System and method for interactive communication context generation

• US 9,412,088 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2011
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Gandhi, Sapan, Paithankar, Anand
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustine, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US12/986,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20120179982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,041 Days
• Field of Search: 715/753, 715/756, 715/810, 715/816, 715/825
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression

Abstract

An interactive communication, such as a video conference or an audio communication, is established and a user places the interactive communication on hold. Prior to and/or after the interactive communication was placed on hold, context information related to when the interactive communication was placed on hold is gathered. The interactive communication is taken off hold and the context information is presented to the user; thus providing the user with the context of the interactive communication when it was placed on hold.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sending and receiving, by a processor, at a network interface, an interactive communication, wherein the interactive communication is between a first user and one or more other users and wherein the first user is at a first communication device and the one or more other users are at one or more other communication devices;

receiving, by the processor, an incoming email during the interactive communication;

automatically placing, by the processor, at a communication processing module, the interactive communication on hold in response to receiving the incoming email;

in response to placing the interactive communication on hold;

sending, by the processor, a notification to the one or more other users that the interactive communication has been placed on hold; and

getting, by the processor, in a context module, context information that comprises information taken from the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold;

sending, by the processor, a response to the email while the interactive communication is on hold;

in response to sending the email, taking, by the processor, the interactive communication off hold; and

presenting, by the processor, in a user interface, the context information taken from the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein getting the context information further comprises getting the context information from the first user, and wherein the context information from the first user is text information entered by the first user describing the interactive communication.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive communication is an audio or video communication and the context information is a recorded segment of the interactive communication that was recorded prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive communication is an audio or video communication and the context information is an identified word and/or phrase that was spoken during the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the context information is an emotional evaluation of the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive communication is a video communication and the context information, that is presented to the first user based on the interactive communication being placed on hold, comprises one of the following:

a specific slide of a presentation that was displayed at the time the video communication was placed on hold, a specific view of a document that was displayed at the time the video communication was placed on hold, or a picture of the video communication at the time the video communication was placed on hold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive communication is a video communication or an audio communication and the context information further comprises a recording of at least a portion of the interactive communication after the interactive communication was placed on hold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the context information comprises text information that the first user entered and a recorded segment of the interactive communication that was recorded prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold, and further comprising presenting to the first user a context selection window that gives the first user the option to view the information that the first user entered, to play the recorded segment of the interactive communication, and/or to return to the interactive communication.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the context information is also received from the first user and further comprising:

forwarding by the communication processing module, the interactive communication to a second communication device; and

sending by the context module the context information to the second communication device in response to the forwarding.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive communication is automatically placed on hold by detection of an incoming voice, video, or Instant Messaging call from a specific user.

10. A system comprising:

a network interface, including a processor, that sends and receives an interactive communication, wherein the interactive communication is between a first user and one or more other users and wherein the first user is at a first communication device and the one or more other users are at one or more other communication devices;

a communication processing module, including the processor, that receives an incoming email during the interactive communication and automatically places the interactive communication on hold in response to receiving the incoming email, sends a notification to the one or more other users that the interactive communication has been placed on hold, sends a response to the email while the interactive communication is on hold, and takes the interactive communication of hold in response to sending the email;

a context module, including the processor, that gets context information that comprises information taken from the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold; and

a user interface that presents the context information taken from the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the context module gets the context information from the first user, and wherein the context information from the first user is text information entered by the first user describing the interactive communication.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the interactive communication is an audio or video communication and the context module gets the context information by recording a segment of the interactive communication that was recorded prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the interactive communication is an audio or video communication and the context module gets the context information by identifying a word and/or phrase that was spoken during the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the context module gets the context information by performing an emotional evaluation of the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the interactive communication is a video communication and the context information that is presented to the first user based on the interactive communication being placed on hold comprises one of the following:

a specific slide of a presentation that was displayed at the time the video communication was placed on hold, a specific view of a document that was displayed at the time the video communication was placed on hold, or a picture of the video communication at the time the video communication was placed on hold.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the interactive communication is a video communication or an audio communication and the context module gets the context information by recording at least a portion of the interactive communication after the interactive communication was placed on hold.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the context module gets the context information from the first user, and gets the context information by recording a segment of the interactive communication, and wherein the segment of the interactive communication was recorded prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold; and

the user interface presents to the first user a context selection window that gives the first user the option to view the context information that the first user entered, plays the recorded segment of the interactive communication, and/or returns to the interactive communication.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the context information is received from the first user and the communication processing module forwards the interactive communication to a second communication device, and wherein the context module sends the context information to the second communication device in response to the forwarding.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the context module gets the context information by making an emotional evaluation of the interactive communication and/or by identifying words or phrases that were spoken during the interactive communication prior to the interactive communication being placed on hold.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein the context information is an emotional evaluation of the interactive communication and the context information is displayed using one of different colors, fonts, italics, windows, menus, icons, or pop-ups based on the emotional evaluation.

22. The system of claim 10, wherein the interactive communication is automatically placed on hold by detection of an incoming voice, video, or Instant Messaging call from a specific user.