Managed quality of service for users and applications over shared networks

A method for use by a system quality proxy agent running on a subscriber computer for establishing a high-quality network connection communications session between an object associated with the subscriber computer and a network service provider, the method comprising:

• capturing a network call from the object;
• identifying the object associated with making the network call;
• obtaining a network quality profile corresponding to the object;
• verifying that the object is authorized to request a high-quality network connection;
• and
• causing to be transmitted to the network service provider a request for a high-quality network connection communications session according to the quality profile;
• whereby, after the network service provider has processed the request, communications between the object and the network service provider are of a quality satisfying the requirements of the quality profile.

A computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions facilitating establishing a high-quality network connection communications session between a software application running on a subscriber computer and a network service provider, the computer-executable instructions performing the steps of:

• capturing a network call from the software application running on the subscriber computer;
• identifying the software application associated with making the network call;
• obtaining a network quality profile corresponding to the software application;
• verifying that the software application is authorized to request a high-quality network connection;
• and
• causing to be transmitted to the network service provider a request for a high-quality network connection communications session according to the quality profile;
• whereby, after the network service provider has processed the request, communications between the software application and the network service provider are of a quality satisfying the requirements of the quality profile.

A method for establishing a high-quality network connection communications session between a software application running on a subscriber computer and a network service provider, the method comprising:

• receiving a request for a high-quality network connection on behalf of the subscriber computer, the request caused by a system quality proxy agent residing on either the subscriber computer or a content server contacted by the subscriber computer, the proxy agent having obtained a quality profile for the software application, and the request comprising information about the software application according to the quality profile;
• authenticating the request;
• obtaining policy information corresponding to the request;
• and
• granting a high-quality network connection communications session to the subscriber computer for communications with the application according to the policy information.

A computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions facilitating establishing a high-quality network connection communications session between a software application running on a subscriber computer and a network service provider, the computer-executable instructions performing the steps of:

• receiving a request for a high-quality network connection on behalf of the subscriber computer, the request caused by a system quality proxy agent residing on either the subscriber computer or a content server contacted by the subscriber computer, the proxy agent having obtained a quality profile for the software application, and the request comprising information about the software application;
• authenticating the request;
• obtaining policy information corresponding to the request;
• and
• granting a high-quality network connection communications session to the subscriber computer for communications with the application according to the policy information.

A system for managing the quality of a network connection communications session provided to an application running on the computer of a subscriber of a network service provider, the system comprising:

• a database containing information about the subscriber of the network service provider;
• a policy server storing network quality configuration settings for a variety of conditions;
• and
• an application manager, in response to a request from a quality proxy agent running on the subscriber's computer, reading from the database and instructing the policy server to establish a network connection communications session with the application running on the subscriber computer at a quality according to an appropriate configuration setting;
• wherein the request from the quality proxy agent is made according to a quality profile for the application, the profile obtained by the quality proxy agent for the application.

A method for increasing the revenue of a network service provider, the network service provider providing network service to a plurality of customers, the method comprising:

• receiving from a requesting entity, on behalf of a computing device associated with a customer in the plurality of customers, a request for a high-quality network connection communications session for an application running on the computing device, wherein the request is in accordance with a quality profile for the application, the profile obtained by the requesting entity;
• causing network communications for the application to be of a higher quality than ordinary network communications;
• and
• billing the customer a fee for services including high-quality network connection communications sessions.