Patents Examined by Binh Tieu
  • Patent number: 9723135
    Abstract: A method for handling calls to be moved within a system having an unmonitored domain and a monitored domain can include the step of upon first arrival of a call at said unmonitored domain, a context of said call based on a called number, a calling number, and any redirection number(s) included in said call can be provided. Another step of the method can include, for each movement of said call between said unmonitored domain and said monitored domain, providing a unique number to be temporarily used for said particular movement, based on said call context, while avoiding that said unique number is used to move any other call within the system at the same time. An apparatus for can be configured to facilitate performance of the method (e.g. communication system, a device, non-transitory memory, etc.).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Unify GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Michael Eggiman-Ketter, James Murison
  • Patent number: 9712684
    Abstract: An audio system for an aircraft of the type which includes radiocommunications units and a management unit to which are connected by cables, pieces of audio equipment. Each audio equipment piece includes a generator which, under control of the control unit, is configured to generate a pulsed coded audio signal and inject the signal into a same cable as that used for conveying the audio signals coming from the audio unit of the audio equipment, each code formed by a pulsed coded audio signal being representative of a piece of audio equipment. The audio system includes a decoder for receiving and decoding a coded audio signal generated by a piece of audio equipment and for generating a logic control signal to activate the radiocommunications unit which has previously been associated with the audio equipment represented by the code of the coded audio signal received and decoded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS (S.A.S.)
    Inventors: Benoit Gauduin, Fabrice Cotdeloup
  • Patent number: 9699305
    Abstract: The method includes identifying, by one or more computer processors, incoming data related to a source. The method further includes identifying, by one or more computer processors, data related to a recipient of incoming data from the source. The method further includes determining, by one or more computer processes, a relationship between the source and the recipient of the incoming data from the source. The method further includes calculating, by one or more computer processors, a risk indicator associated with the incoming data from the source based upon the identified data related to the source, the identified data related to the recipient and the determined relationship between the source and the recipient. The method further includes sending, by one or more computer processors, a notification to the recipient, wherein the notification includes at least the calculated risk indicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Cindy E. Compert, Elezaveta Koumpan, Jenny S. Li, Naghmana Majed
  • Patent number: 9699302
    Abstract: A system, method and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when read by a processor perform receiving a telephony connection request, determining addressing information regarding the telephony connection request, the addressing information including at least routing information or a phone number, determining traffic information regarding the telephony connection request based on the addressing information, the traffic information including previous telephony connection requests, sending a reply in response to the telephony connection request, wherein: forwarding the telephony connection request to an intended recipient would result in a system response, and the reply differs from the system response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: West Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas L. Davis
  • Patent number: 9692910
    Abstract: A telephone switching system capable of enabling an administrator to easily change the setting when an illegal outgoing call is detected and the illegal outgoing call is regulated is provided. A telephone switchboard includes a detection section for detecting an occurrence of a predetermined event, an e-mail creation section for creating a notification mail in which a content of the detected event is described, and a transmitting section for transmitting the notification mail, and the management terminal includes a receiving section for receiving the notification mail, an e-mail creation section for creating a reply mail corresponding to the notification mail, and a transmitting section for transmitting the reply mail. Further, the telephone switchboard further includes a receiving section for receiving the reply mail, and a setting section for setting an operation condition for a predetermined operation performed by the telephone switchboard based on the reply mail received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: NEC Platforms, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kentaroh Okamoto
  • Patent number: 9691199
    Abstract: Methods and devices for using a backend system to allow access to a residence are provided herein. In some embodiments, a call box located at a residence may call a telephone number associated with a user account on the backend system that corresponds to a resident of the residence. When the call box calls the telephone number associated with the user account, an audio message may be provided that includes a question whose answer is a user selected passphrase. A response to the question is then analyzed to determine whether or not the response includes the passphrase. If so, a signal, such as an audible tone, is provided to the call box. The audible tone, when played, may cause a door of the residence to become unlocked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Ryan Christopher Rapp, Ricardo Jose Lopez
  • Patent number: 9686497
    Abstract: Systems and methods for the management of video calls are provided. A computing device dynamically determines which video stream, of multiple available video streams, is to be presented full-screen or otherwise most prominently during a video call when a user switches between cameras. The available video streams can include a video stream from a user-facing camera of the device, a video stream from a rear-facing camera of the device, or a video stream from another device. Video of the video call can also be annotated to identify individual items shown in the video, characteristics of the items, and the like. The annotations can be used to generate a summary report of the items in the video.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: Crater Group Co.
