Performing contextual analysis of incoming telephone calls and suggesting forwarding parties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10079939-B1
Application number	US-201715463305-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Mar 20, 2017
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, by a computing device, an incoming telephone call from a caller; identifying, by the computing device, a telephone number associated with the telephone call; obtaining, by the computing device, contextual data based on the telephone number, predicting, by the computing device, one or more reasons for the telephone call based on the contextual data; and displaying, by the computing device, the one or more reasons for the telephone call.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, an incoming telephone call from a caller;
identifying, by the computing device, a telephone number associated with the telephone call;
obtaining, by the computing device, contextual data based on the telephone number, wherein the obtaining the contextual data comprises:
determining an identity of the caller based on the telephone number; and
using the identity of the caller to identify the location of the identified caller from a location sharing system;

predicting, by the computing device, one or more reasons for the telephone call based on the contextual data, wherein the contextual data comprises the location of the caller and the one or more reasons of the telephone call is predicted based on the location of the caller; and
displaying, by the computing device, the one or more reasons for the telephone call.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a delegate based on the contextual data; and
displaying an option to forward the telephone call to the delegate.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving a selection to forward the telephone call to the delegate;
forwarding the telephone call to a smart telephone system associated with the delegate;
providing the smart telephone system associated with the delegate with information regarding the one or more reasons for the telephone call.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the contextual data comprises:
searching a database for the telephone number; and
identifying a caller profile associated with the telephone number, wherein the caller profile indicates at least one selected from the group consisting of:
reasons for calls previously made by the caller;
products registered to caller;
caller interests;
caller historical location;
caller reputation or relationship with a delegate;
text or e-mail conversations with the caller; and
voicemails.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the contextual data comprises:
identifying an identity of the caller based on the telephone number; and
searching one or more external servers for information regarding the identified caller.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the searching the one or more external servers includes searching at least one selected from the group consisting of:
a social media system; and
a calendar system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an urgency of the telephone call based on the determined location of the identified caller.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the determining the urgency of call comprises:
determining an expected location of the identified caller; and
comparing the expected location with the identified location.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computing device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the incoming call, the identifying the telephone number, the obtaining the contextual data, the predicting the one or more reasons, and the displaying the one or more reasons are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes software provided as a service in a cloud environment.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising deploying a system for providing a recipient of the incoming telephone call with advance notice regarding the one or more reasons for the incoming telephone call, comprising providing a computer infrastructure operable to perform the receiving the incoming call, the identifying the telephone number, the obtaining the contextual data, the predicting the one or more reasons, and the displaying the one or more reasons.

13. A computer program product for providing a recipient of an incoming telephone call with advance notice regarding an urgency of the incoming telephone call, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:
receive the incoming telephone call from a caller;
identify a telephone number associated with the telephone call;
obtain contextual data based on the telephone number, wherein the obtaining the contextual data comprises:
determining an identity of the caller based on the telephone number; and
using the identity of the caller to identify the location of the identified caller from a location sharing system;

determine a level of urgency of the telephone call based on the contextual data and by comparing the identified location of the caller with an expected location of the caller; and
display information regarding the level of urgency of the telephone call.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:
determine a numerical value or description associated with the level of urgency; and
display the numerical value or description associated with the level of urgency.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:
determine one or more reasons for the telephone call based on the obtaining the contextual data; and
display the one or more reasons for the telephone call.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:
score each of the one or more reasons for the telephone call; and
display the score for each of the one or more reasons.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to override a current notification setting for the telephone call based on the level of urgency of the call.

18. A system comprising:
a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with a computing device;
program instructions to receive an incoming telephone call from a caller;
program instructions to identify a telephone number associated with the telephone call;
program instructions to obtain contextual data based on the telephone number, wherein the obtaining the contextual data comprises:
determining an identity of the caller based on the telephone number; and
using the identity of the caller to identify the location of the identified caller from a location sharing system,

program instructions to determine one or more reasons for the telephone call based on the contextual data;
program instructions to determine an urgency of the incoming telephone call by comparing the identified location of the caller with an expected location of the caller;
program instructions to determine a delegate; and
program instructions to display the one or more reasons for the incoming telephone call, the urgency of the incoming telephone call, and an option to forward the incoming telephone call to the delegate,
wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the one or more reasons for the incoming telephone call and the urgency of the incoming telephone call are based on the location of a caller associated with the incoming telephone call.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an urgency of the call by comparing the identi

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Bostick James E
• Ganci Jr John M
• Keen Martin G
• Rakshit Sarbajit K

Classifications

• H04M7/0033 Primary

  Notification or handling of incoming calls by a computer · CPC title

• H04M2203/556

  Statistical analysis and interpretation · CPC title

• H04M3/543

  Call deflection · CPC title

• H04M3/42068

  where the identifier is used to access a profile · CPC title

• H04M3/436

  Arrangements for screening incoming calls {, i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it (based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54)} · CPC title