Systems and methods to confirm initiation of a callback

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9462121-B2
Application number	US-201313868903-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2013
Priority date	Feb 22, 2007
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to initiate callback with confirmation. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving a reference (e.g., a callback phone number) in a request for a connection to a destination; providing a code via the reference in response to the request; receiving a code to confirm the request; determining whether the received code matches the provided code; and initiating a connection via the reference for the connection to the destination if the received code matches the provided code.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, from a first device, over a first communication channel, a first request for a first connection between a second device and a destination, wherein the first request comprises a reference identifying the second device;
in response to the first request,
providing, over a second communication channel, a first code to the second device using the reference;
receiving a second code over the first communication channel from the first device;
determining, by a computing device, whether the first code matches the second code;
in response to a determination that the first code matches the second code,
storing, by the computing device, information to associate the reference identifying the second device with the first device; and
initiating, by the computing device, the first connection between the second device identified by the reference and the destination; and

subsequent to the storing of the information to associate the reference and the first device,
receiving a second request from the first device for a connection to the second device identified by the reference included in the second request; and
initiating, by the computing device, the second connection without further transmitting a code to the second device identified by the reference for confirmation that the second request is originated from a user of the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference comprises a phone number; and the first connection comprises a phone connection between the second device and the destination.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference comprises a session initiation protocol (SIP) address.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first connection comprises a voice connection.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the reference comprises a uniform resource identifier (URI).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initiating of the first connection between the second device and the destination comprises:
initiating, by the computing device, a third connection between the second device and a connection provider; and
initiating, by the computing device, a fourth connection between the connection provider and the destination; and
bridging, by the computing device, the third connection and the fourth connection.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein
the initiating of the third connection comprises the connection provider placing a first Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call using the reference to a telecommunication carrier which bridges the first VoIP call to a public switched telephone network (PSTN);
the initiating of the fourth connection comprises the connection provider placing a second Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call to a telecommunication carrier which bridges the second VoIP call to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the destination; and
the bridging of the third connection and the fourth connection comprises connecting the first and second VoIP calls.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a first virtual softphone terminates the first VoIP call for bridging onto a public switched telephone network (PSTN); a second virtual softphone terminates the second VoIP call for bridging onto a public switched telephone network (PSTN); and the connecting of the first and second VoIP calls comprises:
directing the first and second softphones to establish a direct media connection which does not go through the connection provider.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first connection comprises an instant messaging connection.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference comprises a phone number; and the first communication channel comprises short message service (SMS).

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing of the first code to the second device using the reference comprises:
determining, by the computing device, an address based on the reference; and
providing, by the computing device, the code to the address according to the reference.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the address comprises an email address.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the address comprises an instant messaging identifier.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the code is provided to the address as a presence status information.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, by the computing device, reference in an advertisement; and
charging a fee for the advertisement in response to a connection made to the destination via the reference provided in the advertisement and the reference received in the request for the connection.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first_code comprises a Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA).

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first code matches the second code if the first code is not the same as the second code but has a predetermined relation with the second code.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first code is provided in a text format, an audio format, a voice format, or a video format.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions which when executed, cause a system to perform:
receiving, from a first device, over a first communication channel, a first request for a first connection between a second device and a destination, wherein the first request comprises a reference identifying the second device;
in response to the first request,
providing, over a second communication channel, a first code to the second device using the reference;
receiving a second code over the first communication channel from the first device;
determining, by a computing device, whether the first code matches the second code;
in response to a determination that the first code matches the second code, storing, by the computing device, information to associate the reference identifying the second device with the first device; and
initiating, by the computing device, the first connection between the second device identified by the reference and the destination; and

subsequent to the storing of the information to associate the reference and the first device,
receiving a second request from the first device for a connection to the second device identified by the reference included in the second request; and
initiating, by the computing device, the second connection without further transmitting a code to the second device identified by the reference for confirmation that the second request is originated from a user of the second device.

20. A system, comprising:
a memory; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory to:
receive over a first communication channel, a first request for a first connection between a second device and a destination, wherein the first request comprises a reference identifying the second device;
in response to the first request,
provide, over a second communication channel, a first code to the second device using the reference ;
receive a second code over the first communication channel from the first device;
determine whether the first code matches the second code;
in response to a determination that the first code matches the second code,
store information to associate the reference identifying the second device with the first device;
initiate first connection between the second device identified by the reference and the destination; and

subsequent to storing of the information to associate the reference and the first device,
rec

Assignees

• Yellowpages Com Llc

Inventors

• Altberg Ebbe
• Faber Scott
• Hirson Ron
• Van Der Linden Sean
• Manca Paul G
• Yang Virginia Hong-Jia

Classifications

• H04L69/169

  Special adaptations of TCP, UDP or IP for interworking of IP based networks with other networks  (protocols for interworking, protocol conversion H04L69/08) · CPC title

• H04M3/42195 Primary

  Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber (when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48) · CPC title

• H04M7/003

  Click to dial services · CPC title

• H04L63/102

  Entity profiles · CPC title

• H04L61/157

  Electricity · mapped topic