Call notification with rich caller identification

• US 8,503,658 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2007
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chatterjee, Saurav, Perfetto, Josh, Rana, Hemendra, Fullarton, Paul, Shah, Ankur
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai N
• Application Number:
  US11/726,426
• Publication Number:
  US 20070248221A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,330 Days
• Field of Search: 379/210.01, 379/211.01, 379/211.02, 379/212.01, 370/352, 370/353
• US Class Current: 379/212.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1091 Fixed mobile conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2044 Group features, e.g. closed user group
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5009 Adding a party to an existing conference conducting a computer conference, e.g. admission detection H04L12/1822
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42008 Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42246 where the subscriber uses a multi-mode terminal which moves and accesses different networks with at least one network having a wireline access including cordless PBX
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4234 Remote access to features of PBX or home telephone systems-teleworking in a PBX
• 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: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/44 Additional connecting arrangements for providing access to frequently-wanted subscribers, e.g. abbreviated dialling at the subscriber's set H04M1/27; automatic redialling H04M3/424
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/46 Arrangements for calling a number of substations in a predetermined sequence until an answer is obtained
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/465 Arrangements for simultaneously calling a number of substations until an answer is obtained
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1235 where one of the core networks is a wireless network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 : Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

Communication systems and methods are described that include call notification with rich caller identification. Components of the communication systems are configured to receive a call for a user via an enterprise voice channel. A call request is automatically generated in response to event data of the received call. The call request includes caller data from enterprise databases or directories. The caller data provides identifying information of the caller to the user via the call request. The call request can include response options by which the user can participate in the call. The call request is routed to a target device of the user via a data channel of the host enterprise. The target device provides the user with multiple action or response options via the call request. The response options include for example accepting the call, delaying the call, forwarding the call, ignoring the call, and ignoring the caller.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving call event data at a server in response to a call to a telephone received via a first voice channel operatively coupled with the telephone;

the server generating a call request responsive to receiving the call event data, the call request comprising caller data and a plurality of call response options, wherein the plurality of call response options include accepting the call;

the server concurrently;

i) routing the call request via a data channel to a designated target device associated with the telephone without transferring the call via a second voice channel to the designated target device, and ii) directing the call using the first voice channel to the telephone associated with the designated target device;

the server selectively transferring the call to the designated target device via the second voice channel responsive to receiving the accepting the call response from the designated target device before determining the call was answered at the telephone;

the server canceling the call request by sending a notification to the designated target device via the data channel responsive to determining the call was answered at the telephone before a selected call response was received from the designated target device via the data channel; and

,

the server selectively decoupling the call that transferred to the designated target device and retransferring the call to a voicemail box of the telephone responsive to an absence of a response message from the designated target device confirming within a predetermined time that the designated target device answered the call and after transferring the call to the designated target device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying the plurality of call response options at the designated target device.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising transferring the call to an enterprise telephone wherein the telephone is assigned to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising automatically answering the call at the designated target device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the automatically answering includes answering in response to authenticating an enterprise performing the transferring.

6. The method of claim 4, comprising:

decoupling the call transferred to the designated target device absent a response message received from the designated target device answering the call; and

automatically answering a next incoming call to the designated target device.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

detecting termination of the call prior to the accepting; and

initiating a return call to the associated caller via the voice channel.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising transferring the return call to a target device of an associated user via a target device voice channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of call response options include postponing the call.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein processing the received call comprises notifying an associated caller that the user to whom the call is directed is unavailable to accept the call responsive to receiving the unavailable call response.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising directing the call to a voicemail box of an associated user.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the notifying includes specifying a future time at which an associated user will be available to accept the call.

13. The method of claim 12, comprising:

generating a reminder message of the call in response to the postponing, wherein the reminder message includes the future time; and

transferring the reminder message to a target device of the associated user.

14. The method of claim 12, comprising receiving a selection of the future time from one or more of the associated caller and the associated user.

15. The method of claim 12, comprising prompting one or more of the associated caller and the associated user for the future time.

16. The method of claim 9, comprising:

detecting termination of the call prior to the postponing; and

initiating a return call to the associated caller via the voice channel.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising playing a message during the return call, the message specifying a future time at which the associated user will be available to accept the call.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising receiving a selection of an alternative future time from the associated caller during the return call.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising:

generating a reminder message of the call in response to the postponing, wherein the reminder message includes one or more of the future time and the alternative future time; and

transferring the reminder message to a target device of the associated user.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of call response options include forwarding the call.

