System and Method for Quality of Presence

• US 20100293231A1
• Filed: 05/12/2009
• Published: 11/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gorti, Sreenivasa, Henry, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,046,417 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• 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

Abstract

A rating of the quality of the presence information of a user at a communication device is determined by an aggregation client by determining a direct indicator of presence of a user at the communication device, determining a presence likelihood at the communication device, determining a time delay characteristic related to input on the communication device, and determining a quality of presence rating based on these factors. A graphical or numerical indication of the quality of presence rating is sent to other users'"'"' communications devices.

Claims

1. A method of providing a quality of presence rating comprising:

determining a direct indicator of presence;

determining a presence likelihood;

determining a time delay characteristic;

determining a quality of presence rating; and

displaying an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a correlated indicator of presence based at least in part on attributes associated with the direct indicator of presence.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a supplemental correlated indicator of presence based on a direct indicator of presence for another device associated with a single user.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the time delay characteristic is a linear decay function.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the time delay characteristic is a non-linear decay function.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

updating the determined quality of presence function based at least in part on an updated direct indicator of presence.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device comprises displaying a graphical representation of the indication on a user communication device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device comprises displaying a numerical representation of the indication on a user communication device.

9. A computer readable medium comprising computer program instructions capable of being executed in a processor and defining the steps of:

determining a direct indicator of presence;

determining a presence likelihood;

determining a time delay characteristic;

determining a quality of presence rating; and

outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further define the step of:

determining a correlated indicator of presence based at least in part on attributes associated with the direct indicator of presence.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions for the time delay characteristic are instructions for a linear decay function.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further define the step of:

determining a supplemental correlated indicator of presence based on a direct indicator of presence for another device associated with a single user

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions for the time delay characteristic are instructions for a non-linear decay function.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further define the step of:

updating the determined quality of presence function based at least in part on an updated direct indicator of presence.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions for outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating comprise instructions for outputting a graphical representation of the indication to a user communication device.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions for outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating comprise instructions for outputting a numerical representation of the indication to a user communication device.

17. A system for providing a quality of presence rating comprising:

means for determining a direct indicator of presence;

means for determining a presence likelihood;

means for determining a time delay characteristic;

means for determining a quality of presence rating; and

means for outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for determining a correlated indicator of presence based at least in part on attributes associated with the direct indicator of presence.

19. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for updating the determined quality of presence function based at least in part on an updated direct indicator of presence.

20. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for determining a supplemental correlated indicator of presence based on a direct indicator of presence for another device associated with a single user.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein the means for outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device comprises outputting a graphical representation of the indication on a user communication device.

22. The system of claim 17 wherein the means for outputting an indication of the quality of presence rating to a quality of presence rating display device comprises outputting a numerical representation of the indication on a user communication device.