System and method for activating a mobile device to initiate a communication
A system and method for activating a mobile device to initiate a communication directed to a target device is disclosed. The system and method may be implemented via a computing device arranged to send a request for activating the mobile device to initiate a communication, the request comprising a unique identifier of the target device; an unique identifier of the mobile device and contextual information relating to the communication; wherein the mobile device is arranged to receive the request to initiate the machine communication and upon receiving the request, parses and executes the request depending on the nature of the communication channel between the mobile device and target device.
1. A system for facilitating a “click-to-call” functionality comprising:
a mobile device arranged to initiate a call directed to a target device;
a computing device monitoring for a user's selection of a “click-to-call” button on a website, in response to receiving the selection of the “click-to-call” button, the computing device arranged to send a request for activating the mobile device to initiate the call, wherein there is an existing communication channel being utilized between the mobile device and the target device, and the existing communication channel is provided by a host network of the mobile device, wherein the computing device is configured to at least partially disable the “click-to-call” functionality based on user preference,
the request comprising a unique identifier of the target device, a unique identifier of the mobile device, a trigger for executing the call and contextual information relating to the call, wherein the contextual information is content related to the website associated with the “click-to-call” button;
wherein the mobile device is arranged to receive the request to initiate the call and upon receiving the request, parses and executes the request according to a specific communication protocol depending on the nature of the existing communication channel,
the contextual information accompanies the initiated call for display on the target device to allow a user of the target device to know the reason or context of the call based on the contextual information before deciding whether to accept the initiated call.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier of the mobile device and the target device are the MSISDN of the mobile device and the target device respectively; and the contextual information is a text message related to the purpose of the call.
3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein where the existing communication channel is an Internet Protocol network, the mobile device is arranged to parse and execute the request according to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) network.
4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein where the existing communication channel is a telecommunications GSM voice network, the mobile device is arranged to parse and execute the request according to a Callback protocol.
5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the contextual information is a text message, an image, a video clip or a combination of any two of said contextual information.
6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the system includes a location-based service configured to provide information on the location of the mobile device to the target device and the information on the location of the target device to the mobile device.
7. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the “S” field of the SIP is transmitted as part of the SIP invite message from the mobile device to a SIP gateway and then forwarded from the SIP gateway to the target device, the “S” field of the SIP protocol is used to contain the contextual information.
8. A mobile device capable of facilitating a “click-to-call” functionality, wherein, the mobile device is arranged to receive a request from a computing device to initiate a call to a target device, the computing device monitoring for a user's selection of a “click-to-call” button on a website, in response to receiving the selection of the “click-to-call” button, the computing device sending the request to the mobile device, wherein the computing device is configured to at least partially disable the “click-to-call” functionality based on user preference,
wherein there is an existing communication channel being utilized between the computing device and the mobile device, and the existing communication channel is provided by a host network of the mobile device,
the request comprising a unique identifier of the target device, an unique identifier of the mobile device and contextual information relating to the call, wherein the contextual information is content related to the website associated with the “click-to-call” button; wherein upon receiving the request the mobile device parse and execute the request according to a specific communication protocol depending on the existing communication channel, and the contextual information accompanies the initiated call for display on the target device to allow a user of the target device to know the reason or context of the call based on the contextual information before deciding whether to accept the initiated call.
9. The mobile device according to claim 8 , wherein the mobile device comprises direct machine-to-machine communication means comprising one or more of the following: Near Field Communication (NFC), BLUETOOTH, and Infra-red data association (IrDA).
10. The mobile device according to claim 8 , wherein the mobile device is integrated with the computing device.
11. The mobile device according to claim 8 , wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.
12. A method for facilitating a “click-to-call” functionality, comprising the steps of:
receiving at a mobile device a request to initiate a call;
a computing device monitoring for a user's selection of a “click-to-call” button on a website, in response to receiving the selection of the “click-to-call” button, wherein the computing device is configured to at least partially disable the “click-to-call” functionality based on user preference, the computing device sending the request to the mobile device, the request is sent by a computing device, wherein there is an existing communication channel being utilized between the computing device and the mobile device, and the existing communication channel is provided by a host network of the mobile device;
wherein the request comprising a unique identifier of the target device, a unique identifier of the mobile device; a trigger for executing the call and contextual information relating to the context of the call, wherein the contextual information is content related to the website associated with the “click-to-call” button;
parsing the request to determine the contextual information and the unique identifier of the target device;
forwarding the contextual information and the trigger to a target device via a specific communication protocol depending on the existing communication channel; and accompanying the contextual information for display with the initiated call on the target device to allow a user of the target device to know the reason or context of the call based on the contextual information before deciding whether to accept the initiated call.
13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein where the existing communication channel is an Internet Protocol network, the mobile device parses and executes the request according to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) network.
14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein where the existing communication channel is a telecommunications GSM voice network, the mobile device parses and executes the request according to a Callback protocol.
15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the “S” field of the SIP is transmitted as part of the SIP invite message from the mobile device to a SIP gateway and then forwarded from the SIP gateway to the target device, the “S” field of the SIP protocol is used to contain the contextual information.