Patent Publication Number: US-2007115925-A1

Title: Group calling method and system

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      1. Technical Field  
      This invention relates a system and method for initializing a calling group and recording a message and calling and relaying the recorded message to the other calling group members.  
      2. Description of the Related Arts  
      There are conference calling systems in the art. For example, there are methods of initializing conference calls between users of Radio Frequency handsets (e.g., “walkie-talkies”). There are also methods for setting up conference calls for multiple phone users. In each of these methods, all users can listen in at the same time on the conference call—i.e., a user talking is simultaneously heard by multiple recipients of the group. In such systems/methods, a single group member can simultaneously broadcast a message to all of the group members at once. However, such methods/systems do not allow for a message to be rebroadcast to group members who are not participants in the conference call at the time the message is generated by one of the group members participating in the conference call or broadcasting the message. Accordingly, group members who are not listening in on the conference call might miss hearing an important message.  
      Moreover, in the current systems it is relatively complex to set up a calling group. For example, the name and phone number of each group member often has to be manually entered into the phone system on which the conference call is set up. In other systems, each of the group members has to call into a specific phone number to participate in the conference call or tune a wireless handset to a specific frequency to listen to the call/message being broadcast.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Embodiments of the inventions are directed to a method and a server that transmits information to a calling group. An incoming information transmission is received from a communications device. The incoming information transmission is recorded in a memory of a server. The incoming information transmission is transmitted to the individual communications devices of the members of a predetermined calling group.  
      Additional embodiments are directed to a communications device having a communications port to establish a communications link with a second communications device. A memory stores phone numbers of communications devices in a predetermined calling group. Circuitry establishes a link to a call server and transmits information which is recorded at the call server. The information includes the phone numbers. After the information is recorded, part of the information is transmitted to the individual communications devices of the members of the calling group. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a cell phone according to an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the group calling system according to an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate group initialization methods according to embodiments of the invention;  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a method of group calling according to an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a method of setting up a group with a cell phone having an IR port according to an embodiment of the invention; and  
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a method of setting up a group with a cell phone having a hard-wired communications port according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 5C  illustrates a method of defining a group on a communications device such as a cell phone. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      An embodiment of the invention is directed to a group calling method and system. In an exemplary system, a number of users of portable communication devices such as, e.g., cellular phones, personal data assistants, handheld computers or other similar communication devices, may form a calling group. A calling group is a predetermined group of dynamically added group members that form a mini network. Alternatively, the calling group may be configured to include multiple mini networks. For example, all teachers at a high school may be a calling group. Any of the group members may call a designated phone number and record a voice message on a communications server, wherein the communications server may be a telephone server. The communications server may then implement a routine, establishing a communications link with each group member and transmitting the message. For example, in the event a high school principal and all of the high school teachers form the calling group, the principal may call the designated number and record a voice message on the communications server to inform the group members that school has been cancelled for that day. The communications server may then establish a communications link with each of the group members, for example, by telephoning each group member and audibly replaying the recorded voice message. The message may be digitally recorded and copies may be made so that multiple group members can be called simultaneously or individually and the message may be replayed.  
      An embodiment of the invention also provides for a simple method of initializing the group. For example, the cell phones of each of the group members may contain an Infra Red (“IR”) port, a serial port, or any other suitable communications port/pathway. To initialize a group, each of the group members may couple his or her cell phone with each of the other group members&#39; cell phones, and the respective cell phone numbers (and the group members&#39; names, in some embodiments) may be exchanged. Alternatively, communication may be set up between each group member&#39;s cell phone and a master cell phone, whereby information for each group member&#39;s cell phone is transmitted to the master cell phone. Once the master cell phone has information for each of the group members, communication may again be established between the master cell phone and each group member&#39;s cell phone so that the master may transmit the entire group list to each of the group members. In some embodiments, the master cell phone may also communicate the information for the group list to the communications server.  
      When one of the group members decides to call the dedicated group phone number and leave a message on the communications server, the user&#39;s phone may transmit the information about the other group members to the communications server while the user is leaving the voice recording. In other embodiments, the group calling information is already stored on the communications server and need not be transmitted thereto when one of the group members calls the communications server. After the user has finished leaving the message, the communications server may then call each of the group members and play the recorded message. Accordingly, sending messages to multiple users may be achieved without all the users having to simultaneously participate in a conference call. One of skill in the art will appreciate that, beyond transmission of voice and text data, other forms of digital data may be transmitted.  
      If one of the group members is not available (e.g., the user&#39;s cell phone is busy and/or a voicemail or page cannot be left for the user), the telephone server may try calling the unavailable group member later. Each, or some, of the cell phones of the group members may include a special “group calling” button, which may be pressed when the user wishes to leave the voice message to be replayed, instead of having to manually enter the dedicated communications server phone number.  
