System and method for providing voice-activated presence information

• US 20030174814A1
• Filed: 03/13/2003
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Diacakis, Athanassios
• Granted Patent: US 7,206,388 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• 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 3/4935 Connection initiated by DAS system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 where the data service is an information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1235 where one of the core networks is a wireless network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/125 Details of gateway equipment

Abstract

Systems and method for providing voice-activated presence information are disclosed. According to one embodiment, the system includes a voice gateway in communication with a presence server. The presence server is for determining presence information of an individual. The voice gateway is for voicing the presence information to a caller after receiving the presence information from the presence server. The voice gateway may also place an outgoing communication to the individual. The presence server may determine whether the individual is present and available on a communication network.

Claims

1. A system for providing voice-activated presence information, comprising:

a voice gateway; and

a presence server in communication with the voice gateway.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the presence server is for determining whether a recipient is present on at least one communication network after the voice gateway receives a voice request from a caller to communicate with the recipient; and

the voice gateway is for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient at a network address for a communication network when the presence server determines the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the presence server is in communication with the voice gateway via an intermediate presence server.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is further for placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when the presence server determines the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is further for voicing a message to the caller when the presence server determines the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is for placing the outgoing communication to the recipient when the presence server determines the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the voice gateway is further for placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when the presence server determines the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the voice gateway is further for voicing a message to the caller when the presence server determines the recipient is not present and/or available on at least one communication network.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of a public switched telephone network, a computer network, a wireless communication network, or Short Messaging System network and an Instant Messaging network.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the presence server is for determining whether the recipient is present on a telephone network; and

the voice gateway is for voicing a telephone number for the recipient to the caller after receiving the telephone number from the presence server.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the voice gateway is for placing an outgoing telephone communication to the recipient at the telephone number upon receiving a request from the caller.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the presence server includes a P&

A management server.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server, wherein the voice gateway is in communication with the presence server via the server.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the voice gateway is in communication with the presence server via an intermediate presence server.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the server is an HTTP server, including a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) module.

16. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is further for:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient;

converting the voice message to a text file; and

delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when the presence server determines that the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one communication network includes a Short Messaging System network.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one communication network includes an electronic mail network.

19. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is further for:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when the presence server determines the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one communication network includes an Instant Messaging network.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one communication network includes an electronic mail network.

22. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the presence server is further for serving contact information regarding the recipient to the voice gateway upon receiving a request from the voice gateway; and

the voice gateway is for voicing the contact information to the caller after being served the contact information from the presence server.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the voice gateway is further for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient upon receiving a request from the caller in response to voicing the contact information to the caller.

24. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice gateway is further for receiving a request from the recipient to change a presence characteristic of the recipient.

25. A system for providing voice-activated presence information, comprising a voice gateway in communication with a presence server, wherein the presence server is for determining presence and availability information of a recipient after the voice gateway receives a voice request from a caller to communicate with a recipient.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the voice gateway is for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient at a network address for a communication network when the presence server determines that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the presence server is in communication with the voice gateway via an intermediate presence server.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the voice gateway is further for placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when the presence server determines that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the voice gateway is further for voicing a message to the caller when the presence server determines that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the presence server includes:

a presence detection engine for detecting whether the recipient is present on the at least one communication network; and

an availability management engine in communication with the presence detection engine for determining whether the recipient is available on the at least one communication network.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the availability management engine is for determining whether the recipient is available on the at least one communication network based on an access level of the caller in a profile of the recipient.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the presence server includes a database for storing a plurality of profiles of the recipient, each profile corresponding to a different situation of the recipient, and wherein the availability management engine is for retrieving one of the plurality of profiles to determine the recipient'"'"'s availability based on at least one of an input regarding the situation of the recipient and an input regarding a location of the recipient.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein:

the presence server is for determining whether the recipient is present and available on a telephone network; and

the voice gateway is for placing an outgoing telephone communication to the recipient at the telephone number.

34. The system of claim 33, further comprising a server, wherein the voice gateway is in communication with the presence server via the server.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the voice gateway is in communication with the presence server via an intermediate presence server.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the server is an HTTP server including a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) module.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein the voice gateway is further for:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient;

converting the voice message to a text file; and

delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when the presence server determines that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the at least one communication network includes a Short Messaging System network.

39. The system of claim 33, wherein the voice gateway is further for:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when the presence server determines that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of an Instant Messaging network and an electronic mail network.

41. The system of claim 33, wherein:

the presence server is further for serving contact information regarding the recipient to the voice gateway upon receiving a request from the voice gateway; and

the voice gateway is for voicing the contact information to the caller after being served the contact information from the presence server.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the voice gateway is further for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient upon receiving a request from the caller in response to voicing the contact information to the caller.

