US7072643B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Communication assistance system and method
Assignee: Grape Technology Group Inc
•
Filing: 2002-12-31
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Granted: 2006-07-04
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Expires: 2022-12-31
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is directed to a communication assistance system comprised of a first database ( 18 ) having a plurality of listings where each of the listings has at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number. A telephony hardware ( 12 ) is provided, configured to couple a telephone device ( 6 ) of a user to the system. A past requested listing table is also provided for at least one of the users of the system, configured to store past requested listings obtained from the database, as requested by the user. When the user contacts the system with the telephone device, the system recognizes the user and forwards the past requested listing table to an operator terminal of the system.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert Pines
- 👤 John Blakeney
- 👤 Christine Baumeister
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 07:28
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/44; H04M3/487; H04M3/493; H04M3/4931; H04M2203/00; H04M2203/55; H04M2203/551; H04M2242/00; H04M2242/22; H04M3/22; H04M3/2218; H04M3/36; H04M3/42025; H04M3/42034; H04M3/42059; H04M3/42068; H04M3/42085; H04M3/42093; H04M3/4933
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 44
Claim 1
Independent Claim
242 words
A communication assistance system comprising: a first database having a plurality of listings therein, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; a switching device configured to direct a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; and a past requested listing table for at least one of said users of said system, configured to store prior requested listings obtained from said database, as previously requested by said user, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintain a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintains a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory search requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table and delivers them to a customer service representative at an operator terminal of said system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
242 words
A communication assistance system comprising: a first database having a plurality of listings therein, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; a switching device configured to direct a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; and a past requested listing table for at least one of said users of said system, configured to store prior requested listings obtained from said database, as previously requested by said user, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintain a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintains a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory search requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table and delivers them to a customer service representative at an operator terminal of said system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
The communication assistance system according to claim 1 , wherein said telephone device is a mobile telephone.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
The communication assistance system according to claim 1 , wherein said listings in said past requested listing table are assigned to a corresponding category field.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
The communication assistance system according to claim 3 , wherein said category fields include designations for any one of restaurants, personal contacts, airlines, hotels, movies and entertainment listings.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
38 words
The communication assistance system according to claim 1 , wherein said past requested listing table maintains a counter field, said counter filed configured to store the number of times said stored listings have been requested by said user.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The communication assistance system according to claim 5 , further comprising a top requested listings sub-table configured to store and organize the most requested listings found in said past requested listing table.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
223 words
A communication assistance system comprising: a first database having a plurality of listings therein, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; a switching device configured to direct a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; and a past requested listing table for at least one of said users of said system, configured to store prior requested listings, as previous requested by said user, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintain a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintains a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory search requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
223 words
A communication assistance system comprising: a first database having a plurality of listings therein, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; a switching device configured to direct a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; and a past requested listing table for at least one of said users of said system, configured to store prior requested listings, as previous requested by said user, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintain a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintains a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory search requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table is forwarded to an operator terminal of said system.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said listing, stored on said past requested listing table is masked to said operator.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
45 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table is transmitted to said telephone device of said user, wherein said user retrieves a listing contained in said past requested listing table stored in said telephone device of said user.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein said listings, masked in said first database remain masked when transmitted to said telephone device of said user.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table further maintains a requester call number field corresponding to said user's telephone number.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table maintains a separate entry each time a particular listing is requested by said user.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table further maintains a category field configured to indicate the category of said listing, stored in said past requested listing table.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
31 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein category field maintains a category indicator including any one of recreational, movies, restaurants, commercial stores, airlines, hotels, taxis and personal numbers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said past requested listing table further maintains a category rank field, configured to compute the ranks for each of said listings, based on the number of times a particular listing was requested by said user.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
39 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 16 , wherein said past requested listing table further maintains a top ranked requests sub-table configured to organize the most requested listings by said user, based on information from said category field.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
32 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein said top ranked requests sub-table is configured to store a specified number of most requested listing by said user for each category.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
18 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein said top ranked requests sub-table is updated periodically.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table is configured to store said requested listings for a specified amount of time.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
27 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 20 , wherein said set amount of time is reset, each time a particular listing is requested by said user.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
30 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 20 , wherein said set amount of time is modified based on the number of times said listing is requested by said caller.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
40 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 20 , wherein said set amount of time is configured so as to achieve a desired target probability that a listing, requested by said user, is found on said past requested listing table.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
29 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table adds listings related to said listings already stored on said past requested listing table.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table updates periodically.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
39 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 25 , wherein said past requested listing table is updated manually by said user via any one of HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and SMS (Short Message Service).
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
24 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said past requested listing table is billed to said user as an additional feature.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
35 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 27 , wherein said past requested listing table is billed to said user as an individual charge for each listing connected to from said past requested listing table.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
31 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 27 , wherein said past requested listing table is billed to said user as an overall charge for maintaining said past requested listing table.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
33 words
The communication system as claimed in claim 27 , wherein said past requested listing table is billed to said user based on the rate at which said past requested listing table is updated.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
215 words
A method for operating a communication assistance system, said method comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of listings in a first database, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; directing a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; storing prior requested listings as previously requested by said user in a past requested listing table, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintaining a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintaining a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory assistance requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
215 words
A method for operating a communication assistance system, said method comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of listings in a first database, each of said listings having at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number; directing a communication from a telephone device of a user to said system; storing prior requested listings as previously requested by said user in a past requested listing table, said prior requested listings stored in said past requested listing table each maintaining a counter field corresponding to the number of times that a particular listing was requested by said user where a single entry for each particular listing requested by said user is stored with the total number of times said listing was requested is indicated in said counter field, and said prior requested listings also maintaining a time and date field corresponding to the time and date at which a particular listing was requested by said user, including information corresponding to the last time and date said listing was requested by said user, wherein when said user contacts said system with said telephone device, said system recognizes said user and, prior to said user making any directory assistance requests, retrieves at least a portion of said stored prior requested listings from said past requested listing table.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of maintaining a category field in said past requested listing table configured to indicate the category of said listing, stored in said past requested listing table.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of maintaining a specified quantity of listings on said past requested listing table.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method as claimed in claim 33 , wherein said specified quantity of listings are maintained to as to achieve a desired target probability that a listing, requested by said user, is found on said past requested listing table.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of transmitting said past requested listing table to said telephone device of said user.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method as claimed in claim 35 , further comprising the step of retrieving a listing contained in said past requested listing table, stored in said telephone device of said user.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of adding listings to said past requested listing table, said added listings related to said listings stored on said past requested listing table.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of a user, manually updating said past requested listing table via any one of HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and SMS (Short Message Service).
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of masking said stored listing so that said user can not see the telephone number of the requested listing.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of masking said stored listing so that a customer service representative of said communication system can not see the telephone number of the requested listing.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method as claimed in claim 31 , further comprising the step of delivering a portion of said past requested listings to a customer service representative at an operator terminal of said system.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2009-07-03 | 2010-01-02 | 2010-07-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2013-07-03 | 2014-01-02 | 2014-07-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2017-07-03 | 2018-01-02 | 2018-07-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |