IP Library Granted Patent US 8,599,832
Granted Patent B2
US 8,599,832 · App. 11/752,267 · Granted Dec 3, 2013

Methods and apparatuses to connect people for real time communications via voice over internet protocol (VOIP)

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,599,832
App. No.
11/752,267
Granted
Dec 3, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and systems to facilitate real time communications via a telephonic apparatuses that support data communications. In one embodiment, a telephonic apparatus includes: a user interface to receive a search criterion; a network interface coupled to the user interface to submit a query from the telephonic apparatus over a data communication network and to receive at least one advertisement, the advertisement including a telephonic reference containing information about the query; and a call module coupled to the user interface and the network interface. In response to a user selection of the advertisement, the call module is to establish a connection with a connection server for a telephonic call using the telephonic reference, where the connection server is to extract from the telephonic reference the information about the query and to connect the telephonic call to an advertiser of the advertisement.

Claims (42)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, via a data communication network, a search query from a telephonic apparatus, the search query comprising search criterion;

identifying an advertisement based on the query;

generating a telephonic reference of a connection provider comprising the search criterion, a telephonic reference of an advertiser of the advertisement, an identification of the advertisement, a timestamp of the query, an identity of the telephonic apparatus, an identification of a user of the telephonic apparatus, a position of the advertisement in a result of a search performed in response to the query, and a price of an advertisement fee offered by the advertiser, wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider further comprises one of a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier, a telephone number without an extension, a telephone number with an extension, and a voice over internet protocol user identifier, and wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider is encrypted;

providing, via the data communication network, the advertisement with the telephonic reference of the connection provider to the telephonic apparatus;

responsive to a user selection of the advertisement at the telephonic apparatus, initiating a telephonic call to the connection provider using the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

extracting the search criterion and the telephonic reference of the advertiser from the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

connecting a telephonic call to the advertiser using the telephonic reference of the advertiser; and

associating the telephonic call to the advertiser with the search criterion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephonic reference is provided in a form according to a calling capability of the telephonic apparatus.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider additionally comprises an identification of a distributor of the telephonic apparatus, an identification of a distribution channel of the advertisement, and an identifier of a party who has a contribution in a process of delivering the advertisement to the telephonic apparatus.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

retrieving, via a listing server, in response to the query the advertisement and providing the advertisement to the telephonic apparatus.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

retrieving, via the listing server, in response to the query a listing from a listing database maintained by the listing server and providing the listing with the advertisement to the telephonic apparatus.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the advertisement and the listing are selectively provided based on data representing a social network maintained by the listing server.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a geographic location of the telephonic apparatus;

wherein the query includes the geographic location of the telephonic apparatus; and

wherein the advertisement is selected based at least in part on the geographic location.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the geographic location is determined based on one of a user preference, a user input specified with the search criterion, and an Internet address associated with the telephonic apparatus.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user preference is stored in a peer to peer network.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider additionally comprises an identification of a user of the telephonic apparatus from which the query is received; and the connection provider determines using the telephonic reference of the connection provider, whether an identification of a user of the telephonic apparatus which initiates the telephonic call to the connection server matches with the identification of the user of the telephonic apparatus from which the query is received.

11. A non-transitory machine readable media storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by a computing device, causing the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving a search query from a telephonic apparatus, the search query comprising search criterion;

identifying an advertisement based on the query;

generating a telephonic reference of a connection provider comprising the search criterion, a telephonic reference of an advertiser of the advertisement, an identification of the advertisement, a timestamp of the query, an identity of the telephonic apparatus, an identification of a user of the telephonic apparatus, a position of the advertisement in a result of a search performed in response to the query, and a price of an advertisement fee offered by the advertiser, wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider further comprises one of a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier, a telephone number without an extension, a telephone number with an extension, and a voice over internet protocol user identifier, and wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider is encrypted;

providing the advertisement with the telephonic reference of the connection provider to the telephonic apparatus;

responsive to a user selection of the advertisement at the telephonic apparatus, initiating a telephonic call to the connection provider using the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

extracting the search criterion and the telephonic reference of the advertiser from the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

connecting a telephonic call to the advertiser using the telephonic reference of the advertiser; and

associating the telephonic call to the advertiser with the search criterion.

