The present invention relates to the field of mobile telephones and more specifically to a system and method for initiating auxiliary functions, such as location functions, in a telecommunication network.
Radiolocation of mobile devices developed in the last half of the 20th century, notably with the deployment of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Mobile phone technology evolved in a similar time frame. By the turn of the century, US cellular carriers deployed location-determination technology in their networks in support of emergency (E9-1-1) services. Subsequently, with the widespread use of smart phones and other portable computing devices, numerous applications utilizing location have been made available for such uses as direction finding, tracking individuals, and matching persons with nearby businesses.
Subsequently, the location service provider requests the location 25 of the mobile unit from a location determination function 26. After the return of the location 27, the location service provider may perform the functions needed to satisfy the request, and provide the location service 28.
In some embodiments, the present invention is a method for initiating a service. The method includes initiating a communication to a destination according to an address of the destination; detecting said address during initiating of said communication; determining whether said detected address is associated with a trigger function; and triggering a request for the service when said detected address is associated with a trigger function, wherein said request for the service is separate from said communication.
In some embodiments, the present invention is a method for initiating a service. The method includes initiating a communication to a destination according to an address of the destination; associating said address with a trigger function; detecting said address during initiating of said communication; and triggering a request for the service according to said association, wherein said request for the service is separate from said communication.
In some embodiments, the present invention is a mobile device including a dialing module for initiating a communication to a destination according to an address of the destination; a memory for storing a plurality of addresses, each address associated with a service; and a triggering module for detecting said address during initiating of said communication and triggering a request for the service according to said association, wherein said request for the service is separate from said communication.
The communication to the destination may be initiated by one or more of a mobile phone, a mobile computing device, and a computer. Furthermore, communication may be one or more of a phone call, a Short Message Service (SMS), a data call, a data access, and a website access.
In some embodiments, the present invention initiates a service by a trigger. The service is associated with a communication between an originator using a mobile communication device and a remote party. The communication is initiated based on the address (which may be a phone number, IP address, or other identifier) of the remote party. The trigger detects the address of the remote party during the initiation of the communication and determines that the address of the remote party meets some address criteria. Then, based on the determination, the trigger initiates an action (for example, a service) separate from the communication.
In a variation of this example, the service request 422b could be delayed (by the trigger module 431) until later in the process, for example, after the location trigger 401.
As an example, consider a user dialing a concierge service to request directions to a nearby service. Some of today's cellular systems and communications devices do not accommodate location fixes during a voice call, since the necessary data exchanges are not supported during voice calls. The present invention recognizes the call as potentially requiring a location fix and allows the required data exchanges to complete before connecting the voice call. Once the call is in place, the call taker can query the location determination function for the user's location without requiring further data exchanges with the caller's handset.
As an example of the invention in practice, a user may be dialing a roadside assistance number. In this case, the phone number may be tagged in the mobile phone address book as one associated with a location based service. Upon the user initiating a call to that number, the invention triggers a location request of the user, local to the mobile phone via, for example GPS, or a network-based location function. The results of the location request can be delivered to the call-taker with no further action needed and with minimal delay. This feature also addresses the situation in some networks where location determination under some circumstances can not be performed on a mobile phone while the user is engaged in a call.
In some embodiments, the invention makes use of a mobile phone's address book function/module. Individual entries in the address book may be flagged as being associated with location services. When the user selects that entry for dialing, in addition to the number being dialed, the trigger module is automatically invoked.
In some embodiments, the invention replaces or supplements the “dial” command of the phone interface with a new “dial” command that invokes the trigger module as well as the dialing module. In this case, knowledge of numbers that require a trigger may be flagged in the address book, or may be stored separately. Alternately, the trigger numbers may be stored remotely and accessed over a data channel as needed.
In some embodiments, the trigger module recognizes a prefix as associated with addresses of interest. For example, if the user appends the pound sign (#) to a dialed number, the trigger is invoked. Or the communications device could present a prompt to the user to “Call” or “Call with location” as an additional menu choice to initiate the dialing process. A similar method can be used with web addresses, (Uniform Resource Locators) URLs, or other address types. For example, data sessions with server having an address matching the form “map.x.x” (where “x” is a wildcard) could invoke the trigger module. Further, the trigger module may recognize certain partial strings of digits as associated with services of interest, for example, the first digit ‘9’ implies an emergency 9-1-1 call, which has an associated location service.)
The above description describes dialing a voice call as the exemplary event that the invention monitors. However, the invention is also applicable to other communications technologies, including messaging, for example, Short Message Service (SMS) exchanges, data calls, data accesses. For instance, the trigger could be associated with a short messaging service Short Code or particular content of a text message to the Short Code. In this example, whenever the user sends a text message or particular content to the short code, the location trigger is invoked immediately upon sending or typing the short code or content of the message (e.g., users types “FIND COFFEE” to send to 34567 and the trigger module initiates the location process as part of the message being typed or upon start of the sending process because it recognizes FIND within the content of the message or the destination number). Other call triggers besides phone numbers may also be used, including any identifier that could be associated with a service, for example, a network address or URL. Furthermore, the invention is not limited to a mobile phone, rather, any mobile computing device or any computer may be used.
It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the illustrated and other embodiments of the invention described above, without departing from the broad inventive scope thereof. It will be understood therefore that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments or arrangements disclosed, but is rather intended to cover any changes, adaptations or modifications which are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120164992 A1 | Jun 2012 | US |