VoIP quality bar and “toast” notifications
View Patent ↗The present invention provides in one aspect a method and a system for displaying a VoIP quality to a user, so that the user may determine if a specific call should be placed in view of the VoIP quality. The present invention also provides in another aspect a method and a system for non-intrusively signaling of an incoming VoIP call so that a user can be informed of the incoming call and yet not be interrupted from his/her current work.
1. A method for presenting voice quality different from signal strength of a specific potential voice call by a caller over a VoIP network before the specific potential VoIP call is made, the method comprising:
obtaining a caller location;
obtaining a condition of the network relating to voice quality of the specific potential call to be processed by the network;
predicting a voice quality different from signal strength of the specific potential voice call over the network based upon the condition of the network and the caller location calculated as a VoIP voice quality of a model VoIP session of the VoIP network for delivery of the potential VoIP call;
obtaining a mapping between the condition of the network and the voice quality of the potential voice call; and
displaying the voice quality of the specific potential voice call prior to completing the call to enable the caller to determine if the specific potential call should be placed based on the display voice quality.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VOIP network includes a local network at the caller location including admission control allowing calls to be rejected if insufficient resources are available.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network includes a local network at a callee location.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network includes a network between the caller location and a callee location.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the quality of the voice call comprises:
providing a bar indicator; and
displaying a portion of the bar indicator, wherein a greater displayed portion corresponds to a better quality of the potential voice call.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the quality of the voice call comprises:
providing a light indicator, wherein the indicator can display a plurality of colors and each of the plurality of colors corresponds to a specific quality of the potential voice call.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assessing the condition of the network.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed on a soft phone or a wireless VoIP phone.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed on a laptop or a desktop and wherein the voice quality is determine in terms of customer perception.
10. A system of presenting voice quality different from signal strength of a specific potential VoIP voice call to be made by a caller over a VoIP network, said system comprising:
a display for displaying a voice quality of the specific potential voice call over the network to enable the caller to determine based on the displayed voice quality whether the specific potential voice call should be made; and
a voice quality indicator for predicting the voice quality different from signal strength of the potential voice call by using a caller location of the caller and a condition of the network relating to voice quality of the specific potential call to be processed by the network calculated as a VoIP voice quality of a model VoIP session of the VoIP network for delivery of the potential VoIP call and obtaining a mapping between the condition of the network and the voice quality of the potential voice call, and presenting the voice quality of the specific potential voice call on the display prior to completing the potential call.
11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
a network assessment tool for determining the condition of the network for placing the potential voice call.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the voice quality indicator comprises a bar indicator, wherein a greater displayed portion of the bar indicator corresponds to a better quality of the potential voice call.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the voice quality indicator comprises a light indicator, wherein the indicator can display a plurality of colors and each of the plurality of colors corresponds to a specific quality of the potential voice call.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the network includes at least one of a local network at the caller location, a local network at a callee location, and a network between the caller location and the callee location.
15. A non-transitory medium storing computer-executable instructions for a method for presenting voice quality different from signal strength of a specific potential VoIP voice call over a VoIP network before the specific potential VoIP call is made, the method comprises:
obtaining a caller location;
obtaining a condition of the network relating to voice quality of as the specific potential call to be processed by the network;
predicting a voice quality different from signal strength of the specific potential voice call over the network based upon the condition of the network and the caller location calculated as a VoIP voice quality of a model VoIP session of the VoIP network for delivery of the potential VoIP call;
obtaining a mapping between the condition of the network and the voice quality of the potential call; and
displaying the voice quality of the specific potential voice call prior to completing the potential call to enable the caller to determine if the specific potential call should be placed based upon the voice quality.
16. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the network includes a local network at the caller location.
17. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the network includes a local network at callee location.
18. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the network includes a network between the caller location and a callee location.
19. The medium of claim 15 , wherein displaying the quality of the voice call comprises:
providing a bar indicator; and
displaying a portion of the bar indicator, wherein a greater displayed portion corresponds to a better quality of the potential voice call.
20. The medium of claim 15 , wherein displaying the quality of the voice call comprises:
providing a light indicator, wherein the indicator can display a plurality of colors and each of the plurality of colors corresponds to a specific quality of the potential voice call.
21. The medium of claim 15 , the method further comprises:
assessing the condition of the network.
22. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the medium is stored on a soft phone or a wireless VoIP phone.
23. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the medium is stored on a laptop or a desktop and wherein the voice quality is determined in terms of customer perception.