Urgency-based variable call notification

• Main Authors: Bonomo, Paul, Beyda, William J, Shaffer, Shmuel
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 25.11.2003

The invention relates generally to communications devices that include alert mechanisms and more particularly to methods and devices for enabling a person to make an informed decision as to whether to respond to a call. A method and device are configured to generate alerts that are varied based upon whether an incoming communication is perceived to be mode (i.e., a non-urgency mode), with different tactile-based patterns being dependent upon the selection of the mode. That is, the patterns of the alerts for providing notification of urgent communications are distinguishable from the patterns of alerts for providing notification of non-urgent communications. In the preferred embodiment, the communications device allows a user to assign particular vibrational patterns to specific sources of incoming communications, so that the vibration pattern identifies the urgency pattern and the original source of the communication. In the pager application, the pager may be configured by a user to uniquely associate a particular callback number with a first alert that is used when the pager is in the urgency mode and a second alert that is used when the pager is in the normal mode. The indication of perceived urgency can be provided by the user of the device or by a caller. In applications in which the user identifies perceived urgency, specific callback numbers may be associated with an urgent status, while all other numbers are associated with being non-urgent. Where a caller provides the input for identifying perceived urgency, an interactive voice response (IVR) unit may be used at the service provider of the particular communications device.