Qwest Communications International Inc.

Centurylink Intellectual Property LLC

Richard Cerami

John Verbil

Timothy Figueroa

Roxanna Storaasli

Peter Riering-Czekalla

Michael Gibson

Elger Oberwelz

Afshin Frederick Mehin

Nicholas Zambetti

Matthew Robert Adams

Andrew Switky

Paul Daniel Jaramillo

Katrin B Gosling

Astrid Van Der Flier

Jesse Tane

Coe Leta Rayne Stafford

Martin Nicholas John Heaton

Tammy S Brown

Suzanne Gibbs Howard

Joel Frederick

Valentina Venza

Astrid Jantina Van Der Flier

Daniel Stillion

Examples of the present disclosure provide a message relay service. The message relay service provides an application programming interface (API) with which messages can be sent and received without handling specific implementation details of a messaging system. When inbound messages are received, the message relay service may provide a push notification and/or may store the message for later access. In examples, one or more source addresses are used to send messages. If the client device indicates a group of addresses should be used, one address is selected from the group and used to send a message accordingly. In some examples, the message relay service determines that a messaging gateway need not be used to message a recipient address, and transmits the message without use of the messaging gateway. The same API may be used to send and receive messages across different messaging systems without a customer handling system-specific complexities.

Platform-agnostic message relay service for inbound messages

Platform-agnostic message relay service for outbound messages

Novel tools and techniques for providing enhanced services to telephone subscribers with multiple telephone lines, which can include one or more traditional telephone lines, wireless telephone lines, Internet protocol-based telephone lines, and/or the like. For example, certain tools can provide a subscriber with a unified voice mailbox for a plurality of the subscriber's telephone lines. In some cases, the subscriber does not need to check multiple voice mailboxes (each associated with one of the subscriber's telephone numbers) in order to ensure that the subscriber has received all messages intended for that subscriber. Instead, any incoming call on any of the subscriber's lines can be routed to a converged voice mailbox for easy retrieval by the subscriber of all messages from one location. Some tools employ a VoIP switch to handle routing of the incoming call to the correct voice mailbox.

Converged voice mail services

Solutions for facilitating enhanced video calling functionality. Embodiments include functionality for handling video calling through a communications hub. According to some embodiments, the communications hub is a user supersystem having multiple clients, each with an integrated camera and display, capable of seamlessly handing off video call functionality among the clients. Other embodiments integrate other functionality of the communications hub (e.g., web browsing, multimedia, etc.) into the video call environment.

Video call handling

Solutions for capturing and displaying conversation history for providing conversation capture functionality. Some such solutions use a user supersystem as a communications hub to capture and/or generate relevant information for enhancing conversations with contacts, including address book information, contact notes, conversation history information, and/or conversation anchors. The information may then be processed for display to the user via a graphical interface.

Conversation capture

Solutions for providing integrated task list functionality. Some such solutions use a user supersystem as a communications hub to generate, display, and/or handle user-based tasks for a family group. For example, tasks may be assigned to one or more members of the family and associated with various types of dates, rewards, audits, etc. Family members may then interact with the tasks through the communications hub and/or through other devices (e.g., cell phones, etc.).

Multi-user integrated task list

Novel tools and techniques for providing a subscriber with converged voice services, in which calls to one of the subscriber's telephone numbers is routed to some or all of the subscriber's telephone numbers (e.g., sequentially or simultaneously, depending on system configuration and/or subscriber preference). Some implementations employ a VoIP switch to handle call distribution among the subscriber's various phone lines, even if some (or all) of the subscribers telephone lines are not VoIP lines. In such implementations, upon receiving an incoming call directed to one of the subscriber's lines, a service switching point will route the call to a VoIP switch. Instructed by an application server, the VoIP switch will set up call legs (e.g., via the PSTN) to one or more of the subscribers' telephone numbers. Optionally, when one of the call legs is answered, the application server will instruct the VoIP switch to disconnect the other call legs.

Converged voice services

Solutions for providing integrated media services, e.g., in the context of communications services offered through a user supersystem configured as an interactive graphical communications hub. For example, interactions with a messaging interface may provide access to media creation functionality, including doodle functionality, in the context of the messaging and/or in the context of other media. In one implementation, the communications interface allows a user to doodle in the context of an image file (e.g., a photo) while in the context of a chat application.

Doodle-in-chat-context

Solutions for providing context-driven communications mode determinations. Some such solutions use a communications hub located in a home (e.g., a user supersystem) to facilitate context-driven, multi-modal communications. For example, a tablet system may be used as a graphical communications hub in a family's home, used by the family to communicate to and from the home via multiple communications modes (e.g., family chat, family activities, user-based messaging, etc.) over one or more communications channels. Determination of an appropriate mode for communications may be driven by contextual (rather that channel-based) factors relating to the communications.

Integrated multi-modal chat

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Denver, CO, United States of America

Richard Cerami