Abstract:
A system and method are provided a voice and/or video message asynchronously in a PTT network. The voice and/or video message is stored and an informational message is provided to a recipient device to assist in playing back the stored voice and/or video message at the recipient device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to: co-pending Provisional Patent Application No. 61/224,972, filed on Jul. 13, 2009 and entitled “Asynchronous Voice Communication System And Method Using Wireless Devices”, that application being incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a system and method for providing asynchronous voice and/or video communication using wireless devices. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Synchronous push-to-talk (PTT) systems, including synchronous push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) systems, are known. In such systems, a subscriber is permitted to instantly contact another subscriber who has been selected from a list of online contacts. Such systems have additionally permitted a subscriber to contact ad-hoc groups with one or more online contacts selected from a contact list. 
         [0006]    U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0062373 to Lessing (“the &#39;373 application”), published on Mar. 13, 2008, discloses a method and communication system for transferring messages containing audio and/or voice information which, depending on a setting of the receiving communication terminal, can either be directly played back or temporarily stored for play back at a later time point. In the &#39;373 application, messages are preferably transmitted as a PTT message with the user of the receiving communication terminal pre-determining whether the communication is direct or asynchronous. 
         [0007]    What is needed is a PTT system wherein the sender provides an audio and/or video message that can be stored for later play back. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a push-to-talk system and method for providing an indication to a receiving wireless device that an audio and/or video message is stored and can be played back. 
         [0009]    Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
         [0010]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an Asynchronous Voice and/or Video Communication System And Method Using Wireless Devices, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
         [0011]    The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0012]    The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawing,  FIG. 1 , which shows a simplified diagram of a system in accordance with one particular embodiment of the instant invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0013]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a simplified diagram of a system  100  for providing asynchronous voice and/or video communications between wireless devices. In the system  100 , a voice or audio and/or video message intended for a recipient is communicated into a wireless device or handset  110 , which can be a push-to-talk device, such as a push-to-talk cellular phone as presently offered by such providers as NEXTEL, VERIZON, etc. However, in accordance with the instant application, the sender may select that, instead of the audio and/or video message being instantly communicated to the intended recipient, that the message instead be transmitted and stored as an audio and/or video file for later retrieval by the recipient. 
         [0014]    For example, a sender using a PTT wireless device  110  records an audio and/or video message that is to be received by at least one of the wireless devices  160 ,  170   180 . The sender selects the intended recipients from a list displayed on the device  110 . If desired, the audio and/or video message can be intended for one, all or a subset of the wireless devices  160 ,  170 ,  180  selected from a list of contacts and/or contact groups stored in the device  110 . 
         [0015]    After selecting the intended recipient(s), the sender records a voice message by pressing the PTT button on the wireless device  110  (usually located on the side of the wireless device  110 ). Upon releasing the PTT button, the message is transmitted from the wireless device  110  to a server  120 , via a cell tower and a data network, such as the Internet or a WAN or even another type of data network. 
         [0016]    The voice and/or video message received from the device  110  is stored as an audio file (such as an MP3 formatted audio file) and/or video file (such as an MPEG audio/video file or a Quicktime file) in a database  130  by the server  120 . Upon storing the voice and/or video message, the server  120  sends a textual message to the intended recipient(s), informing them of a stored voice and/or video message. For example, the server  120  can transmit an SMS message, text message and/or an email to the intended recipient(s) informing them of the stored voice message. In one particularly preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the server  120  broadcasts/multicasts an SMS message to the intended recipient(s), via the data network  140  and wireless transmission system (i.e., cell tower and/or cell network)  155  presently communicating with each recipient wireless device. Note that, if the voice/video message is intended for only one recipient, only one SMS is broadcast. If the voice/video message is intended for a plurality of recipients, the SMS message is multicast to the devices of the plurality of recipients. 
         [0017]    In the instant embodiment, the transmitted SMS message(s) does not contain the stored audio and/or video file(s). Rather, in the presently described embodiment, the SMS message includes a hyperlink directing the wireless device to the server  120 , via the data network  140 , to retrieve and play the stored audio and/or video file(s). 
         [0018]    As such, in the instant invention, the sender, and not the recipient controls whether the PTT message is real-time or asynchronous. Thus, the storage of an audio and/or video file does not require any pre-programming or foreknowledge on the part of the recipient. Further, because the audio/video message is stored on the server  120 , rather than on the recipient handset, there is no need for software installed on the handset to receive and process the asynchronous audio/video message. 