      Communications devices are not limited to cellular phones, but may include Personal Digital Assistants (“PDAs”) or portable computers. In other embodiments, communications devices other than cell phones may also be utilized. For instance, a call device configured as a transmitter, receiver, or a combination thereof may be utilized. The call device need not employ both a display and keypad, but may employ only one or the other. The call device may even employ neither a display or a keypad. For example, a call device may be a transceiver with a light and a single button. Other embodiments may further include a message delivery status notification (hereinafter, “report back”) in which delivery status information is immediately returned to an initiator. Report back notifications may include, without limitation, “message received,” “busy,” “device off,” “out of network,” or the like. One of skill in the art will appreciate that any means of wireless communication may be used, such as but not limited to CDMA, GSM, GPRS, internet protocols, the SMS space, GPS or similar technologies.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a cell phone  100  according to an embodiment of the invention. The cell phone  100  may be an ordinary cell phone, or it may be a customized cell phone having special group calling buttons  110  and  115 . As shown, the cell phone may include a communications port  105 . The communications port  105  may be an IR port, a serial cable port, or any other suitable type of communications port. The cell phone  100  may also include a customized button  110  for “Group 1,” which the user may press to leave a message to be audibly replayed to all group members of Group 1. The cell phone  100  may also include a customized button  115  for “Group 2,” which the user may press to leave a message to be replayed to all group members of Group 2. Although shown at the bottom of the cell phone  100 , the “Group 1” and “Group 2” buttons  110  and  115  may be located anywhere on the cell phone  100 . In other embodiments, more or fewer than two group call buttons  110  and  115  may be utilized. In other embodiments, the cell phone may not have a group call button, and the user may call the communications server by manually dialing the group phone number. Still in other embodiments, a multi-directional scroller  120 , such as a miniaturized joystick or a rocker button, may be utilized instead of or in combination with “Group 1” or “Group 2” buttons  110  and  115  to allow a user to scroll through a programmable relational database of records, stored in memory  101  of the cell phone  100 . This “Group List”  130 , which appears in display  125 , may be dynamically edited by the user to add or delete groups as practically necessary.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the group calling system  202  according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the system includes the cell phone  100  and a communications server  200 . For illustrative purposes, the communications server is described in this example as a telephone server and includes a memory  205  and a processor  210 .  
      To send a group message, the user cell phone  100  may call the group phone number and leave a voice message on the communications server  200 . When the phone call is made to the communications server  200 , a list of data relating to the calling group (e.g., the phone numbers of all of the group members) may be simultaneously transmitted to the communications server  200 . The data relating to the calling group may then be stored in the memory  205 , as well as the recorded voice message. After the message has been recorded, the communications server  200  may call the cell phones  215 ,  220 , and  225  for the group members and audibly replay the recorded voice message. A processor  210  within the communications server  200  may execute program code stored in the memory  205  to implement the telephone calling application.  
      In the event that nobody answers a cell phone for a group member when the communications server  200  calls the group member, the communications server  200  may either leave a message on the group member&#39;s voicemail and/or call back in an attempt to reach the group member after a predetermined time delay. In addition, the report back feature of the present invention, described above, may be employed in the event a call is not answered. In other embodiments, the communication devices described above as cell phones  215 ,  220 , and  225  may be electronic communication devices such as PDAs, computers, pagers or hard-wired telephones.  
      In other embodiments, the communications server  200  may record the voice message, convert it into a voice file, and then transmit the voice file to the group members. In such embodiments, the group members could utilize notebook computers to receive the voice files and could even receive the voice files via email. One of skill in the art will appreciate that not only voice files but also text, photos, music, or other digital data may be similarly transmitted.  
      In other embodiments, the communications server  200  may contain a list of the phone numbers of all of the group members, and the cell phone  100  may not need to transmit these phone numbers to the communications server  200 .  
      The cell phone  100  may include a memory  101  to store the phone numbers of the calling group and a processor  102  to execute program code stored in the memory  101  to transmit the phone numbers to the communications server  200  via circuitry  107 .  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate group initialization methods according to embodiments of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 3A , two cell phones  300  and  305  may be utilized to initialize a calling group. Cell phone  300  may include an IR port  310 , a “Group 1” calling button  325 , and a “Group 2” calling button  330 . Cell phone  305  may include an IR port  320 , a “Group 1” calling button  335 , and a “Group 2” calling button  340 . To initialize both cell phones  300  and  305  so that each becomes a group member of “Group 1,” the cell phones  300  and  305  may be placed near each other so that their respective IR ports  310  and  320  are in optical alignment. One of skill in the art will appreciate that instead of an IR port  320 , any other hardware supporting wireless communication functionality may be used. Such hardware may support for example, satellite, microwave or RF wireless communication technologies and combinations thereof. RF communications technologies include WiFi and WiMax.  
      To continue group initialization, a user may then depress the “Group 1” buttons  325  and  335  on each of the cell phones  300  and  305 , and data relating to each respective cell phone&#39;s cell phone number and identity may be transmitted via IR to the other phone. The same process may be repeated by depressing the respective “Group 2” buttons  330  and  340  to add each cell phone  300  and  305  to the “Group 2” calling group. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the multi-directional scroller  120  may be utilized to navigate through and select a pre-programmed group from the “Group Lists”  130 .  
