Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing a spontaneously created geofenced area among a plurality of communication devices communicable with a communication server. The communication server receives, from a location enabled first communication device, an instruction to create a geofence around itself. Upon receiving location data from the first and a location enabled second communication devices, the communication server compares the location data of the first and second communication devices to determine how close they are to one another. When the first and second communication devices are within a predetermined distance of one another, the communication server creates a geofence around the first communication device. The communication server will then periodically poll and receiving updated location data for the first and second communication devices. The communication server then recalculates the geofence boundary based on the location of the first communication device.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing a spontaneously created geofenced area among a plurality of communication devices communicable with a communication server. The communication server receives, from a location enabled first communication device, an instruction to create a geofence around a location enabled second communication device. Upon receiving location data from the first and second communication devices, the communication server compares the location data of the first and second communication devices to determine how close they are to one another. When the first and second communication devices are within a predetermined distance of one another, the communication server creates a geofence around the second communication device. The communication server will then notify the first communication device when the second communication device ventures beyond the boundary of the geofence.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for tracking location data among a plurality of communication devices communicable with a communication server. A plurality of communication devices may be linked into a group. The communication server may receive location data for each of the plurality of communication devices and calculate a distance and heading data between each of the plurality of communication devices. This data may be distributed to each of the plurality of communication devices in the group. A first communication device in the group may include a ring of light emitting diodes (LEDs), a microphone, and a speaker but lack a display screen. The first communication device may receive the location, distance, and heading data from the communication server while also determining its own orientation via a magnometer. The first communication device may calculate a heading offset between its orientation and a second communication device.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for responding to a pre-recorded inbound voice message in a communication system that includes communication devices and a communication server. In a first communication device, a pre-recorded inbound voice message is received from a sender communication device via a communication server. A reply mode is set for a response voice message from a plurality of reply modes. The response voice message is recorded and a reply mode flag is inserted into a message header. The response voice message is then sent to the communication server where it determines the reply mode. When the reply mode is reply to all, the response voice message is sent to the sender communication device and other recipient communication devices. When the reply mode is reply to sender, a direct channel communication link is established between the first communication device and the sender communication device and the response voice message is sent directly to the sender communication device.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing inbound voice messages in a communication system that includes communication devices and a communication server. A communication device receives an inbound voice message that is associated with a voice message temporal mode that includes a message mode and a live mode. The communication device may then determine the voice message temporal mode for the inbound voice message as well as a device temporal mode associated with the receiving communication device. The device temporal mode also includes a message mode and a live mode. When the voice message temporal mode is determined to be message mode, the communication device may provide a message received notification on the receiving communication device. When the device temporal mode is determined to be message mode, the communication device may provide a message received notification on the receiving communication device regardless of the voice message temporal mode.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing outbound voice messages in a communication system that includes communication devices and a communication server. A temporal mode of either live mode or message mode and a recipient mode of either group mode or direct mode are selected and set for an outbound voice message. Based on the selected settings for temporal mode and recipient mode the originating communication device records a voice message that is relayed to the communication server where it is distributed to other communication devices according to the rules or parameters associated with the temporal and recipient mode selected.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing a panic mode for a communication device. The communication device may trigger a panic mode causing the communication device to emit an audible alert while simultaneously causing the communication device to capture any detected sound at a frequency below the audible alert. The communication device may also collect metadata including a date stamp, a time stamp, and a location that may be associated with any captured audio and stored locally or streamed to a communications server for storage. The communication device may also send a message to one or more other endpoints indicative of the communication device having engaged panic mode.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for verifying a caller ID field of an outbound telephone call. A termination service provider call server receives a call request from a calling endpoint. The call request includes a called endpoint telephone number, and a caller ID telephone number. The call request is forwarded to an inbound carrier call server servicing the called endpoint telephone number where it determines the termination service provider for the caller ID telephone number and sends a query back to the determined termination service provider to determine whether the caller ID telephone number is currently in use. The query includes the caller ID telephone number. The termination service provider call server determines whether the caller ID telephone number in the received query is currently in use. If the caller ID telephone number is not currently in use, it returns a fail message to the inbound carrier call server.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for verifying a caller ID field of an outbound telephone call. A termination service provider call server receives a call request from a calling endpoint that includes a called endpoint telephone number, and a caller ID telephone number. The termination service provider call server determines a calling endpoint telephone number assigned to the calling endpoint and creates an “in use” message comprising the calling endpoint telephone number and a timestamp of when the call request was received. The “in use” message is forwarded to an active call database before forwarding the call request to an inbound carrier call server servicing the called endpoint telephone number. The inbound carrier call server receives the call request intended and sends a query to the active call database to determine whether the caller ID telephone number in the call request is currently in use. The active call database sets the status of telephone numbers contained in all received “in use” messages to in use.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing communication channels in a communication system that includes communication devices and a communication server. In one embodiment, first and second near field communication (NFC) equipped communication devices are put into a designated temporary channel and placed into close enough proximity to cause an NFC transaction. The NFC transaction may generate a transaction identifier that may be included in a channel establishment message sent from the first and second communication devices to the communication server. The communication server receives the transaction identifiers from the first and second NFC equipped communication devices and when they match, the communication server creates a temporary communication channel accessible to the first and second NFC equipped communication devices.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for verifying a caller ID field of an outbound telephone call. A termination service provider call server receives a call request from a calling endpoint. The call request includes a called endpoint telephone number, and a caller ID telephone number. The call request is forwarded to an inbound carrier call server servicing the called endpoint telephone number where it determines the termination service provider for the caller ID telephone number and sends a query back to the determined termination service provider to determine whether the caller ID telephone number is currently in use. The query includes the caller ID telephone number. The termination service provider call server determines whether the caller ID telephone number in the received query is currently in use. If the caller ID telephone number is not currently in use, it returns a fail message to the inbound carrier call server.

