Granted Patent B2

US 7,792,264 · App. 11/087,442 · Granted Sep 7, 2010

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A method, comprising the step of:

establishing, by a ring tone server, a push-to-talk session with a called party upon receipt of a voice call to the called party, wherein the called party comprises a user and a called communication device capable of supporting push-to-talk sessions, wherein the voice call meets one or more criteria;

streaming, by a ring tone server, a ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session, wherein the ring tone is remotely selected by a calling party or a third party;

playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session;

ending the push-to-talk session and establishing the voice call between the called party and the calling party.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session comprises the steps of:

sending the ring tone to memory in the called communication device for a single use on the call that meets the one or more criteria; and

triggering the called communication device to play the ring tone to the user upon receipt of the call that meets the one or more criteria.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the steps of:

sending a message to the called communication device after the single use of the ring tone to offer the user the option to purchase the ring tone for additional use;

releasing the ring tone for the additional use, if the user purchases the ring tone; and

deleting the ring tone from the called communication device, if the user does not purchase the ring tone.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

sending one or more call setup messages to the called party upon completion of the ring tone during the push-to-talk session to establish the voice call between the called party and the calling party.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ring tone comprises a calling party selected ring tone, the method further comprising the step of:

suppressing a called party selected ring tone used for incoming voice calls, after playing the calling party selected ring tone during the push-to-talk session.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calling party selects the ring tone for the call to the called party, the method further comprising the steps of:

sending a menu to the calling party at an input device to allow the calling party to input an identification of the called party, an identification of the ring tone, and the one or more criteria; and

receiving an indication that the calling party has selected the ring tone for the call to the called party that meets the one or more criteria.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party comprises the steps of:

sending an identity verification request to the calling party; and

waiting for confirmation of the identity verification request before playing the ring tone to the called party.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party comprises the steps of:

determining that the called party did not answer the call;

playing a recorded name of the calling party on a voicemail message; and

providing the called party with an option to acquire the ring tone selected by the calling party for subsequent use.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a ring tone server that receives a voice call with an indication that a calling party or a third party has selected a ring tone for the voice call, to a called party, that meets one or more criteria;

wherein the ring tone server establishes a push-to-talk session with the called party upon receipt of the voice call, wherein the called party comprises a user and a called communication device capable of supporting push-to-talk sessions;

wherein the ring tone server streams the ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session;

wherein the ring tone server ends the push-to-talk session and establishes the voice call between the called party and the calling party.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise an instruction for the ring tone server to play the ring tone to the called party at a certain time.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise an instruction for the ring tone server to play the ring tone to the called party for the call from a certain calling party number.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the ring tone server receives the one or more criteria, wherein the one or more criteria indicate a time to initiate the call between the calling party and the called party;

wherein at the time indicated by the one or more criteria, the ring tone server employs a back call to establish a connection with the calling party and delivers the ring tone to the called party.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the ring tone server receives the one or more criteria, wherein the one or more criteria indicate a calling party number;

wherein upon receipt of the call from the calling party number for the called party, the ring tone server plays the ring tone to the called party.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein upon completion of the ring tone during the push-to-talk session, the ring tone server sends one or more setup messages to the called party to establish the voice call between the called party and the calling party.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the ring tone server sends the ring tone to memory in the called communication device for a single use on the call that meets the one or more criteria;

wherein the ring tone server triggers the called communication device to play the ring tone to the user upon receipt of the call that meets the one or more criteria.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the ring tone server sends a message to the called communication device after the single use of the ring tone to offer the user the option to purchase the ring tone for additional use;

wherein if the user purchases the ring tone, the ring tone server releases the ring tone for the additional use;

wherein if the user does not purchase the ring tone, the ring tone server deletes the ring tone from the called communication device.

17. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a user interface for the calling party or the third party to input to the ring tone server an identification of the called party, an identification of the ring tone for the call to the called party, and the one or more criteria.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the user interface comprises a web server and an input device, wherein the input device comprises a computer or a phone;

wherein a user employs the input device to enter the identification of the called party, the identification of the ring tone for the call to the called party, and the one or more criteria;

wherein the web server sends the identification of the called party, the identification of the ring tone for the call to the called party, and the one or more criteria to the ring tone server;

wherein the ring tone server employs the one or more criteria to determine when to play the ring tone to the called party.

19. An article, comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media;

means in the one or more media for establishing, by a ring tone server, a push-to-talk session with a called party upon receipt of a voice call to the called party, wherein the voice call meets one or more criteria, wherein the called party comprises a user and a called communication device capable of supporting push-to-talk sessions;

means in the one or more media for streaming, by a ring tone server, a ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session, wherein the ring tone is remotely selected by a calling party or a third party,

means in the one or more media for playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session;

means in the one or more media for ending the push-to-talk session and establishing the voice call between the called party and the calling party.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of playing the ring tone for the voice call to the called party during the push-to-talk session comprises the step of:

suppressing a standard push-to-talk session beep while playing the ring tone in the push-to-talk session.

Assignments (9)