Centralized status server for call management of location-aware mobile devices

• US 9,258,673 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2011
• Issued: 02/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Ringcontrol Incorporated
• Inventors: Vendrow, Vlad, Young, Bruce, Shah, Praful, Elpiner, Boris, Shmunis, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): CASCA, FRED A
• Application Number:
  US13/245,837
• Publication Number:
  US 20120021750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,597 Days
• Field of Search: 455/417, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/456.6, 455/458, 455/445, 455/414.1, 455/415, 455/433, 455/41.2, 455/426.1, 455/432.1, 455/456.2, 379/221.01, 379/211.01, 379/220.01, 379/211.02, 379/266.01, 379/265.11, 379/114.05, 379/210.02, 379/218.01, 379/221.14, 379/265.13, 370/352, 370/259, 370/221, 370/236, 370/252, 370/260, 370/261, 370/328, 370/329
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42229 Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location diverting calls from one subscriber to another subscriber, i.e. two different subscriptions H04M3/54; selecting arrangements in intelligent networks H04Q3/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer program products for utilizing location information in a virtual private branch exchange (vPBX) system are described. In some implementations, the vPBX system can use the location information to determine an availability status of a user of a mobile device (e.g., out of the office, in the office, at home, busy, and the like). The vPBX system can obtain the geographic coordinates of the mobile device and correlate these coordinates with known coordinates for locations associated with the user (e.g., the user'"'"'s office, home, or other predefined locations). An inference of the user'"'"'s availability can then be determined based on the correlation (e.g., whether the user is currently out of the user'"'"'s office, at the user'"'"'s home, or at another location). The user'"'"'s availability can be made available to other users associated with the vPBX system, and can be used for call management (e.g., routing).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computers, user input from a mobile device, the user input comprising information defining a geographic location;

defining, by the one or more computers, a location rule, the location rule specifying that call requests that are directed to the mobile device when the mobile device is stationary and has a location that matches the geographic location defined by the information in the user input should be routed to a different communication device;

receiving, by the one or more computers, location information associated with the mobile device, the location information identifying a current location associated with the mobile device;

determining, by the one or more computers, that the current location associated with the mobile device matches the geographic location defined by the information in the user input;

determining, by the one or more computers, that the mobile device is stationary;

receiving, by the one or more computers, a call request intended for the mobile device; and

routing, by the one or more computers, the call request intended for the mobile device to the different communication device specified by the location rule in response to determining that the current location associated with the mobile device matches the geographic location and that the mobile device is stationary.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information defining a geographic location comprises information identifying a plurality of vertices that define a geometric shape.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information defining a geographic location comprises information identifying a geographic space where a geometric shape is located.

4. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computers, user information including location parameters and action parameters, the location parameters including information defining a geographic location and the action parameters specifying a different communication device to which calls intended for a mobile device should be routed when a location of the mobile device matches the geographic location and the mobile device is stationary;

generating, by the one or more computers and in a rule database, a rule based on the location parameters and the action parameters, wherein the rule specifies that call requests that are directed to the mobile device when the mobile device is stationary and has a location that matches the geographic location defined by the location parameters should be routed to the different communication device specified by the action parameters; and

processing, by the one or more computers, a call request to the mobile device based on the rule, comprising;

receiving a current location associated with the mobile device,

determining that the mobile device is stationary,

identifying the rule from the rule database based on the current location and on the mobile device being stationary, and

routing the call request to the different communication device specified in the rule.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

generating the rule database based on the user information.

6. The method of claim 5, where generating the rule database includes:

generating a plurality of location rules, wherein the plurality of location rules include at least two location rules relating different location information to different geographic locations.

7. The method of claim 6, where generating the rule database includes:

generating a plurality of action rules, each of the action rules corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of location rules, the plurality of action rules including at least two action rules each defining a different call routing process by which the call request is to be processed.

8. The method of claim 7, where generating the rule database includes developing the rule database to include proximity information and at least two location rules being associated with different proximity information.

9. The method of claim 5, where:

generating the rule database includes generating the rule database to include speed-related information associated with the mobile device; and

processing the call request includes;

determining whether the mobile device is stationary based on the speed-related information; and

processing the call request based on whether the mobile device is stationary.

10. A system comprising:

a call control manager that receives one or more call requests to a mobile device, and processes the one or more call requests using location information associated with the mobile device and speed-related information associated with the mobile device, the call control manager including;

a device locator that determines a device location associated with the mobile device based on the location information and whether or not the mobile device is stationary based on the speed-related information;

a rule database storing a plurality of location rules and a plurality of action rules; and

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that when executed by the one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

identifying a location rule containing information defining a geographic location based on the device location from the rule database, wherein the information defining the geographic location is received from a user interface on the mobile device; and

identifying an action rule based on the location rule from the rule database, the action rule defining a routing plan for routing a call request to the mobile device to a different communication device when the mobile device is in the geographic location and the mobile device is stationary.

11. The system of claim 10, where the device locator compares the location information with one or more geometric shapes in determining the device location.

12. The system of claim 10, where:

the action rule defining the routing plan includes an identification of a plurality of communication devices each associated with a rank; and

the action manager is configured to route the call request to one of the plurality of communication devices based on the rank when the mobile device is in the geographic location and the mobile device is stationary.