Abstract: Various embodiments describe techniques for switching microphones in a multiple microphone system. The techniques incorporate sampling audio signals from multiple microphones, determining a microphone that has the greatest incoming amplitude during the analysis window, and switching the microphone to that greatest amplitude microphone. The transition point for switching microphones may be determined when either the amplitude of the incoming signal is within an error bound of zero or at a “zero-crossing” in the input amplitude stream.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing communication channels in a communication system that includes communication devices and a communication server. In one embodiment, a communication device may receive an invitation to join a new communication channel, the invitation comprising a universal resource locator (URL) link to a location that contains instructions for joining the new communication channel. The communication device may then launch a companion application in response to activating the URL link where the companion application may be associated with an account administered by a communications server. The companion application may be configured to manage one or more communication devices. A user may select from among the communication devices managed by the companion application to be added to the new communication channel and send, to the communication server, an acceptance to the invitation to join the new communication channel.

Abstract: Examples are disclosed for placing an outbound telephony call using a smart speaker as a proxy device for a telephone account. A smart speaker may receive a verbal command to initiate the telephone call that includes identifying information for the called party. The verbal command may be forwarded to a smart speaker server where it may be converted to a computer instruction to initiate the telephone call. The computer instruction may then be forwarded to a communications server. The communications server may determine the telephone number to call based on the identifying information for the called party. The communications server may then establish a first communication link between itself and a telephony endpoint of the called party and a second communication link between itself and the smart speaker device. The communication links may then be bridged into a communications session between the smart speaker device and the telephony endpoint of the called party.

Abstract: Examples are disclosed for screening an inbound telephony call to a called party. At a communications server, an inbound telephony call intended for a called party's telephone number is received and checked against a whitelist database and a blacklist database. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the blacklist database, the communications server automatically routes the call to a voicemail system or spam folder associated with the called party's telephone number. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the whitelist database, the communications server determines whether the called party is available to receive the call. Otherwise, when the caller ID of the inbound call does not match a telephone number contained in either the whitelist database or the blacklist database, the communications server prompts the caller for additional information.

Abstract: Examples are disclosed for screening an inbound telephony call to a called party. At a communications server, an inbound telephony call intended for a called party's telephone number is received and checked against a whitelist database and a blacklist database. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the blacklist database, the communications server automatically routes the call to a voicemail system or spam folder associated with the called party's telephone number. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the whitelist database, the communications server determines whether the called party is available to receive the call. Otherwise, when the caller ID of the inbound call does not match a telephone number contained in either the whitelist database or the blacklist database, the communications server prompts the caller for additional information.