Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8019071 | Distributed conferencing via PBX-conference bridge link A method, apparatus and computer program product for performing distributed conferencing is presented. A Public Branch Exchange (PBX) receives a plurality of calls intended for a conference bridge from a plurality of conference participants. The plurality of confere... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7995733 | Telecommunications endpoint for managing multi-conferencing An apparatus or endpoint device is disclosed for providing the capability to simultaneously manage multiple conference calls, move participants in the conference calls from one conference call to another and subdivide or join multiple conference calls together, and ... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7995732 | Managing audio in a multi-source audio environment Methods, systems, and computer-readable media provide for the management of an audio environment with multiple audio sources. According to various embodiments described herein, real-time audio from multiple sources is received. A speaker is identified for each of th... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7991137 | System and method for collaborative and social group phone conferencing A system to facilitate phone conferencing between a plurality of phone users over a communications network, program product, and methods are provided. Phone conferencing over a communications network is facilitated by a system that forms a server network that enable... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7912197 | Conference system discussion unit with exchangeable modules A discussion unit (6) for use in a conference system (8) is disclosed, which is adapted to be connected to at least one second discussion unit (6) of the conference system (8). The discussion unit (6) is switchable between at least... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7853000 | System and method for initiating a conference call The present invention is a system and method for initiating conference calls via an instant messaging system to reduce the effort required to initiate and manage the call. The system uses an IM connection between a requesting party and a conference call server to in... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7804948 | System and method for initiating a conference call The present invention is a system and method for initiating conference calls via an instant messaging system to reduce the effort required to initiate and manage the call. The system uses an IM connection between a requesting party and a conference call server to in... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7436785 | Method and system for location based subject matter teleconferencing A method and system for location based subject matter teleconferencing is disclosed. A user makes a request to join a teleconference based on the user's location and subject matter. A conference-call-setup-system (“CCSS”) receives the request. The CCSS determine... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7412047 | Conference call setup automation The present invention automatically establishes a connection to each participant of a teleconference. Conference call set up and connect information may be provisioned in a variety of ways, including via a menu-based Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) mechanism and... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7362698 | Method, system and service for achieving synchronous communication responsive to dynamic status A method for routing a communication connection request includes the steps of obtaining context information from a communication connection requestor in response to a communication connection request. The steps further include using the context information to determ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7356139 | Computer telephony integration (CTI) complete hospitality contact center Methods and systems are disclosed for enabling a dynamic hospitality contact center (DHCC) that leverages the assets of a hospitality center's communications systems including internal telecommunications networks, information systems, data networks, and applications... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7343008 | Identity-based conferencing systems and methods Described in this paper are systems and methods of providing conferencing services where a conference participant is identified by the conferencing system when calling into the system. The system and methods focus on individual users instead of groups of participant... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7336776 | Method of establishing a multi-user call in a communication system The present invention provides a method for establishing a multi-user call in a communication system. The communication system receives a call request to establish a group call with a shared group of users. The communication system determines which of the plurality ... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7295852 | Automated telephone conferencing method and system A computer implemented method of conducting a teleconference is disclosed. The method includes selecting a group of potential conferees using a graphical user interface tool displayed on a display screen, automatically setting up the teleconference by accessing tele... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7289620 | Method and apparatus for managing incoming and outgoing calls at an endpoint placed on hold A method and apparatus for managing incoming and outgoing calls at an endpoint placed on hold are disclosed. A first call that includes an outbound media stream is established on a network between a first endpoint and a second endpoint. The first endpoint detects th... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7269252 | Method and apparatus for improving nuisance signals in audio/video conference A system to allow a conferee defined as a nuisance source to respond to an automatic nuisance decision of a Multipoint Control Unit is disclosed. For example, a conferee placing a conference on hold may generate on hold music, which may be identified by a nuisance d... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7254226 | Call waiting priority alert A method for delivering a priority call waiting alert service to a telephone subscriber. An embodiment of the present invention may be implemented on an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). When a call intended the subscriber is received by a service switching point ... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7231208 | User interface-technique for managing an active call A portable electronic device includes a housing, a processor supported by the housing, a memory coupled to the processor, and a communications transceiver coupled to the processor. The transceiver is configured to support voice conference calling between more than t... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7213073 | Call management system A computer system provides, via a network, at least one telephone feature to a telephone of a user. The computer system receives instructions regarding the telephone feature via the network from a graphical user interface operating on a computer of the user. The net... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7209947 | Data network-assisted conference establishment A system and method for providing data network-assisted conference service to a wireless terminal. Conference-related information is received from a conference originator and stored. Prior to conference establishment time, a conference notification message is sent t... