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`US 6,757,365 B1
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(12) United States Patent
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`(45) Date of Patent:
`Jun. 29, 2004
`Bogard
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`U5006757365B1
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`(54)
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`INSTANT MESSAGING VIA TELEPHONE
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`INTERFACES
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`(75)
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`Inventor: Travis A. Bogard, San Francisco, CA
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`(US)
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`(73) Assignee: Tellme Networks, Inc., Mountain View,
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`CA (us)
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`( * ) Notice:
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`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
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`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
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`U.S.C. 154(b) by 213 days.
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`7
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`H04M 1/64
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`................................ 379/8817; 704/2701,
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`709/206
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`(58) Fleld 0:785:35: 88148816883229/2713’22581i
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`’ 764/2’70 1',709/206’
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`7/2002 Sorsa ...................... 704/2701
`6,424,945 B1 *
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`8/2002 Kay et a1.
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`6,430,602 B1 *
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`8/2002 Ogle et al.
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`6,463,142 B1 * 10/2002 Kilp ........................ 379/8811
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
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`Diament et al. Method an apparatus for telephony—enabled
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`instant messaging Jun. 13, 2002*
`Diament et al., Method and Apparatus for Telephony—en-
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`abled Instant Messaging Jun. 13, 2002*
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`Myers, Telephone Based Access to Intant Messaging, May
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`17, 2001*
`* cited by examiner
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`Przmary Exammer—Fan Tsang
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`Assistant Examiner—Gerald Gauthier
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`74 Attorne , A em, or Firm—Bever, Hoffman & Harms,
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`LLP J
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`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`Amethod and apparatus for enabling users of a phone based
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`speech activated system such as a voice portal to commu-
`nicate With users of an Internet based instant messenger (IM)
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`service is described. Phone based users are able to send and
`receive IMs. Incoming messages can cause an asynchronous
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`notification in the user’s current voice application and the
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`user can (if they desire) switch contexts to hear the IM and
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`respond. Sent messages may be expeditiously sent to users
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`of the GUI as a hypertext link to a recorded audio. Other
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`sending formats are also Possible; similarly, buddy lists can
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`be supported.
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`(22)
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`(21) Appl. No.: 09/691,606
`Filed:
`Oct. 16, 2000
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`(51)
`Int. Cl.
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`(52) us. Cl.
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`(56)
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`References Cited
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`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`5,721,763 A *
`2/1998 Joseph et al.
`............ 379/8804
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`5,799,063 A
`8/1998 Krane
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`...... 709/206
`6,301,609 B1 * 10/2001 Aravamudan et a1.
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`6,324,569 B1 * 11/2001 Ogilvie et a1.
`.............. 709/206
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`6,377,944 B1 *
`4/2002 Busey et a1.
`379/26501
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`6,405,035 B1 *
`6/2002 Singh ...................... 455/414
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`6,424,647 B1 *
`7/2002 Ng et a1.
`.................... 370/352
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`7 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
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`Wireless
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`Telephone
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`301
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`Voice Portal
`Telephone Gateway
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`Telephone Network
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`31 0
`307
`304
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`Telephone
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`300
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`Computer
`302
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`Internet
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`306
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`Instant Messenging
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`Sewer
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`308
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`Page 1 of 14
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`LG/HUAWEI EXHIBIT 1107
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`LG/HUAWEI EXHIBIT 1107
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`US. Patent
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`Jun. 29, 2004
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`Sheet 10f5
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`Buddy Chat
`/ Window 200
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`Message History
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`3 User1: HayJoe
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`v Family (511])
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`5: v Co-Wotkers i3I12 !
`Buddy2
`Buddy3
`Buddy4
`> Offline (’1 2mm
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`Send Instant
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`Message
`102
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`Over
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`Internet
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`Voice
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`Chat 104
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`Message
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`Composition 204
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`Buddy1:HeyTon-i
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`Over Internet
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`Voice Chat
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`104
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`Figure 2
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`(Prior Art)
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`Figure 1
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`(Prior Art)
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`US. Patent
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`Jun. 29, 2004
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`Sheet 2 0f 5
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`US. Patent
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`Jun. 29, 2004
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`US. Patent
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`Jun. 29, 2004
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`1
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`INSTANT MESSAGING VIA TELEPHONE
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`INTERFACES
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`2
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`of the traditional computer based IM service to be notified
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`when a buddy is signed in by way of the phone and message
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`that buddy, and vice versa. Similarly, communication
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`between phone based users by way of the IM service should
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`be supported.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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`A method and apparatus for enabling users of a phone
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`based speech activated system such as a voice portal to
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`communicate with users of an Internet based instant mes-
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`senger (IM) service is described. Phone based users are able
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`to send and receive IMs. Incoming messages can cause an
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`asynchronous notification in the user’s current voice appli-
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`cation and the user can (if they desire) switch contexts to
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`hear the IM and respond.
