Providing notifications of call-related services

• US 9,398,164 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Gillett, Mark Alastair
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Jianye
• Application Number:
  US13/789,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20140211666A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/261, 370/338, 455/417, 455/419, 455/420
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0087 Network planning or provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/148 Interfacing a video terminal to a particular transmission medium, e.g. ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a first near-end terminal, the first near-end terminal being a mobile user terminal operable to establish voice or video calls with one or more far-end user terminals over a network. A detection module detects when the first near-end terminal is within a relative proximity of a second near-end terminal available to provide a call-related service in relation to one or more of the voice or video calls. A notification module outputs a notification to a user of the first near-end terminal based on said detection, notifying the user of the call-related service. In response to said detection, a configuration module is operable to store a configuration configuring the first near-end terminal as having the second near-end terminal identified for later provision of the call-related service.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in relation to a first near-end terminal, the first near-end terminal being a mobile user terminal operable to establish voice or video calls with one or more far-end user terminals over a network, the apparatus comprising:

a detection module arranged to detect when the first near-end terminal is within a relative proximity of a second near-end terminal available to provide a call-related service in relation to one or more of the voice or video calls, the detection comprising comparing environmental data detected by the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal to determine a correlation indicative of the relative proximity, the environmental data comprising sound sampled from surroundings of the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal;

a notification module arranged to output a notification to a user of the first near-end terminal based on said detection, notifying the user of the call-related service; and

a configuration module operable, in response to said detection, to store a configuration configuring the first near-end terminal as having the second near-end terminal identified for later provision of the call-related service.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the notification module is arranged to automatically output the notification when the first and second near-end terminals are detected to be within said proximity.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the notification prompts the user for a user selection as to whether to accept use of the call-related service, and the configuration module is arranged to store said setting on condition of said user selection being affirmative.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration module is arranged to automatically retrieve the configuration setting for making use of the call-related service after the first terminal and/or second near-end terminal has departed from and then returned to said proximity.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration module is arranged to automatically retrieve the configuration setting when the user later makes one of the voice or video calls, thereby making use of the call-related service in the call.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second near-end terminal is a user terminal providing a media end-point, and wherein the call-related service comprises use of the second near-end terminal to play out or generate at least one of an audio or video stream of the call.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first near-end terminal continues to control the call while the second near-end terminal plays out or generates the at least one stream.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first near-end terminal plays out or generates at least one other audio or video stream of the call.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second near-end terminal comprises an analogue telephone adaptor, the call-related service comprising use of the second near-end terminal to render a call received over the network.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect when the first and second near-end terminals are within said proximity based on one or more of:

the first and second near-end terminals both being connected to a same local network;

the first and second near-end terminals sharing an address space being a subset of addresses of a packet-switched network;

or

the first and second near-end terminals both connecting to a same network interface address of an intermediate network equipment.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect when the first and second near-end terminals are within said proximity based on:

using a satellite-based positioning system or other geographic localization technology to detect that a geographic location of the first near-end terminal is within a proximity of a geographic location of the second near-end user terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect when the first and second near-end terminals are within said proximity based on the first and second near-end terminals being separated by no more than a threshold number of hops.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect when the first and second near-end terminals are within said proximity based on a transmission time of a packet travelling between the first and second near-end terminals.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect when the first and second near-end terminals are within said proximity a type of access technology currently available for communicating between the first and second near-end terminals.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection module is further arranged to detect availability of the call-related service in further dependence on a shared authentication element of the first and second near-end terminals.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is implemented at the first near-end terminal.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a packet-based network.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second near-end terminal is a mobile user terminal, mobile phone, tablet, laptop computer, desktop computer, games console, hi-fi or stereo system, television or set-top box.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable memories, coupled to the one or more processors, comprising instructions for use in relation to a first near-end terminal, the first near-end terminal being a mobile user terminal operable to establish voice or video calls with one or more far-end user terminals over a network, the instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

detecting when the first near-end terminal is within a relative proximity of a second near-end terminal available to provide a call-related service in relation to one or more of the voice or video calls, the detecting comprising comparing environmental data detected by the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal to determine a correlation indicative of the relative proximity, the environmental data comprising sound sampled from surroundings of the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal;

based on said detection, outputting a notification to a user of the first near-end terminal notifying the user of the call-related service; and

in response to said detection, storing a configuration setting configuring the first near-end terminal as having the second-near end terminal identified for later provision of the call-related service.

20. A method to establish packet-based voice or video calls from a first near-end terminal with one or more far-end user terminals over a network, the method comprising:

detecting when the first near-end terminal is within a relative proximity of a second near-end terminal available to act as a media end-point for one or more of the voice or video calls established via the first near-end user terminal, the detecting comprising comparing environmental data detected by the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal to determine a correlation indicative of the relative proximity, the environmental data comprising sound sampled from surroundings of the first near-end terminal and the second near-end terminal;

when the first and second near-end terminals are detected to be within said proximity, automatically outputting a notification to a user of the first near-end terminal, the notification notifying the user of the availability of the second near-end user terminal as a media endpoint for one or more of the calls, and prompting the user for a user selection as to whether to accept the second near-end terminal for use as said media end-point;

in response to said detection, and on condition that said user-selection is affirmative, storing a configuration setting in non-volatile storage, configuring the first near-end terminal as having the second-near end terminal selected for use as said media end-point; and

on a later occasion when the user makes one of said calls, after the first and second near-end user terminals have departed from and then returned to being within said proximity, automatically detecting the second near-end terminal and retrieving the configuration setting from the non-volatile storage, thereby using the second near-end user terminal to play or generate at least one voice or video stream of the call while the first near-end user terminal controls the call and/or plays out or generates at least one other voice or video stream of the call.