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7200214 | Method and system for participant control of privacy during multiparty communication sessions A method and system for participant control of privacy during a multiparty communication session includes receiving a request from a first participant to a multiparty communication connection for a sidebar between the first participant and a second participant to th... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7191129 | System and method for data mining of contextual conversations A system and method for mining data from stored telephone conversations is provided. Users request advanced data processing on the recorded data, either on the live data stream or the data in storage. Processes search the recorded data for keywords and phrases that ... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7180992 | Method and device for providing conferences The invention provides assistance, by providing a control interface between a recognition or announcement/dialog function with voice recognition functionality and a conference management function, via which the conference can be controlled and monitored in an automa... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7173914 | Communication node receipt of node-output information from processorless central equipment A first communication node of a plurality of communication nodes connected with processorless central equipment in a system sends one or more first portions of node-output information to the processorless central equipment. One or more additional communication nodes... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7167552 | Quorums in meet-me conference calls In one embodiment, a method for joining a meet-me conference call includes but is not limited to presenting an option to specify a quorum associated with a meet-me conference call, in response to user input to an application program co-resident with a terminal. In o... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7162025 | Conference call dialing A communication device recognizes a first string of characters as a telephone number and a second string of characters as additional information related to the telephone number. A menu is then displayed having a menu item including the telephone number and the addit... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7139378 | Method for signaling an incoming call According to the inventive method, an incoming call that is directed to a subscriber terminal (Tln 1) allocated to a subscriber group (Tln1 to Tln n) is signaled to the subscriber terminal (Tln 1) called and additionally to at least one subscrib... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7133512 | Conference call aggregation using an interactive voice response system Within an interactive voice response system, a method of aggregating conference calls can include registering a caller with the interactive voice response system, accessing a calendar system used by the registered caller to determine teleconference data specifying a... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7133521 | Method and apparatus for DTMF detection and voice mixing in the CELP parameter domain A method and apparatus for DTMF detection and voice mixing in the code-excited linear prediction (CELP) parameter space, without fully decoding and reconstructing the speech signal. The apparatus includes a Dual Tone Multiplexed Frequency (DTMF) signal detection mod... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7133831 | System and method for processing personal telephony recorder commands A system and method for receiving and processing specialized voice commands during a conference call. Users issue vocal commands to retrieve information during the live conference or during later playback. A user may issue these commands by voice or by sending data ... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7130643 | Method and system for selectively paging a communication device based on self-detected position of the communication device A portable phone is equipped with a position detector that detects the geographical position of the portable phone, and a telephone system may ring one or more land-based phones or portable phones according to the geographical position of the portable phone. One or ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7095826 | Method and system for providing enhanced call waiting A method and system are disclosed for providing an enhanced call waiting announcement to a called party that is busy on a first call and receives a second call. Information provided by a second calling party is recorded and played back to the called party after the ... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7058168 | Method and system for participant control of privacy during multiparty communication sessions A method and system for participant control of privacy during a multiparty communication session includes receiving a request from a first participant to a multiparty communication connection for a sidebar between the first participant and a second participant to th... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7050861 | Controlling a destination terminal from an originating terminal A caller associates computer software code with a signalling protocol messages such that when the messages are received at a destination processor the computer software code is executed. For example, the messages may be improved SIP protocol messages with incorporat... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7010107 | Internet conference call bridge management system The invention pertains to an Internet conference call bridge management (ICCBM) system and method with which a person (customer) having access to the Internet may efficiently input the contact number of at least one party (call recipient) with whom the customer want... | 03/07/2006 |
| 7006618 | Method and apparatus for managing incoming and outgoing calls at an endpoint placed on hold A method and apparatus for managing incoming and outgoing calls at an endpoint placed on hold are disclosed. A first call that includes an outbound media stream is established on a network between a first endpoint and a second endpoint. The first endpoint detects th... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7006455 | System and method for supporting conferencing capabilities over packet-switched networks An IP telephone which supports a voice conference call with a plurality of other IP telephones over a packet-switched network is disclosed. The IP telephone exchanges audio and signaling messages with the other IP devices during the conference call, and thereby allo... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6993497 | Integrated, interactive telephone and computer network communications system A method comprising the steps of: receiving via internet a time, a date and a telephone number for a reminder telephone call (such as a wakeup call); storing in a database the time, date and telephone number of the reminder telephone call; and delivering to the subs... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6978001 | Method and system for controlling audio content during multiparty communication sessions A method and system for controlling audio content during a multiparty communication session includes prompting active participants to the multiparty communication session to identify themselves. Media from a particular device from which no active participant is iden... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6967957 | Architecture for the rapid creation of telephony services in a next generation network A service architecture for the rapid development of next generation telephony services that overcomes the limitations of the current closed PSTN architecture and service model. In this architecture services are provided by multiple cooperating distributed service pr... | 11/22/2005 |
