Method and apparatus providing sender information by way of a personal virtual assistant (PVA)
View Patent ↗A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing additional information related to a sender of a communication is presented. A communication intended for a recipient is received, the communication including information related to the sender of the communication. A Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA) acquires in real time additional information related to the sender of the communication. The additional information related to the sender of the communication is then presented to the recipient attached to the communication where possible. The PVA is capable of acting on the recipient's real time instructions relating to the additional information.
1. A method of providing additional information related to a sender of a communication, the method comprising:
receiving a communication intended for a recipient, said communication including information related to said sender of said communication, said communication being an incoming telephone call;
acquiring, in real time by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication, wherein said acquiring additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises said PVA acquiring a ranking of said sender of said communication, wherein said rank comprises a relative importance of said sender of said communication, said rank assigned by said recipient, said PVA also acquiring results of a reverse phone lookup, said PVA also executing a web search of the sender;
prior to acting on the incoming telephone call, presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient, said additional information including search results of the web search of the sender, the ranking of the sender, and reverse phone lookup results,
displaying a list of options for acting on the incoming telephone call; and
in response to receiving real time instructions from the recipient, executing said recipient real time instructions via said PVA.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said communication includes communications answered by said recipient and communications missed by said recipient.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises said PVA performing a web-based search of at least one of said sender of said communication and of a company related to said sender of said communication.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises accessing an electronic business card (Vcard) of said sender of said communication.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises presenting a picture of said sender of said communication.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient comprises presenting said additional information in a form selected from the group comprising a listing of menu items, a web page, a listing of icons, a table form, and tabs of a web page.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising allowing said recipient of said communication to select said additional information to review.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said communication includes at least one of a telephone call, an Instant Message (IM), a text message, and an e-mail.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising instructions presenting to said recipient any appropriate additional information relating to progress of interaction with said sender of said communication to said recipient.
10. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon for providing additional information related to a sender of a communication, the medium comprising:
instructions for receiving a communication intended for a recipient, said communication including information related to said sender of said communication, said communication being an incoming telephone call;
instructions for acquiring, in real time by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication, wherein said acquiring additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises said PVA acquiring a ranking of said sender of said communication, wherein said rank comprises a relative importance of said sender of said communication, said rank assigned by said recipient, said PVA also acquiring results of a reverse phone lookup, said PVA also executing a web search of the sender;
instructions for,
instructions for, prior to acting on the incoming telephone call, presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient, said additional information including search results of the web search of the sender, the ranking of the sender, and reverse phone lookup results;
instructions for displaying a list of options for acting on the incoming telephone call; and
instructions for, in response to receiving real time instructions from the recipient, executing said recipient real time instructions via said PVA.
11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said communication includes communications answered by said recipient and communications missed by said recipient.
12. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said instructions for acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises instructions for said PVA performing a web-based search of at least one of said sender of said communication and of a company related to said sender of said communication.
13. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said instructions for acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises instructions for accessing an electronic business card (Vcard) of said sender of said communication.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said instructions for acquiring, by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises instructions for presenting a picture of said sender of said communication.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said instructions for presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient comprises instructions for presenting said additional information in a form selected from the group comprising a listing of menu items, a web page, a listing of icons, a table form, and tabs of a web page.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 10 further comprising instructions for allowing said recipient of said communication to select said additional information to review.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein said communication includes at least one of a telephone call, an Instant Message (IM), a text message, and an e-mail.
18. The computer readable medium of claim 10 further comprising instructions for presenting to said recipient any appropriate additional information relating to progress of interaction with said sender of said communication to said recipient.
19. A computer system comprising:
a memory;
a processor;
a communications interface;
an interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor and the communications interface; and
wherein the memory is encoded with an application providing additional information related to a sender of a communication, that when performed on the processor, provides a process for processing information, the process causing the computer system to perform the operations of:
receiving a communication intended for a recipient, said communication including information related to said sender of said communication, said communication being an incoming telephone call;
acquiring, in real time by way of a Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA), additional information related to said sender of said communication, wherein said acquiring additional information related to said sender of said communication comprises said PVA acquiring a ranking of said sender of said communication, wherein said rank comprises a relative importance of said sender of said communication, said rank assigned by said recipient, said PVA also acquiring results of a reverse phone lookup, said PVA also executing a web search of the sender;
prior to acting on the incoming telephone call, presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient, said additional information including search results of the web search of the sender, the ranking of the sender, and reverse phone lookup results,
displaying a list of options for acting on the incoming telephone call; and
in response to receiving real time instructions from the recipient, executing said recipient real time instructions via said PVA.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein said presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient takes place when said communication arrives at said recipient.
21. The computer readable medium of claim 10 further comprising instructions wherein said presenting said additional information related to said sender of said communication to said recipient takes place when said communication arrives at said recipient.