Negotiation of a future communication by use of a personal virtual assistant (PVA)

• US 10,664,778 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2017
• Issued: 05/26/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Krishnaswamy, Venkatesh, Ross, Timothy I., Edamadaka, Rajeshwari, Iu, Jack, Dhara, Krishna Kishore, Vernick, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Ruay
• Application Number:
  US15/608,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20170262787A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,092 Days
• Field of Search: 715739, 705 261, 704270, 37911406
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/10 Transforming into visible information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars

Abstract

Negotiation of a future communication through a personal virtual assistant is provided. A trigger command is received. The trigger command identifies a communication received for a recipient from a sender. Schedule information is accessed. The schedule information is related to the recipient of the received communication. A plurality of options is presented to the sender. The plurality of options are for arranging a future communication between the sender and the recipient, and include at least one option determined based on the accessed schedule information. A selection of an option for arranging a future communication is received. The selected option is executed to arrange the future communication.

Claims

1. A method of negotiating a future communication through a personal virtual assistant (PVA), the method comprising:

identifying an incoming telephone call via execution of a recipient PVA that acts as a proxy on behalf of a recipient, wherein the incoming telephone call is intended for the recipient and is initiated by a sender, the recipient PVA being executed in parallel with a telephone communication system;

accessing, by the recipient PVA, schedule information related to the recipient of the incoming telephone call;

receiving, by the recipient PVA, a customized option for arranging the future communication, the customized option being determined by the recipient;

presenting, by the recipient PVA, a plurality of options to the sender for arranging a future communication between the sender and the recipient, wherein the plurality of options comprises at least one option determined by the recipient PVA based on the accessed schedule information and the customized option;

receiving, by the recipient PVA, a selection of one of the plurality of options; and

executing, by the recipient PVA, the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to presenting the plurality of options to the sender, presenting, by the recipient PVA, a plurality of response options to the recipient; and

receiving, by the recipient PVA, a selection of one or more of the response options;

wherein the plurality of options presented to the sender comprises the one or more selected response options.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the plurality of options to the sender comprises presenting the plurality of options to the sender via a mode of communication other than the telephone communication system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

informing, by the recipient PVA, the recipient and the sender of a time and a mode of communication to be used for the future communication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of options comprises an option for the sender to identify a purpose of the incoming telephone call, and wherein:

receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options comprises receiving a selection of the option for the sender to identify the purpose of the incoming telephone call and an identification of the purpose; and

executing the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication comprises informing the recipient of the purpose of the incoming telephone call.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of options comprises a negotiation option for arranging the future communication, and wherein:

receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options comprises receiving a selection of the negotiation option; and

executing the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication comprises engaging in a negotiation of the future communication with the sender, the negotiation resulting in an agreed-upon time and mode of communication for the future communication.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

prior to receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options, receiving, by the recipient PVA, a notification that the sender is represented by a sender PVA;

and

negotiating, by the recipient PVA, the future communication with the sender PVA.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein negotiating the future communication with the sender PVA comprises exchanging, with the sender PVA, at least one of:

an available time for the future communication, the at least one available time being determined from the accessed schedule information;

or

an available mode of communication for the future communication;

the negotiation resulting in at least one of an agreed-upon time or an agreed-upon mode of communication for the future communication.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

prior to negotiating the future communication with the sender PVA, changing, by the recipient PVA, to a mode of communication other than the telephone communication system.

10. A computer program product comprising computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that, when executed by a processor, negotiates a future communication through a personal virtual assistant (PVA), wherein the PVA acts as a proxy on behalf of a recipient and is executed in parallel with a telephone communication system, the computer program product comprising:

computer program code for identifying an incoming telephone call for a recipient from a sender;

computer program code for accessing schedule information related to the recipient of the incoming telephone call;

computer program code for receiving, by the recipient PVA, a customized option for arranging the future communication, the customized option being determined by the recipient;

computer program code for presenting, to a sender, a plurality of options for arranging a future communication between the sender and the recipient, wherein the plurality of options comprises at least one option determined based on the accessed schedule information and the customized option;

computer program code for receiving a selection of one of the plurality of options; and

computer program code for executing the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer program code for presenting a plurality of response options to the recipient prior to presenting the plurality of options to the sender; and

computer program code for receiving a selection of one or more of the response options;

wherein the plurality of options presented to the sender comprises the one or more selected response options.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer program code for presenting the plurality of options to the sender further comprises:

computer program code for presenting the plurality of options to the sender via a mode of communication other than a telephone connection.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer program code for informing the recipient and the sender of a time and a mode of communication to be used for the future communication.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the plurality of options comprises an option for the sender to identify a purpose of the incoming telephone call, and wherein:

the computer program code for receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options further comprises computer program code for receiving a selection of the option for the sender to identify the purpose of the incoming telephone call and an identification of the purpose; and

the computer program code for executing the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication further comprises computer program code for informing the recipient of the purpose of the incoming telephone call.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the plurality of options comprises a negotiation option for arranging the future communication, and wherein:

the computer program code for receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options further comprises computer program code for receiving a selection of the negotiation option; and

the computer program code for executing the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication further comprises computer program code for engaging in a negotiation of the future communication with the sender, the negotiation resulting in an agreed-upon time and mode of communication for the future communication.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising,

computer program code for receiving, prior to receiving the selection of one of the plurality of options, a notification that the sender is represented by a sender PVA;

and

computer program code for negotiating the future communication with the sender PVA.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer program code for negotiating the future communication with the sender PVA further comprises computer program code for exchanging at least one of:

an available time for the future communication, the at least one available time being determined from the accessed schedule information;

or

an available mode of communication for the future communication;

the negotiation resulting in at least one of an agreed-upon time or an agreed-upon mode of communication for the future communication.

18. A system comprising:

a memory system encoded with personal virtual assistant (PVA) application for negotiating a future communication between a recipient and a sender; and

a processor coupled to the memory system, wherein when executed by the processor, the PVA application causes the processor to;

identify an incoming telephone call, wherein the incoming telephone call is intended for the recipient and is initiated by the sender, wherein the recipient PVA acts as a proxy on behalf of a recipient and is executed in parallel with a telephone communication system;

access schedule information related to the recipient of the incoming telephone call;

receive a customized option for arranging the future communication, the customized option being determined by the recipient;

present, to the sender, a plurality of options for arranging a future communication between the sender and the recipient, wherein the plurality of options comprises at least one option determined by the recipient PVA based on the accessed schedule information and the customized option;

receive a selection of one of the plurality of options; and

execute the selected one of the plurality of options to arrange the future communication.