Abstract: An improved system and method to provide important information either, as voice, text, picture, holographic image or video from the called party to a calling party before the called party answers a telephone. The information may be a recorded voice, text, image or video message. The called party may send a voice message, for example, and send it along with a call alerting message. The voice message may be recorded beforehand. Instead of the calling party's telephone playing a ringback signal, the recorded voice message is played or a data/bearer stream is heard. The calling party hears the voice message instead of the ringback tone normally heard when there is an incoming telephone call. If the calling and called party have telephones, such as mobile phones, IP phones, IP softphones, PDA with telephony capabilities, etc., which allow for multimedia messages such as text, images and video messages, the called party's recorded voice message may include text, images or video.

Abstract: A method and apparatus provide feedback of facial expressions of participants during communication by capturing facial expressions of participants; extracting facial information from the captured facial expressions; transmitting the extracted facial information to communication terminals; and displaying the transmitted facial information by the communication terminals in a symbolic form.

Abstract: The present invention provides for the dynamic video equalization of images. Face tracking is used to identify a portion of an image corresponding to a human face. Those areas of the image identified as corresponding to a human face are optimized as compared to other areas of the image. Optimization is performed by allocating a greater number of image parameters to the area of the image corresponding to a human face than are allocated to other areas of the image. Accordingly, the portion of an image containing the human face is of higher quality as compared to other portions of the image.

Abstract: A method and apparatus route telecommunication calls in a telecommunication switching system by receiving visual information for a caller of one of the telecommunication calls; analyzing the received visual information for characteristics of the telecommunication calls; and routing the one of the telecommunication calls based on the analyzed visual information.

Abstract: A method and apparatus control the use of transmission bandwidth by detecting a change in presentation of a video picture on a receiving telecommunication terminal; transmitting the detected change to a transmitting telecommunication terminal; and adjusting the transmission rate of the video picture in response to the detected change by the transmitting telecommunication terminal.

Abstract: The present invention provides a video conference system that is capable of adjusting image window sizes based on the number of video conference participants included in an image window. In particular, face recognition technology is applied to determine the number of persons included within an image associated with a video call. The information regarding the number of participants in the video call is used as a factor in determining the area of a video output device in which the image from the video call is presented at another video endpoint. The sizing of individual image windows may also be determined based on the total number of participants in a video conference.

Abstract: The present invention provides a device, system, and method for identifying interconnect cables used in a network and the locations in the network where the interconnect cables are deployed. The identification information may be used to audit, for example, patch panel connections in a computer or communications network. The preferred embodiments include RFID transponders incorporated at the cable ends. An RFID scanner is used to interrogate the transponders, and the retrieved information is stored and acted on as appropriate. In a first embodiment, secondary contacts are used on the network components for mating with primary contacts on the cable ends in order to generate information as to the location where the cable ends are connected. In a second embodiment, memory modules are incorporated in the components for providing information reflective of connection locations.

Abstract: The present invention provides an interconnect cable having an electroluminescent element disposed therein in order to facilitate locating the interconnect cable. The electroluminescent element is activated by a driver that may be selectively applied to specified driver ports located on end connectors of the cable. The electroluminescent element may be incorporated within the entire length of the cable, or only along selected sections of the cable.

Abstract: A video telecommunications system 100 for effecting a communication between at least first and second participants including an image alteration agent 358 that (i) removes desired and/or undesired image information 370 and 374 from the acquired image information 362 to form filtered image information 378 and the removed information and (ii) combines the filtered image information 378 and/or the image information 370 and 374 with substitute image information 382 to form composite image information 366; and a video communication infrastructure 304 that transmits the composite image information 366 to a communication device associated with the second participant 120. The composite image information 366 excludes undesired image information 374.