Systems and methods for communication facilitation
The invention relates to systems and methods for communication facilitation. Such communications may include work communications and/or personal communications. Communications may be made without disclosing or requiring knowledge of recipient contact information. Pre-communications disclosures may be provided to a recipient prior to actually connecting a sender with a recipient. Communications may be made in accordance with one or more recipient template, which may include pre-determined contact modes for pre-determined scenarios in accordance with recipient or third party instructions. Peripheral information or sender responses to one or more queries may assist with determining the scenario that a communication falls under.
1. A method of communication facilitation comprising:
receiving, at a communication facilitator, from a sender device, a communication request for a communication with a recipient device;
sending, from the communication facilitator, a query to the sender device, wherein the query is provided based on a recipient template that is generated based on instructions from a third party that is different from a sender using the sender device and from a recipient using the recipient device;
receiving, at the communication facilitator, from the sender device, a sender response to the query from the sender device; and
sending, at the communication facilitator, based on the sender response to the query, a communication to the recipient device.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the recipient template is generated based on one or more of the following: recipient instructions, third party instructions, or peripheral information.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication to the recipient device is provided using a mode of contact selected from a plurality of available modes of contact, based on the sender response to the query.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the plurality of modes of contact including two or more of the following: video conference, screen share, voicemail, email, transcribed voicemail, text message, or call.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication to the recipient device includes pre-disclosure information about the nature of the communication.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the communication is a call and the pre-disclosure information is displayed on the recipient device.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the sender device provides the communication request without utilizing contact information for the recipient device.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender response includes contextual information based on the recipient template.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a mode of contact based on the sender response to the query and one or more rules, wherein the determined mode of contact is used for sending the communication to the recipient device.
10. A method of communication facilitation comprising:
receiving, at a communication facilitator, from a sender device, a communication request for a communication with a recipient device;
sending, from the communication facilitator, a query to the sender device, wherein the query is provided based on a recipient template that is generated based on a stored availability or identified location of a receiving party using the recipient device;
receiving, at the communication facilitator, from the sender device, a sender response to the query from the sender device; and
sending, at the communication facilitator, based on the sender response to the query, a communication to the recipient device.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the recipient template is generated based on one or more of the following: recipient instructions, third party instructions, or peripheral information.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the communication to the recipient device is provided using a mode of contact selected from a plurality of available modes of contact, based on the sender response to the query.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the plurality of modes of contact including two or more of the following: video conference, screen share, voicemail, email, transcribed voicemail, text message, or call.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein the communication to the recipient device includes pre-disclosure information about the nature of the communication.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the communication is a call and the pre-disclosure information is displayed on the recipient device.
16. The method of claim 10 wherein the sender device provides the communication request without utilizing contact information for the recipient device.
17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sender response includes contextual information based on the recipient template.
18. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining a mode of contact based on the sender response to the query and one or more rules, wherein the determined mode of contact is used for sending the communication to the recipient device.
19. A method of communication facilitation between a sender device and a recipient device comprising:
generating, at a communication facilitator with aid of a processor, a recipient template configured to dictate one or more queries to be provided to the sender device prior to sending a communication to the recipient device;
sending, from the communication facilitator, a query to the sender device in accordance with the recipient template generated based on instructions from a third party that is different from a sender using the sender device and from a recipient using the recipient device;
receiving, at the communication facilitator, from the sender device, a sender response to the query from the sender device; and
sending, at the communication facilitator, in accordance with the recipient template and based on the sender response to the query, a communication to the recipient device.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising receiving one or more of the following template generation factor: recipient instructions, third party instructions or peripheral information;
and generating the recipient template based on the one or more template generation factor.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein the peripheral information includes one or more of the following: recipient's electronic calendar, time of day, date, or location information of the sender, recipient, third party, or object.
22. The method of claim 19 further comprising receiving input from the recipient device and/or a third party, at the communication facilitator, specifying one or more rules determining a mode of contact to the recipient device based on information collected from the sender or peripheral information; and generating the recipient template based on the received input.
