Automated URL transmission to enable multimedia services
View Patent ↗A method is disclosed for providing multimedia services includes receiving from a first user a request for engaging in multimedia services with a second user, generating a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), transmitting the URL to an address associated with the second user, enabling voice communication between the first user and the second user, and enabling multimedia services between the first user and the second user in response to receiving an indication that the second user has accessed the URL.
1. A method for providing multimedia services performed by a server in a communications network, the method comprising:
receiving from a first user a request for engaging in multimedia services with a second user;
generating a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the request;
transmitting the URL to an address associated with the second user;
instructing a call server to establish voice communications between the first user and the second user; and
enabling multimedia services between the first user and the second user in response to receiving an indication that the second user has accessed the URL, wherein the URL remains valid only until the first user terminates the voice communications.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein instructing the call server to establish voice communications between the first user and the second user comprises instructing the call server to call a first phone associated with the first user and call a second phone associated with the second user.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the request further comprises a first directory number (DN) of the first phone associated with the first user and a second DN of the second phone associated with the second user.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the request from the first user is received from a computing device associated with the first user.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising notifying the computing device that voice communication is enabled between the first phone associated with the first user and the second phone associated with the second user.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling multimedia services further comprises transmitting one or more multimedia services options to the second user.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the URL comprises transmitting via Instant Messaging (IM), Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), or email.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the URL remains valid only for a second user.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the URL may be generic for any user or group of users.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the multimedia services include at least one of messaging, video, file transfer, application sharing, picture sharing, media streaming, co-browsing, session recording, and conferencing.
11. A service node comprising:
at least one communication interface; and
a control system associated with the at least one communication interface and configured to:
receive from a first user a request for engaging in multimedia services with a second user;
generate a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the request;
transmit the URL to an address associated with the second user;
instruct a call server to enable voice communication between the first user and the second user; and
enable multimedia services between the first user and the second user in response to receiving an indication that the second user has accessed the URL, wherein the URL remains valid only for a second user.
12. The service node of claim 11 wherein instructing the call server to enable voice communication comprises instructing a call server to establish voice communications between a first phone associated with the first user and a second phone associated with the second user.
13. The service node of claim 12 wherein the request further comprises a first directory number (DN) of the first phone associated with the first user and a second DN of the second phone associated with the second user.
14. The service node of claim 11 wherein the request from the first user is received from a computing device associated with the first user.
15. The service node of claim 11 further comprising notifying the computing device that voice communication is enabled between the first phone associated with the first user and the second phone associated with the second user.
16. The service node of claim 11 wherein enabling multimedia services further comprises transmitting one or more multimedia services options to the second user.
17. The service node of claim 11 wherein transmitting the URL comprises transmitting via Instant Messaging (IM), Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), or email.
18. The service node of claim 17 wherein the URL remains valid only until the first user terminates the voice call.
19. The service node of claim 17 wherein the URL remains valid for only one user at a time.
20. The service node of claim 17 wherein the URL may be generic for any user or group of users.
21. The service node of claim 11 wherein the multimedia services include at least one of messaging, video, file transfer, application sharing, picture sharing, media streaming, co-browsing, session recording, and conferencing.
22. A method for providing multimedia services performed by a device of a first user, the method comprising:
transmitting, from the device of the first user to a service node a request for engaging in voice communication with a second user and for engaging in multimedia services with the second user;
receiving from the service node an indication that voice communication between the first user and the second user has been established through a call server; and
receiving from the service node an indication that multimedia services between the first user and the second user have been established after the second user has accessed a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) sent by the service node to the second user for the purpose of enabling multimedia services, wherein the URL remains valid for only one user at a time.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the request further comprises a first directory number (DN) of a first phone associated with the first user and a second DN of a second phone associated with the second user.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein the request from the first user is transmitted from a computing device associated with the first user.
25. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:
receiving from a first user a request for engaging in multimedia services with a second user;
generating a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the request;
transmitting the URL to an address associated with the second user;
instructing a call server to establish voice communication between the first user and the second user;
and
enabling multimedia services between the first user and the second user in response to receiving an indication that the second user has accessed the URL, wherein the URL remains valid only until the first user terminates the voice communication.