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US 8,711,199 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for communications
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorHaifeng Bi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set-top-box (STB) having a controller to operate the STB coupled to an interactive television network as an audio visual answering machine using a digital video recorder forming a part of the STB, use at least one camera coupled to the STB to capture video, use at least one microphone coupled to the STB to capture audio, present video from at least a calling party on a television set coupled to the STB, and present audio from at least the calling party on speakers coupled to the STB. Other embodiments are disclosed.
Claims24
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a set-top box comprising a processor, an incoming multimedia call comprising audio, according to a voice over internet protocol, and video, according to an interactive television network protocol;
- invoking a ringer on the set-top box as an alert of an incoming call;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of the set-top box:
- engaging in multimedia conferencing, by the set-top box, using voice-over-internet protocol and video over an interactive television network, wherein the multimedia conferencing is initiated between equipment of two interactive television network users with similar audio and video configurations;
- presenting, by the set-top box, a video portion of the multimedia conferencing to a display coupled to the set-top box, while also presenting an audio portion of the multimedia conferencing to speakers coupled to the set-top;
- recording, selectively, by the set-top box, data associated with a calling party and a called party concurrently while in conference using a digital video recording device;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of a cordless handset communicatively coupled to a cordless base station integrated within the set-top box, engaging in a private conversation using the voice-over-internet protocol by way of the cordless handset;
- in response to the incoming call being unanswered:
- instructing, by the set-top box, the digital video recording device to serve as an answering machine for playing a multimedia greeting message from the set-top box and for recording multimedia calls made to the set-top box through the interactive television network;
- and
- activating, by the set-top box, a message waiting indicator located on a front panel the set-top box in response to recording multimedia calls made to the set-top box through the interactive television network.
8 more elements
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a media device comprising a processor, an incoming multimedia call comprising audio, according to a voice over internet protocol, and video, according to an interactive television network protocol;
- invoking a ringer on the media device as an alert of an incoming call;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of the media device:
- engaging, by the media device, in a multimedia conference using voice over internet protocol and interactive television services of an interactive television network, wherein the multimedia conferencing is initiated between equipment of two interactive television network users with similar audio and video configurations;
- during the multimedia conference, presenting, by the media device, at a display a video of a calling party engaged in the multimedia conference;
- presenting, by the media device for an answered call, an audio portion of the multimedia conference to speakers coupled to the media device;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of a cordless handset communicatively coupled to a cordless base station integrated within the media device, engaging in a private conversation using the voice over internet protocol by way of the cordless handset;
- and
- recording, by the media device for an unanswered call, a voice message, wherein the media device has a digital video recorder to record the voice message and a message waiting indicator that is activated in response to the recording of the voice message.
6 more elements
A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions, which when executed by a media processor cause the media processor to perform operations, comprising:
- receiving an incoming multimedia call comprising audio, according to a voice over internet protocol, and video, according to an interactive television network protocol;
- invoking a ringer on a media processor as an alert of an incoming call;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of the media processor:
- detecting a calling party and a called party while in a multimedia conference call using the voice over internet protocol and interactive television services;
- presenting a video portion of the multimedia conferencing to a display;
- presenting an audio portion of the multimedia conferencing to a cordless handset in communication with the media processor;
- concurrently recording data associated with the calling party and the called party while in conference using a digital video recorder operably coupled to the media processor;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of a cordless handset communicatively coupled to a cordless base station integrated within the media processor, engaging in a private conversation using the voice over internet protocol by way of the cordless handset, wherein the private conversation is initiated between equipment of two interactive television network users with similar audio and video configurations;
- and
- activating a message waiting indicator located on the media processor in response to a recording of a message of an unanswered call by the media processor.
7 more elements
A set-top-box, comprising:
- a memory to store executable instructions;
- and
- a controller coupled with the memory, wherein executing the instructions causes the controller to perform operations comprising:
- receiving an incoming multimedia call comprising audio, according to a voice over internet protocol, and video, according to an interactive television network protocol;
- invoking a ringer on a set-top box as an alert of an incoming call;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of the set-top box:
- using a camera coupled to the set-top box to capture video;
- using a microphone coupled to the set-top box to capture audio;
- presenting video associated with a calling party on a television set coupled to the set-top box;
- presenting audio associated with the calling party on a cordless handset in communication by way of a cordless base station;
- concurrently recording data associated with the calling party and the called party while in conference in real time using a digital video recorder;
- in response to the incoming call being answered by way of a cordless handset communicatively coupled to a cordless base station integrated within the set-top box, engaging in a private conversation using the voice over internet protocol by way of the cordless handset, wherein the private conversation is initiated between equipment of two interactive television network users with similar audio and video configurations;
- and
- activating a message waiting indicator located on the set-top box in response to recording multimedia calls made to the set-top box through an interactive television network.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.