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 presenting content on a communication device, the method comprising:
at a first device, upon initiation of a call by a first party operating the first device, transmitting to a call controller notification of the initiation of the call, wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises identification of a destination party that is an organization;
automatically pausing the call upon receipt of a signal from the call controller;
while the call is paused, presenting to the first party pre-ring content containing an actuable control; and
redirecting the call in response to actuation of the control, wherein redirecting the call comprises connecting the call to a representative of the organization.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein pausing the call comprises pausing signaling of the call to a first communication service provider of the first device.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first communication service provider comprises the call controller.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein redirecting the call further comprises routing the call to a communication service provider other than the first communication service provider.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the representative is identified in the pre-ring content.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein pausing the call comprises receiving the pre-ring content via a data connection established between the first device and the call controller.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises partial entry of a telephone number.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the representative is selected based on the actuated control.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises activation of a dialer application of the first device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the pre-ring content identifies multiple destinations within the organization, and
the actuable control corresponds to at least one of the multiple destinations.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after redirecting of the call to a second device operated by the representative:
causing content displayed on the first device prior to initiation of the call to be displayed on the second device.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein causing content displayed on the first device prior to initiation of the call to be displayed on the second device comprises one or more of:
transmitting the content toward the second device; and
transmitting toward the second device an identification of the content.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of presenting content on a communication device, the method comprising:
at a first device, upon initiation of a call by a first party operating the first device, transmitting to a call controller notification of the initiation of the call, wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises identification of a destination party that is an organization;
automatically pausing the call upon receipt of a signal from the call controller;
while the call is paused, presenting to the first party pre-ring content containing an actuable control; and
redirecting the call in response to actuation of the control, wherein redirecting the call comprises connecting the call to a representative of the organization.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein pausing the call comprises pausing signaling of the call to a first communication service provider of the first device.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
causing content displayed on the first device prior to initiation of the call to be displayed on a second device operated by the representative.
16. A communication device comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
upon initiation of a call by a first party operating the device, transmit to a call controller notification of the initiation of the call, wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises identification of a destination party that is an organization;
automatically pause the call upon receipt of a signal from the call controller;
while the call is paused, present to the first party pre-ring content containing an actuable control; and
redirect the call in response to actuation of the control, wherein redirecting the call comprises connecting the call to a representative of the organization.
17. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein pausing the call comprises pausing signaling of the call to a first communication service provider of the first device.
18. The communication device of claim 17 , wherein the first communication service provider comprises the call controller.
19. The communication device of claim 17 , wherein redirecting the call further comprises routing the call to a communication service provider other than the first communication service provider.
20. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein:
the representative is identified in the pre-ring content.
21. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein pausing the call comprises receiving the pre-ring content via a data connection established between the first device and the call controller.
22. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises partial entry of a telephone number.
23. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein:
the representative is selected based on the actuated control.
24. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein initiation of the call by the first party comprises activation of a dialer application of the first device.
25. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein:
the pre-ring content identifies multiple destinations within the organization; and
the actuable control corresponds to at least one of the multiple destinations.
26. The communication device of claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
cause content displayed on the first device prior to initiation of the call to be displayed on a second device operated by the representative.
27. The communication device of claim 26 , wherein causing content displayed on the first device prior to initiation of the call to be displayed on the second device comprises one or more of:
transmitting the content toward the second device; and
transmitting toward the second device an identification of the content.