System and methods to enable efficient and interactive management of communications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for managing telephone calls comprising:
- A) receiving messages from multiple message originators via two or more message services, the message services including at least a telephone message service and including at least one of a short message service (SMS) and an electronic mail (e-mail) message service, the messages including an originator identifier (ID);
B) generating a plurality of contact-related elements, with each contact-related element representing contact profile information associated with the originator ID for a particular message;
C) moving the contact-related elements to one or more queues, each queue specifying a defined sequence in which the contact-related elements are to be processed;
D) choosing a selected queue for processing;
E) for each particular contact-related element in the selected queue representing a desired telephone call, processing the contact-related elements in the selected queue in the defined sequence, by the steps of;
i) sending a notification message, directly to a personal communication device associated with the particular contact-related element, the notification message prompting a user of the personal communication device to respond with information indicating whether and when they are available to receive the desired telephone call;
ii) receiving a reply to the notification message, using the second service; and
ii) at a time when the reply indicates that the user is available for the telephone call, then initiating the desired telephone call directly to the personal communication device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are a system and methods to enable the interactive management of incoming and outgoing communications in an automated or manual fashion.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A method for managing telephone calls comprising:
-
A) receiving messages from multiple message originators via two or more message services, the message services including at least a telephone message service and including at least one of a short message service (SMS) and an electronic mail (e-mail) message service, the messages including an originator identifier (ID); B) generating a plurality of contact-related elements, with each contact-related element representing contact profile information associated with the originator ID for a particular message; C) moving the contact-related elements to one or more queues, each queue specifying a defined sequence in which the contact-related elements are to be processed; D) choosing a selected queue for processing; E) for each particular contact-related element in the selected queue representing a desired telephone call, processing the contact-related elements in the selected queue in the defined sequence, by the steps of; i) sending a notification message, directly to a personal communication device associated with the particular contact-related element, the notification message prompting a user of the personal communication device to respond with information indicating whether and when they are available to receive the desired telephone call; ii) receiving a reply to the notification message, using the second service; and ii) at a time when the reply indicates that the user is available for the telephone call, then initiating the desired telephone call directly to the personal communication device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for manipulating contact-related elements that represent communication media messages, the method comprising:
-
A) receiving messages from multiple message originators via two or more message services including at least a telephone message service and including at least one of a short message service (SMS) and an electronic mail (e-mail) message service, the messages including an originator identifier (ID); B) generating a plurality of contact-related elements, with each contact-related element representing a particular message and sender profile information including at least a location associated with the originator ID for the particular message; C) moving the contact-related elements to one or more queues based on the location associated with the originator ID, each queue specifying a defined sequence in which the contact-related elements are to be processed; D) choosing a selected queue for processing; E) for each particular contact-related element in the selected queue representing a desired telephone call, processing the selected queue by the steps of; i) sending a notification message directly to a personal communication device associated with the originator ID for the particular contact-related element, the notification message prompting a user of the personal communication device to indicate whether and when they are available to receive the desired telephone call; ii) receiving a reply to the communication message; and iii) at a time when the reply indicates the user is available to receive the desired telephone call, then initiating the desired telephone call to the personal communication device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for manipulating contact-related elements that represent communication media messages, the method comprising:
-
A) receiving messages from multiple message originators via two or more message services including at least a telephone message service and including at least one of a short message service (SMS) and an electronic mail (e-mail) message service, the messages including an originator identifier (ID); B) generating a plurality of contact-related elements, with each contact-related element representing a particular message and sender profile information including at least the originator ID for the particular message; C) moving the contact-related elements to one or more queues based on further information associated with a history of past communication with a user associated with the originator ID; D) choosing a selected queue for processing; E) for each particular contact-related element in the selected queue representing a desired telephone call, processing the selected queue by the steps of; i) sending a notification message directly to a personal communication device associated with the originator ID for the particular contact-related element, the notification message prompting a user of the personal communication device to indicate whether they are available to receive the desired telephone call; ii) receiving a reply to the communication message; and iii) when the reply indicates the user is available to receive the desired telephone call, then initiating the desired telephone call to the personal communication device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
-
Specification