN
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42051 where the notification is included in the ringing tone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4365 : based on information specified by the calling party, e.g. priority or subject
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 : Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 : where the data service is an information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0051 : where the data service is a multimedia messaging service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 : Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 : Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 : for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/23 : for mobile advertising

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for presenting multimedia content to a caller and/or a called party in association with a telephone call. Content may be presented pre-ring (before the called party'"'"'s telephone rings), in-call, and/or post-call. Content presented to a party may be related to another party participating in the call or may be related to a third party (e.g., an advertiser that paid for the ability to have its content presented). Presented content may be actuable, to allow a caller to change the destination of a call, take advantage of an offer presented to him or her, redeem a coupon, schedule or queue a subsequent call, etc. To find a desired destination party, a caller may initiate a manual or automatic search of his or her local contacts (on his telephone) and/or a central or global directory or contact list.

Claims

1. A method of controlling presentation of content on one or more communication devices, the method comprising:

transmitting, from a first communication device to a call server, notification of initiation of a call from the first communication device to a second communication device;

receiving a first signal from the call server in response to the notification;

in response to the first signal, automatically delaying dialing the call without any action by an operator of the first communication device; and

dialing the call after termination of the delay.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving pre-ring content; and

displaying the pre-ring content before the call rings at the second communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving in-call content; and

displaying the in-call content during the call.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving post-call content; and

displaying the post-call content after the call.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving from the call server content provided by the second communication device; and

displaying the content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the content relates to a transaction between the operator of the first communication device and an organization associated with the second communication device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the content is social content concerning an operator of the second communication device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving from the call server a request for content to be displayed on the second communication device; and

transmitting to the call server one or more of;

pre-ring content to be displayed on the second communication device before the call rings at the second communication device;

in-call content to be displayed on the second communication device during the call; and

post-call content to be displayed on the second communication device after the call.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein content transmitted to the call server includes one or more of:

a purpose of the call;

an identity of the first communication device; and

an identity of the operator of the first communication device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting content to the call server comprises:

identifying a location of the first communication device.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein content transmitted to the call server is selected based on an operator of the second communication device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

prior to transmitting the notification, facilitating creation of a custom set of content by the operator of the first communication device; and

transmitting the custom set of content to the call server for delivery to and presentation on the second communication device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

receiving notification that the second communication device is busy;

automatically cancelling the call before the call rings at the second communication device; and

displaying on a display screen of the first communication device a message indicating that the second communication device is busy.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the first communication device:

prior to termination of the call, receiving from the operator of the first communication device information identifying another communication device to call; and

upon termination of the call, automatically initiating a second call to the other communication device, without further action by the operator.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of controlling presentation of content on one or more communication devices, the method comprising:

transmitting, from a first communication device to a call server, notification of initiation of a call from the first communication device to a second communication device;

receiving a first signal from the call server in response to the notification;

in response to the first signal, automatically delaying dialing the call without any action by an operator of the first communication device; and

dialing the call after termination of the delay.

16. A communication device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to;

transmit, from the communication device to a call server, notification of initiation of a call from the communication device to a second communication device;

receive a first signal from the call server in response to the notification;

in response to the first signal, automatically delay dialing the call without any action by an operator of the communication device; and

dial the call after termination of the delay.

17. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive pre-ring content; and

display the pre-ring content before the call rings at the second communication device.

18. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive in-call content; and

display the in-call content during the call.

19. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive post-call content; and

display the post-call content after the call.

20. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive from the call server content provided by the second communication device; and

display the content.

21. The communication device of claim 20, wherein the content relates to a transaction between the operator of the communication device and an organization associated with the second communication device.

22. The communication device of claim 20, wherein the content is social content concerning an operator of the second communication device.

23. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive from the call server a request for content to be displayed on the second communication device; and

transmit to the call server one or more of;

pre-ring content to be displayed on the second communication device before the call rings at the second communication device;

in-call content to be displayed on the second communication device during the call; and

post-call content to be displayed on the second communication device after the call.

24. The communication device of claim 23, wherein content transmitted to the call server includes one or more of:

a purpose of the call;

an identity of the communication device; and

an identity of the operator of the communication device.

25. The communication device of claim 23, wherein transmitting content to the call server comprises:

identifying a location of the first communication device.

26. The communication device of claim 23, wherein content transmitted to the call server is selected based on an operator of the second communication device.

27. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

prior to transmitting the notification, facilitate creation of a custom set of content by the operator of the communication device; and

transmit the custom set of content to the call server for delivery to and presentation on the second communication device.

28. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

receive notification that the second communication device is busy;

automatically cancel the call before the call rings at the second communication device; and

display on a display screen of the communication device a message indicating that the second communication device is busy.

29. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to:

prior to termination of the call, receive from the operator of the communication device information identifying another communication device to call; and

upon termination of the call, automatically initiate a second call to the other communication device, without further action by the operator.