Communication mode swapping for telecommunications devices
View Patent ↗Techniques for switching between communication modes on a telecommunications device are described. A telecommunications device creates a logical communication session between itself and another device. The logical communication session accommodates multiple communication modes and multiple communication protocols. The techniques described in this disclosure provide for ways to transition a communication from one communication mode to another communication mode with minimal user input and minimal connection delay.
1. A tangible computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computing device, implement a method or system comprising:
starting a logical communication session between a first telecommunications device and a second telecommunications device, wherein the logical communication session bundles a plurality of communication modes into a single session by associating the plurality of communication modes with a unique identifier comprising a unique telecommunications device indication and a communication instance identifier;
transmitting voice data using a synchronous communication mode within the logical communication session, wherein the voice data is associated with the logical communication session by assigning the unique identifier to the voice data;
switching from voice data to non-voice data based on an input received from at least one of the first and second telecommunications devices; and
transmitting the non-voice data using an asynchronous communication mode within the logical communication session, wherein the non-voice data is associated with the logical communication session by assigning the unique identifier to the non-voice data.
2. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1 , wherein the non-voice data comprises one of a Short Message Service (SMS) message, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, an email message, a image file, a video file, an audio file, or an executable computer program.
3. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1 , wherein the synchronous communication mode directs the voice data over a Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) and the asynchronous communication mode directs the non-voice data over an IP network.
4. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1 , wherein the synchronous communication mode is placed in a latent state when the asynchronous communication mode is in an active state and the asynchronous communication mode is placed in a latent state when the synchronous communication mode is in an active state.
5. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 4 , wherein the latent state comprises at least one of pre-provisioning communication resources or obtaining a circuit in a circuit-switched communication network.
6. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1 , wherein the switching from voice data to non-voice data occurs without receiving further input of a recipient address.
7. A method implemented on a telecommunications device by a processor configured to execute instructions that, when executed by the processor, direct a first telecommunications device to perform acts comprising:
in response to an input received from a user of the first telecommunications device indicating a second telecommunications device, requesting a logical communication session between the first telecommunications device and the second telecommunications device;
initially using a first communication mode within the logical communication session to communicate between the first and second telecommunications devices;
placing a second communication mode into the same logical communication session, the second communication mode being one of a voice call or video call carried by a circuit-switched network, wherein the second communication mode is set to a first latent state when added to the logical communication session;
switching from the first communication mode to the second communication mode, wherein the switching comprises placing the first communication mode into a second latent state and placing the second communication mode into an active state; and
subsequently using the second communication mode within the logical communication session to communicate between the first and second telecommunications devices, wherein the first and second communication modes are different.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the logical communication session is identified by a unique identifier and the first and second communication modes are included within the logical communication session based on an association with the unique identifier.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the unique identifier comprises a unique communication instance identifier.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first communication mode comprises one of real-time voice, real-time video and voice, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, email, image file transmission, video file transmission, audio file transmission, or executable computer program transmission.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the method is performed by a telecommunications device.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first communication mode is asynchronous and the second communication mode is synchronous.
13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first communication mode is synchronous and the second communication mode is synchronous.
14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the method is performed by one or more network servers.
15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first and second latent states each comprise a state in which a communication mode is configured to communicate with the recipient telecommunications device using a mode-appropriate communication protocol without a substantial delay.
16. A communication infrastructure that supports on-demand communication sessions between different telecommunications devices, the infrastructure being configured to perform steps comprising:
in response to an input received from a user of a first telecommunications device, starting a logical communication session between the first telecommunications device and a second telecommunications device;
initially selecting and using a first communication mode within the logical communication session;
placing a second communication mode into the same logical communication session, the second communication mode being one of a voice call or video call carried by a circuit-switched network, wherein the second communication mode is set to a first latent state when added to the logical communication session;
subsequently selecting and using the second communication mode within the same logical communication session, including setting the second communication mode to an active state and setting the first communication mode to a second latent state, wherein the first and second communications modes are associated with each other by shared placement within the logical communication session; and
in response to an input received from the user of the first or second telecommunications device, ending the logical communication session between the first and second telecommunications devices.
17. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein placing a communication mode within the logical communication session enables either the first or second telecommunications device to communicate using the communication mode without additional provisioning of network services or provisioning of a recipient address.
18. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein a user interface of at least one of the first and second telecommunications devices indicates which communication modes are currently available for communicating with another telecommunications device.
19. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein a unique identifier is associated with the logical communication session and the unique identifier comprises a unique telecommunications device indicator and a communication instance identifier.
20. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein the first communication mode comprises one of real-time voice, real-time video with voice, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, email, image file transmission, video file transmission, audio file transmission, or executable computer program transmission.
21. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the communication modes is synchronous and at least one of the communication modes is asynchronous.
22. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein a selection of at least one of the first and second communications modes is performed automatically in response to one or more conditions reported by at least one of the first and second telecommunications devices.
23. The communications infrastructure of claim 16 , wherein a selection of at least one of the first and second communication modes is performed based on a single input received from at least one of the users of the first or second telecommunications devices.