         [0019]    The instant invention has distinct advantages in the context of messaging and social networking. A sender can transmit an audio and/or video message to one or more recipient wireless devices or handsets  160 ,  170 ,  180 , simultaneously, and await a response at the convenience of the recipient. For purposes of explanation only, the following example is given, however, such example is not meant limit the invention thereto. 
       Example 1 
       [0020]    Joe, a dedicated philatelist, wants to invite a group of similarly interested people to a stamp club meeting at his home on the following Tuesday evening. Using his PTT cellular phone, Joe selects an entry in his contact list entitled “Stamp Enthusiasts”, which Joe has previously designated to include Sam, Pete and Joan, via their cell phones  160 ,  170 ,  180 , respectively. Joe pushes the PTT button, connecting his phone  110  to the cellular network  105  and, via a data network  140 , to the server  120 . With the PTT button pushed, Joe transmits, as an audio and/or video message, the following message to the server  120 : 
         [0021]    “Please join me at my home next Tuesday, at 7:00 pm for an evening of fun-filled stamp discussions and refreshments. Please RSVP by Monday night, if you can come.” 
         [0022]    Upon releasing the PTT button, Joe&#39;s voice/video message is stored as an audio file (such as an MP3 audio file) and/or a video file at the server  120 . The server  120  then formulates an SMS message, which it multicasts to the devices  160 ,  170  and  180  of Sam, Pete and Joan, via the data network  140  and cellular network  155 . Alternately, the server  120  can transmit the messages directly over the cellular network  155 , if it has that capability. 
         [0023]    Each of the devices  160 ,  170 ,  180  receives the SMS message and indicates the same, in the manner set by the user. Whenever convenient for them, the recipients Sam, Pete and Joan pull up the SMS message and activate a hyperlink contained therein, which connects the devices  160 ,  170 ,  180  to the server  120  over the cell network  155  and/or data network  140  and plays the stored audio/video message from Joe. For example, Sam receives the SMS message and instantaneously selects the hyperlink to replay the audio/video message. Pete and Joan, however, were unavailable at the moment the SMS message came in, but were able to retrieve the message and listen to, and/or view, the audio/video message at later, more convenient times. 
         [0024]    As can be seen from the foregoing example, the system of the instant invention provides a simple and convenient system for providing messages that permit asynchronous retrieval and response using a PTT system. 
         [0025]    It is noted that there may exist variations of the foregoing example. For example, the aforementioned notification SMS message (or other signal meant to notify the recipient of the existence of the stored audio message) need not be initiated by the server  120 ; instead it may be initiated by the phone  110  and sent directly to one or more of phones  160 ,  170  and/or  180 . 
         [0026]    Further, transmission of the message from phone  110  to server  120  may occur in real-time, where the audio and/or video is streamed directly to the server as it is spoken/captured, or it may occur in non-real-time where the audio and/or video data are captured and stored on the phone  110  and then uploaded to the server  120  at some later time. Such a feature would allow, for example, Joe to record his audio/video message and then decide he did not like it and record it again before deciding to upload the audio/video message to the server  120 . In another example, perhaps Joe is on an airplane, or otherwise without communications capabilities via the phone  110 , and would like to send a plurality of audio/video messages to a plurality of recipients and/or recipient groups. Joe need only push the PTT button on phone  110  for each audio/video message and speak his message into the phone to record and store a plurality of audio/video messages in the phone  110 . Once Joe has arrived at his destination and/or the phone  110  again has communications capabilities, phone  110  will upload all of the pre-recorded audio and/or video messages to server  120 . 
         [0027]    Note that, in the instant invention, the identifying hyperlink to the audio and/or video message need not be limited to the recipients chosen by the message creator, nor shall the hyperlink be limited to devices  160 ,  170  and  180 . By way of example, perhaps Pete would like to invite some of his friends to the Monday night meeting without Joe&#39;s knowledge. Pete may forward the hyperlink to his friends through SMS or other signaling method. Once received by Pete&#39;s friends, each of them may invoke the hyperlink at their convenience and be allowed access to the audio and/or video message stored on server  120  that was recorded by Joe. 
         [0028]    If desired, in one particular embodiment of the invention, further enhancements and/or restrictions may be applied to the subject audio and/or video message stored on server  120 , such that only authorized users may listen to the audio message. For example, access to the audio/video message(s) can be limited, to users and/or devices specified by Joe, in the foregoing example. In such a case, Pete may be able to forward the hyperlink to his friends, but his friends will be disallowed access to the audio and/or video message due to the security constraints imposed by Joe upon creation of the audio and/or video message. 
         [0029]    Note that the above-described embodiments are exemplary and that the above invention is not meant to be limited only to its preferred embodiments. It can be seen that other modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments and still be within the spirit of the present invention.