System and method for detecting mutually supported capabilities between mobile devices

• US 9,100,936 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2008
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Roundtree, Brian, Russell, Jake A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandt, Christopher M
• Assistant Examiner(s): DEAN, JR, JOSEPH E
• Application Number:
  US12/595,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20100144325A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,671 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/415, 455517-519, 455/432.3, 370/353, 379/201.01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

A system and method for detecting mutually supported capabilities between two or more mobile devices is described. In some cases, the system transmits a message to a called device requesting information about the device. In some cases, the transmitted message is answered by a user of the device. In some cases, the transmitted message is automatically received and answered by the called device. In some cases, the system presents information about a service supported by a called party during a call placed to the party.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a service supported by a second mobile device, the method comprising:

at a first mobile device associated with a user, receiving an indication of a voice call placed to a called number for the second mobile device;

transmitting via the first mobile device a first message to the second mobile device,

wherein the first message is configured to request whether one or more first services that are supported by the first mobile device are supported by the second mobile device;

receiving at the first mobile device a second message from the second mobile device that indicates, as one or more second services, a subset of the first services that are supported by the second mobile device;

determining that a counter is below a threshold value;

requesting a selection from the user of a service of the one or more second services;

after determining that the counter is below the threshold value, receiving a selected service from the user; and

in response to receiving the selected service from the user, initiating a communications channel using the selected service and switching communications between the first mobile device and the second mobile device to the selected service using the communications channel instead of the voice call;

wherein the counter specifies a number of times the user has responded to the requesting of the selection in relation to the called number.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message is automatically generated and transmitted from the second mobile device to the first mobile device in response to receiving the first message by the second mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message includes information selected by a second user associated with the second mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying a database relating numbers for mobile devices with one or more third services provided by the mobile devices; and

determining, by the first mobile device and based on results of the query, that the called number is not mapped to any services in the database;

wherein the database is stored with the first mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message includes a unique identifier associated with the first mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a determination of the one or more first services that are supported by the first mobile device is based on a determination that a network connection sufficient to support the one or more first services is available.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating a database to relate the one or more second services to the called number.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message and second message are text messages.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second mobile device is from a group of two or more devices.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the communications channel includes initiating an interactive application between the first mobile device and the second mobile device using the selected service.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second message includes information input by a second user associated with the second mobile device.

12. A system for enhancing a phone call between two mobile devices, the system comprising:

an input component, wherein the input component is configured to receive input from a user associated with a first mobile device to initiate placement of a voice call to a party associated with a second mobile device;

a call component, wherein the call component is configured to receive the input and place the voice call to the party associated with the second mobile device;

a determination component, wherein the determination component is configured to determine one or more services supported by the second mobile device;

a matching component configured to match the one or more services supported by the second mobile device with one or more corresponding services supported by the first mobile device to determine one or more common communication capabilities supported by both the first mobile device and the second mobile device;

a selection frequency checker configured to make a determination that a frequency is below a threshold;

a display component, wherein the display component is configured to, after the determination that the frequency is below the threshold, display an option to switch communications from the voice call to a communication channel that uses at least one of the one or more common communication capabilities supported by both the first mobile device and the second mobile device;

wherein the input component is further configured to receive, from the user, a selection of a common communication capability of the at least one of the one or more common communication capabilities; and

an implementation component, wherein the implementation component is configured to, in response to receiving the selection of the common communication capability from the user, initialize a communication channel between the first and the second mobile devices using the selected common communication capability, and switch communications to the initialized communication channel instead of the voice call;

wherein the frequency specifies a number of times the user has responded, in relation to the second mobile device, to the option to switch communications.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the matching component comprises a message component,

wherein the message component is configured to transmit a message to the second mobile device to determine one or more additional services supported by the second mobile device when the matching component does not initially determine any common communication capabilities supported by both the first mobile device and the second mobile device, the message requesting information related to services supported by the second mobile device.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the determination component queries a database relating phone numbers with services provided by devices associated with the phone numbers.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the determination of the one or more common communication capabilities is based on a determination that a network connection sufficient to support the common communication capabilities is available.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more services supported by the second mobile device comprise two or more services supported by the second mobile device.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

querying a database relating numbers for mobile devices with one or more third services provided by the mobile devices; and

determining, by the first mobile device and based on results of the query, that the second mobile device is not mapped to any services in the database;

wherein the database is local to the first mobile device.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the selected one of the one or more common communication capability is a game application.

16. A method performed by a first mobile device for determining capabilities of other mobile devices, the method comprising:

automatically transmitting a first message to a destination mobile device associated with a user;

wherein the first message is configured to request information related to a service supported by the destination mobile device;

receiving a second message from the destination mobile device comprising an indication of two or more services supported by the destination mobile device;

determining a number of times the user has responded to an option to switch communications in relation to a called number;

displaying a second option to switch communications from a first communication channel selected by the user to an available interactive application that uses one of the two or more services supported by the destination mobile device;

after determining that the number of times is below a threshold, receiving user input selecting the available interactive application; and

in response to receiving the user input selecting the available interactive application, initializing communication between the first and the destination mobile devices using the selected available interactive application and the services supported by the destination mobile device.