Integrated Chat Client with Receiving Party Choice
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorsXiaofeng Gao, David Scott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Phone systems for an integrated chat client service are provided. A representative phone system includes a call processing system operable to check a chat server for accessibility of a calling party chat client associated with a calling party and coupled to the internet, the call processing system being further operable to prompt a called party to select to talk or chat. Methods to connect telephone calls and answer telephone calls are also provided.
Claims20
A method of conducting a network chat session comprising:
- recording a network user identification associated with a party as being present on a computer network with a network database when the party is registered as being logged onto the computer network;
- after receiving an incoming telephone call, checking the network database to ascertain accessibility of a calling party and a called party on the computer network;
- and
- prompting the calling party to invite the called party to engage in the network chat session with the calling party when the calling party and the called party are ascertained to be accessible on the computer network.
A computer readable storage medium having a computer program for conducting a network chat session that when executed by a computer processor causes the computer processor to perform:
- recording a network user identification associated with a party as being present on a computer network with a network database when the party is registered as being logged onto the computer network;
- after receiving an incoming telephone call, checking the network database to ascertain accessibility of a calling party and a called party on the computer network;
- and
- prompting the calling party to invite the called party to engage in the network chat session with the calling party when the calling party and the called party are ascertained to be accessible on the computer network.
A system of conducting a network chat session comprising:
- a network database that records a network user identification associated with a party as present on a computer network with a network database when a the party is registered as being logged onto the computer network;
- and
- a call processing component that checks the network database to ascertain accessibility of a calling party and a called party after receiving an incoming telephone call,
- the call processing component prompting the calling party to invite the called party to engage in the network chat session with the calling party when the calling party and the called party are ascertained to be accessible on the computer network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.