US Patent:
20090046843, Feb 19, 2009
Inventors:
Assaf Baciu - Berkeley CA, US
Sandeep M. Bhojwani - San Jose CA, US
Jayadev Billa - San Jose CA, US
Carl Mikael Berner - Sunnyvale CA, US
Kevin M. Stone - Mountain View CA, US
David A. Winarsky - Austin TX, US
International Classification:
H04M 3/42
Abstract:
The present invention provides a system, method and software application for associating one or more phone numbers with an action on a phone and performing an action on the phone in response to the user initiating a call to one of such phone numbers. Certain phone numbers are associated with an action. The user's phone, or a server with which the user's phone communicates, maintains a table of the phone numbers associated with an action, and each phone number in the table is related to an action. Software on the user's phone listens for call initiated by a user. When the user initiates a call, software on the phone “intercepts” the call, and the phone (or a server with which the phone communicates) determines whether the call is to a phone number that is in the table. If the phone number is in the table, then it is associated with an action, and the user's phone performs that action at a time specified by instructions for such action. The action may be performed before, during, or after the call depending on the instructions associated with the call. Whether a call is placed to the original phone number ultimately depends on the action and the user's response to the action.
