Method and System for Communicating and Displaying Data With a Voice Call

Abstract

A method of communicating information describing a voice call from a caller to a recipient comprises steps of obtaining call subject information describing the call and communicating the call subject information to the recipient to inform the recipient about the call. The call subject information can be presented as a subject line displayed to a recipient in which the caller provides information about the nature of the call and/or its urgency, which thus enables the recipient to better judge whether it should be answered immediately. The call subject information can be input as text by the caller or it can be extracted automatically from a calendar application or a messaging application.

1 . A method of communicating information describing a voice call from a caller to a recipient, the method comprising steps of:
 obtaining call subject information describing the call; and   communicating the call subject information to the recipient to inform the recipient about the call.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the step of obtaining call subject information comprises a step of prompting the caller to input text describing the call. 
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the step of obtaining call subject information comprises a step of automatically extracting contextual call subject information from an application executing on the device. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the step of automatically extracting contextual call subject information comprises a step of extracting meeting information from a calendar application. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the step of automatically extracting contextual call subject information comprises a step of extracting subject information from a messaging application. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising a step of specifying an urgency of the call. 
     
     
         7 . A computer program product comprising code which, when loaded into memory and executed on a processor of a wireless communications device, is adapted to perform the steps of:
 obtaining call subject information describing the call; and   communicating the call subject information to the recipient to inform the recipient about the call.   
     
     
         8 . A method of displaying call information about an incoming voice call, the method comprising steps of:
 receiving call subject data associated with the incoming voice call;   processing the call subject data to obtain call subject information describing the incoming call; and   displaying the call subject information to a recipient of the incoming voice call to inform the recipient about the nature of the incoming call.   
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the step of the processing the call subject data comprises extracting priority data indicative of an urgency of the call to enable the displaying of the urgency of the call to the recipient. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the call subject information comprises text input by the caller. 
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the call subject information comprises text automatically generated based on a context in which the call is initiated. 
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the text is automatically generated by extracting information from a calendar application. 
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the text is automatically generated by extracting information from a messaging application. 
     
     
         14 . A computer program product comprising code which, when loaded into memory and executed on a processor of a wireless communications device, is adapted to perform the steps of:
 receiving call subject data associated with an incoming voice call;   processing the call subject data to obtain call subject information describing the incoming call; and   displaying the call subject information to a recipient of the incoming voice call to inform the recipient about the nature of the incoming call.   
     
     
         15 . A wireless communications device comprising:
 an input device for initiating a voice call;   a processor coupled to memory to generate call subject information describing the call; and   a radiofrequency transceiver for communicating the call subject information to the recipient to inform the recipient about the call.   
     
     
         16 . The wireless communications device as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the input device enables a user to input text describing the call. 
     
     
         17 . The wireless communications device as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the processor and memory cooperate to automatically generate the call subject information based on an application context in which the call is initiated. 
     
     
         18 . A wireless communications device for displaying call information about an incoming voice call, the device comprising:
 a radiofrequency transceiver for receiving call subject data associated with the incoming voice call;   a processor coupled to memory for processing the call subject data to obtain call subject information describing the incoming call; and   a display for displaying the call subject information to a recipient of the incoming voice call to inform the recipient about the nature of the incoming call.   
     
     
         19 . The wireless communications device as claimed in  claim 18  wherein the call subject information comprises text input by a caller who has initiated the call. 
     
     
         20 . The wireless communications device as claimed in  claim 18  wherein the call subject information comprises text automatically generated based on a context in which the call is initiated. 
     
     
         21 . A server for dispatching call subject information to a recipient describing a voice call initiated by a caller to the recipient, the server comprising:
 a data port for receiving call subject data to be dispatched to the recipient; and   a processor for determining a routing address for dispatching the call subject data to the routing address of the recipient to inform the recipient about the call.