Granted Patent B2

US 10,581,773 · App. 15/896,835 · Granted Mar 3, 2020

Inventors: Ahmed Tewfik Bouzid (McLean, VA); David James Rennyson (Centreville, VA); Michael Jerry Saylor (Tysons Corner, VA)

H04L51/046G06F3/0481G06F16/972H04L51/32

Abstract

Claims (94)

1. A method comprising:

prompting a user to select a social site for generating a voice enabled social artifact;

receiving a user selection of the social site;

responsive to receiving the user selection, obtaining information associated with an account of the user on the social site;

prompting the user to select a social artifact associated with the social site for voice enablement;

receiving a user selection of the social artifact;

configuring the selected social artifact for voice enablement, wherein the configuring includes:

determining a calling number for the user, and

including the calling number in a first message transmitted to the social site for display on the social artifact of the social site;

establishing a voice call with a voice-enabled user device associated with a caller in response to a call being placed to the calling number displayed on the social artifact of the social site;

prompting the caller, via the voice-enabled user device associated with the caller, to create a voice message; and

in response to receiving the created voice message, generating a second message to the social site for causing the social site to display an indication of the voice message on the social artifact of the social site.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the social site includes at least one of:

a social network website,

a web-based messaging system, or

an instant messaging system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the social artifact includes at least one of:

a web page on a social network website,

a feed using a web-based messaging system,

a chat message using an instant messaging system, or

a broadcast message in a web-based messaging system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the selected social artifact for voice enablement comprises:

configuring the social artifact for supporting multimedia files, the multimedia files including the voice message created by the caller;

modifying a user interface associated with the social artifact for displaying information on the multimedia files supported by the social artifact, the user interface including a web page hosted by the social site; and

associating the social artifact with a repository configured for storing the multimedia files supported by the social artifact, the repository hosted by a voice channel system and linked to the user interface by a network connection.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the multimedia files include at least one of speech files, audio files, or video files.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the user interface is configured for displaying the selected social artifact on the social site with the indication that the selected social artifact is voice enabled, the method comprising:

saving the recorded voice message as one of the multimedia files in the repository;

receiving, through the user interface, a user selection of the multimedia file;

based on the user selection, retrieving the selected multimedia file from the repository; and

providing the selected multimedia file to the user through the user interface, the providing comprising playing the selected multimedia file on the user interface.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein prompting a user to select a social site for generating a voice enabled social artifact comprises:

prompting the user to select the social site from among a plurality of social sites having social artifacts that are capable of being voice-enabled.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining information associated with an account of the user on the social site comprises:

receiving login information associated with the account of the user on the social site;

establishing communication with a server hosting the social site;

sending the login information to the social site; and

receiving information associated with the account of the user from the social site.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein prompting the user to select a social artifact associated with the social site for voice enablement comprises:

prompting the user to select the social artifact from among a plurality of social artifacts associated with the selected social site, the plurality of social artifacts capable of being voice-enabled.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a user selection of a social artifact for voice enablement comprises:

based on obtaining the information associated with the account of the user on the social site, identifying social artifacts supported by the account of the user;

responsive to identifying the social artifacts, determining social artifacts that are capable of supporting voice enablement;

displaying, on a user interface, the social artifacts that are capable of supporting voice enablement; and

providing instructions to the user for selecting, from the displayed social artifacts, a social artifact for voice enablement.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the selected social artifact for voice enablement comprises:

generating a token associated with the selected social artifact;

providing the token to the user;

receiving a call from the user;

determining that the call is associated with the selected social artifact based on the token provided by the user upon establishing the call;

recording a message from the user; and

generating an audio greeting associating with the selected social artifact based on the recorded message.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein social artifact transitions from being not voice-enabled to being voice-enabled in response to receipt of the first message by the social media including the calling number.

13. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

prompt a user to select a social site for generating a voice enabled social artifact;

receive a user selection of the social site;

responsive to receiving the user selection, obtain information associated with an account of the user on the social site;

prompt the user to select a social artifact associated with the social site for voice enablement;

receive a user selection of the social artifact;

configure the selected social artifact for voice enablement, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to configure include instructions that cause the processor to:

determine a calling number for the user, and

include the calling number in a first message transmitted to the social site for display on the social artifact of the social site;

establish a voice call with a voice-enabled user device associated with a caller in response to a call being placed to the calling number displayed on the social artifact of the social site;

prompt the caller, via the voice-enabled user device associated with the caller, to create a voice message; and

in response to receiving the created voice message, generate a second message to the social site for causing the social site to display an indication of the voice message on the social artifact of the social site.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the social site includes at least one of:

a social network website,

a web-based messaging system, or

an instant messaging system.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the social artifact includes at least one of:

a web page on a social network website,

a feed using a web-based messaging system,

a chat message using an instant messaging system, and

a broadcast message in a web-based messaging system.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions for configuring the selected social artifact for voice enablement comprises instructions that cause the processor to:

configure the social artifact for supporting multimedia files, the multimedia files including the voice message created by the caller;

modify a user interface associated with the social artifact for displaying information on the multimedia files supported by the social artifact, the user interface including a web page hosted by the social site; and

associate the social artifact with a database configured for storing multimedia files supported by the social artifact, wherein the database is coupled to the processor and linked to the user interface by a network connection.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the multimedia files include at least one of speech files, audio files, or video files.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the user interface is configured for displaying the selected social artifact on the social site with an indication that the selected social artifact is voice enabled, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

save the recorded voice message as one of the multimedia files in the database;

receive, through the user interface, a user selection of the multimedia file;

based on the user selection, retrieve the selected multimedia file from the database; and

provide the selected multimedia file to the user through the user interface, the providing comprising playing the selected multimedia file on the user interface.

19. The system of claim 13 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

generate a token associated with the selected social artifact;

provide the token to the user;

receive a call from the user;

determine that the call is associated with the selected social artifact based on the token provided by the user upon establishing the call;

record a message from the user; and

generate an audio greeting associating with the selected social artifact based on the recorded message.

20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is coupled to the social site over a wide area network.

Assignments (8)