Systems and methods to provide availability indication
View Patent ↗Methods and apparatuses to provide services to people who wish to make connections for real time communication, such as live telephone conversation, chat, video conferencing, etc. In one embodiment, a method includes: an application receiving a representation of an object including a reference to a remote system and a callee; the application communicating with the remote system via the reference to the remote system and the callee to determine a rendering of the object; and the application rendering the object identifying a state of the callee for accepting a request for real time communication, the object selectable to at least initiate a request for real time communication with the callee.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, in an application running in a client computer, an object from a remote connection service system serving a callee, the object embedded in a web page and including a reference to the remote connection service system and the callee, wherein the client computer can be coupled to the remote connection service system via a network;
communicating, via the client computer, with one of the remote connection service system and the callee utilizing the reference to the remote connection service system and the callee to determine a first appearance of the object at a time to render the web page to show the object that is received from the remote connection service system as part of the web page;
rendering, using the application, the object to show the object in the first appearance in the web page to identify a state of the callee for accepting a request for real time communication;
receiving a selection of the object in the web page to at least initiate a request for real time communication with the callee, if the first appearance of the object indicates that the callee is available to accept a request for real time communication; and
presenting a user interface to set up a call to the callee according to a current state of the callee for accepting the request in response to a user selection of the object, the user interface present presenting one of an option to make an appointment and an option to accept callback in a period of time;
wherein:
when the callee is currently available to take the call, the user interface does not present an option to make an appointment; and
when the callee is not available for a predetermined period of time, the user interface does not present an option to accept callback.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating comprises:
receiving a parameter indicating the state of the callee;
wherein the object is rendered in the first appearance according to the parameter.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a representation of the object comprises instructions which when executed render the user interface.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving instructions from the remote connection service system for rendering the user interface in response to the user selection of the object.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating rendering of the object based on a current state of the callee for accepting the request for real time communication.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
receiving a representation of the object in a further web page from a system different from the remote connection service system;
wherein the further web page is a blog of the callee.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises:
receiving a representation of the object in a document in a context related to the callee.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the object comprises:
rendering a representation of the object outside of a market designated for a set of callees.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a representation of the object comprises one of: an applet, and a reference to an application on the remote connection service system.
10. A method, comprising:
receiving, in a web server running in a server computer, a reference to a callee from a remote connection service system serving as a connection service for the callee, in response to a web page containing an object being rendered in a web browser running on the remote connection service system, the object containing the reference to the callee and a reference to the remote connection service system;
determining, via the remote connection service system, a state of the callee for accepting a request for real time communication, using the reference to the callee;
communicating, via the remote connection service system, with the server computer to determine an appearance of the object at a time of rendering of the web page that contains the object, the appearance of the object indicating the state of the callee for accepting the request for real time communication, the object selectable in the web page to at least initiate the request for real time communication with the callee; and
presenting, via the remote connection service system, a user interface to set up a call to the callee according to a current state of the callee for accepting the request in response to a user selection of the object, the user interface presenting one of an option to make an appointment and an option to accept callback in a period of time;
wherein:
when the callee is currently available to take the call, the user interface does not present an option to make an appointment; and
when the callee is not available for a predetermined period of time, the user interface does not present an option to accept callback.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, via the remote connection service system, an indication of a current state of the callee for accepting the request from the callee; and
storing in a storage medium information to indicate the state of the callee for accepting the request according to the indication.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the receiving the indication comprises:
receiving the indication of a current state of the callee for accepting the request through an interactive voice response system from the callee.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
communicating with the remote system to update rendering of the object in response to receiving the indication from the callee;
wherein receiving the indication comprises receiving the indication of a current state of the callee for accepting the request through a further web site from the callee.
14. A method in a client application, comprising:
receiving, via a client computer, a web page containing a representation of a button, the representation including a reference to a remote connection service server, serving a callee, and a reference to the callee;
at a time to render the web page, communicating, via the client computer, with the remote connection service server, using one of the reference to the remote connection service server and the reference to the callee, to determine a first appearance of the button based on a current availability state of the callee for accepting a request for real time telephonic communication; and
rendering, via the client computer, the button in the first appearance in the web page, the button being selectable to make the request for real time telephonic communication with the callee; and
presenting, via the remote connection service server, a user interface to set up a call to the callee according to a current state of the callee for accepting the request in response to a user selection of the button, the user interface presenting one of an option to make an appointment and an option to accept callback in a period of time;
wherein:
when the callee is currently available to take the call, the user interface does not present an option to make an appointment; and
when the callee is not available for a predetermined period of time, the user interface does not present an option to accept callback.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein communicating comprises:
receiving a first image from the remote connection service server, the first image providing the button with the first appearance.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein communicating comprises:
receiving a parameter indicating the first appearance from the remote server;
wherein the button is rendered in the first appearance according to the parameter.
17. A method comprising:
receiving, via a connection service server computer, serving a callee, a reference to the callee from a remote client, in response to a web page containing a button being rendered in the remote client, the button including a reference to the connection service server computer and the reference to the callee;
determining, via the connection service server computer, a current availability state of the callee for accepting a request for real time telephonic communication using the reference to the callee;
communicating, via the connection service server computer, with the remote client to determine a first appearance of the button at a time of rendering the web page, based on the current availability state of the callee, the button to be rendered in the first appearance in the web page and selectable to make the request for real time telephonic communication with the callee; and
presenting, via the connection service server computer, a user interface to set up a call to the callee according to a current state of the callee for accepting the request in response to a user selection of the button, the user interface presenting one of an option to make an appointment and an option to accept callback in a period of time;
wherein:
when the callee is currently available to take the call, the user interface does not present an option to make an appointment; and
when the callee is not available for a predetermined period of time, the user interface does not present an option to accept callback.
18. A method, comprising:
providing, via a connection service server computer, responsive to a first request from a callee, a communication reference to the callee for distribution by the callee via a web page to allow people to reach the callee for real time communication, the communication reference identifying the connection service server computer and being associated with the callee;
determining, via the connection service server computer, responsive to a second request generated by a caller using the communication reference distributed by the callee via the web page, a current availability state of the callee for real time communication;
providing information to the caller according to the current availability state of the callee; and
presenting, via the connection service server computer, a user interface to set up a call to the callee according to a current state of the callee for accepting the request in response to a user selection of the communication reference, the user interface presenting one of an option to make an appointment and an option to accept callback in a period of time;
wherein:
when the callee is currently available to take the call, the user interface does not present an option to make an appointment; and
when the callee is not available for a predetermined period of time, the user interface does not present an option to accept callback.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the communication reference comprises a representation of a button; wherein the information is provided before the button is activated to request a communication connection between the caller and the callee.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the communication reference comprises a representation of a button; wherein the information is provided responsive to the button being displayed.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the communication reference comprises a telephone number of the connection service server computer; wherein the information is provided responsive to a telephone call to the telephone number.
22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the communication reference is distributed by the callee to the caller.
23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the information includes the current availability state of the callee.