Technique for obtaining caller-originated alert signals in IP-based communication sessions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9781257-B2
Application number	US-76160607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2007
Priority date	Jan 19, 2000
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A technique for obtaining caller-originated alert signals in IP-based communication sessions is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method comprising the steps of: receiving, from a first user equipment and via a first communication channel, a request to initiate a communication session, the request being received at a second user equipment; in response to the request, causing a phonepage server to transmit, via a second communication channel, a caller-originated alert to the second user equipment; and rendering the caller-originated alert to alert a user associated with the second user equipment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for obtaining caller-originated alert signals in an IP-based communication session, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first user equipment and via a first communication channel, a first request to initiate a communication session between the first user equipment and a second user equipment, the request being received at the second user equipment and including an indication of an intent to provide a caller-originated alert;
rejecting the caller-originated alert at the second user equipment;
when the second user equipment does not have the right to reject the caller-originated alert, determining that the first user equipment has overridden the rejection;
in response to being overridden, receiving the first request from the first user equipment, sending a second request to the phonepage server, the second request including an identity of the first user equipment and an identity of the second user equipment;
in response to the second request, causing a phonepage server to transmit, via a second communication channel, a caller-originated alert to the second user equipment, the caller-originated alert being based on the identities of the first and second user equipments; and
rendering the caller-originated alert to alert a user associated with the second user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the communication session is carried on a packet-switched network.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the request to initiate the communication session further includes information associated with the caller-originated alert.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the phonepage server selects the caller-originated alert based on a pre-stored preference associated with the first user equipment.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the caller-originated alert is downloaded from the phonepage server to the second user equipment before being rendered thereon.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the caller-originated alert is streamed from the phonepage server to the second user equipment and the rendering of the caller-originated alert starts before it is fully downloaded.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the phonepage server, a status to indicate whether the caller-originated alert is available.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
rendering a default alert signal if the caller-originated alert is unavailable from the phonepage server.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the caller-originated alert is customized based on one or more factors selected from a group consisting of: an identity of the second user, a type of the communication session, and predetermined triggering events associated with the communication session.

10. A user equipment for obtaining caller-originated alert signals in an IP-based communication session, the user equipment comprising:
a processor operatively coupled to at least one memory unit, a user interface, and a communication unit, and
the processor being configured to:
receive, from a first user equipment and via a first communication channel, a first request to initiate a communication session, the request including an indication of an intent to provide a caller-originated alert;
reject the caller-originated alert;
determine that the first user equipment has overridden the rejection when the user equipment does not have the right to reject the caller-originated alert;
in response to receiving the first request from the first user equipment, send a second request to the phonepage server that includes an identity of the first user equipment and an identity of the second user equipment;
in response to the second request, cause the phonepage server to transmit, via a second communication channel, a caller-originated alert to the second user equipment; and
render the caller-originated alert to alert a user associated with the second user equipment.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second user equipment does not have the right to reject the caller-originated alert due to condition of service reasons.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second user equipment does not have the right to reject the caller-originated alert due to regulatory reasons.

Assignees

• Bloebaum L Scott
• Liu Charles
• Sony Mobile Comm Ab

Inventors

• Bloebaum L Scott
• Liu Charles

Classifications

• H04M3/42093 Primary

  Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party · CPC title

• H04M7/0051

  where the data service is a multimedia messaging service · CPC title

• H04M3/02

  Calling substations, e.g. by ringing (selective calling H04Q) · CPC title

• H04M2203/654

  Pre, in or post-call message · CPC title

• H04M3/5322

  for recording text messages · CPC title