Patent EP0531048A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0531048A2
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EP
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A system for providing personalized telephone calling features
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1992-08-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-08-27
Abstract
Abstract A common adjunct switch (150) integrated with a telecommunications network (100) and associated with a plurality of predetermined telephone numbers prefixed by a common code is provided with a facility which allows telephone subscribers (S1, S2...) that are assigned respective ones of the telephone numbers to personalize the way in which they receive telephone calls. For example, a subscriber may program an associated service record to put into effect call forwarding or call screening. In addition, a subscriber may be associated with one or more caller identification numbers, in which a caller identification number is used to determine whether a call placed to a service number is billed to the called subscriber or the calling party.
Inventors
- 👤 Carroll W. Creswell
- 👤 Francine S. Frome
- 👤 Daniel Furman
- 👤 Philip S. Kravitz
- 👤 Ramnath A. Lakshmi-Ratan
- 👤 Steven G. Lanning
- 👤 Bernard S.L. Renger
- 👤 John A. Rotondo
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 14:38
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M15/00; H04M15/90; H04M3/4228; H04M3/436; H04M3/50; H04M3/53; H04M3/533; H04M3/54; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/0016; H04Q3/0029; H04M2215/00; H04M2215/01; H04M2215/016; H04M3/38; H04M3/382; H04M3/42229; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13091; H04Q2213/1313; H04Q2213/13256; H04Q2213/13282; H04Q2213/13541; H04Q2213/13547
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for providing personal telecommunications service, said method CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of storing for each of a plurality of subscriber telephone numbers at least a first caller identifier and the specification of a first call routing treatment associated with that identifier, answering a first telephone call directed to a particular one of said subscriber telephone numbers, receiving a caller identifier during said call after it has been answered, and processing said call using the call routing treatment associated with the received caller identifier stored for said particular subscriber telephone number.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of answering a second telephone call directed to said particular subscriber telephone number, and processing said second telephone call using a second call routing treatment in the absence of the receipt during said second call of said first caller identifier stored for said particular subscriber telephone number.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 2 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said first caller identifier is a predetermined multidigit number.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 2 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT each said call routing treatment comprises forwarding a call to a selected one of a predetermined plurality of destinations, said destinations including a default telephone number, a subscriber-administerable altemate telephone number, and a voice messaging facility.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 2 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT charges associated with said second call are billed to other than said particular subscriber telephone number in the absence of the receipt during said second call of any caller identifier stored for said particular subscriber telephone number.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 2 or 3 FURTHER CHARACTERIZD IN THAT each said call treatment further comprises using one of a predetermined plurality of call billing modes.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 6 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the step of indicating to the originator of a call the destination that will be used in processing said call and/or the billing mode for that call.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 6 wherein said one of said plurality of billing modes includes the billing of a call to the originator of said call.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 6 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of indicating to the originator of a call the destination that will be used in processing that call and the billing mode therefor, and extending to said originator the option to terminate said call, these steps being performed if the billing mode for the call is the billing of the call to said originator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 8 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT one of said plurality of billing modes is the billing of a call to said particular subscriber telephone number.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 1 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said first call treatment comprises forwarding said first call to a voice messaging facility which provides a selected announcement message to the originator of said first call, said announcement being a first announcement if the received caller identifier is said first caller identifier and being a second announcement otherwise.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 2 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said first call treatment comprises the forwarding of said first call to at least a first predetermined telephone number and wherein said second call treatment comprises the forwarding of said second cancel to a voice messaging facility, whereby a call screening functionality is provided.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 2 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said second call treatment comprises the entry into a service administration menu provided in response to the receipt during said second call of a predetermined subscriber identifier.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 13 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said subscriber identifier and each caller identifier are multi-digit numbers, said subscriber identifier having a different number of digits from any caller identifier.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 13 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said service administration menu includes a predetermined plurality of service functionalities each selectable by the caller associated with said predetermined subscriber identifier.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 15 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT one of said plurality of service functionalities includes extending said second call to a voice messaging service so that the associated caller may obtain messages addressed to the associated caller associated with said predetermined subscriber identifier.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 15 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT one of said plurality of service functionalities includes a bulletin board service operative for allowing the caller associated with said predetermined subscriber identifier to store a message addressed to said first caller identifier.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 15 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT one of said plurality of administerable service functionalities includes an option to program a call forwarding telephone numbers associated with a respective one of the routing call treatments.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 18 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT another one of said plurality of administerable service functionalities includes an option to program associated caller identifiers and associating those identifiers with different ones of said respective call routing treatments including default routing treatments.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 19 FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said option includes associating said at least one of said call treatments with a particular duration of time during which the associated treatment may be invoked.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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