Patent Application
20080059642
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
One aspect of the exemplary embodiments is a method for enhancing the cell phone experience by allowing users to gain the most from offered free minutes by displaying an “in-network” notification when in the same network.
One object of the present invention is providing a cell phone with the ability to display an “in-network” display notification on the display screen or an “in-network” light emitting means. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention detect when a call is initiated and check to determine if both callers are on the same network or not. If both users are determined to be on the same network, an “in-network” display notification is generated on both displays or an “in-network” light emitting means emits light on both cell phones. This permits users to readily determine whether the other caller is on the same network and the callers can use this knowledge to make the most of out of any “in-network” benefits the service provider offers, such as free “in-network” minutes.
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide for cell phones equipped with the ability to display an “in-network” display notification on the display screen or an “in-network” light emitting means, depending on the phone manufacturer or model of cell phone. When a user initiates a call, the system checks to determine if both callers are on the same network. For example, a user having a first phone carrier contacts another user having the same phone carrier, and the system ascertains both users are on the same phone carrier network. In this scenario, the “in-network” display notification displays or the “in-network” light emits a light on both cell phones. If a user of a first phone carrier phones a user having a second phone carrier, the second phone carrier being different than the first phone carrier, then the “in-network” display notification is not displayed, nor is the “in-network” light emitted by either cell phone.
In this way, users readily ascertain whether the other caller is on the same network or not and therefore can use this knowledge to make the most of any in-network benefits the provider offers. In addition to this visual indicator, a separate timer may either be implemented for “in-network” versus out-of-network calls, or in another exemplary embodiment, the “in-network” calls may simply be excluded from the minutes aggregated on the “resettable” timer.
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention may use (1) intelligent switches in the network to determine that the call is “in-network” and (2) determine how the intelligent switches ascertain that the call is “in-network” by at least two implementations. These implementations are as follows: (a) by a database look-up to determine if the number is “in-network” or not. This is arguably less reliable as (b) (described below) since phone numbers can be moved across multiple carriers. However, carriers have information about their subscribers, and this information can be used accordingly for this purpose. A better way of accomplishing this is by (b) using the switching information to ascertain if the call is terminated within the same network or if it goes to an outside network. In this case, the data that the call is “in-network” is only determined after the call has been established and cannot have been sent via caller ID. In this implementation, the “in-network” indicator is incorporated into the established call via either a side channel or mixed into a digital signal itself.
Referring to
Another exemplary embodiment involves the mobile phone's address book having an indicator flag as to whether the number is “in-network” or not, as described below with reference to
Referring to
Therefore, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide for an efficient means of notifying a user that their call is “in-network” and thus potentially subject to certain cost-saving offers offered by certain service providers.
The capabilities of the present invention can be implemented in software, firmware, hardware or some combination thereof.
As one example, one or more aspects of the present invention can be included in an article of manufacture (e.g., one or more computer program products) having, for instance, computer usable media. The media has embodied therein, for instance, computer readable program code means for providing and facilitating the capabilities of the present invention. The article of manufacture can be included as a part of a computer system or sold separately.
Additionally, at least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform the capabilities of the present invention can be provided.
The flow diagrams depicted herein are just examples. There may be many variations to these diagrams or the steps (or operations) described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps may be added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention.
While the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in the future, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.
