Method and apparatus for content presentation in association with a telephone call
A method and apparatus are provided for presenting multimedia 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 (e.g., an advertiser that paid for the ability to have its content presented). Presented content may be actuable, to allow a caller to change the destination of a call, take advantage of an offer presented to him or her, 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 or her local contacts (on his telephone) and/or a central or global directory or contact list.
1. A method of controlling presentation of content on a communication device, the method comprising:
receiving electronic notification of initiation of a call from a first party operating a first communication device to a second party that operates a second communication device;
delaying the call without soliciting action by the first party; and
causing pre-ring content to be transmitted to and displayed on the second communication device before the call rings at the second communication device.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting to the first communication device a notification that the call is delayed.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
aborting the delay in response to activation, by the first party, of a predetermined control of the first communication device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-ring content comprises a notification of the initiated call.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
causing content displayed on the second communication device prior to establishment of the call to be displayed on the first communication device.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the content comprises the pre-ring content.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
causing shared content displayed on the second communication device to be simultaneously displayed on the first communication device.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
causing an annotation to the shared content, by the first party, to be displayed on the second communication device.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
receiving the pre-ring content from the first party; and
transmitting the pre-ring content toward the second communication device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
prompting the first party to transmit the pre-ring content to the second communication device.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
prompting a third party to transmit the pre-ring content to the second communication device.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
instructing the second communication device to retrieve the pre-ring content from a specified location.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
causing to be transmitted to one or both of the first communication device and the second communication device one or more of:
in-call content delivered during the call; and
post-call content delivered after the call.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said electronic notification of initiation of the call is received at a network communication device located in a path of communication between the first communication device and the second communication device.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of controlling presentation of content on a communication device, the method comprising:
receiving electronic notification of initiation of a call from a first party operating a first communication device to a second party that operates a second communication device;
delaying the call without soliciting action by the first party; and
causing pre-ring content to be transmitted to and displayed on the second communication device before the call rings at the second communication device.
16. Apparatus for controlling presentation of content on a communication device external to the apparatus, 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 electronic notification of initiation of a call from a first party operating a first communication device to a second party that operates a second communication device;
delay the call without soliciting action by the first party; and
cause pre-ring content to be transmitted to and displayed on the second communication device before the call rings at the second communication device.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
transmit to the first communication device a notification that the call is delayed.
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:
abort the delay in response to activation, by the first party, of a predetermined control of the first communication device.
19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the pre-ring content comprises a notification of the initiated call.
20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
cause content displayed on the second communication device prior to establishment of the call to be displayed on the first communication device.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the content comprises the pre-ring content.
22. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
cause shared content displayed on the second communication device to be simultaneously displayed on the first communication device.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , further comprising:
causing an annotation to the shared content, by the first party, to be displayed on the second communication device.
24. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
receiving the pre-ring content from the first party; and
transmitting the pre-ring content toward the second communication device.
25. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
prompting the first party to transmit the pre-ring content to the second communication device.
26. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
prompting a third party to transmit the pre-ring content to the second communication device.
27. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said causing pre-ring content to be transmitted comprises:
instructing the second communication device to retrieve the pre-ring content from a specified location.
28. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
cause to be transmitted to one or both of the first communication device and the second communication device one or more of:
in-call content delivered during the call; and
post-call content delivered after the call.
29. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said electronic notification of initiation of the call is received at a network communication device located in a path of communication between the first communication device and the second communication device.