21. The method of claim 20, further including dynamically forwarding the call to a forwarding telephone number of the user via the voice channel responsive to receiving the forward the call response.

22. The method of claim 21, comprising receiving the forwarding telephone number from the associated user.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving comprises:

transferring to a target device of the associated user a set of telephone numbers including the forwarding telephone number; and

receiving data of a selection from the target device, wherein the data of the selection includes the forwarding telephone number.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving includes:

prompting the associated user at a target device for the forwarding telephone number; and

receiving data of the associated user input from the target device, wherein the data of the user input includes the forwarding telephone number.

25. The method of claim 21, comprising:

detecting termination of the call prior to the forwarding; and

initiating a return call to the associated caller via the voice channel.

26. The method of claim 25, comprising transferring the return call to a target device of the associated user via a target device voice channel and the forwarding telephone number.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of call response options include ignoring the call.

28. The method of claim 27, further including directing the call to a voicemail box of the user responsive to receiving the ignore the call response.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of call response options include designating an associated caller as an ignored caller.

30. The method of claim 29, comprising directing the call to a voicemail box of an associated user.

31. The method of claim 29, comprising ignoring the call.

32. The method of claim 29, comprising ignoring a future call from the ignored caller.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein caller data includes one or more of a name, address, telephone number, electronic mail address, employer, and job of the associated caller.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein caller data includes personal data of an associated caller, the personal data comprising data of one or more of a spouse, relative, child, anniversary, and birthday of the caller.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein caller data includes one or more of data of at least one interaction between an associated caller and an associated user.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the caller data includes screening data received from an associated caller.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the screening data includes one or more of data input by the associated caller and pre-specified data selected by the associated caller.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the screening data includes audio data recorded by the associated caller.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the screening data includes a voicemail message.

40. The method of claim 39, comprising streaming the voicemail message to an associated user.

41. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing includes distributed routing of the call request to at least one other target device of at least one second associated user, wherein the distributed routing includes one or more of routing to the at least one second associated user instead of the routing to a first user and routing to the at least one second associated user in addition to the routing to the first user.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the distributed routing includes parallel routing to a plurality of other users.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the distributed routing includes:

a first routing of the call request to at least one target device of a first set of other users; and

a second routing of the call request to at least one target device of a second set of other users.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the distributed routing is sequential routing to each of a plurality of second associated users.

45. The method of claim 44, comprising determining a hierarchy of the routing, wherein the hierarchy defines an order of the routing to the plurality of second associated users.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the distributed routing comprises:

parallel routing to a first plurality of second associated users; and

sequential routing to each of a second plurality of second associated users.

47. The method of claim 41, wherein the distributed routing includes routing according to availability of the resource, wherein the availability includes one or more of presence of the resource, reachable status of the resource, availability determined by a host system, and availability specified by the resource.

48. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of call responses include generating a return data message to an associated caller including at least one of a text message and a voice message.

49. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the call request includes routing in accordance with context information, the context information including at least one of a connectivity state and an availability profile of a target device of an associated user.

50. The method of claim 49, where the connectivity state includes information of a state of connectivity of the target device to a communication network.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein the connectivity state includes at least one of a reachable state and an unreachable state, wherein the designated target device is in a reachable state when the designated target device is in a powered state and connected to a corresponding communication network, wherein the designated target device is in an unreachable state when the designated target device is one or more of in an un-powered state, disconnected from the communication network, and engaged in a voice call.

52. The method of claim 1, comprising transferring context information of an associated user to an associated caller, wherein the context information includes at least one of presence information and a current availability state of a target device of the associated user.

53. The method of claim 1, wherein the call request is a data message that includes one or more of a text message and a voice message.

54. The method of claim 1, wherein the target device includes one or more of a cellular telephone, mobile device, wireless device, wireline device, voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) device, private branch exchange device, soft client, and desktop client.

55. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the voice channel and the data channel is hosted by one or more of the enterprise, a service provider, and a mobile network operator.

56. The method of claim 1, comprising transferring media to the target device of an associated user via one or more of the voice channel and the data channel.

