Patent Application
20080233924
The present disclosure relates to the fields of telephony and communication network services.
Rapid advances in mobile phones and cellular communication technologies have lead to an increase in the types of services offered to customers and end users. For example, it is commonplace for a subscriber to a cellular telephone network service to be provided with Internet access, text messaging capabilities, voice messaging, and video media transmission capabilities. Most cellular network service providers also offer their customers access to a “411” directory service that provides users with telephone numbers of a listed business, person, or other establishment. A user who dials 411 is typically connected to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system or human agent that attempts to solicit the geographic location and name of the person or establishment, and then either directly connects the user with the listed number or audibly speaks the number to the user, who then must write it down or commit the number to memory.
Because mobile users are often performing tasks that preclude close attention and the ability to write (e.g., driving), the user of the directory service may not be able to remember the spoken number, or may not write it down correctly. In cases where the service dials the number for the user, the conversation with the called party may get dropped in the middle of the call. In these situations the user usually must repeat the entire process of dialing 411 to again request the same phone number, often incurring another directory service fee and a significant delay before reconnection occurs.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description that follows and from the accompanying drawings, which however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown, but are for explanation and understanding only.
In the following description specific details are set forth, such as device types, system configurations, protocols, methods, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure herein. However, persons having ordinary skill in the relevant arts will appreciate that these specific details may not be needed to practice the embodiments described.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a mechanism is provided for a third generation (3G) wireless network directory service that not only dials a requested telephone number for a user but also inputs or “pushes” the number into a recently dialed numbers list on the user's mobile telephone (mobile phone). In another embodiment, the directory service pushes the call record into a record file that includes callee and caller information, thereby allowing the user telephone device to receive the called number in cases where an intermediary service is providing a directory or call initiation function. For example, this later embodiment is useful in Click-to-call applications and for dialing out of commercially-available IP communication system products such as Cisco's MeetingPlace™ conferencing application. In yet another embodiment, a method of performing a 411 number lookup to a directory service results in the requested number being added to a speed dial list or to other types of directory entries on the telephone device.
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If successful in identifying the callee and retrieving the callee's number (block 26), the IVR system or agent may then dial the number for the user. In addition to dialing the callee number for the user, the directory service also sends the callee's directory number (DN) to the user's mobile phone via the established network connection. The user's mobile phone, in turn, is configured to receive the callee number and enter it into a storage location used for storing recently dialed numbers (block 27).
In another embodiment, the mobile service provider, rather than directory service, pushes to the phone the DN to which the call is transferred. This embodiment is useful in situations where the directory service to which the user connects may not be capable of utilizing the data “push” protocol to the phone. In this case, however, the mobile service provider (i.e., the operator of wireless network 21), is able to determine the DN to which the user's call is transferred.
In this example, a user may use a cursor or selection navigation device 45 to scroll up or down the list of dialed calls. When a desired callee is highlighted, the user may then elect to view details associated with that callee, such as the full name, phone number, or other callee information. In this example, the user may view details of a particular callee by pressing soft-key button 44 when the callee's name is highlighted. The user may also dial the callee's number by selecting the callee's name using device 45 to highlight the entry in the list of calls and then pressing the Send button 46. Alternatively, the user may press soft-key button 42 to go back to a previous user interface window or menu page.
Continuing with the example of
Note that the user may also configure his mobile phone with settings that determine the number of pushed calls received from a directory service. For instance, a user may set his mobile phone only to store the last two pushed calls received, with older pushed calls being deleted from the user's list of recently dialed numbers. In still other alternative implementations, the user' mobile phone may be placed into a “locked” setting or configuration, in which directory service dialed numbers are not stored in any storage location on the user's phone. In other words, in a locked configuration, the user's mobile phone no longer accepts numbers pushed or sent from a directory service. A user, for example, may decide to lock his mobile phone such that no new 411 numbers are received that might result in loss of his current recently dialed history.
It should be understood that elements of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product which may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (e.g., a processor or other electronic device) to perform a sequence of operations. Alternatively, the operations may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet or optical cards, propagation media or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. For example, elements of the present invention may be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer or telephonic device to a requesting process by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).
Additionally, although the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, numerous modifications and alterations are well within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
