Patent Publication Number: US-2011054912-A1

Title: System and method of storing telephone conversations

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to data storage, and more particularly, to archiving mobile telephone call data. 
     Increasing popularity in conducting business via mobile telephones has led to, in some instances, in the loss of or poor record keeping of discussed material. Two or more people conducting, for example, a business call from various locations may discuss specific transactional details that may be lost or inaccurately remembered once the call is terminated. 
     Additionally, some mobile telephones may be equipped with multiple applications requiring extensive memory storage. Thus, the distribution of data files and management of data space within a mobile telephone may be at a premium. 
     As can be seen, there is a need for a method and system of recording telephone conversations for accurate record keeping. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, a method of storing telephone conversation data comprises detecting a telephone call initiated in a mobile telephone producing the telephone conversation data; recording the telephone conversation data; detecting a termination of the telephone call; and transferring the recorded telephone conversation data to a third party database. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a system for storing telephone conversation data comprises an application program interface installed on a mobile telephone configured to store data associated with a telephone call initiated by or received by the mobile telephone; an internet gateway configured to receive wireless signal transmissions of the data from the mobile telephone; and a database storage unit connected to the internet gateway wherein the database storage unit is located externally of the mobile telephone and wherein the database storage unit is configured to store the data received from the internet gateway. 
     These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a series of steps according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
     Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. 
     Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide a method and system for storing data associated with telephone conversations to a third party site for archival and future playback. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system  10  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, may generally include a mobile telephone  30 , an internet gateway  70  and a third party database storage unit  40 . The mobile telephone  30  may further include a memory storage module  60  and an application program interface  50 , such as a telephony application program interface (TAPI). The system  10  may also include a second telephone unit  20  that may either send or receive a telephone call from the mobile telephone  30 . It will be understood that the telephone unit  20  may be either a landline connected telephone or another mobile telephone. 
     The application program interface  50  may be resident on the mobile telephone  30  and run in the background while having no visual or audible indication that it is running. A user interface (not shown) may be password protected. The application program interface  50  may allow the application access to a full duplex telephone conversation of audio data. The application program interface  50  may compress the audio data using any standard or nonstandard audio compression standards such as GSM, G.729a, G.711, etc. 
     Other call data associated with a telephone call may include a call direction for example, inbound vs. outbound, a duration of a call, a date and time the call began, a caller identification, and a dialed number. The call data may be captured and stored in the audio file and/or accompany the audio file as a separate data file. The telephone audio data and call data associated with the telephone call may be temporarily stored in the memory storage module  60 . Upon completion of the call and creation of the data file(s), the application will optionally insert a digital fingerprint, watermark, or encryption for integrity purposes and then copy the file(s) to the 3rd party database server via any wireless connection available to the cellular phone that will connect to the database server. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a method  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described. The method  100  may in step  101 , identify that an application program interface  50  is installed on a mobile telephone  30 . An application program interface  50  may be automatically started or manually started in step  110 . In step  120 , an initiated or received telephone call in the mobile telephone  30  may be detected. The application program interface  50  may access and record the telephone conversation and associated data occurring during operation of the mobile telephone  50  by a first user conducting a call with a second user on the telephone unit  20 . Instep  140 , audio data associated with the telephone conversation may be compressed into a waveform audio format and stored in the memory storage module  60 . Other telephone conversation data associated with the telephone call may be accessed and stored in the memory storage module  60  in step  150 . The other telephone conversation data associated with the telephone call may include call direction, date of the call, time of the call, a caller number of the telephone unit  20 , and duration of the call. In step  160 , termination of the telephone call may be recognized. Instep  170 , the telephone conversation data may be watermarked, fingerprinted, or encrypted within the memory storage module  60 . In step  180 , the telephone conversation data may be transmitted wirelessly to the internet gateway  70  and transferred for storage into the third party database storage unit  40 . In step  190 , the telephone conversation data may be deleted from the memory storage module  60  once verification of the transfer of the telephone conversation data to the third party database storage unit  40  is received by the mobile telephone  50 . 
     It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.