       FIG. 3B  illustrates two cell phones  300  and  305  which may also be utilized to initialize a calling group. Cell phone  300  may include a communications port  345 , a “Group 1” calling button  325 , and a “Group 2” calling button  330 . Cell phone  305  may include a communications port  350 , a “Group 1” calling button  335 , and a “Group 2” calling button  340 . To initialize both cell phones  300  and  305  so that each becomes a group member of “Group 1,” the cell phones  300  and  305  may be placed near each other, and a cable  355  may be coupled to the communications ports  345  and  350  to provide for the transfer of data. A user may then depress the “Group 1” buttons  325  and  335  on each of the cell phones  300  and  305 , and data relating to each respective cell phone&#39;s cell phone number and identity may be transmitted via the cable  355  to the other phone. The same process may be repeated by depressing the respective “Group 2” buttons  330  and  340  to add each cell phone  300  and  305  to the “Group 2” calling group.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a method of group calling according to an embodiment of the invention. First, a user of a cell phone  100  may dial  400  a group phone number. Next, the user may leave  405  a voice message on a communications server  200  associated with the group phone number. While the user is leaving  405  the voice message, or shortly thereafter, the user&#39;s cell phone  100  may transmit  410  the phone numbers of the group members to the communications server  200 . After the user has finished leaving  405  the voice message on the communications server  200 , the communications server  200  may call  415  each group member and replay the recorded message. Thereafter, the communications server  200  may report back  420  to the user of the cell phone  100  with any number of notifications, such as “message received,” “busy,” “device off,” “out of network,” or the like.  
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a method of setting up a group with a cell phone  300  having an IR port  310  according to an embodiment of the invention. First, the user positions  500  the IR port  310  of the first cell phone  300  near the IR port  320  of a second cell phone  305 , as shown in  FIG. 3A . Next, the user presses  505  a group button (e.g., “Group 1” button  110  or “Group 2” button  115 ) on each of the cell phones  300  and  305  to initiate the IR transmission of the identity and phone number of each respective cell phone to the other cell phone. Finally, the user may dial  510  the group phone number and leave a message, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a method of setting up a group with a cell phone  300  having a hard-wired communications port  345  according to an embodiment of the invention. First, the user inserts  515  one end of a cable  355  into the communications port  345  of the first cell phone  300 , as shown in  FIG. 3B . Next, the user inserts  520  the other end of the cable  355  into the communications port  350  of the second cell phone  305 . The user then presses  525  a group button (e.g., “Group 1” button  110  or “Group 2” button  115 ) on each of the cell phones  300  and  305  to initiate the transmission of the identity and phone number of each respective cell phone to the other cell phone. Finally, the user may dial  530  the group phone number and leave a message, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  
      In conjunction with  FIGS. 1 and 2 ,  FIG. 5C  illustrates a method of defining a group on a cell phone  100  having memory  101 , a processor  102 , circuitry  107 , a display  125 , a “Group List”  130 , and a multi-directional scroller  120  according to an embodiment of the invention. First, the user may create a group  535 , thus naming a table for the “Group List”  130 . Next, the user may add or delete group members using the add/delete group members  540  function. Next, the user may choose whether or not to merge a pre-existing group into the newly defined group using the merge groups option  545 . Finally, the user may add the newly defined group to the “Group List”  130  or elect to delete the newly defined or other pre-existing groups from the “Group List”  130  using the add/delete group option  550 .  
      Although the embodiments described above pertain to cell phones, any other suitable communications device, such as a PDA or a hard-wired telephone, may also be utilized. Also, in other embodiments instead of the user leaving a voice message on the communications server  200 , the user may transmit any digital data or file to the communications server  200 , which may transmit the file or data to the other group members. The user may also email a voice message to the communications server  200 , and the communications server  200  may individually call or otherwise establish communication with the group members and replay or transmit the message.  
      In additional embodiments, the user may also phone the communications server  200  and leave a voice message, which the communications server  200  may then transmit/email to the other group members. Also, during the initialization process, instead of initializing the group by forming one-to-one connections with the communications device for each group member, a “master communication device” may instead be used. The master communication device may communicate individually with each group member to compile the group list, and then it may transmit the group list to each of the group members.  
      Embodiments of the invention may be useful in facilitating communication and message delivery between any predefined group of users. The invention may have particular usefulness for the management of a family unit where, for example, it is anticipated that virtually instant and automated broadcast communication in an emergency would be critical. The invention may further be useful for anyone seeking to manage an organization communication system amid management teams. The organization communication system would provide a single member of the organization the ability to transmit voice or data to a large number of colleagues virtually instantly. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited in its use to family unit management or organization communication system management. The invention may also be used by childcare workers, educators, military personnel, medical professionals or any individual or group that desires group communication. Moreover, the initialization process may provide a simple way of setting up a calling group.  
      While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of an embodiment of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of an embodiment of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.