Method and apparatus for content presentation in association with a telephone call

• US 9,667,810 B1
• Filed: 09/14/2015
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vusura Technology LLC
• Original Assignee: Wendell D. Brown
• Inventors: Brown, Wendell D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sing, Simon
• Application Number:
  US14/853,853
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/61 based on the service used
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/723 using the user's device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/83 Notification aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8351 before establishing a communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8353 during the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8355 after the end of the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/846 optical, e.g. icon
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/848 Tone, e.g. beeper
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/85 characterised by the type of condition triggering a notification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/351 Pre or post-call/conference information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/352 In-call/conference information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7231 by SIM, e.g. smart card account in SCP, SDP or SN
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• 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 3/4365 based on information specified by the calling party, e.g. priority or subject
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 : Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 : where the data service is an information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0051 : where the data service is a multimedia messaging service
• 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 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 : Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for presenting content to a caller and/or a called party in association with a telephone call. Content may be presented pre-ring (before the called party'"'"'s telephone rings), in-call, and/or post-call. Content presented to a party may be related to another party participating in the call or may be related to a third party. Presented content may be actuable, and allow a caller to change the destination of a call, take advantage of an offer presented to him, redeem a coupon, schedule or queue a subsequent call, etc. To find a desired destination party, a caller may initiate a manual or automatic search of his local contacts (on his telephone) and/or a central or global directory or contact list. A party to a call may be offered one or more payment mechanisms for completing a purchase in an on-line or real-world transaction.

Claims

1. A method of controlling presentation of content on an electronic device, the method comprising at a call controller coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator:

receiving notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;

delaying establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;

causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;

further causing to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and

receiving from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment mechanism options include one or more of:

a credit card;

a debit card;

PayPal; and

Google Wallet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

receiving an identifier of the content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated; and

during said delay, transmitting toward the second electronic device the identifier and an instruction to access the content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

receiving the content from the first electronic device; and

during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is content of an application executing on the first electronic device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, from the second electronic device, a modification to display of the content caused by the second operator; and

causing the modification to be replicated on the first electronic device;

wherein the modification is one of;

annotation of the content;

navigation of the content;

selection of a control within the application; and

implementation of a selected control within the application.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a modification to display of the content, from one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the one device is operated by a prospective purchaser; and

forwarding the modification toward the other of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the other device is operated by a purchasing assistant;

wherein the modification is one or more of;

navigation of the content;

selection of a control within the content; and

implementation of a selected control within the content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the content relates to a good or service desired by a prospective purchaser;

the prospective purchaser is one of the first operator and the second operator; and

the other of the first operator and the second operator is a purchasing assistant.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, from the electronic device operated by the purchasing assistant, a modification to display of the content made by the purchasing assistant; and

causing the modification to be replicated on the electronic device operated by the prospective purchaser;

wherein the modification is one or more of;

selection of the good or service;

selection of a version of the good or service; and

selection of a configuration option of the good or service.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of controlling presentation of content on an electronic device, wherein the computer is coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator, the method comprising:

receiving notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;

delaying establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;

causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;

further causing to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and

receiving from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.

12. A call controller apparatus for controlling presentation of content on an electronic device external to the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to;

receive notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;

delay establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;

cause to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;

further cause to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and

receive from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the payment mechanism options include one or more of:

a credit card;

a debit card;

PayPal; and

Google Wallet.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

receiving an identifier of the content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated; and

during said delay, transmitting toward the second electronic device the identifier and an instruction to access the content.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:

receiving the content from the first electronic device; and

during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the content is content of an application executing on the first electronic device.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

receive, from the second electronic device, a modification to display of the content caused by the second operator; and

cause the modification to be replicated on the first electronic device;

wherein the modification is one of;

annotation of the content;

navigation of the content;

selection of a control within the application; and

implementation of a selected control within the application.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

receive a modification to display of the content, from one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the one device is operated by a prospective purchaser; and

forward the modification toward the other of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the other device is operated by a purchasing assistant;

wherein the modification is one or more of;

navigation of the content;

selection of a control within the content; and

implementation of a selected control within the content.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the content relates to a good or service desired by a prospective purchaser;

the prospective purchaser is one of the first operator and the second operator; and

the other of the first operator and the second operator is a purchasing assistant.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

receive, from the electronic device operated by the purchasing assistant, a modification to display of the content made by the purchasing assistant; and

cause the modification to be replicated on the electronic device operated by the prospective purchaser;

wherein the modification is one or more of;

selection of the good or service;

selection of a version of the good or service; and

selection of a configuration option of the good or service.