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`Sent messages may be expeditiously sent to users of the
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`GUI as a hypertext link to a recorded audio. Other formats
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`may include textual representations of speech, e.g. through
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`the results of speech recognition as well as initiation of a
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`voice communication in the format of the IM protocol.
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`Buddy lists can be provided, e.g. phone based users can
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`indicate those users they want to know the online/offline
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`status for. The buddy list might be presented verbally.
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`Notably, the IM functionality changes the general
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
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`FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art graphical user interface based
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`buddy list.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art graphical user interface based
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`buddy chat.
`FIG. 3 illustrates a system including embodiments of the
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`invention used to provide instant messaging service to users
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`of telephones.
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`FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for determining whether
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`another user is online in the instant messaging (IM) service.
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`FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for initiating and sending
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`an IM.
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`FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram for retrieving stored IMs.
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`FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram for querying an IM
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`server for information.
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`FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram for registering a tele-
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`phone user’s presence with an IM service.
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`FIG. 9 is a process flow diagram for asynchronous noti-
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`fication of incoming IMs.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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`A. Introduction
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`A voice portal supporting electronic commerce over a
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`telephone interface is described. The voice portal allows
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`users of telephones, including wireless telephones, to access
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`a voice portal by dialing a phone number to purchase goods
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`and services,
`interact with applications, and access IM
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`services. The information provided over the voice portal
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`may come from the World Wide Web (WWW), databases,
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`third parties, and/or other sources.
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`The voice portal can receive dual-tone multi-frequency
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`(DTMF or touch-tone) commands as well as spoken com-
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`mands to further control the content presented and direct
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`commerce transactions as well as the manner of presenta-
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`tion. The term audio request, or input, is used to refer to
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`either a voice or touch-tone input, or a combination of the
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`two types of input.
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`Embodiments of the invention can use telephone identi-
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`fying information to personalize caller interactions with the
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`1. Field of the Invention
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`This invention relates to the field of information services.
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`In particular,
`the invention relates to technologies for
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`improving voice-based access to instant messaging services
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`over a telephone interface.
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`2. Description of the Related Art
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`Instant Messaging services such as the popular ICQ(TM)
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`and AOL INSTANT MESSANGER(TM), also referred to as
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`AIM, both operated by America Online, Inc., Dulles, Va.
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`(AOL), have risen in popularity in the last few years and
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`shown explosive growth. Older protocols and services such
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`as Internet Relay Chat (IRC), see RFC 1459, and the even
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`older talk program (primarily found on UNIX(TM)-type
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`computers) have quickly been eclipsed. Competitors to AOL
`such as Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., and
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`Yahoo!, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., have introduced competing
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`instant messenger products that operate in a similar overall
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`fashion to AIM which shall be used as a reference herein.
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`Turning to prior art FIGS. 1—2, exemplary screenshots
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`from AIM operating under the Windows(TM) operating sys-
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`tem are shown. FIG. 1 shows the buddy list 100. The buddy
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`list 100 allows a user of AIM to see which buddies (other
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`users of interest
`to our particular user, e.g.
`friends,
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`co-workers, family members) are signed on, e.g. Buddyl,
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`Buddy2, Buddy3, and Buddy4 in this example. When the
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`user desires to instant message, or IM, with a buddy, she
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`simply clicks on the send instant message button 102 and a
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`window such as the buddy chat window 200 of FIG. 2
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`appears. The buddy chat window 200 allows a user to see a
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`message history 202 of previous messages in an IM session
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`and compose additional messages in the message composi-
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`tion areas 204.
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`if both users have sufficient computer
`Additionally,
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`equipment, e.g. microphones, speakers, fast enough Internet
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`connections, etc.,
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`software allow computer-to-computer voice communica-
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`tions over the packet switched Internet backbone, e.g. by
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`clicking on the over Internet voice chat button 104. Clicking
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`on the button will bring up a window for monitoring
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`performance and,
`in half duplex mode, controlling who
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`speaks when.
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`Previous IM systems do not provide a mechanism for
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`allowing users of a basic telephone (or wireless telephone)
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`to send and receive instant messages. Further, the existing
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`systems are not adapted to handle voice only users, e. g. users
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`who do not have a graphical user interface (GUI) for
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`reviewing buddy lists and sending/receiving text messages.