12. A system, comprising:

a data communication network configured to:

receive a search query from a telephonic apparatus;

identify an advertisement based on the query;

generate a telephonic reference of a connection provider comprising the search criterion, a telephonic reference of an advertiser of the advertisement, an identification of the advertisement, a timestamp of the query, an identity of the telephonic apparatus, an identification of a user of the telephonic apparatus, a position of the advertisement in a result of a search performed in response to the query, and a price of an advertisement fee offered by the advertiser, wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider further comprises one of a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier, a telephone number without an extension, a telephone number with an extension, and a voice over internet protocol user identifier, and wherein the telephonic reference of the connection provider is encrypted;

provide the advertisement with the telephonic reference of the connection provider to the telephonic apparatus;

responsive to a user selection of the advertisement at the telephonic apparatus, initiate a telephonic call to the connection provider using the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

extract the search criterion and the telephonic reference of the advertiser from the telephonic reference of the connection provider;

connect a telephonic call to the advertiser using the telephonic reference of the advertiser; and

associate the telephonic call to the advertiser with the search criterion.

Assignments (37)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 069830/0527 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 069830/0339 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: DEX MEDIA, INC.; YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
Reel/Frame 067381/0745 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 7, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 067341/0434 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067310/0627 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 1, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067287/0759 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 3, 2021
From: TREE LINE DIRECT LENDING, LP, AS RETIRING AGENT
To: TREE LINE CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC, AS SUCCESSOR AGENT
Reel/Frame 057064/0788 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Recorded Mar 2, 2021
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: THRYV, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA, INC.); THRYV HOLDINGS, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.)
Reel/Frame 055472/0592 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 1, 2021
From: THRYV, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 055452/0258 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 25, 2020
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM, LLC
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 052071/0589 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043194 FRAME: 0505. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 14, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 043544/0720 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043170 FRAME: 0318. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 10, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 043512/0799 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043183 FRAME: 0734. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 9, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043493/0648 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 28, 2017
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043363/0518 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 17, 2017
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 043217/0875 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 14, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 043194/0585 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 13, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043183/0734 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 12, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 043170/0318 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 3, 2017
From: YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043074/0794 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 1, 2016
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 040540/0948 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 1, 2015
From: MEDLEY CAPITAL CORPORATION
To: INGENIO, LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
Reel/Frame 035353/0871 →
MERGER Recorded Jan 9, 2015
From: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 034747/0850 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 4, 2014
From: INGENIO LLC
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 033085/0126 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST -- PATENTS Recorded Feb 28, 2014
From: YP INTERACTIVE LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO LLC)
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 032372/0639 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 2, 2013
From: INGENIO LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 030740/0085 →
RELEASE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST -- PATENTS Recorded Jun 5, 2013
From: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC
To: INGENIO LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO, INC.)
Reel/Frame 030554/0356 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2013
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030389/0746 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2013
From: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030389/0946 →
LICENSE Recorded May 10, 2013
From: YP HOLDINGS LLC; INGENIO LLC
To: INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
Reel/Frame 030390/0131 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 10, 2013
From: INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
To: MEDLEY CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 030390/0231 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2013
From: UTBK LLC
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030341/0882 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 19, 2012
From: UTBK LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 029342/0075 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 16, 2012
From: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: INGENIO, INC.
Reel/Frame 029453/0560 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 9, 2012
From: UTBK, INC.
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 029275/0129 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: INGENIO, INC.
To: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0004 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: INGENIO, INC.
To: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0081 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 2, 2007
From: ALTBERG, EBBE; FABER, SCOTT; HIRSON, RON; VAN DER LINDEN, SEAN; AGARWAL, ANUJ; AHUJA, NITIN; JAIN, MEHUL
To: UTBK, INC.
Reel/Frame 019506/0049 →