Determining whether the local time where a mobile device is located is within a calling window of time

• US 9,325,841 B1
• Filed: 12/02/2014
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alvaria Cayman
• Original Assignee: Noble Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Noble, James K. Jr., Ouimette, Jason P., Koster, Karl H., Haggerty, Christopher S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Mong-Thuy
• Application Number:
  US14/557,500
• Time in Patent Office: 511 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/418, 455/415, 455/435.1, 455/411, 455/419
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/61 Time-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer-program products for determining whether a local time for a first party is within a calling window of time for originating a communication by a second party to a mobile device of the first party. For particular embodiments, information about the mobile device is retrieved by a computer-program application residing on the device. Depending on the embodiment, this information may comprise contact preferences, a current time of a location where the mobile device is located, a geo-location of the device, and/or a time zone for the location where the device is located. In various embodiments, once the information has been retrieved, at least a portion of the information is sent to the second party to be used to determine whether the local time for the first party is within the calling window for originating the communication to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for determining whether a local time for a party is within a calling window of time for originating a communication to a mobile device of the party, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining permission from the party to originate the communication to the mobile device of the party, wherein the permission is obtained as a result of the party successfully downloading a computer-program application to reside on the mobile device;

after successfully obtaining the permission, obtaining information from the mobile device, the information being retrieved from the mobile device by the computer-program application and comprising at least one of a current time for a location where the mobile device is located, a geo-location of the mobile device, and a time zone for the location where the mobile device is located;

deriving the local time based at least in part on the information;

determining whether the local time for the party is within the calling window of time for originating the communication to the mobile device of the party; and

originating the communication to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time for the party being within the calling window of time.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of sending a request to the computer-program application residing on the mobile device to obtain the information.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of providing the computer-program application for download to the mobile device of the party.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of obtaining permission from the party to retrieve the information about the mobile device of the party, wherein the permission to retrieve the information is obtained as the result of the party successfully downloading the computer-program application to reside on the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the information obtained from the mobile device comprises the current time for the location where the mobile device is located and the geo-location of the mobile device, and the method further comprises the steps of:

deriving the local time from the geo-location of the mobile device;

comparing the local time with the current time for the location where the mobile device is located; and

originating the communication to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time being within the calling window of time and the local time and the current time being within a tolerance of each other.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises a text message.

7. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for determining whether a local time for a party is within a calling window of time for originating a communication to a mobile device of the party, the computer-executable instructions being configured to cause at least one computer processor to:

after successfully obtaining permission from the party to originate the communication to the mobile device, obtain information from the mobile device, the information being retrieved from the mobile device by a computer-program application residing on the mobile device and comprising at least one of a current time for a location where the mobile device is located, a geo-location of the mobile device, and a time zone for the location where the mobile device is located;

derive the local time based at least in part on the information;

determine whether the local time for the party is within the calling window of time for originating the communication to the mobile device of the party; and

have the communication originated to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time for the party being within the calling window of time, wherein the permission from the party to originate the communication to the mobile device is obtained as a result of the party successfully downloading the computer-program application to the mobile device.

8. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the computer-executable instructions are further configured to cause the at least one computer processor to send a request to the computer-program application residing on the mobile device to obtain the information.

9. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein permission from the party to retrieve the information about the mobile device of the party is also obtained as a result of the party successfully downloading the computer-program application to reside on the mobile device.

10. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the information obtained from the mobile device comprises the current time for the location where the mobile device is located and at least one of the geo-location of the mobile device and the time zone for the location where the mobile device is located, and the computer-executable instructions are further configured to cause the at least one computer processor to:

derive the local time from at least one of the geo-location of the mobile device and the time zone for the location where the mobile device is located;

compare the local time with the current time for the location where the mobile device is located; and

have the communication originated to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time being within the calling window of time and the local time and the current time being within a tolerance of each other.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the computer-executable instructions are further configured to cause the at least one computer processor to:

retrieve a telephone number from a list of contacts; and

determine whether the telephone number is for the mobile device, wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to obtain the information from the mobile device in response to determining the telephone number is for the mobile device.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the communication comprises a text message.

13. A system for determining whether a local time for a party is within a calling window of time for originating a communication to a mobile device of the party, the system comprising:

at least one computer processor configured to;

after successfully obtaining permission from the party to originate the communication to the mobile device, obtain information from the mobile device, the information being retrieved from the mobile device by a computer-program application residing on the mobile device and comprising at least one of a current time for a location where the mobile device is located, a geo-location of the mobile device, and a time zone for the location where the mobile device is located;

derive the local time based at least in part on the information;

determine whether the local time for the party is within the calling window of time for originating the communication to the mobile device of the party; and

have the communication originated to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time for the party being within the calling window of time, wherein the permission from the party to originate the communication to the mobile device is obtained as a result of the party successfully downloading the computer-program application to the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to send a request to the computer-program application residing on the mobile device to obtain the information.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein permission from the party to retrieve the information about the mobile device of the party is also obtained as a result of the party successfully downloading the computer-program application to reside on the mobile device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the information obtained from the mobile device comprises the current time for the location where the mobile device is located and at least one of the geo-location of the mobile device and the time zone for the location where the mobile device is located, and the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

derive the local time from at least one of the geo-location of the mobile device and the time zone for the location where the mobile device is located;

compare the local time with the current time for the location where the mobile device is located; and

originate the communication to the mobile device of the party in response to the local time being within the calling window of time and the local time and the current time being within a tolerance of each other.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

retrieve a telephone number from a list of contacts; and

determine whether the telephone number is for the mobile device, wherein the at least one computer processor obtains the information from the mobile device in response to determining the telephone number is for the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication comprises a text message.