APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING MESSAGE COMMUNICATION

• US 20120150968A1
• Filed: 12/10/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• 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: YASREBI, MEHRAD, Jackson, James, Lockett, Cheryl
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,398 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 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving from a first communication device a message and a message request at a messaging server, selecting a second communication device from a group of other communication devices, providing a notification of the message to the second communication device, providing a message to the second communication device when the second communication device transmits an access request to the messaging server in response to the notification, and establishing a communication session between the first and second communication devices using the messaging server when the second communication device transmits a session request to the messaging server in response to receiving the message. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions at least for:

receiving a message at a messaging server, the message being received from a first communication device;

receiving a request to distribute the message, the request being received by the messaging server from the first communication device, the request comprising identification information for a group of other communication devices;

selecting a second communication device from the group of other communication devices according to at least one of presence information and stored device identification information;

providing a notification of the message to the second communication device;

adjusting a format of the message according to a recipient format associated with the second communication device;

providing at least a portion of the message to the second communication device when the second communication device transmits an access request to the messaging server in response to the notification; and

establishing a communication session between the first and second communication devices when the second communication device transmits a session request to the messaging server in response to receiving the at least a portion of the message, the communication session being established by the messaging server.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising computer instructions at least for:

partitioning the message into a plurality of portions; and

providing different portions of the plurality of portions to at least two communication devices of the group of communication devices.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message is video content provided to a set top box of the group of communication devices, and wherein another of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message is provided to a mobile device of the group of communication devices.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising computer instructions at least for:

storing the message;

providing the second communication device with access to the stored message; and

generating a converted message by performing at least one of text-to-speech conversion and speech-to-text conversion on the message, wherein the at least a portion of the message provided to the second communication device is the converted message.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising computer instructions at least for:

maintaining the stored device identification in a database; and

utilizing the stored device identification information when the presence information is unavailable.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, further comprising computer instructions at least for storing a user profile associated with the first communication device, wherein the user profile comprises network address information for the group of communication devices and the recipient format.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, further comprising computer instructions at least for:

receiving a return message at the messaging server, the return message being received from the second communication device when the second communication device does not transmit a session request to the messaging server;

providing a notification of the return message to the first communication device; and

providing the return message to the first communication device when the first communication device transmits an access request to the messaging server in response to the notification, wherein a format of the return message is adjusted by the messaging server according to a sender format associated with the first communication device.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the communication session is established between the first and second communication devices as a hands-free operation for at least one of the first and second communication devices.

9. A server, comprising:

a network interface configured to receive a message from a first communication device and to receive a request from the first communication device to distribute the message, wherein the request comprises identification information for a group of other communication devices; and

a controller configured to obtain presence information associated with the group of other communication devices, to select a second and third communication device from the group of other communication devices according to the presence information, and to partition the message into a plurality of portions,

wherein different portions of the plurality of portions of the message are provided to the second and third communication devices.

10. The server of claim 9, wherein the third communication device is a set top box, wherein at least one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message is video content provided to the set top box, and wherein the controller is configured to adjust a format of the video content according to a recipient format associated with the set top box.

11. The server of claim 9, wherein the network interface is configured to:

provide a notification of the message to the second communication device; and

provide the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message to the second and third communication devices when the second communication device transmits an access request to the messaging server in response to the notification.

12. The server of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to establish a communication session between the first and second communication devices when the second communication device transmits a session request to the server in response to receiving at least a portion of the message.

13. The server of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to adjust a format of at least one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message according to a recipient format associated with at least one of the second and third communication devices.

14. The server of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to store a user profile associated with the first communication device, wherein the user profile comprises network address information for the group of communication devices and the recipient format and wherein the controller is configured to generate a converted message by performing at least one of text-to-speech conversion and speech-to-text conversion on the message, wherein at least one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message provided to the second and third communication devices comprises the converted message.

15. The server of claim 9, wherein one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message is video content, and wherein the controller is configured to:

store the video content;

adjust a format of the video content according to a recipient format associated with the third communication device; and

provide the third communication device with access to the stored video content.

16. A method comprising:

receiving a message and a message request at a messaging server, the message and message request being received from a first communication device, the request comprising identification information for a group of other communication devices;

selecting a second communication device from the group of other communication devices;

providing a notification of the message to the second communication device;

providing at least a portion of the message to the second communication device when the second communication device transmits an access request to the messaging server in response to the notification; and

establishing a communication session between the first and second communication devices when the second communication device transmits a session request to the messaging server in response to receiving the at least a portion of the message, the communication session being established by the messaging server.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

partitioning the message into a plurality of portions; and

providing different portions of the plurality of portions to at least two communication devices of the group of communication devices.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein one of the different portions of the plurality of portions of the message is video content, and further comprising:

storing the video content;

adjusting a format of the video content according to a recipient format associated with a third communication device of the group of communication devices; and

providing the third communication device with access to the stored video content.

19. The method of claim 16, comprising:

obtaining presence information for the group of other communication devices, wherein the selecting of the second communication device is based on the presence information.

20. The method of claim 16, comprising:

generating a converted message by performing at least one of text-to-speech conversion and speech-to-text conversion on the message, wherein the at least a portion of the message provided to the second communication device is the converted message.