23. The method of claim 19 wherein the one or more queries are provided in one or more of the following forms: binary choice, select one option from multiple choice, select multiple options from multiple choice, receive free-form text, values, images, or other information.
24. The method of claim 19 wherein the communication to the recipient device includes pre-disclosure information about the nature of the communication.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the pre-disclosure information is provided based on the sender response to the query.
26. The method of claim 24 wherein the pre-disclosure information is provided based on peripheral information.
27. A communication facilitator comprising:
one or more communication interfaces capable of receiving, at the communication facilitator, information from a sender device and capable of sending information to a recipient device;
a memory storing recipient contact information and a recipient template, generated based on instructions from a third party that is different from a sender using the sender device and from a recipient using the recipient device and configured to dictate one or more queries to be provided to a sender device prior to sending a communication to the recipient device; and
a processor configured to permit information to be sent to the recipient device via the communication interface, based on the recipient contact information and recipient template stored in the memory.
28. The communication facilitator of claim 27 wherein the memory also stores sender pre-disclosure, and wherein the processor is configured to permit information to be sent to the recipient device also based on the sender pre-disclosure.
29. The communication facilitator of claim 28 wherein the sender pre-disclosure includes one or more responses received from the sender device in response to the one or more queries.
30. The communication facilitator of claim 27 wherein the one or more communication interfaces are capable of receiving one or more communication requests from the sender device without receiving the recipient contact information.
31. A method of communication facilitation between a sender device and a recipient device comprising:
generating, at a communication facilitator with aid of a processor, a recipient template configured to dictate one or more queries to be provided to the sender device prior to sending a communication to the recipient device;
sending, from the communication facilitator, a query to the sender device in accordance with the recipient template generated based on a stored availability or identified location of a receiving party using the recipient device;
receiving, at the communication facilitator, from the sender device, a sender response to the query from the sender device; and
sending, at the communication facilitator, in accordance with the recipient template and based on the sender response to the query, the communication to the recipient device.
32. The method of claim 31 further comprising receiving one or more of the following template generation factor: recipient instructions, third party instructions or peripheral information;
and generating the recipient template based on the one or more template generation factor.
33. The method of claim 32 wherein the peripheral information includes one or more of the following: recipient's electronic calendar, time of day, date, or location information of the sender, recipient, third party, or object.
34. The method of claim 31 further comprising receiving input from the recipient device and/or a third party, at the communication facilitator, specifying one or more rules determining a mode of contact to the recipient device based on information collected from the sender or peripheral information; and generating the recipient template based on the received input.
35. The method of claim 31 wherein the one or more queries are provided in one or more of the following forms: binary choice, select one option from multiple choice, select multiple options from multiple choice, receive free-form text, values, images, or other information.
36. The method of claim 31 wherein the communication to the recipient device includes pre-disclosure information about the nature of the communication.
37. The method of claim 36 wherein the pre-disclosure information is provided based on the sender response to the query.
38. The method of claim 36 wherein the pre-disclosure information is provided based on peripheral information.
39. A communication facilitator comprising:
one or more communication interfaces capable of receiving, at the communication facilitator, information from a sender device and capable of sending information to a recipient device;
a memory storing recipient contact information and a recipient template, generated based on a stored availability or identified location of a receiving party using the recipient device and configured to dictate one or more queries to be provided to a sender device prior to sending a communication to the recipient device; and
a processor configured to permit information to be sent to the recipient device via the communication interface, based on the recipient contact information and recipient template stored in the memory.
40. The communication facilitator of claim 39 wherein the memory also stores sender pre-disclosure, and wherein the processor is configured to permit information to be sent to the recipient device also based on the sender pre-disclosure.
41. The communication facilitator of claim 40 wherein the sender pre-disclosure includes one or more responses received from the sender device in response to the one or more queries.
42. The communication facilitator of claim 39 wherein the one or more communication interfaces are capable of receiving one or more communication requests from the sender device without receiving the recipient contact information.