Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis – Call source identification
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-31
2004-06-08
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
Call source identification
C379S201110, C379S142060, C379S207150
Reexamination Certificate
active
06748058
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to caller identification systems, and more particularly, to a caller identification system which audibly and visually announces an incoming telephone call when the telephone number and possibly the name of the calling party are unavailable to the caller identification system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Telephone users who subscribe to a caller identification service, commonly referred to as “caller ID service,” do so because they want to know who is trying to call them on each and every incoming telephone call. Caller ID subscribers desire to know in advance who is calling them in order to make an informed decision about answering the call. They want to be able to answer calls from parties that they know if it is convenient for them to talk to the party at the present time. If it is not a convenient time, they can choose to not talk the known party. And finally, caller ID subscribers want to be able to choose whether or not to answer calls from parties that they do not know.
However, many telephone calls received by caller ID subscribers are from calling parties who have blocked their name and telephone number from being revealed to the caller ID subscriber by the caller identification system. In such cases, the caller ID subscriber's visual display unit does not show the name or number of the calling party. This is very frustrating to the caller ID subscriber, because this defeats the very purpose for which the caller ID subscriber secured the caller ID service in the first place: to know the name and number of all parties calling them.
This situation is also frustrating to the calling party. When a calling party who has blocked their name and telephone number calls a caller ID subscriber who has turned on the blocked call rejection feature, the calling party receives a recorded message indicating that the caller ID subscriber does not accept blocked telephone calls. In such situations, if the calling party wants to speak to the caller ID subscriber, the calling party has to take certain steps to unblock his telephone number from the caller identification system. Typically, such steps may entail the calling party hanging up, picking the handset up again, entering a sequence of command symbols or numbers through their telephone keypad, and then redialing the desired party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing problems and difficulties, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an improved caller identification system that audibly announces to a caller ID subscriber that an incoming call is from a calling party whose telephone number and possibly their name is not available to the caller identification system.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an audibly distinct ring on a caller ID subscriber's telephone to alert the subscriber that the incoming telephone call will be audibly announced, since the telephone number and possibly the name of the calling party is not available to the caller identification system.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is to visually display a special message on a caller ID subscriber's visual display unit to alert the subscriber that the incoming telephone call will be audibly announced, since the telephone number and possibly the name of the calling party is not available to the caller identification system.
Still another aspect of the invention is to provide an opportunity for a calling party, whose telephone number and possibly their name is not available to the caller identification system and who is calling a caller ID subscriber, to unblock the calling party's name and telephone number for the current call only without having to hang up and redial.
These aspects and additional advantages are realized in the present invention which operates within a telephone system network within a Local Calling Area (LCA) and the local central offices within the LCA. The telephone system network utilizes switches operating within a Signaling System
7
protocol network that supports Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) capabilities. The central offices servicing the caller ID subscribers are digital electronic switching systems of a suitable type, such as a 5ESS from Lucent, or a DMS100 from Nortel, or an analog electronic switching system of a suitable type, such as a 1AESS from Lucent. The central offices must also be equipped with AIN Terminating Attempt Triggers (TAT), which are equipped against the caller ID subscriber's line in the serving central office.
The serving central offices identify incoming telephone calls from various call sources, and determine whether or not the incoming call's directory number is available. The serving central offices also identify the directory number that the call is directed to. If a termination attempt trigger is equipped against the directory number that the call is directed to, the serving central office suspends connecting the call and sends a query to a database within a services control point. The services control point provides call processing instructions for calls to a caller ID subscriber who has a call processing record equipped with the caller ID service. An intelligent peripheral provides audio announcements, collects digit input from a telephone keypad, and connects the calling party to the caller ID subscriber when directed to do so by the services control point. The intelligent peripheral is connected to the serving central office through primary rate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) trunks. The intelligent peripheral is accessed through direct inward dial telephone numbers that are route indexed to the intelligent peripheral.
The caller identification system of the present invention, in addition to allowing caller ID subscribers to receive calls where the telephone number and possibly the name of a calling party are available to the caller identification system, provides unblocking or audible identification on telephone calls from calling parties having blocked or unknown numbers. Calling parties from blocked or unknown numbers will hear an announcement, such as “The number you are calling does not accept unidentified calls.” This announcement may be followed by other announcements based on whether the unidentified call is blocked or unknown. A blocked call, also referred to as a private call, is a call from a number that is available to the telephone switching system but has been marked private at the request of the calling party, and thus cannot be delivered to the caller ID subscriber. An unknown call is a call from a number that is not available to the telephone switching system for some other reason. For example, some long distance carriers may not pass along the ten digits of the calling party's telephone number. In addition, some operator calls or collect calls may also not pass along the calling party's ten digit telephone number. Also, auto dialers used by telemarketing companies often prevent the ten digits of the calling number from being passed along.
In the present invention, calling parties from blocked numbers are given the option of unblocking their name and telephone number for the current call, or to record their name for delivery to the caller ID subscriber. Calling parties from unknown numbers are given the option of recording their name for audible identification.
If the calling party presses a specified digit on the telephone keypad, such as a zero (0) during or immediately after the announcement(s), the signal sent from the telephone keypad causes the caller identification system to replay the announcement(s). If the blocked or private calling party presses another specified digit on the telephone keypad, such as a two (2), or waits, or if the unknown calling party presses another specified digit, such as a one (1), or waits, the signal sent causes the caller identification system to play announcements instructing the calling party to say the calling party's name after the tone, and then press another specified digit, such as the
Bell Brent V.
Davy Gloria E.
Marks Martin R.
Reynolds Douglas F.
Schwend Peggy S.
Crouch Robert G.
Marsh & Fischmann & Breyfogle LLP
Qwest Communications Int'l., Inc.
Sing Simon P.
Tsang Fan
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