Method and system for representing the attributes of an incoming call

• US 20070116220A1
• Filed: 10/13/2005
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Haddad, Najeeb, Eckel, Charles, Andrews, Alison
• Granted Patent: US 8,331,539 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/142.40
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/041 Encoding the ringing signal, i.e. providing distinctive or selective ringing capability

Abstract

A method and a system for representing the attributes of an incoming call are disclosed. A determination module is used to determine certain attributes of an incoming call. The attributes can be the caller ID, urgency of call or call location, among others. The determined attributes are then converted into an audio-tone that is representative of the incoming call. Characteristics, such as pitch, volume and cadence of the audio-tone are chosen to represent the attributes of the incoming call.

Claims

1. A method for representing one or more attributes of an incoming call, the method comprising:

determining the one or more attributes of the incoming call; and

converting the determined one or more attributes of the incoming call into an audio-tone, the audio-tone representing the one or more attributes of the incoming call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes of the incoming call comprise at least one of a caller identity, urgency of the incoming call, and a location of the caller.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes of the incoming call comprise at least one of a facilities available in the caller device, a calling pattern of caller, and a caller time zone.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the converting the one or more attributes of the incoming call comprises adjusting one or more of volume, pitch, and cadence.

5. A system for representing one or more attributes of an incoming call, the method comprising:

means for determining the one or more attributes of the incoming call; and

means for converting the determined one or more attributes of the incoming call into an audio-tone, the audio-tone representing the one or more attributes of the incoming call.

6. A system for representing one or more attributes of an incoming call in a communication device in a network, the system comprising:

a determination module for determining the one or more attributes of the incoming call in the communication device; and

a conversion module for converting the determined one or more attributes of the incoming call into an audio-tone, the audio-tone representing the one or more attributes of the incoming call.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the determination module further comprises

a memory for storing the call history;

and

a processor for determining the set of one or more attributes, the processor communicating with the memory.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more attributes of the incoming call comprise at least one of a caller identity, urgency of the incoming call, and a location of the caller.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more attributes of the incoming call comprise at least one of a facilities available in the caller device, a calling pattern of caller, and a caller time zone.

10. A machine-readable medium including instructions executable by the processor comprising:

one or more instructions for determining the one or more attributes of the incoming call; and

one or more instructions for converting the determined one or more attributes of the incoming call into an audio-tone, the audio-tone representing the one or more attributes of the incoming call.

11. An apparatus for representing one or more attributes of an incoming call, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for executing instructions; and

a machine readable medium including instructions executable by the processor comprising

one or more instructions for determining the one or more attributes of the incoming call; and

one or more instructions for converting the determined one or more attributes of the incoming call into an audio-tone, the audio-tone representing the one or more attributes of the incoming call.