DELIVERING TELEPHONY COMMUNICATIONS TO DEVICES PROXIMATE TO A RECIPIENT AFTER AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING THE RECIPIENT'S LOCATION

• US 20080318592A1
• Filed: 06/22/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: MANDALIA, BAIJU D.
• Application Number:
  US11/766,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20080318592A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2094 Proximity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

The present invention discloses a communication method and system, which can include a step of repetitively conveying presence information to a service provider to continuously update a current location of a person identified within the presence information. A communication attempt directed towards the person can be detected. A communication device proximate to the person can be determined based upon the presence information. The communication device can be accessible by any proximate individual. The communication device can be one not specifically designated by an originator of the communication attempt. A notification of the communication attempt can be presented in an environment proximate to the determined communication device. The communication can be established responsive to the person answering the notification by activating the communication device.

Claims

1. A communication method permitting a communicator to utilize a proximate, location-fixed communication device, said method comprising:

conveying presence information associated with a target recipient across a network to a data store;

receiving a communication request from an originator to a target recipient;

determining a geographical location of a target recipient by querying the data store of presence information;

ascertaining at least one available communication device proximate to the geographical location, wherein the ascertained communication device is not associated with a device identifier specified within the communication request;

initiating a communication with the ascertained communication device; and

responsive to an activation of the ascertained communication device, establishing a communication between the ascertained communication device and the originator.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly sending an identifying message from an identifying beacon to a beacon detector; and

processing the identifying message to determine a user identity and a location, wherein the presence information comprises the user identity and the location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

continuously performing the conveying, processing, and sending steps as an individual carrying the identifying beacon moves from one location to another to assure the presence information used to ascertain the proximate communication device is current.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying beacon is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a location detection component of a mobile device carried by the target recipient determining a location of the target recipient;

generating a message including the determined location and an identity of the target recipient, wherein the presence information comprises the generated message; and

continuously repeating the step of determining the location using the location detection component, the generating step, and the conveying step as an individual carrying the mobile device moves from one location to another to assure the presence information used to ascertain the proximate communication device is current.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is a real-time communication, wherein the ascertained communication device is a telephone associated with a telephone number, wherein the telephone number is not specified by the originator.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ascertained device is a public, line-based telephone.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is at least one of a facsimile message, a text message, and an email message.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the target recipient of the communication, wherein said notification has a characteristic attribute associated specifically with the target recipient.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the characteristic attribute is at least one of a characteristic ring-tone, synthesized speech identifying the target recipient by name, and a visually presented message identifying the target recipient by name.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence information is managed by a presence server, wherein said presence server is configured to accept, manage, and distribute presence information using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based messages and in conformance with an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) based standard, and wherein the presence server provides operations for PUBLISH, SUBSCRIBE, and NOTIFY.

12. A communication system comprising:

a presence information data store configured to be continuously updated with information specifying an identity and a geographical location of a plurality of people, said presence information data store further comprising device records indicating a location and a contact identifier for a plurality of communication devices; and

a communication service provider configured to accept communication attempts from an originator directed towards a target recipient, to determine a geographical location of the target recipient by querying the presence information data store, to determine a proximate communication device by comparing the device records against the determined geographical location, to send a communication initiation to the proximate communication device, and to establish a communication between the originator and the proximate communication device once the communication initiation has been accepted.

13. The communication system of claim 12, further comprising:

a presence server configured to accept, manage, and distribute presence information using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based messages and in conformance with an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) based standard, and wherein the presence server provides operations for PUBLISH, SUBSCRIBE, and NOTIFY, wherein the presence information data store is maintained by the presence server.

14. The communication system of claim 12, further comprising:

a notifier configured to notify the target recipient of the communication, which the target recipient is able to accept via the proximate communication device, wherein the notifier utilizes a characteristic attribute associated specifically with a characteristic attribute corresponding to the target recipient, wherein said characteristic attribute is at least one of a characteristic ring-tone, synthesized speech identifying the target recipient by name, and a visually presented message identifying the target recipient by name.

15. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the proximate communication device is coupled to at least one wireless transceiver associated with the target recipient, wherein the wireless transceiver is used to provide output from the proximate communication device to the target recipient and is used to receive input from the target recipient that is relayed to the proximate communication device as input.

16. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the proximate communication device is a telephone accessible by any proximate individual, and wherein said telephone is not specifically designated by the originator.

17. The communication system of claim 12, further comprising:

a plurality of beacon detectors configured to accept identifying messages from mobile identification beacons carried by proximately located people; and

at least one transceiver linked to the beacon detectors, wherein presence information derived from data obtained from the beacon detectors is conveyed by the transceiver over a network to be stored in the presence information data store.

18. A communication method comprising:

repetitively conveying presence information to a service provider to continuously update a current location of a person identified within the presence information;

detecting a communication attempt directed towards the person;

determining a communication device proximate to the person based upon the presence information, wherein said communication device is accessible by any proximate individual, and wherein said communication device is not specifically designated by an originator of the communication attempt;

presenting a notification of the communication attempt in an environment proximate to the determined communication device; and

establishing the communication responsive to the person answering the notification by activating the communication device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the communication is a telephone call, wherein the determined communication device is a telephone, wherein the detecting, determining, conveying, and establishing steps are performed by a telephone carrier.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining a second communication attempt directed towards the person;

determining a second communication device that is now near the person, wherein the original communication device is no longer proximate to the person as determined from the presence information;

presenting a second notification of the second communication attempt to an environment proximate to the second communication device; and

establishing the second communication responsive to the person answering the second notification by activating the second communication device.