Presence and Geographic Location Notification Based on a Setting

• US 20070288852A1
• Filed: 05/11/2007
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fish, Edmund
• Granted Patent: US 8,769,419 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

A user of an instant messaging system may store names of other users of the instant messaging system on a participant list (which may be referred to as a “buddy list”), and the names may be categorized into one or more groups. Similarly, a user of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, may store contact information about people on the mobile device. Information describing the on-line presence of the user within the instant messaging system or the geographic location of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone associated with the user, may be disseminated to users on the participant list or to people on the contact list based on notification information that is associated with groups of users or contacts.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling notification information associated with a first communications identity, the method comprising:

accessing notification setting information, stored on a computer storage medium, that identifies;

a temporal condition including at least one temporal period during which notification information is to be provided or withheld, and

notification settings associated with one or more groups of communications identities included in one or more participant lists associated with the first communications identity;

determining whether the temporal condition is satisfied; and

controlling dissemination of notification information related to the first communications identity to a category of communications identities based on whether the temporal condition is satisfied and the notification settings associated with the group of communications identities.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification information indicates whether the first communications identity is available to communicate.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the notification information indicates whether the first communications identity is logged on to a particular communications system.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the notification information indicates whether the first communications identity is logged on to an instant messaging system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification information indicates a geographic location of the first communications identity.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising controlling a granularity at which the geographic location is disseminated based on notification setting information.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising permitting a recipient of geographic location to control the granularity of the geographic location displayed.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the granularity at which the geographic location is disseminated comprises one of a street address, a city, a metropolitan area, an area within a metropolitan area, a region of a country, or a country.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein different temporal conditions are associated with different ones of the participant lists.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein different temporal conditions are associated with different ones of the groups of communications identities.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining whether the temporal condition is satisfied comprises doing so for at least one but less than all of the one or more participant lists.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein controlling dissemination comprises providing notification information.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein controlling dissemination comprises restricting notification information.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting notification information between a mobile communications device and an instant messaging system.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising storing notification setting information on the mobile communications device.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising storing notification setting information on the instant messaging system.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein notification information comprises notification information that is associated with multiple categories of notification information.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying an alert that indicates the notification setting information that is to be applied based on the temporal condition.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing status information corresponding to availability of a communications identity included on a participant list that has multiple communications identities designed by a user, wherein;

accessing notification setting information comprises accessing notification setting information for one or more participant lists associated with the communications identity, the notification setting information indicating a temporal condition for notifying communication identities on one or more of the participant lists such that the condition includes a temporal period during which notification information is to be restricted, and

controlling the dissemination of notification information comprises, in response to a determination that the temporal condition is not satisfied, passively configuring the participant list to persistently conceal the status of the communications identity.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein persistently concealing the status of the communications identity comprises indicating that availability information for the communications identity is unknown.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein persistently concealing the status of the communications identity comprises indicating that the communications identity is not available to communicate.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein persistently concealing the status of the communications identity comprises indicating that the communications identity is not logged onto an instant message system used by the communications identity when the communications identity is logged onto the instant message system.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the temporal condition applied to at least one individual included in a participant list associated with the first communications identity differs from a temporal condition applied to at least one other individual included in the participant list.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein controlling dissemination of notification information related to the communications identity includes controlling dissemination based on the type of device to which the notification information will be sent.

25. A computer-based system to control notification information associated with a first communications identity, the system comprising a processor connected to a storage device and one or more input/output devices, wherein the processor is configured to:

access notification setting information, stored on a computer storage medium, that identifies;

a temporal condition including at least one temporal period during which notification information is to be provided or withheld, and

notification settings associated with one or more groups of communications identities included in one or more participant lists associated with the first communications identity;

determine whether the temporal condition is satisfied; and

control dissemination of notification information related to the communications identity to a category of communications identities based on whether the temporal condition is satisfied and the notification settings associated with the group of communications identities.

26. A computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program configured to, when executed, control notification information associated with a first communications identity, the medium comprising one or more code segments configured to:

access notification setting information, stored on a computer storage medium, that identifies;

a temporal condition including at least one temporal period during which notification information is to be provided or withheld, and

notification settings associated with one or more groups of communications identities included in one or more participant lists associated with the first communications identity;

determine whether the temporal condition is satisfied; and

control dissemination of notification information related to the communications identity to a category of communications identities based on whether the temporal condition is satisfied and the notification settings associated with the group of communications identities.

27. A computer-based system for controlling notification information associated with a first communications identity, the system comprising:

means for accessing notification setting information, stored on a computer storage medium, that identifies;

a temporal condition including at least one temporal period during which notification information is to be provided or withheld, and

notification settings associated with one or more groups of communications identities included in one or more participant lists associated with the first communications identity;

means for determining whether the temporal condition is satisfied; and

means for controlling dissemination of notification information related to the communications identity to a category of communications identities based on whether the temporal condition is satisfied and the notification settings associated with the group of communications identities.