Centralized status server for call management of location-aware mobile devices

• US 9,736,756 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2015
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Inventors: Young, Bruce, Elpiner, Boris, Vendrow, Vlad, Shah, Praful, Shmunis, Vladimir
• Primary Examiner(s): CASCA, FRED A
• Application Number:
  US14/986,410
• Publication Number:
  US 20160119853A1
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 455445, 4554141, 455415, 455433, 455417, 455 412, 4554261, 4554321, 4554562, 370352, 370259, 370221, 370236
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42229 Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location diverting calls from one subscriber to another subscriber, i.e. two different subscriptions H04M3/54; selecting arrangements in intelligent networks H04Q3/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• 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 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer program products for utilizing location information in a virtual private branch exchange (vPBX) system are described. In some implementations, the vPBX system can use the location information to determine an availability status of a user of a mobile device (e.g., out of the office, in the office, at home, busy, and the like). The vPBX system can obtain the geographic coordinates of the mobile device and correlate these coordinates with known coordinates for locations associated with the user (e.g., the user'"'"'s office, home, or other predefined locations). An inference of the user'"'"'s availability can then be determined based on the correlation (e.g., whether the user is currently out of the user'"'"'s office, at the user'"'"'s home, or at another location). The user'"'"'s availability can be made available to other users associated with the vPBX system, and can be used for call management (e.g., routing).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computers, a first call intended for a mobile device;

determining, by the one or more computers, that the mobile device is located in a predetermined geographic location;

determining, by the one or more computers, that the mobile device is stationary, including;

determining an estimated speed for the mobile device,

determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed a predetermined speed threshold, and

in response to determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed the predetermined speed threshold, determining that the mobile device is stationary; and

in response to determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location and determining that the mobile device is stationary, routing, by the one or more computers, the first call intended for the mobile device to another device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location comprises:

receiving geographic information from the mobile device; and

determining from the geographic location that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing, by the one or more computers, location instructions to the mobile device that, when executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to transmit the geographic information to the one or more computers in response to determining that the mobile device has entered the predetermined geographic location.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a call-related action rule that defines a call-related action that specifies that, when the mobile device is in the predetermined geographic location calls and the mobile device is stationary, calls intended for the mobile device should be routed to the other device; and

wherein routing the first call intended for the mobile device to the other device comprises applying the call-related action to the first call based on determining that the mobile device is stationary and in the predetermined geographic location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the call-related action rule comprises:

providing, for presentation on the mobile device, a user interface for configuring call-related action rules;

receiving rule data from the mobile device; and

generating the call-related action rule based on the rule data received from the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving rule data comprises receiving data defining the predetermined geographic location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining that the mobile device is stationary comprises;

receiving data identifying a moving speed of the mobile device from the mobile device, and determining the estimated speed of the mobile device based on the data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving new speed data from the mobile device;

determining, from the new speed data, that the mobile device is moving at a new estimated speed that exceeds the predetermined threshold; and

setting an availability status of the mobile device to unavailable based on determining that the mobile device is moving at Hall the new estimated speed.

9. A system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that when executed by the one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first call intended for a mobile device;

determining that the mobile device is located in a predetermined geographic location;

determining that the mobile device is stationary, including;

determining an estimated speed for the mobile device,

determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed a predetermined speed threshold, and

in response to determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed the predetermined speed threshold, determining that the mobile device is stationary; and

in response to determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location and determining that the mobile device is stationary, routing the first call intended for the mobile device to another device based on the mobile device being stationary and in the predetermined geographic location.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location comprises:

receiving geographic information from the mobile device; and

determining from the geographic location that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location.

11. The system of claim 10, the operations further comprising:

providing location instructions to the mobile device that, when executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to transmit the geographic information to the system in response to determining that the mobile device has entered the predetermined geographic location.

12. The system of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

generating a call-related action rule that defines a call-related action that specifies that, when the mobile device is in the predetermined geographic location calls and the mobile device is stationary, calls intended for the mobile device should be routed to the other device; and

wherein routing the first call intended for the mobile device to the other device comprises applying the call-related action to the first call based on determining that the mobile device is stationary and in the predetermined geographic location.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein generating the call-related action rule comprises:

providing, for presentation on the mobile device, a user interface for configuring call-related action rules;

receiving rule data from the mobile device; and

generating the call-related action rule based on the rule data received from the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein receiving rule data comprises receiving data defining the predetermined geographic location.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein

determining that the mobile device is stationary comprises:

receiving data identifying a moving speed of the mobile device from the mobile device; and

determining the estimated speed of the mobile device based on the data.

16. The system of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving new speed data from the mobile device;

determining, from the new speed data, that the mobile device is moving at a new estimated speed that exceeds the predetermined threshold; and

setting an availability status of the mobile device to unavailable based on determining that the mobile device is moving at the new estimated speed.

17. One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with a computer program product, the computer program product comprising instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first call intended for a mobile device;

determining that the mobile device is located in a predetermined geographic location;

determining that the mobile device is stationary, including;

determining an estimated speed for the mobile device,

determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed a predetermined speed threshold, and

in response to determining that the estimated speed for the mobile device does not exceed the predetermined speed threshold, determining that the mobile device is stationary; and

in response to determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location and determining that the mobile device is stationary, routing the first call intended for the mobile device to another device based on the mobile device being stationary and in the predetermined geographic location.

18. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein determining that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location comprises:

receiving geographic information from the mobile device; and

determining from the geographic location that the mobile device is located in the predetermined geographic location.

19. The computer storage media of claim 18, the operations further comprising:

providing location instructions to the mobile device that, when executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to transmit the geographic information to the one or more computers in response to determining that the mobile device has entered the predetermined geographic location.

20. The computer storage media of claim 17, the operations further comprising:

generating a call-related action rule that defines a call-related action that specifies that, when the mobile device is in the predetermined geographic location calls and the mobile device is stationary, calls intended for the mobile device should be routed to the other device; and

wherein routing the first call intended for the mobile device to the other device comprises applying the call-related action to the first call based on determining that the mobile device is stationary and in the predetermined geographic location.