    Inventor: Maxwell Hunter Terry
  • Patent number: 9686092
    Abstract: Methods and systems are described for storing video content collected by a home automation system. According to at least one embodiment, an apparatus for accessing video content collected by a home automation system includes a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory which are executable by a processor to receive at a remote device live video content from a camera of the home automation system, and initiate real-time, two-way audio communication between the remote device and a user of the home automation system via the camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: Vivint, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeremy B. Warren
  • Patent number: 9686393
    Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product, include receiving a request for registration from a service provider, the request for registration comprising characteristic information of a service call to be initiated, determining whether the service receiver has authorized the request for registration, and upon the service receiver having authorized the request for registration, registering the characteristic information of the service call for the service receiver to enable the identification of the service call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keke Cai, Bai Chen Deng, Dongxu Duan, Zhong Su, Li Zhang, Xiaolu Zhang, Shiwan Zhao
  • Patent number: 9667776
    Abstract: A system for bi-directional quality testing of a telephony system or network using an audio generation device configured to automate Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality assessments and connect to a communication endpoint through computer telephony integration (CTI) instruction or system configuration to enable auto-answering of the communication endpoint, listen, record, and process signals and audio data, calculate Mean Opinion Scores (MOS), generate signals and audio for playback, compare files using a full reference algorithm, and store data with MOS results displayed in data naming structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Cyara Solutions Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Tony Dux, Geoff Willshire
  • Patent number: 9667780
    Abstract: A system and method are presented for analysis of a connection comprising a communication provider and a remote device. Known timing conditions may be used in the analysis to eliminate the impact of analysis delay on the contacted party flow. A point in time may be determined at which a live answer is no longer expected and an answering service answer may be expected using several factors. These factors comprise the routing time to/from the originating provider to a secondary provider as well as the time that the secondary provider alerts before transferring to a voice message service. Live answer determination may be categorized prior to the indication of a far-end connection and before the application of any media analysis routines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Interactive Intelligence Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard M. Neidermyer, Jon C. Melnik
  • Patent number: 9667775
    Abstract: A device may receive, from a network device, call information associated with a call. The call may be from a calling party device. The call may appear to be intended for a destination device. The call information may be received, from the network device, based on the network device having routed the call. The device may determine, based on the call information, that the call appears to have been forwarded to a called party device that is different from the destination device. The device may determine, based on the call information, a forwarding characteristic for the call. The device may determine that the forwarding characteristic satisfies a criterion. The device may send an output message based on the forwarding characteristic satisfying the criterion to support responding to call forwarding activity that has the forwarding characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: VERIZON PATENT ANS LICENSING INC.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Haltom, Thomas A. Gallant, Heath W. Hendrickson, Lulia Ann Barakat
  • Patent number: 9661130
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for managing and analyzing multi-party dialogs (e.g., call) between communication devices. A digital connection is established with each of a plurality of communication devices. The connection is switched between the communication devices from a POTS connection to digital connections, enabling the communication devices to communicate with each other via the computing device over the digital connections. Audio signals are part of a multi-party dialog between users of the plurality of communication devices. The received audio signals are split into corresponding first signals and second signals. The first signals are transmitted to the plurality of communication devices and are analyzed to produce measurements of features of the second signals. Feedback data is transmitted to at least one of the plurality of communication devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Cogito Corporation
    Inventors: Joshua Feast, Ali Azarbayejani, Skyler Place
  • Patent number: 9661137
    Abstract: A system and method are presented for automatic communication distribution local assignment. An on-premises device, in a contact center environment using a cloud-based solution, communicates with the solution to determine if there is a service interruption. When an interruption is determined, the on-premises device steps in to perform local assignment of communications for the solution until communication has been restored with the cloud-based solution. The on-premises device comprises a module that monitors all ACD communication flows. The module may also manage the logic of when to intervene and how to assign communications in queue to available agents during outages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Interactive Intelligence Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin Elliott King
