System and method for separation of call origination and call delivery techniques

Abstract

System and method to provide an improved user experience for session requests at a multimodal communication terminal, the method including: providing a first user preference, to a server, for incoming communication sessions; receiving, at a first time, by the multimodal communication terminal, an indication of an incoming communication session; enabling control of a session delivery technique of the incoming communication session by use of a user experience; receiving a second user preference, from a user of the multimodal communication terminal, for outgoing communication sessions; receiving, at a second time, by the multimodal communication terminal, a request to establish an outgoing communication session; determining existence of a second predetermined condition, relevant to outgoing communication methods; selecting an outgoing communication method based upon existence of the second predetermined condition and the second user preference; and enabling control of the outgoing communication session by use of the user experience.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to provide an improved user experience for session requests at a multimodal communication terminal, comprising:
 providing a first user preference, to a server, for incoming communication sessions;   receiving, at a first time, by the multimodal communication terminal, an indication of an incoming communication session;   enabling control of a session delivery technique of the incoming communication session by use of a user experience;   receiving a second user preference, from a user of the multimodal communication terminal, for outgoing communication sessions;   receiving, at a second time, by the multimodal communication terminal, a request to establish an outgoing communication session;   determining existence of a second predetermined condition, relevant to outgoing communication methods supported by the multimodal communication terminal;   selecting an outgoing communication method based upon existence of the second predetermined condition and the second user preference; and   enabling control of a session origination technique of the outgoing communication session by use of the user experience;   wherein the selected incoming communication method is independent of the selected outgoing communication method.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the incoming communication session is based upon the first user preference and existence of a first predetermined condition. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein existence of the second predetermined condition is evaluated at approximately the second time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first predetermined condition and the second predetermined condition comprises user presence information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multimodal communication terminal comprises a user-activatable control to select at least one of the first user preference and the second user preference. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the user-activatable control comprises a persistent control configured to persist over a plurality of communication sessions. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multimodal communication terminal comprises an autonomous selection module to select at least one of the session origination technique and the session delivery technique, without selection of a technique by the user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting a first user experience to a user of the multimodal communication terminal based upon the selected incoming session communication method; and   presenting a second user experience to a user of the multimodal communication terminal based upon the selected outgoing session communication method,   wherein the first user experience and second user experience are independent.   
     
     
         9 . A multimodal communication terminal, comprising:
 a transmitter configured to provide a first user preference, to a server, for incoming communication sessions;   a receiver configured to receive, at a first time, by the multimodal communication terminal, an indication of an incoming communication session;   a user interface module configured to enable control of a session delivery technique of the incoming communication session by use of a user experience;   a receiver configured to receive a second user preference, from a user of the multimodal communication terminal, for outgoing communication sessions;   a receiver configured to receive, at a second time, by the multimodal communication terminal, a request to establish an outgoing communication session;   a network status module configured to determine existence of a second predetermined condition, relevant to outgoing communication methods supported by the multimodal communication terminal;   a mode selection module configured to select an outgoing communication method based upon existence of the second predetermined condition and the second user preference; and   a user interface module configured to enable control of a session origination technique of the outgoing communication session by use of the user experience;   wherein the selected incoming communication method is independent of the selected outgoing communication method.   
     
     
         10 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , wherein the incoming communication session is based upon the first user preference and existence of a first predetermined condition. 
     
     
         11 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , wherein existence of the second predetermined condition is evaluated at approximately the second time. 
     
     
         12 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the first predetermined condition and the second predetermined condition comprises user presence information. 
     
     
         13 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , wherein the multimodal communication terminal further comprises a user-activatable control to select at least one of the session origination technique and the session delivery technique. 
     
     
         14 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , wherein the multimodal communication terminal comprises an autonomous selection module to select at least one of the session origination technique and the session delivery technique, without selection of a technique by the user. 
     
     
         15 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 13 , wherein the user-activatable control comprises a persistent control configured to persist over a plurality of communication sessions. 
     
     
         16 . The multimodal communication terminal of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a user interface manager module configured to present a first user experience to a user of the multimodal communication terminal based upon the selected incoming session communication method, and to present a second user experience to a user of the multimodal communication terminal based upon the selected outgoing session communication method,   wherein the first user experience and second user experience are independent.