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`On the telephone side, several types of “party lines” have
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`been offered, frequently of the pay variety (900 number in
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`the United States). However, these services have never been
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`integrated with an IM service and further these services do
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`not have an “appearance”/“buddy” concept to allow specific
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`users to contact each other. Rather, they are simply large
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`conference calls.
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`Lastly, previous systems have not allowed two telephone
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`users to be connected by way of a computer based identity
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`such as an instant message appearance.
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`Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for
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`allowing users with telephones to access IM services. The
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`system should support a number of features that allow users
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`Page 7 of 14
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`Page 7 of 14
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`3
`voice portal. This allows the system to present highly
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`customized information to each caller based on a personal
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`profile the system associates with the telephone identifying
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`information. Additionally, since a single user can access the
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`voice portal from a number of telephones, embodiments of
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`the invention may construct user profiles that allow the
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`telephone identifying information from multiple telephones
`to be associated with a single user profile.
`In some
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`embodiments, the telephone identifying information may be
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`used to access authenticating information from a user profile
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`for provision to an IM service, e.g. the IM service username
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`and password might be stored in the user profile.
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`The invention will be described in greater detail as
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`follows. First, a number of definitions useful to understand-
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`ing the invention are presented. Then,
`the hardware and
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`software architecture for one embodiment of a voice portal
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`presented. Next, features provided by embodiments of the
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`invention are discussed in greater detail.
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`B. Definitions
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`1. Telephone Identifying Information
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`For the purposes of this application, the term telephone
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`identifying information will be used to refer to ANI
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`information, CID information, and/or some other technique
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`for automatically identifying the source of a call and/or other
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`call setup information. For example, telephone identifying
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`information may include a dialed number identification
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`service (DNIS). Similarly, CID information may include text
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`data including the subscriber’s name and/or address, e.g.
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`“Jane Doe”. Other examples of telephone identifying infor-
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`mation might
`include the type of calling phone, e.g.
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`wireless, pay phone, and/or hospital phone.
`Additionally, the telephone identifying information may
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`include wireless carrier specific identifying information, e.g.
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`location of wireless phone now, etc. Also, signaling system
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`seven (SS7) information may be included in the telephone
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`identifying information.
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`2. User Profile
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`A user profile is a collection of information about a
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`particular user. The user profile typically includes collec-
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`tions of different information as shown and described more
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`fully in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. Notably, the user
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`profile contains a combination of explicitly made selections
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`and implicitly made selections.
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`Explicitly made selections in the user profile stem from
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`requests by the user to the system. For example, the user
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`might add business news to the main topic list. Typically,
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`explicit selections come in the form of a voice, or touch-tone
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`command, to save a particular location, e.g. “Add to my
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`favorites”, “Remember this”, “Bookmark it”, “shortcut
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`this”, pound (#) key touch-tone, etc., or through adjustments
`to the user profile made through the web interface using a
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`computer.
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`Additionally, the user profile provides a useful mecha-
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`nism for associating telephone identifying information with
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`a single user, or entity. For example, Jane Doe may have a
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`home phone, a work phone, a cell phone, and/or some other
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`telephones. Suitable telephone identifying information for
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`each of those phones can be associated in a single profile for
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`Jane. This allows the system to provide uniformity of
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`customization to a single user, irrespective of where they are
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`calling from.
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`In contrast, implicit selections come about through the
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`conduct and behavior of the user. For example, if the user
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`repeatedly asks for the weather in Palo Alto, Calif.,
`the
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`system may automatically provide the Palo Alto weather
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`report without further prompting. In other embodiments, the
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`user may be prompted to confirm the system’s implicit
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`choice, e.g. the system might prompt the user “Would you
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`like me to include Palo Alto in the standard weather report
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`from now on?”
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`Additionally, the system may allow the user to customize
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`the system to meet her/his needs better. For example, the
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`user may be allowed to control the verbosity of prompts, the
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`dialect used, and/or other settings for the system. These
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`customizations can be made either explicitly or implicitly.
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`For example if the user is providing commands before most
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`prompts are finished, the system could recognize that a less
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`verbose set of prompts is needed and implicitly set the user’s
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`prompting preference to briefer prompts.
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`3. Topics and Content
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`Atopic is any collection of similar content. Topics may be
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`arranged hierarchically as well. For example, a topic might
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`be business news, while subtopics might
`include stock
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`quotes, market report, and analyst reports. Within a topic
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`different types of content are available. For example, in the
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`stock quotes subtopic,
`the content might
`include stock
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`quotes. The distinction between topics and the content
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`within the topics is primarily one of degree in that each
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`topic, or subtopic, will usually contain several pieces of
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`content.