  • Patent number: 9654622
    Abstract: In general, a computing device is described that receives an indication of a particular communication from a particular sender. The computing device determines a relationship score based at least in part on a relationship context between the particular sender and a user of the computing device. The relationship score indicates a degree of strength of a relationship between the particular sender and the user of the computing device. While outputting an alert indicative of the communication, the computing device adjusts one or more characteristics of the alert based at least in part on the relationship score.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Gabriel Aaron Cohen, Punyabrata Ray
  • Patent number: 9628620
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods for providing captioned telephone service. One method includes initiating a first captioned telephone service call. During the first captioned telephone service call, a first set of captions is created using a human captioner. Simultaneous with creating the first set of captions using a human captioner, a second set of captions is created using an automated speech recognition captioner. The first set of captions and the second set of captions are compared using a scoring algorithm. In response to the score of second set of captions being within predetermined range of scores, the call is continued using only the automated speech recognition captioner. In response to the score of second set of captions being outside of a predetermined range of scores, the call is continued using a human captioner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: ClearCaptions, LLC
    Inventors: Robert Lee Rae, Blaine Michael Reeve
  • Patent number: 9621698
    Abstract: Arrangements described herein include identifying a voice communication session established between a first communication device and a second communication device and, based on the voice communication session established between the first communication device and the second communication device, identifying a plurality of contacts who potentially may be the second user. A list including at least a name of each of the plurality of contacts who potentially may be the second user is presented to a first user using the first communication device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jonathan F. Brunn, Jessica W. Forrester, Stephen C. Hess, Jeffrey R. Hoy
  • Patent number: 9621711
    Abstract: A communication control device for controlling communication performed over a communication line includes a voltage-value acquirer for acquiring a value of a line-to-line voltage of the communication line in an on-hook state, a first determiner for determining whether the voltage value is continuously equal to or lower than a threshold voltage for a first predetermined duration, a current-value acquirer for acquiring a value of a current flowing through the communication line in an off-hook state when the voltage value is continuously equal to or lower than the threshold voltage for the first predetermined duration, a second determiner for determining whether the current value is continuously equal to or smaller than a threshold current for a second predetermined duration, and a disconnection determiner for determining that the communication line is disconnected when the current value is continuously equal to or smaller than the threshold current for the second predetermined duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Masahito Ohtani
  • Patent number: 9614956
    Abstract: A technique provides a phone call from a caller device operated by a human caller to an answerer device operated by a human answerer. The technique involves receiving a call request from the caller device. The call request includes a call button identifier which uniquely identifies a browser call button which is rendered on the caller device to the caller. The technique further involves identifying a source phone number based on the call button identifier. The technique further involves placing a call communication to the answerer device operated by the human answerer. The call communication indicates the source phone number as a source of the call communication. Accordingly, if the answerer device already has the context of associated with the source phone number already saved (e.g., in a contact list), the answerer device is able to automatically display that context in response to the call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: GetGo, Inc.
    Inventors: Viral V. Carpenter, Sneha Sachidananda, Yiming Li, Scott Ross
  • Patent number: 9609120
    Abstract: A negotiator makes and receives calls and SMS with a subject through a virtual number. Parties of individuals serving specialized functions are optionally dialed in to monitor the call/receive the SMS each time those communications occur. Alternatively, a member of a particular party can dial in ahead of a call and be placed in a waiting room for the party until the call happens. Different parties may have different functions. For example, one party may be configured such that members can discuss amongst themselves while hearing the negotiator and the subject communicate. Another party may be configured such that communications among the members is disabled such that each member only hears audio from the negotiator and subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: World Emergency Network—Nevada, Ltd.
    Inventor: Christopher Ryan Bennett