57. A system comprising:

a server coupled with an enterprise and at least one communication network, the server including a facilitator; and

a communication device including a client;

wherein the facilitator is operable to;

receive call event data in response to a call to a telephone of an associated user received via a first voice channel;

generate a call request including caller data and a plurality of call responses, wherein the plurality of call response options include accepting the call;

route the call request to the client via a data channel without transferring the received call via a second voice channel to the client, while concurrently directing the call via the first voice channel to the telephone associated with the client;

selectively transfer the call to the client via the second voice channel responsive to receiving the accepting the call response from the client before determining the call was answered at the telephone;

cancel the call request by sending a notification to the client via the data channel responsive to determining the received call was answered via the first voice channel at the telephone before a selected call response was received via the data channel; and

,

selectively decouple the call that transferred to the client and retransfer the call to a voicemail box of the telephone responsive to an absence of a response message from the client confirming within a predetermined time that the client answered the call and after the transferring call to the client.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the client is operable to present the plurality of call responses at the communication device.

59. The system of claim 57, comprising transferring the call to a telephone of an enterprise.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the client is operable to automatically answer the call.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the client is operable to authenticate the enterprise performing the transferring before automatically answering the call.

62. The system of claim 60, wherein the facilitator is operable to:

decouple the call transferred to the target device absent a response message received from the client; and

automatically answer a next incoming call to the communication device.

63. The system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of call responses include postponing the call.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the facilitator is operable to notify the caller that a user to whom the call is directed is unavailable to accept the call responsive to receiving the postpone the call response.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the facilitator is operable to direct the call to a voicemail box of the user.

66. The system of claim 64, wherein operable to notify includes operable to specify a future time at which the user will be available to accept the call.

67. The system of claim 66, wherein the facilitator is operable to:

generate a reminder message of the call in response to the postponing, wherein the reminder message includes the future time; and

transfer the reminder message to the client.

68. The system of claim 63, wherein the facilitator is operable to:

detect termination of the call prior to the postponing; and

initiate a return call to the caller via the voice channel.

69. The system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of call response options include forwarding the call.

70. The system of claim 69, wherein the facilitator is operable to dynamically forward the call to at least one forwarding telephone number of the associated user via the voice channel responsive to receiving the forward the call response.

71. The system of claim 70, wherein the facilitator is operable to:

detect termination of the call prior to the forwarding; and

initiate a return call to the caller via the voice channel.

72. The system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of call response options include ignoring the call.

73. The system of claim 72, wherein the facilitator is operable to route the call to a voicemail box of the enterprise responsive to receiving the ignore the call response.

74. The system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of call response options include designating the caller as an ignored caller.

75. The system of claim 74, comprising ignoring a future call from the ignored caller responsive to receiving the designate caller as an ignored caller response.

76. The system of claim 57, wherein caller identification data includes one or more of a name, address, telephone number, electronic mail address, employer, and job of the caller, wherein caller data includes personal data of the caller, the personal data comprising data of one or more of a spouse, relative, child, anniversary, and birthday of the caller, wherein caller identification data includes one or more of data of at least one interaction between the caller and the user.

77. The system of claim 57, wherein the caller identification data includes screening data received from the caller, wherein the screening data includes one or more of data input by the caller, pre-specified data selected by the caller, audio data recorded by the caller, and a voicemail message.

78. The system of claim 57, wherein the routing includes distributed routing of the call request to at least one other client of at least one other communication device, wherein the facilitator is operable to perform distributed routing that includes one or more of routing to the at least one other client instead of the routing to the client and routing to the at least one other client in addition to the routing to the client.

79. A non-transitory computer readable medium including executable instructions which, when executed in a processing system, provides call notification by:

receiving call event data in response to a call received via a first voice channel;

generating a call request responsive to receiving the call event data, the call request comprising caller data and a plurality of call response options, wherein the plurality of call response options include accepting the call;

routing the call request to a designated device via a data channel without transferring the call via a second voice channel to the designated device, while concurrently directing the call via the first voice channel to a telephone associated with the designated device;

selectively transferring the call to the designated device via the second voice channel responsive to receiving the accepting the call response from the designated device before determining the call was answered at the telephone;

canceling the call request by sending a notification to the designated device via the data channel responsive to determining the call was answered at the telephone via the first voice channel before a selected call response was received via the data channel from the designated device; and

,

selectively decoupling the call that transferred to the designated device and retransferring the call to a voicemail box of the telephone responsive to an absence of a response message from the designated device confirming within a predetermined time that the designated device answered the call and after transferring the call to the designated device.