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`4. Cookie
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`The term cookie, as used herein, refers to a structured data
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`element formatted according to the general principles of
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`IETF RFC 2109 and/or some other state management stan-
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`dard.
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`A brief review of RFC 2109 may be useful. The core
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`structure of a cookie is a name-value pair. The name is a
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`token for identifying the cookie, e.g. “Customer”, and the
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`value is the value of that corresponding token, e.g. “Jane
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`Doe”.
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`Implicitly, each cookie is associated with a sending
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`domain on the World Wide Web. According to RFC 2109,
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`the implicitly set domain is the originating domain to which
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`an HTTP request was sent. For example, if an HTTP GET
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`request is sent to the request host “www.example.com”, then
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`the cookie set in response to that request would be implicitly
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`associated with “www.example.com”
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`Additionally, a number of optional fields can be set, for
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`example: a different domain for which the cookie is valid
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`(Domain); a time to live (Max-Age); a version string
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`(Version); etc. The phrases in parenthesis correspond to the
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`RFC 2109 standard field names for the options.
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`5. Demographic and Psychographic Profiles
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`Both demographic profiles and psychographic profiles
`contain information relating to a user. Demographic profiles
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`typically include factual information, e.g. age, gender, mari-
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`tal status,
`income, etc. Psychographic profiles typically
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`include information about behaviors, e.g.
`fun loving,
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`analytical, compassionate, fast reader, slow reader, etc. As
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`used in this application, the term demographic profile will be
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`used to refer to both demographic and psychographic pro-
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`files.
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`6. Locale
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`As used in this application, the term locale refers to any
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`geographic area. The geographic area may be a
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`neighborhood, a city, a county, a metropolitan region, a state,
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`a country, a continent, a group of countries, and/or some
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`other collection of one or more geographic areas, e.g. all
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`United State major metropolitan areas.
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`For this reason, a single user of the system may be
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`considered to be in several locales. For example, a caller
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`from Palo Alto, Calif., might be in the Palo Alto locale, a
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`Silicon Valley locale, a San Francisco Bay Area locale, a
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`Page 8 of 14
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`Page 8 of 14
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`

`

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`
`US 6,757,365 B1
`
`5
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`Northern California locale, a California state locale, and a
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`United States locale.
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`Thus, the telephone identifying information for a single
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`telephone number can be mapped to a number of system-
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`defined locales.
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`C. System Overview
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`First, the hardware and software architecture of a system
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`including an embodiment of the invention will be described
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`with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates a system includ-
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`ing embodiments of the invention used to provide IM
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`services to users of telephones. The system of FIG. 3 can be
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`used to allow users of standard telephones and wireless
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`telephones to access a voice portal.
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`The following lists the elements of FIG. 3 and describes
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`their interconnections. FIG. 3 includes a telephone 300, a
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`wireless telephone 301, a computer 302, a telephone net-
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`work 304, an Internet 306, a telephone gateway 307, an IM
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`server 308, and a voice portal 310. The wireless telephone
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`301 and the telephone 300 are coupled in communication
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`with the telephone network 304. The telephone network 304
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`is coupled in communication with the telephone gateway
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`307. The telephone gateway 307 is coupled in communica-
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`tion with the voice portal 310. The computer 302 is coupled
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`in communication with the Internet 306. The Internet 306 is
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`coupled in communication with the web server 308. The
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`voice portal 310 and the web server 308 are coupled in
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`communication with the shared database 312.
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`The following describes each of the elements of FIG. 3 in
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`greater detail. The use of each of the elements will be
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`described further in conjunction with the sections describing
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`the personalization features.
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`The telephone 300 and the wireless telephone 301 are two
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`different telephone interfaces to the voice portal 310. The
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`telephone 300 and the wireless telephone 301 may be any
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`sort of telephone and/or wireless telephone. For example the
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`telephone 300, or the wireless telephone 301, may be a land
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`line phone, a PBX telephone, a satellite phone, a wireless
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`telephone, and/or any other type of communication device
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`capable of providing voice communication and/or touch-
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`tone signals over the telephone network 304. However, any
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`audio signal carrying interface could be used.
