Automatically providing announcements for a push-to-talk communication session

• US 7,792,899 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2006
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaffer, Shmuel, Talukder, Shah, Zanone, Dean M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas; Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): FABBRI, ANTHONY E
• Application Number:
  US11/388,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20070226310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,628 Days
• Field of Search: 709/246, 709/204, 709/237, 709/228, 709/200, 370/2, 370/100, 370/202, 455/518, 455/414.1, 455/90.2
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Providing announcements for communication sessions includes facilitating the communication sessions among endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint. It is established that a trigger event has occurred at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, where the trigger event indicates an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint. One or more announcements associated with the trigger event are identified. The one or more announcements are provided to at least a subset of the endpoints.

Claims

1. A method for providing one or more announcements for one or more communication sessions, comprising:

facilitating one or more communication sessions among a plurality of endpoints, the plurality of endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

establishing, by an interoperability system distinct from the endpoints, that a section of a button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been deselected to yield a trigger event at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event indicating an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

identifying, by the interoperability system, a set of two or more pre-recorded announcements associated with the trigger event from a plurality of sets of pre-recorded announcements, each set of pre-recorded announcements associated with a different trigger event, each announcement of the set corresponding to a different virtual talk group; and

playing, by the interoperability system, the identified pre-recorded announcements by playing a first announcement of the set to a first virtual talk group and playing a second announcement of the set to a second virtual talk group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the trigger event comprises deselection of a first section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has relinquished floor control of the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a talk termination announcement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the trigger event comprises deselection of a second section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has terminated the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a session termination announcement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing that the button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been selected to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has requested floor control for the one or more communication sessions; and

playing a pre-recorded user identifier announcement announcing a user identifier of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining the one or more announcements by recording the voice of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein playing the identified pre-recorded announcements further comprises:

playing the first announcement to a user of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint at a first volume; and

playing the second announcement to one or more users of the other endpoints at a second volume, the second volume greater than the first volume.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the one or more announcements at the interoperability system; and

downloading the one or more announcements from the interoperability system to the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

8. A system for providing one or more announcements for one or more communication sessions, comprising:

an interface of an interoperability system distinct from a plurality of endpoints, the interface operable to;

send and receive a plurality of messages to facilitate one or more communication sessions among the endpoints, the plurality of endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint; and

a processor of the interoperability system, the processor coupled to the interface and operable to;

establish that a section of a button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been deselected to yield a trigger event at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event indicating an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

identify a set of two or more pre-recorded announcements associated with the trigger event from a plurality of sets of pre-recorded announcements, each set of pre-recorded announcements associated with a different trigger event, each announcement of the set corresponding to a different virtual talk group; and

play the identified pre-recorded announcements by playing a first announcement of the set to a first virtual talk group and playing a second announcement of the set to a second virtual talk group.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the trigger event comprises deselection of a first section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has relinquished floor control of the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a talk termination announcement.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the trigger event comprises deselection of a second section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has terminated the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a session termination announcement.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to:

establish that the button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been selected to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has requested floor control for the one or more communication sessions; and

play a pre-recorded user identifier announcement announcing a user identifier of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to:

obtain the one or more announcements by recording the voice of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to play the identified pre-recorded announcements by:

playing the first announcement to a user of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint at a first volume; and

playing the second announcement to one or more users of the other endpoints at a second volume, the second volume greater than the first volume.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to:

store the one or more announcements; and

download the one or more announcements to the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing logic for providing one or more announcements for one or more communication sessions, the logic when executed by a processor operable to:

facilitate one or more communication sessions among a plurality of endpoints, the plurality of endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

establish, by an interoperability system distinct from the endpoints that a section of a button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been deselected to yield a trigger event at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event indicating an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

identify, by the interoperability system, a set of two or more pre-recorded announcements associated with the trigger event from a plurality of sets of pre-recorded announcements, each set of pre-recorded announcements associated with a different trigger event, each announcement of the set corresponding to a different virtual talk group; and

play, by the interoperability system, the identified pre-recorded announcements by playing a first announcement of the set to a first virtual talk group and playing a second announcement of the set to a second virtual talk group.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein;

the trigger event comprises deselection of a first section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has relinquished floor control of the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a talk termination announcement.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein:

the trigger event comprises deselection of a second section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has terminated the one or more communication sessions; and

the one or more announcements comprise a session termination announcement.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further operable to:

establish that the button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been selected to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has requested floor control for the one or more communication sessions; and

play a pre-recorded user identifier announcement announcing a user identifier of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further operable to:

obtain the one or more announcements by recording the voice of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further operable to play the identified pre-recorded announcements by:

playing the first announcement to a user of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint at a first volume; and

playing the second announcement to one or more users of the other endpoints at a second volume, the second volume greater than the first volume.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further operable to:

store the one or more announcements at the interoperability system; and

download the one or more announcements from the interoperability system to the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint.

22. A system for providing one or more announcements for one or more communication sessions, comprising:

means for facilitating one or more communication sessions among a plurality of endpoints, the plurality of endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

means for establishing, by an interoperability system distinct from the endpoints, that a section of a button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been deselected to yield a trigger event at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event indicating an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

means for identifying, by the interoperability system, a set of two or more pre-recorded announcements associated with the trigger event from a plurality of sets of pre-recorded announcements, each set of pre-recorded announcements associated with a different trigger event, each announcement of the set corresponding to a different virtual talk group; and

means for playing, by the interoperability system, the identified pre-recorded announcements by playing a first announcement of the set to a first virtual talk group and playing a second announcement of the set to a second virtual talk group.

23. A method for providing one or more announcements for one or more communication sessions, comprising:

facilitating one or more communication sessions among a plurality of endpoints by facilitating the one or more communication sessions among a plurality of virtual talk groups, the plurality of endpoints comprising a half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint;

establishing, by an interoperability system distinct from the endpoints, that a section of a button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been deselected to yield a trigger event at the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event indicating an activity status of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the trigger event comprising deselection of a first section of the button to indicate at least one of;

the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has relinquished floor control of the one or more communication sessions;

the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has terminated the one or more communication sessions; and

the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has requested floor control for the one or more communication sessions;

identifying, by the interoperability system, a set of two or more pre-recorded announcements associated with the trigger event from a plurality of sets of pre-recorded announcements, each set of pre-recorded announcements associated with a different trigger event, each announcement of the set corresponding to a different virtual talk group, the one or more announcements comprising;

a talk termination announcement if the trigger event comprises deselection of a first section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has relinquished floor control of the one or more communication sessions;

a session termination announcement if the trigger event comprises deselection of a second section of the button to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has terminated the one or more communication sessions; and

a user identifier announcement announcing a user identifier of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint if the button of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has been selected to indicate that the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint has requested floor control for the one or more communication sessions, the one or more announcements obtained by recording the voice of a user associated with the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint, the one or more announcements stored at the interoperability system, the one or more announcements downloaded from the interoperability system to the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint; and

playing, by the interoperability system, the identified pre-recorded announcements to at least a subset of the plurality of endpoints by providing a first announcement of the set to a first virtual talk group and a second announcement of the set to a second virtual talk group, the one or more announcements provided by;

playing the first announcement to a user of the half-duplex push-to-talk endpoint at a first volume; and

playing the second announcement to one or more users of the other endpoints at a second volume, the second volume greater than the first volume.