43. The system of claim 33, wherein the voice gateway is further for receiving a request from the recipient to change a presence characteristic of the recipient.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the presence characteristic includes a situation of the recipient.

45. A method for providing voice-activated presence information, comprising:

receiving a voice request from a caller to communicate with a recipient;

determining the recipient'"'"'s presence information in response to receiving the voice request; and

placing an outgoing communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is present on at least one communication network.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising voicing a message to the caller when it is determined that the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein:

determining the recipient'"'"'s presence information includes determining the recipient'"'"'s presence and availability information; and

placing the outgoing communication to the recipient includes placing the outgoing communication when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

50. The method of claim 48, further comprising voicing a message to the caller when it is determined that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

51. The method of claim 45, wherein:

determining the presence information of the recipient includes determining whether the recipient is present on a telephone network; and

placing the outgoing communication includes placing an outgoing telephone communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is available on the telephone network.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising receiving a request by the recipient to change a presence characteristic of the recipient.

53. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

converting the voice message to a text file and, wherein placing the outgoing communication includes delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of a Short Messaging System network and an electronic mail network.

55. The method of claim 45, further comprising recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient, and wherein placing the outgoing communication includes delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of an Instant Messaging network and an electronic mail network.

57. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

receiving a request from the caller for contact information regarding the recipient;

determining the recipient'"'"'s contact information; and

voicing the contact information to the caller.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising placing an outgoing communication to the recipient upon receiving a voice request from the caller in response to voicing the contact information.

59. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

converting the voice message to a text file and, wherein placing the outgoing communication includes delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of a Short Messaging System network and an electronic mail network.

61. The method of claim 48, further comprising recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient, and wherein placing the outgoing communication includes delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of an Instant Messaging network and an electronic mail network.

63. The method of claim 57, wherein determining the recipient'"'"'s contact information includes determining only the contact information to which the caller is entitled based on an access level of the caller.

64. A system for providing voice-activated presence information, comprising:

means for receiving a voice request from a caller to communicate with a recipient;

means for determining the recipient'"'"'s presence information in response to receiving the voice request; and

means for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is present on at least one communication network.

65. The system of claim 64, further comprising means for placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

66. The system of claim 64, further comprising means for voicing a message to the caller when it is determined that the recipient is not present on at least one communication network.

67. The system of claim 64, wherein:

the means for determining the recipient'"'"'s presence information includes means for determining the recipient'"'"'s presence and availability information; and

the means for placing the outgoing communication includes means for placing the outgoing communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

68. The system of claim 67, further comprising means for placing an outgoing communication to a voice mailbox associated with the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

69. The system of claim 67, further comprising means for voicing a message to the caller when it is determined that the recipient is not present and/or not available on at least one communication network.

70. The system of claim 64, wherein:

the means for determining the presence information of the recipient includes means for determining whether the recipient is present on a telephone network; and

the means for placing the outgoing communication to the recipient includes means for placing an outgoing telephone communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is present on the telephone network.

71. The system of claim 70, further comprising means for receiving a request by the recipient to change a presence characteristic of the recipient.

72. The system of claim 67, wherein:

the means for determining the presence information of the recipient further includes means for determining whether the recipient is present and available on a telephone network; and

the means for placing the outgoing communication to the recipient further includes means for placing an outgoing telephone communication to the recipient when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the telephone network.

73. The system of claim 64, further comprising:

means for recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

means for converting the voice message to a text file, and wherein the means for placing the outgoing communication includes means for delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of a Short Messaging System network and an electronic mail network.

75. The system of claim 67, further comprising:

means for recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient; and

means for converting the voice message to a text file, and wherein the means for placing the outgoing communication includes means for delivering the text file to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

76. The system of claim 73, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of a Short Messaging System network and an electronic mail network.

77. The system of claim 64, further comprising means for recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient, and wherein the means for placing the outgoing communication includes means for delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present on the at least one communication network.

78. The system of claim 77, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of an Instant Messaging network and an electronic mail.

79. The system of claim 67, further comprising means for recording a voice message from the caller for the recipient, and wherein the means for placing the outgoing communication includes means for delivering an attachment containing the voice message to the recipient via the at least one communication network when it is determined that the recipient is present and available on the at least one communication network.

80. The system of claim 77, wherein the at least one communication network includes one of an Instant Messaging network and an electronic mail.

81. The system of claim 64, further comprising:

means for receiving a voice request from the caller for contact information regarding the recipient;

means for determining the recipient'"'"'s contact information; and

means for voicing the contact information to the caller.

82. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for placing an outgoing communication to the recipient upon receiving a voice request from the caller in response to voicing the contact information.

83. The system of claim 81, wherein the means for determining the recipient'"'"'s contact information includes means for determining only the contact information to which the caller is entitled based on an access level of the caller.