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`The telephone network 304 may be the public switched
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`telephone network (PSTN) and/or some other type of tele-
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`phone network. For example, some embodiments of the
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`invention may allow users with a voice over Internet Pro-
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`tocol (IP) phone to access the voice portal 310. The tele-
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`phone network 304 is coupled to the telephone gateway 307
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`that allows the voice communications and/or touch-tone
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`signals from the telephone network 304 to reach the voice
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`portal 310 in usable form. Similarly, the telephone gateway
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`307 allows audio signals generated by the voice portal 310
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`to be sent over the telephone network 304 to respective
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`telephones, e.g. the telephone 300. The telephone network
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`304 generally represents an audio signal carrying network.
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`The computer 302 is a computer such as a personal
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`computer, a thin client computer, a server computer, a
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`handheld computer, a set top box computer, and/or some
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`other type of visual web browsing device. The computer 302
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`is coupled in communication with the Internet 306, e.g. by
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`a dial-up connection, a digital subscriber loop (DSL), a cable
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`modem, and/or some other type of connection. This allows
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`the computer 302 to communicate with the IM server 308.
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`The computer 302 typically provides a visual interface to the
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`WW and the IM service, by way of IM server 308, using
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`web browsing software and IM software such as Internet
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`Explorer(TM) from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.,
`and AIM.
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`10
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`15
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`Page 9 of 14
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`6
`Additional information regarding voice portal 310 and
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`various components interfacing with voice portal 310 are
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`discussed in further detail in US. patent application Ser. No.
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`09/426,102, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Electronic
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`Commerce Using a Telephone Interface”, filed on 22 Oct.
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`1999, which is incorporated by reference herein.
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`D. Instant Messaging Functionality
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`Overview
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`First the usage scenarios are considered. Then, the basic
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`changes to the voice portal 310 to support IM functionality
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`will be discussed. Finally, the process flow/implementation
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`for those scenarios is described.
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`Usage Scenarios
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`It is helpful to understand how the IM functionality will
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`be made available to users of the voice portal 310 by
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`considering a few usage scenarios. The usage scenarios can
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`easily be divided into two primary categories: initiating and
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`receiving.
`In terms of initiating messages four primary
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`sub-areas can be identified: (1) determining if user X is
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`online; (2) sending text and/or voice messages to a user; (3)
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`retrieving stored messages (if supported by underlying IM
`service); and (4) getting information, e.g. user info, etc.
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`From the receiving side there are four similar issues: (1)
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`registering your presence on the phone with the IM service;
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`(2) receiving notification of messages; (3) allowing partici-
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`pating in messaging; (4) posting information/registering.
`These usage scenarios dovetail nicely into the implementa-
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`tion issues.
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`Platform Changes
`The voice portal 310 includes one or more programs for
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`interpreting voice applications, e.g. VoiceXML (or VXML)
`programs, colloquially these programs for running VXML
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`programs for multiple phone users together with the asso-
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`ciated functionalities are sometimes referred to as the “plat-
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`form”. Although some shared messaging capabilities may
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`have been available through the platform and voice portal
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`310 through dedicated applications,
`those features were
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`application specific, e.g. message board, chat room (voice
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`based user discussion), etc. In some embodiments, those
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`specialized features can be generalized (and implemented)
`through the instant messaging functionality, e.g. channel
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`features of an IM service.
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`The platform in normal operation supports the execution
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`of a single VXML application per user. For example, if the
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`user is accessing weather information using a weather
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`application, e.g. weather.vxml, then only that application
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`would be running. The platform can be modified to support
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`concurrent execution of multiple programs for users, for
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`example both the weather application and,
`in the
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`“background”, an instant messaging application.
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`Additionally, mechanisms for switching between running
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`applications must be provided, this mechanism should allow
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`preservation of state (where the user is, variables, dialogue
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`point, etc.) when the user switches applications, e.g.
`to
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`respond to an instant message or send an instant message.
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`Similarly, one or more “universal” commands, dual-tone
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`multi-frequency (DTMF), or switch hook signals, may be
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`provided to switch the running application. For example, in
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`one embodiment, the word “Message” might be recognized
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`to switch to the messaging application while preserving state
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`in the other application.
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`According to some embodiments, the voice portal 310
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`allows users to control their experience. The system reacts to
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`commands the user says (or doesn’t say in the allotted time)
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`in a synchronous fashion. Since incoming messages may
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`Page 9 of 14
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`US 6,757,365 B1
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`come at any time the voice portal 310 may also provide an
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`asynchronous notification mechanism, e. g. a distinctive tone
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`or beep, to alert the user to switch to messaging mode.
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`These underlying architectural changes will be made
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`clearer in the following discussion.
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`Implementations
`The implementations will be discussed in greater detail
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`with reference to FIGS. 4—9.
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`1. Is a User Online?
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`FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for determining w