Incoming call management in a communication environment with unified communication interfaces

• US 9,538,000 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2015
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hearsay Social, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Mast Mobile, Inc. (Hearsay Social, Inc.)
• Inventors: Messenger, David, Lurie, Peter, Dawson, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Ajayi, Joel
• Application Number:
  US14/827,201
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• Field of Search: 455/415
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2477 for selecting a function from a menu display H04M1/2474 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27457 Management thereof, e.g. manual editing of data
• 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 15/32 Charging, billing or metering arrangements for satellites or concentrators which connect one or more exchange lines with a group of local lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/67 Transmitting arrangements for sending billing related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/70 Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/705 Account settings, e.g. limits or numbers or payment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/72 by the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/45 related to voicemail messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4509 Unified messaging with single point of access to voicemail and other mail or messaging systems unified messaging in packet switching networks H04L51/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42034 Calling party identification service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• 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 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/465 Arrangements for simultaneously calling a number of substations until an answer is obtained
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5141 : Details of processing calls and other types of contacts in an unified manner unified messaging in packet-switching networks H04L51/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53333 : Message receiving aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53358 : Message preview
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/537 : Arrangements for indicating the presence of a recorded message , whereby the presence information might include a preview or summary of the message
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 : Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/34 : Modification of an existing route
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for managing incoming calls comprises receiving, at an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number corresponding to a first contact group and a second phone number corresponding to a second contact group, a request to receive an incoming call associated with a caller phone number. The intermediate server identifies a contact group associated with the request. The identified contact group comprises the first contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the first phone number, and the identified contact group comprises the second contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the second phone number. The intermediate server selects a notification based on the identified contact group. The intermediate server modifies the request to receive an incoming call to include the selected notification and routes the modified request to the mobile phone.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing incoming calls, comprising:

receiving, at an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number corresponding to a first contact group and a second phone number corresponding to a second contact group, a request to receive an incoming call associated with a caller phone number, the request corresponding to the first phone number or the second phone number;

in response to receiving the request to receive the incoming call, identifying, by the intermediate server, a contact group associated with the request, the identified contact group comprising the first contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the first phone number, and the identified contact group comprising the second contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the second phone number, the first contact group and the second contact group each including one or more phone numbers;

selecting, by the intermediate server, a notification based on the identified contact group, wherein the selected notification comprises a first notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the first contact group, and wherein the selected notification comprises a second notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the second contact group, the first notification different from the second notification;

modifying, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call to include the selected notification;

routing, by the intermediate server, the modified request to the mobile phone, and

in response to determining that the caller phone number is not included in the one or more phone numbers included in the first contact group and the second contact group;

modifying the first contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the first contact group; and

modifying the second contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the second contact group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first phone number comprises a phone number corresponding to hardware of the mobile phone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second phone number comprises a virtual phone number assigned to the mobile phone by the intermediate server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, by the intermediate server, a contact group setting associated with the mobile phone based on the identified contact group associated with the request, the contact group setting indicating if incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked; and

in response to the contact group setting indicating that incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked, blocking, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected notification comprises one or more of:

a ringtone, a visual notification, and a vibration pattern.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile phone is configured to notify a user of the mobile device using the selected notification in response to receiving the routed modified request from the intermediate server.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer instructions for managing incoming calls that, when executed by a hardware processor, perform steps comprising:

receiving, at an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number corresponding to a first contact group and a second phone number corresponding to a second contact group, a request to receive an incoming call associated with a caller phone number, the request corresponding to the first phone number or the second phone number;

in response to receiving the request to receive the incoming call, identifying, by the intermediate server, a contact group associated with the request, the identified contact group comprising the first contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the first phone number, and the identified contact group comprising the second contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the second phone number, the first contact group and the second contact group each including one or more phone numbers;

selecting, by the intermediate server, a notification based on the identified contact group, wherein the selected notification comprises a first notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the first contact group, and wherein the selected notification comprises a second notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the second contact group, the first notification different from the second notification;

modifying, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call to include the selected notification;

routing, by the intermediate server, the modified request to the mobile phone, and

in response to determining that the caller phone number is not included in the one or more phone numbers included in the first contact group and the second contact group;

modifying the first contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the first contact group; and

modifying the second contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the second contact group.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the first phone number comprises a phone number corresponding to hardware of the mobile phone.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the second phone number comprises a virtual phone number assigned to the mobile phone by the intermediate server.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, comprising instructions that, when executed by the hardware processor, perform further steps comprising:

identifying, by the intermediate server, a contact group setting associated with the mobile phone based on the identified contact group associated with the request, the contact group setting indicating if incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked; and

in response to the contact group setting indicating that incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked, blocking, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the selected notification comprises one or more of:

a ringtone, a visual notification, and a vibration pattern.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the mobile phone is configured to notify a user of the mobile device using the selected notification in response to receiving the routed modified request from the intermediate server.

13. A system for managing incoming calls, comprising:

an intermediate server communicatively coupled to a mobile phone associated with a first phone number and a second phone number, the intermediate server comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions and one or more hardware processors configured to execute the instructions to perform steps comprising;

receiving a request to receive an incoming call associated with a caller phone number, the request corresponding to the first phone number or the second phone number;

in response to receiving the request to receive the incoming call, identifying, by the intermediate server, a contact group associated with the request, the identified contact group comprising the first contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the first phone number, and the identified contact group comprising the second contact group in response to the received request corresponding to the second phone number, the first contact group and the second contact group each including one or more phone numbers;

selecting, by the intermediate server, a notification based on the identified contact group, wherein the selected notification comprises a first notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the first contact group, and wherein the selected notification comprises a second notification in response to the identified contact group comprising the second contact group, the first notification different from the second notification;

modifying, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call to include the selected notification;

routing, by the intermediate server, the modified request to the mobile phone, and

in response to determining that the caller phone number is not included in the one or more phone numbers included in the first contact group and the second contact group;

modifying the first contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the first contact group; and

modifying the second contact group to include the caller phone number responsive to determining that the identified contact group is the second contact group.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first phone number comprises a phone number corresponding to hardware of the mobile phone.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the second phone number comprises a virtual phone number assigned to the mobile phone by the intermediate server.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to execute the instructions to perform further steps comprising:

identifying a contact group setting associated with the mobile phone based on the identified contact group associated with the request, the contact group setting indicating if incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked; and

in response to the contact group setting indicating that incoming calls associated with the identified contact group are blocked, blocking, by the intermediate server, the request to receive an incoming call.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the selected notification comprises one or more of:

a ringtone, a visual notification, and a vibration pattern.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the mobile phone is configured to notify a user of the mobile device using the selected notification in response to receiving the routed modified request from the intermediate server.