US Patent 9729705 Audible alerts for co-located devices

A user may have multiple devices that are associate with a single user address such as an email address, a telephone number, a user name, a user ID, etc. When a communication is addressed to the single user address, each of the devices is queried to determine its location, and any devices that are co-located within a common geographic area are identified. For those devices within the common geographic area, one of the devices is selected and instructed to play an audible alert. The other devices within the common geographic area are not instructed or are specifically instructed not to play the audible alert. All of the user's multiple devices may present a visual alert.