WO2004071057A1

WO2004071057A1 - Alarm muting of incoming calls without noticing the caller

Info

Publication number: WO2004071057A1
Application number: PCT/TR2003/000107
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aslan Tekin ÖNEL
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-02-07
Filing date: 2003-12-30
Publication date: 2004-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2005-08-07
Also published as: AU2003303868A1; EP1632079A1; TR200300195A2

Abstract

The present invention is essentially a mobile communication device, having a transceiver, a processor, a display (2), a key pad (3), and noticing means, wherein when said mobile communication device is called and the incoming call is notified to a user by means of this noticing means, said processor inactivates said noticing means for muting the device without hanging up the call, and which also comprises a menu structure for allowing the user to give a command to the processor to inactivate the noticing means by above mentioned way.

Description

ALARM MUTING OF INCOMING CALLS WITHOUT NOTICING THE CALLER

Technical Field

The present invention relates to mobile communication devices. It particularly relates to muting incoming calls to said mobile communication devices.

Background of Invention

Incoming calls in currently used mobile communication devices such as mobile phones are notified to a user by ringer and/or vibration options. If the user is convenient to have a phone talk, he/she accepts the incoming call and starts the talk. And if the user is in an inconvenient circumstance, such as in a noisy environment, or in a meeting, for instance, he/she may become obliged to switch the phone off or reject the incoming call to not to disturb the others. The user can reject an incoming call also upon his/her personal preference, of course.

Whatever the case is, it is obvious that this behavior bears an unpleasantness for both the caller and the receiver of such calls. This behavior may be regarded as impoliteness or roughness by the caller, whereas the receiver of such calls may become obliged to return to the caller afterwards and endure the call cost. Also the time between receiving such call and calling back can be considered as a loss.

In conclusion, if the user can be provided with the opportunity to mute his/her phone device without noticing the caller, he/she shall become able to change his/her location to have a convenient place for phone talk without becoming obliged to reject the incoming call and without disturbing or getting disturbed by the environment. If t he u ser p refers t o n eglect s uch i ncoming c all, h e/she s hall become able to mute his/her phone without disturbing the environment and let continue the incoming call signal. In this circumstance, the yet-unanswered call will be terminated by the operator after a certain while or the caller will cancel it with the thought that it was unheard.

Brief Description of Invention

The present invention relates to a novel incoming call handling method eliminating the aforementioned drawbacks. The objective of the present invention is to provide a phone user with the opportunity of switching off his/her phone's audible a nd/or v ibration signals a ny desired moment without having to reject an incoming call, when such a call is received and he/she is warned by said audible and/or vibration signals.

In order the realize this objective, the present invention provides a mobile communication device, having essentially a transceiver, a processor, a display, a key pad, and noticing means, which is characterized in that

when said mobile communication device is called and the incoming call is notified to a user by means of said noticing means, said processor inactivates said noticing means for muting said phone without hanging up the call; and

it comprises a menu structure for allowing the user to give a command to the processor to inactivate the noticing means by the abovementioned way.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said processor causes a noticing interface for allowing a user to accept or reject an incoming call to b e displayed on said display, whenever said mobile communication device is called. Here, when the user depresses a certain key in said key pad once, said processor inactivates said noticing means, and when the user depresses the same key the second time, the incoming call is rejected. Thus said menu structure comprises a menu element for allowing said processor to operate accordingly.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, said processor automatically inactivates said noticing means for all calls received by said mobile communication device in a user-predetermined time interval and said menu structure comprises a menu element for allowing said processor to operate accordingly.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, said noticing means is audio or vibration based.

Still in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, said mobile communication device is a mobile phone. The embodiment and advantages of the present invention shall be understood better with the annexed figures described below and the present invention must be evaluated by considering these descriptions.

Brief Description of Figures

Figures 1a and 1 b illustrate the steps where a user realizes a preferred application of muting incoming calls according to the present invention.

Reference Numbers

1. Main body

2. Display 3. Key pad

Detailed Description of Invention

Thanks to the mobile phone illustration in figures 1a and 1 b, the operation manner of muting incoming calls according to the present invention shall be understand better.

