System and method for separation of call origination and call delivery techniques

Abstract

System and method to provide an improved user experience for session requests at a multimodal communication terminal, the method including: providing a first user preference, to a server, for incoming communication sessions; receiving, at a first time, by the multimodal communication terminal, an indication of an incoming communication session; enabling control of a session delivery technique of the incoming communication session by use of a user experience; receiving a second user preference, from a user of the multimodal communication terminal, for outgoing communication sessions; receiving, at a second time, by the multimodal communication terminal, a request to establish an outgoing communication session; determining existence of a second predetermined condition, relevant to outgoing communication methods; selecting an outgoing communication method based upon existence of the second predetermined condition and the second user preference; and enabling control of the outgoing communication session by use of the user experience.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 841,386, filed on Jun. 30, 2013, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]System and method to separate call origination techniques from call delivery techniques under a coordinated user experience. More particularly, embodiments provide an ability to separate the call method used to originate calls from the method to receive calls.[0004]2. Description of Related Art[0005]Applications generally have a single method to make and receive calls. For example, a SIP phone makes and receives calls using SIP. A cellular phone and makes and receive calls using the cellular network.[0006]Some methods provide server-side choice to deliver a call over one of several delivery methods when more than one method is available. Such methods are used to resolve a scenario in which more t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a way to separate call origination techniques from call delivery techniques under a single user experience. This helps to improve the user experience when making session requests on a multimodal communication terminal. The invention allows for independent selection of an incoming session communication method and an outgoing session communication method based on relevant conditions. This means that the method can use different techniques for making calls and receive calls, making it more efficient and effective.

Problems solved by technology

This does not address the issue of striving to provide a consistent user experience for different communication methods, or attempt to provide for the separation of call origination and call delivery techniques.

The known art falls short of providing a satisfactory user experience in several respects.

First, to change communication methods, administrative changes may be needed, resulting in additional information technology (“IT”) cost and overhead.

Another shortcoming is that user capabilities to configure a default communication method do not conveniently provide users with sufficient flexibility to deal with dynamic network conditions experienced on a mobile device.

For example, if network conditions change, then the default communication method may not work well or be available for the next call under the new network conditions.

Another shortcoming is that certain benefits of making calls in one communication method (e.g. VoIP to take advantage of low cost) and receiving calls in a different communication method (e.g., cellular to take advantage of maximizing coverage) cannot be realized if the origination and delivery method are difficult or impossible to reconfigure by the relatively inflexible methods of the known art.

Furthermore, cost factors may not be symmetrical.

At any point in time what is optimal outbound may not always be optimal for inbound calls.

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