Communication Link Termination Indication Signal and Secondary Signal Method and Apparatus
Upon detecting ( 101 ) at a two-way communication device that a communication link has been terminated, the two-way communication device can provide ( 104 ) a unique corresponding signal (such as a unique audible signal) to indicate such termination and can also provide ( 107 ) a secondary signal. Pursuant to one approach, a plurality of such unique signals ( 103 ) and/or secondary signals ( 106 ) are available and a specific one of the available signals is selected ( 102 and/or 105 ) for use in a given circumstance using a selection criteria of choice.
1 . A method comprising:
determining that a communication link for a communication device has terminated;
in response to determining that the communication link has terminated, providing:
a unique corresponding signal at the communication device to indicate termination of the communication link; and
a secondary signal at the communication device.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a communication link for a communication device has terminated comprises determining that a wireless communication link has terminated.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a communication link for a communication device has terminated comprises determining, at the communication device, that the communication link has terminated.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein providing a secondary signal at the communication device comprises retrieving audio signal content from a memory and using the audio signal content to provide the secondary signal.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein retrieving audio signal content from a memory comprises retrieving at least one of:
a monophonic series of tones;
a polyphonic series of tones;
digitized audio.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the digitized audio comprises MP3-compatible digitized audio.
7 . The method of claim 4 wherein providing a secondary signal at the communication device comprises providing at least one of:
a commercial jingle;
a commercial tagline;
a sound sample;
a sound effect sample;
verbal content;
music.
8 . The method of claim 4 further comprising:
downloading at least a portion of the secondary signal at the communication device to provide a downloaded secondary signal.
9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
storing the downloaded secondary signal.
10 . The method of claim 4 wherein the communication link served to facilitate a financial transaction and wherein the secondary signal comprises informational content that corresponds to that financial transaction.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the informational content comprises at least one of:
information regarding the financial transaction;
information regarding another party to the financial transaction;
information regarding a potential future financial transaction.
12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the information regarding a potential future financial transaction comprises at least one of:
a discount offer;
a rebate offer;
at least one stipulation regarding a promotion.
13 . The method of claim 4 wherein the secondary signal comprises, at least in part, visually perceivable informational content.
14 . A communication device comprising:
a communication link termination detector;
at least one stored audible signal;
at least one stored secondary signal;
an audible signal driver that is operably coupled to the at least one stored audible signal and that is responsive to the communication link termination detector, such that the audible signal driver causes the at least one stored audible signal to be rendered audible in response to termination of a communication link;
a secondary signal driver that is operably coupled to the at least one stored secondary signal and that is also responsive to the communication link termination detector, such that the secondary signal driver causes the at least one secondary signal to be rendered perceivable to a user in response to termination of the communication link.
15 . The communication device of claim 14 wherein the communication link termination detector comprises means for detecting termination of a communication link.
16 . The communication device of claim 15 wherein the means for detecting termination of a communication link comprises means for detecting termination of a wireless communication link.
17 . The communication device of claim 14 wherein the at least one stored secondary signal comprises informational content that corresponds to a financial transaction.
18 . The communication device of claim 17 wherein the informational content comprises at least one of:
information regarding the financial transaction;
information regarding another party to the financial transaction;
information regarding a potential future financial transaction.
19 . The communication device of claim 18 wherein the information regarding a potential future financial transaction comprises at least one of:
a discount offer;
a rebate offer;
at least one stipulation regarding a promotion.
20 . The communication device of claim 14 wherein the secondary signal comprises, at least in part, visually perceivable informational content.