Custom ringback tone systems and methods

• US 9,131,046 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2013
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RealNetworks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: RealNetworks, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Jun, Visintainer, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, MAHENDRA R
• Application Number:
  US14/079,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20140066033A1
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/433, 455/567, 370/352, 370/356, 379/88.25, 379/373.01, 379/257, 709/245
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42017 Customized ring-back tones
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

A ringback tone service may be configured by determining an indication to suggest one or more callers to a user of a mobile-telephony device and obtaining historical call data describing recent calls placed by recent callers to the mobile-telephony device in a recent period of time. After identifying a number of frequent callers for whom no custom ringback tone is currently provisioned, the user is prompted to select from a list of custom ringback tones that are available to provision for incoming calls from the frequent caller(s). In some cases, the user may send a message to the caller, allowing the caller to select his or her own custom ringback tone via a user interface provided by a ringback tone-service provider.

Claims

1. A mobile-telephony-device-implemented method for configuring a ringback tone service, the method comprising:

determining, by said mobile-telephony device, an indication to suggest one or more callers to a user of said mobile-telephony device;

obtaining, by said mobile-telephony device, historical call data describing a plurality of recent calls placed by a plurality of recent callers to said mobile-telephony device in a recent-past period of time;

identifying, by said mobile-telephony device, a plurality of frequent callers among said plurality of recent callers based at least in part on said historical call data;

selecting, by said mobile-telephony device, from among said plurality of frequent callers a caller for whom no custom ringback tone is currently provisioned for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device;

identifying, by said mobile-telephony device, a plurality of custom ringback tones that are currently available to said user to provision for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device;

prompting, by said mobile-telephony device, said user to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to provision as a custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device;

obtaining from said user an indication to allow said caller to select said custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device;

prompting said caller to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones;

receiving an indication that said caller selected a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

receiving an indication that a remote ringback-tone server caused said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to be provisioned for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining from said user an indication selecting a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

sending a request to a remote ringback-tone server to provision said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein prompting said caller comprises:

sending a request to a remote ringback-tone server to prepare a user interface for presentation to said caller;

obtaining from said remote ringback-tone server an identifier identifying said user interface;

generating a message including said identifier; and

sending said message from said mobile-telephony device to said caller.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein sending said message comprises sending to said caller a selected one of a text message, a push notification, and an email message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein prompting said user comprises providing a user interface for presentation to said user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a second plurality of custom ringback tones that are not currently available to said user to provision for calls placed by said caller to said mobile-telephony device; and

prompting said user to purchase or otherwise obtain one of said second plurality of custom ringback tones.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an indication comprises determining that a ringback-tone application was recently installed on said mobile-telephony device.

8. A computing apparatus for configuring a ringback tone service, the apparatus comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the apparatus to:

determine an indication to suggest one or more callers to a user of the computing apparatus;

obtain historical call data describing a plurality of recent calls placed by a plurality of recent callers to the computing apparatus in a recent-past period of time;

identify a plurality of frequent callers among said plurality of recent callers based at least in part on said historical call data;

select from among said plurality of frequent callers a caller for whom no custom ringback tone is currently provisioned for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus;

identify a plurality of custom ringback tones that are currently available to said user to provision for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus;

prompt said user to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to provision as a custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus;

obtain from said user an indication to allow said caller to select said custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus;

prompt said caller to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones;

receive an indication that said caller selected a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

receive an indication that a remote ringback-tone server caused said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to be provisioned for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the memory stores further instructions that further configure the apparatus to:

obtain from said user an indication selecting a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

send a request to a remote ringback-tone server to provision said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones for calls placed by said caller to the computing apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the instructions that configure the apparatus to prompt said caller further comprise instructions configuring the apparatus to:

send a request to a remote ringback-tone server to prepare a user interface for presentation to said caller;

obtain from said remote ringback-tone server an identifier identifying said user interface;

generate a message including said identifier; and

send said message from the computing apparatus to said caller.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the instructions that configure the apparatus to send said message further comprise instructions configuring the apparatus to send to said caller a selected one of a text message, a push notification, and an email message.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to:

determine an indication to suggest one or more callers to a user of the processor;

obtain historical call data describing a plurality of recent calls placed by a plurality of recent callers to the processor in a recent-past period of time;

identify a plurality of frequent callers among said plurality of recent callers based at least in part on said historical call data;

select from among said plurality of frequent callers a caller for whom no custom ringback tone is currently provisioned for calls placed by said caller to the processor;

identify a plurality of custom ringback tones that are currently available to said user to provision for calls placed by said caller to the processor;

prompt said user to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to provision as a custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to the processor;

obtain from said user an indication to allow said caller to select said custom ringback tone for calls placed by said caller to the processor;

prompt said caller to select one of said plurality of custom ringback tones;

receive an indication that said caller selected a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

receive an indication that a remote ringback-tone server caused said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones to be provisioned for calls placed by said caller to the processor.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, having stored thereon further instructions that further configure the processor to:

obtain from said user an indication selecting a selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones; and

send a request to a remote ringback-tone server to provision said selected one of said plurality of custom ringback tones for calls placed by said caller to the processor.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions that configure the processor to prompt said caller further comprise instructions configuring the processor to:

send a request to a remote ringback-tone server to prepare a user interface for presentation to said caller;

obtain from said remote ringback-tone server an identifier identifying said user interface;

generate a message including said identifier; and

send said message from the processor to said caller.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that configure the processor to send said message further comprise instructions configuring the processor to send to said caller a selected one of a text message, a push notification, and an email message.