Distinctive ring tones prompted by call urgency and context

• US 9,578,168 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2015
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gorti, Sreenivasa Rao, Mueller, Stephen Mark, Brandt, Jeffrey Lewis, Liu, Huitao
• Primary Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US14/951,081
• Publication Number:
  US 20160080564A1
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 379/207.16, 455/414.1, 455/404.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/578 associated with a synthesized vocal announcement
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/041 Encoding the ringing signal, i.e. providing distinctive or selective ringing capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/048 Arrangements providing optical indication of the incoming call, e.g. flasher circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2038 Call context notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42051 where the notification is included in the ringing tone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4365 based on information specified by the calling party, e.g. priority or subject
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a destination communication device, information related to a communication from a source communication device. The method further includes determining, at the destination communication device, a designation of the source communication device based on the information. The method further includes selecting, based on the designation, a prompt from multiple prompts. The method further includes sending the prompt from the destination communication device to the source communication device. The prompt is a request for second information related to urgency of the call.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a destination communication device, information related to a communication from a source communication device;

determining, at the destination communication device, a designation of the source communication device based on the information;

selecting, based on the designation, a prompt from multiple prompts, wherein the prompt comprises a first prompt when the designation is a first designation of multiple designations, and wherein the prompt comprises a second prompt when the designation is a second designation of the multiple designations, the first prompt different from the second prompt; and

sending the prompt from the destination communication device to the source communication device, the prompt to request second information related to urgency of the communication.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, based on the designation and based on the second information, a particular destination device for the communication.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple designations include an emergency priority contact designation, a medium priority contact designation, and a low priority contact designation, and wherein the second information related to the urgency indicates a level of urgency of the communication.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

in response to the designation indicating the emergency priority contact designation, selecting a personalized prompt as the prompt; and

in response to the designation indicating the medium priority contact designation or the low priority contact designation, selecting a default prompt as the prompt.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a response to the prompt from the source communication device at the destination communication device, the response including the second information;

determining the urgency of the communication based on the response;

selecting an alert based on the urgency of the communication and based on the designation, wherein the alert includes an auditory component, a visual component, a tactile component, or a combination thereof; and

generating the alert at the destination communication device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, when the designation is associated with an emergency priority contact designation and the second information indicates that the communication has high urgency, the alert includes the auditory component, the visual component, and the tactile component.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after sending the prompt, receiving a voice mail corresponding to the communication.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after sending the prompt, receiving a communication setup message from an application server, wherein the communication setup message includes an indicator of the urgency of the communication based on a response to the prompt.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the communication comprises a telephone call, and wherein the communication setup message comprises a call set up message.

10. A method of processing communication data, the method comprising:

receiving, at a destination communication device, information related to a communication from a source communication device;

determining, at the destination communication device, a designation of the source communication device based on the information;

selecting, based on the designation, a prompt from multiple prompts, wherein the prompt comprises a first prompt when the designation is a first designation of multiple designations, and wherein the prompt comprises a second prompt when the designation is a second designation of the multiple designations, the first prompt different from the second prompt;

sending the prompt from the destination communication device to the source communication device, the prompt to request second information related to urgency of the communication; and

identifying, based on the designation and based on the second information, a particular destination device for the communication.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the particular destination device and the destination communication device are the same device.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising routing the communication to the particular destination device, wherein the particular destination device corresponds to a different device than the destination communication device, and wherein the particular destination device corresponds to a device that supports a voicemail function.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in response to receiving the information, accessing a user profile corresponding to the destination communication device, the user profile including a plurality of designations including the designation, wherein the information includes a caller identifier; and

identifying the prompt of the multiple prompts that corresponds to the designation of the source communication device, wherein each prompt of the multiple prompts corresponds to a designation type.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising storing the user profile at the destination communication device prior to receiving the information.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising, prior to receiving the information:

receiving a first input at the destination communication device, wherein the first input indicates the designation of the source communication device;

updating the user profile to include the designation;

receiving a second input at the destination communication device, wherein the second input indicates the prompt, and wherein the second input indicates that the prompt is associated with the designation; and

updating the user profile to include data that indicates that the prompt corresponds to the designation.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving input at the destination communication device, wherein the input indicates a rule, and wherein the rule indicates a particular alert to be generated responsive to determining a particular designation of the source communication device and a particular urgency of the communication; and

updating the user profile to include the rule.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the user profile indicates that a user generated prompt is to be sent in response to determining that a particular designation of a particular device is a family designation.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the communication comprises a text message.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the communication comprises a telephone call or a voice over Internet protocol call.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising, after sending the prompt, receiving a voice mail corresponding to the communication.