Phone number filter user interface

• US 20040264666A1
• Filed: 06/25/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Mathieson, Charles, Guo, Chunseng
• Application Number:
  US10/607,107
• Publication Number:
  US 20040264666A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/201.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54

Abstract

A user of a telephone system specifies a set of profiles specifying calls that will be handled in a certain fashion, the calls may by specified in a number of ways, such as a) country or area code of origin, particular originating numbers, originating numbers without ID (telemarketers), computer-generated calls, and the like; or b) the calls may be specified according to the status of the recipient, such as in a meeting, traveling, asleep, and the like; or c) calls that provide an override code to override an automatic rejection or an automatic shift to voice mail and ring through.

Claims

1. A telephone system for connecting callers and users, comprising:

user-specifiable means for defining at least one filter for filtering incoming calls and taking user-definable responses on incoming calls that satisfy the requirements of said at least one filter, in which;

the user specifies a profile;

the user has the option of modifying parameters of the specified profile, including specifying at least one filter in the profile and specifying user-specifiable parameters thereof;

the system includes means for guiding the user through a setup sequence; and

the telephone system includes means for applying the user-specified profiles.

2. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

at least one profile depends on the status of the user, selected by the user from a list of at least two profiles, with a set of responses correlated with the status specified in the selected profile.

3. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 2, in which:

at least one profile includes at least two responses that depend on the time zone in which the user is located and the time of day in that time zone.

4. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

at least one profile has at least two responses that are activated according to the time of day.

5. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 4, in which:

at least two responses that are activated according to the time of day depend on the user'"'"'s normal working hours and the user'"'"'s normal sleeping hours.

6. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

at least one profile depends on the time zone in which the user is located.

7. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 6, in which:

the system identifies the time zone of the location of the user and automatically applies a profile if the time zone of the user corresponds to the time zone in the profile.

8. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 6, in which:

different profiles apply to Europe, Asia and the American continents.

9. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

at least two filters apply a different response to an incoming call of the same category.

10. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

the system identifies the location of the user.

11. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

calls that satisfy a specified criterion pass through the filter even if they do not satisfy another criterion of the filter.

12. A telephone system for connecting callers and users according to claim 1, in which:

the user specifies a set of at least one response to at least one filter.

13. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium readable by a computer, the medium embodying instructions executable by the computer for performing method steps in a telephone system for connecting callers and users, comprising:

defining at least one filter for filtering incoming calls and taking user-definable responses on incoming calls that satisfy the requirements of said at least one filter, in which;

the user specifies a profile;

the user has the option of modifying parameters of the specified profile, including specifying at least one filter in the profile and specifying user-specifiable parameters thereof;

the system includes means for guiding the user through a setup sequence; and

applying the user-specified profiles.

14. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

at least one profile depends on the status of the user, selected by the user from a list of at least two profiles, with a set of responses correlated with the status specified in the selected profile.

15. An article of manufacture according to claim 14, in which:

at least one profile includes at least two responses that depend on the time zone in which the user is located and the time of day in that time zone.

16. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

at least one profile has at least two responses that are activated according to the time of day.

17. An article of manufacture according to claim 16, in which:

at least two responses that are activated according to the time of day depend on the user'"'"'s normal working hours and the user'"'"'s normal sleeping hours.

18. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

at least one profile depends on the time zone in which the user is located.

19. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, in which:

the system identifies the time zone of the location of the user and automatically applies a profile if the time zone of the user corresponds to the time zone in the profile.

20. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, in which:

different profiles apply to Europe, Asia and the American continents.

21. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

at least two filters apply a different response to an incoming call of the same category.

22. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

the system identifies the location of the user.

23. An article of manufacture according to claim 13, in which:

calls that satisfy a specified criterion pass through the filter even if they do not satisfy another criterion of the filter.