Group communication forwarding to a secondary service

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide enhancements for a voice communication service to forward communications to a secondary service. In one implementation, a method of operating a group communication service that facilitates voice communications for a group of end user devices includes exchanging voice communications between the group of end user devices, wherein the group of end user devices comprises a first end user device and at least one secondary end user device. The method further provides identifying, in a voice communication from the first end user device, a use of a key phrase and, in response to identifying the key phrase, forwarding at least a portion of the voice communication to a second service.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 operating a group communication service that facilitates voice communications between a group of end user devices, including:
 receiving a voice communication from a first end user device in the group; 
 determining the voice communication includes a key phrase identifying a secondary service; 
 forwarding a portion of the voice communication to the secondary service along with an identifier for a profile associated with the voice communication; and 
 selectively determining, based on the key phrase, whether to forward the voice communication to other end user devices in the group besides the first user device. 
   
     
     
         22 . The method of claim  1  comprising operating the group communication service further includes:
 determining the profile associated with the voice communication between:
 1) a group profile corresponding to a plurality of end user devices in the group of end user devices, and 
 2) a user profile corresponding to only the first end user device. 
 
 
     
     
         23 . The method of claim  2  further comprising:
 selectively determining whether to forward the voice communication includes forwarding the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the group profile. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of claim  2  further comprising:
 selectively determining whether to forward the voice communication includes not forwarding the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the user profile. 
 
     
     
         25 . The method of claim  2  comprising operating the group communication service further includes:
 receiving a response to the portion of the voice communication from the secondary service; and 
 directing the response to one or more user devices in the group. 
 
     
     
         26 . The method of claim  5  comprising operating the group communication service further includes:
 directing the response to only the first end user device in the group when the profile is the user profile; and 
 directing the response to the plurality of end user devices in the group when the profile is the group profile. 
 
     
     
         27 . The method of claim  5  further comprising the response includes a follow-up question to the voice communication. 
     
     
         28 . A memory device storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing system to:
 operate a group communication service that facilitates voice communications between a group of end user devices, including:
 receive a voice communication from a first end user device in the group; 
 determine the voice communication includes a key phrase identifying a secondary service; 
 forward a portion of the voice communication to the secondary service along with an identifier for a profile associated with the voice communication; and 
 selectively determine, based on the key phrase, whether to forward the voice communication to other end user devices in the group besides the first user device. 
   
     
     
         29 . The memory device of claim  8  wherein the instructions further cause the processing system to:
 determine the profile associated with the voice communication between:
 1) a group profile corresponding to a plurality of end user devices in the group of end user devices, and 
 2) a user profile corresponding to only the first end user device. 
 
 
     
     
         30 . The memory device of claim  9  further comprising:
 selectively determining whether to forward the voice communication includes forwarding the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the group profile. 
 
     
     
         31 . The memory device of claim  9  further comprising:
 selectively determining whether to forward the voice communication includes not forwarding the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the user profile. 
 
     
     
         32 . The memory device of claim  9  wherein the instructions further cause the processing system to:
 receive a response to the portion of the voice communication from the secondary service; and 
 direct the response to one or more user devices in the group. 
 
     
     
         33 . The memory device of claim  12  wherein the instructions further cause the processing system to:
 direct the response to only the first end user device in the group when the profile is the user profile; and 
 direct the response to the plurality of end user devices in the group when the profile is the group profile. 
 
     
     
         34 . The memory device of claim  12  further comprising the response includes a follow-up question to the voice communication. 
     
     
         35 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor configured to operate a group communication service that facilitates voice communications between a group of end user devices, including:
 receive a voice communication from a first end user device in the group; 
 determine the voice communication includes a key phrase identifying a secondary service; 
 forward a portion of the voice communication to the secondary service along with an identifier for a profile associated with the voice communication; and 
 selectively determine, based on the key phrase, whether to forward the voice communication to other end user devices in the group besides the first user device. 
   
     
     
         36 . The apparatus of claim  15 , the processor further configured to:
 determine the profile associated with the voice communication between:
 1) a group profile corresponding to a plurality of end user devices in the group of end user devices, and 
 2) a user profile corresponding to only the first end user device. 
   
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of claim  16  further comprising:
 selectively determining whether to forward the voice communication includes:
 forward the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the group profile; and 
 
 not forward the voice communication to other end user devices when the profile is the user profile. 
 
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of claim  16 , the processor further configured to:
 receive a response to the portion of the voice communication from the secondary service; and   direct the response to one or more user devices in the group.   
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of claim  18 , the processor further configured to:
 direct the response to only the first end user device in the group when the profile is the user profile; and   direct the response to the plurality of end user devices in the group when the profile is the group profile.   
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of claim  18  further comprising the response includes a follow-up question to the voice communication.