As can be seen from the figures, said mobile phone comprises a main body (1 ); a display (2) and a key pad (3) within said body (1) for allowing a user to enter information to said mobile phone. This mobile phone comprises further a processor and noticing means not illustrated in these figures. Besides driving the display (2) and controlling the communication and other functions of the mobile phone not mentioned herein, the processor performs (with the help of peripheral units, if necessary) the function of muting incoming calls according to the present invention as detailed hereunder. As for said noticing means, it notifies a user by means of sound, light or vibration, in circumstances such as receipt of a message, an incoming call, alarm, etc., requiring to notify the user

The mobile phone disclosed herein, however, does not constitute a restrictive example i n a ny way. This mobile phone can comprise other units except those mentioned above and the subject function is applicable to such phone as well.

When the user desires to activate the subject function, he/she enters into the relevant menu of the mobile phone and selects accordingly the menu line for muting the incoming calls. When the phone s user is called, said noticing means activates and notifies the user on the incoming call with sound and/or vibration. In this context, the phone's processor causes a query interface to be displayed on the display when a call is received. An "accept" option and a "mute" option are provided here for allowing the user to accept and mute an incoming call, respectively. The keys corresponding to these options are defined beforehand in the processor. In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user depresses the "YES" key to a ccept a call and depresses the "NO" key once to mute the call, i.e. to inactivate the noticing means. In this case, if the phone notifies the user with sound, the sound will be muted, if it notifies the user with vibration, vibration will be stopped, and if it notifies with both sound and vibration, both will be deactivated. I n a n a Itemative e mbodiment h ere w hen t he p hone i s muted, a LED on the phone flashes to notify the user on a continuing incoming call signal.

When the user depresses the "NO" key and mutes the phone, the processor leaves unchanged the "accept" option, but replaces the "mute" option with "reject" option on the display by means of a software comprised in said processor, as seen in Figure 1b. If the user desires to reject the incoming call at this point, he/she depresses the "NO" key in the key pad the second time.

In further alternative embodiments of the present invention, the keys or key combinations to accept, mute, or reject incoming calls may differ from those disclosed herein.

In addition to above disclosures, the feature of muting incoming calls according to the present invention can be m ade more functional. I n a n a pplication, the u ser becomes able to set this feature to get activated on a certain hour or date. A person A, for instance, shall attend a significant meeting between 16:00 and 17:00 on February 15, 2003, and does not want to be disturbed during this meeting. In this instance, said person sets this date and hour data in his/her phone right after this appointment is notified to him/her. And when this person attends the meeting, his/her phone is already muted to incoming calls without having to reject them. The present invention cannot be restricted with the foregoing disclosures. It is obvious that a person skilled in the art can easily realize the present invention of mobile communication device capable to mute incoming calls with elements differing only in technical details from the elements disclosed here above.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device, having essentially a transceiver, a processor, a display (2), a key pad (3), and noticing means, characterized in that,

when said mobile communication device is called, said processor allows the user to inactivate said noticing means for muting said phone without hanging up the call; and

it comprises a menu structure for allowing the user to give a command to said processor to inactivate the noticing means.

2. A mobile communication device according to Claim 1 , wherein, said processor causes a noticing interface for allowing a user to accept or mute an incoming call to be displayed on said display (2), whenever said mobile communication device is called, and said menu structure comprises a menu element for allowing users to command said processor to operate accordingly.

3. A mobile communication device according to Claim 1 , wherein, when the user depresses a certain key in said key pad (3) once, said processor inactivates said noticing means and displays a new noticing interface in said display (2) for allowing the user to reject or to accept an incoming call; when the user depresses said key the second time, it rejects the incoming call; and wherein said menu structure comprises a menu element for allowing users to command said processor to operate accordingly.

4. A mobile communication device according to Claim 1 , wherein said processor automatically inactivates said noticing means for all calls received by said mobile communication device in a user-predetermined time interval and said menu structure comprises a menu element for allowing users to command said processor to operate accordingly.

5. A mobile communication device according to any of the foregoing claims, wherein said noticing means is an audio or vibration based means.

6. A mobile communication device according to any of the foregoing claims, wherein said mobile communication device is a mobile phone.