Method and apparatus for content presentation in association with a telephone call
A method and apparatus are provided for presenting content to a caller and/or a called party in association with a telephone call. Content may be presented pre-ring (before the called party's telephone rings), in-call, and/or post-call. Content presented to a party may be related to another party participating in the call or may be related to a third party. Presented content may be actuable, and allow a caller to change the destination of a call, take advantage of an offer presented to him, redeem a coupon, schedule or queue a subsequent call, etc. To find a desired destination party, a caller may initiate a manual or automatic search of his local contacts (on his telephone) and/or a central or global directory or contact list. A party to a call may be offered one or more payment mechanisms for completing a purchase in an on-line or real-world transaction.
1. A method of controlling presentation of content on an electronic device, the method comprising at a call controller coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator:
receiving notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;
delaying establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;
causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;
further causing to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and
receiving from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment mechanism options include one or more of:
a credit card;
a debit card;
PayPal; and
Google Wallet.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
receiving an identifier of the content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated; and
during said delay, transmitting toward the second electronic device the identifier and an instruction to access the content.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
receiving the content from the first electronic device; and
during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content is content of an application executing on the first electronic device.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, from the second electronic device, a modification to display of the content caused by the second operator; and
causing the modification to be replicated on the first electronic device;
wherein the modification is one of:
annotation of the content;
navigation of the content;
selection of a control within the application; and
implementation of a selected control within the application.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a modification to display of the content, from one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the one device is operated by a prospective purchaser; and
forwarding the modification toward the other of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the other device is operated by a purchasing assistant;
wherein the modification is one or more of:
navigation of the content;
selection of a control within the content; and
implementation of a selected control within the content.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the content relates to a good or service desired by a prospective purchaser;
the prospective purchaser is one of the first operator and the second operator; and
the other of the first operator and the second operator is a purchasing assistant.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving, from the electronic device operated by the purchasing assistant, a modification to display of the content made by the purchasing assistant; and
causing the modification to be replicated on the electronic device operated by the prospective purchaser;
wherein the modification is one or more of:
selection of the good or service;
selection of a version of the good or service; and
selection of a configuration option of the good or service.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of controlling presentation of content on an electronic device, wherein the computer is coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator, the method comprising:
receiving notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;
delaying establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;
causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;
further causing to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and
receiving from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.
12. A call controller apparatus for controlling presentation of content on an electronic device external to the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is coupled to a first electronic device operated by a first operator and a second electronic device operated by a second operator, the apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive notification of initiation of a communication connection from the first electronic device to the second electronic device;
delay establishment of the communication connection without soliciting action by the first operator;
cause to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated;
further cause to be displayed, at one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, one or more payment mechanism options for effecting payment for a purchase initiated after the content is displayed on the second electronic device; and
receive from the one device selection of a first payment mechanism.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the payment mechanism options include one or more of:
a credit card;
a debit card;
PayPal; and
Google Wallet.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
receiving an identifier of the content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated; and
during said delay, transmitting toward the second electronic device the identifier and an instruction to access the content.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.
16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein causing to be displayed on the second electronic device content displayed on the first electronic device and not the second electronic device when the communication connection was initiated comprises:
receiving the content from the first electronic device; and
during said delay, transmitting the content toward the second electronic device.
17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the content is content of an application executing on the first electronic device.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the second electronic device, a modification to display of the content caused by the second operator; and
cause the modification to be replicated on the first electronic device;
wherein the modification is one of:
annotation of the content;
navigation of the content;
selection of a control within the application; and
implementation of a selected control within the application.
19. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive a modification to display of the content, from one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the one device is operated by a prospective purchaser; and
forward the modification toward the other of the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the other device is operated by a purchasing assistant;
wherein the modification is one or more of:
navigation of the content;
selection of a control within the content; and
implementation of a selected control within the content.
20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:
the content relates to a good or service desired by a prospective purchaser;
the prospective purchaser is one of the first operator and the second operator; and
the other of the first operator and the second operator is a purchasing assistant.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the electronic device operated by the purchasing assistant, a modification to display of the content made by the purchasing assistant; and
cause the modification to be replicated on the electronic device operated by the prospective purchaser;
wherein the modification is one or more of:
selection of the good or service;
selection of a version of the good or service; and
selection of a configuration option of the good or service.