Activation of a telephone's own call answering equipment according to the number of the calling party

• US 20010028709A1
• Filed: 04/06/2001
• Published: 10/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Antti Jauhiainen, Jarmo Makela, Jens Jakobsen
• Original Assignee: Antti Jauhiainen, Jarmo Makela, Jens Jakobsen
• Inventors: Jakobsen, Jens, Jauhiainen, Antti, Makela, Jarmo
• Granted Patent: US 7,801,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/214.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

In a communication device (20) comprising a message function (SMS, Short Message Service) a certain short message (7) or other reply message is sent in response to an incoming call in a situation where the user can'"'"'t answer the call him/herself. The reply message can be sent immediately (9) or after a short delay (10, 11), whereby during the delay, the user can choose, whether he/she answers him/herself. The calling party (5) is identified from the CLI information (Caller Line Identity), whereby the reply message can be chosen according to the calling party. Time information can be included in the reply message in order to express at which time by the clock or after a how long time the receiving party is reachable. After that time the automatic reply function based on the reply message is automatically disconnected.

Claims

1. A method for replying a call coming to a communication device in a situation where the user of the communication device can'"'"'t answer the call him/herself, characterized in that in response to the incoming call, the communication device identifies the caller on the basis of an identification information included within the incoming call and sends a reply according to a selection made by the user, or directs the incoming call to another aswering service, said reply being one of the following:

a voice message, an e-mail message, a facsimile, an SMS message (7) in the form of a character string.

2. A method in accordance with

claim 1

, characterized in that the communication device sends said reply immediately (9) in response to an incoming call.

3. A method in accordance with

claim 1

, characterized in that in response to an incoming call, the communication device alarms and waits during a certain predefined delay, and if the user during said delay does not answer said call, the communication device sends said reply (10).

4. A method in accordance with

claim 1

, characterized in that in response to an incoming call, the communication device alarms, and if the user gives a certain key command, the communication device sends said reply (11).

5. A method in accordance with

claim 3

or

4

, characterized in that the communication device gives a soundless alarm.

6. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 2

to

5

, characterized in that the communication device routes said call additionally to a usual call answering machine (8).

7. A method in accordance with any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said reply is at least partly formulated based on the identification of the calling party.

8. A method in accordance with

claim 7

, characterized in that a reply is sent to certain identified calling parties only.

9. A method in accordance with

claim 7

or

8

, characterized in that the reply to be sent in response to the incoming call is different according to the respective company said call is coming from.

10. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 7

to

9

, characterized in that the reply to be sent in response to the incoming call is different according to the respective country said call is coming from.

11. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 7

to

10

, characterized in that the reply to be sent in response to the incoming call is different according to the respective time zone said call is coming from.

12. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 7

to

11

, characterized in that said identification of the calling party is based on a telephone notebook comprised by the communication device.

13. A method in accordance with

claim 12

, characterized in that a piece of information applying to calling party, read from said telephone notebook, is included in said reply.

14. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 7

to

13

, characterized in that a reminder to call the identified calling party will be stored into the communication device, in order to be presented to the user later.

15. A method in accordance with any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said reply includes time information.

16. A method in accordance with

claim 15

, characterized in that said time information comprises a reference to a certain fixed time by the clock.

17. A method in accordance with

claim 15

, characterized in that said time information comprises the length of the time that is left from incoming of the call to a certain fixed time by the clock.

18. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 15

to

17

, characterized in that when the user has entered information concerning his/her time schedule into the communication device, the communication device forms said time information automatically by reading from said time schedule information the time when the user will be reachable.

19. A method in accordance with any of the

claims 15

to

18

, characterized in that when the time until the time expressed by said time information has expired, the function controlling the sending of replies in the communication device in response to an incoming call is automatically disconnected.

20. A communication device (20) for replying an incoming call in a situation where the user of the communication device can'"'"'t reply the call him/herself, characterized in that it comprises means for identifying the caller on the basis of an identification information included within the incoming call and for sending, according to a selection made by the user, a reply in response to the call, said reply being one of the following:

a voice message, an e-mail message, a facsimile, an SMS message (7) in the form of a character string.

21. A communication device in accordance with

claim 20

, characterized in that it comprises a real time clock and means for including time information in said voice message, e-mail message, facsimile, or SMS message.

22. A communication device in accordance with

claim 20

or

21

, characterized in that it comprises a downwards counting timer for expressing the length of the time that is left from a certain predefined time period, and means for attaching the information expressed by said timer to said voice message, e-mail message, facsimile, or SMS message.