SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ADVANCED CALL FORWARDING FUNCTIONALITY

• US 20090323919A1
• Filed: 06/25/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Toner, Victoria M., Gupta, Shekhar, Schermerhorn, Rich, Roberts, Mike A., Hawkins, Johnny
• Granted Patent: US 8,175,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72513 On hold, intercom or transfer communication modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1091 Fixed mobile conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

A system and method for providing call forwarding. Telephone information of one or more telephones assigned to a user may be stored, where the telephone information may include location coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates). Telephone information, including location coordinates, of one or more telephones assigned to an organization of which the user is associated may be stored. The organization may be an employer of the user, for example. If call forwarding is enabled by the user, then a call to a wireless device of the user may cause a determination as to whether the wireless device is within a predetermined range of a telephone assigned to either the user or organization may be made. A distinctive ring may be generated to notify the user that a call forwarding call is being received.

Claims

1. A system for providing telephone services, said system comprising:

at least one database configured to;

store at least one telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates of a first set of telephones registered as being available for a call to be routed in an attempt to connect with a user;

store at least one telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates of a second set of telephones registered as being available for a call to be routed in an attempt to connect with the user, the first set of telephones including at least one telephone being assigned to a user and the second set of telephones including at least one telephone assigned to an organization of which the user is associated; and

a processing unit configured to;

in response to receiving a call request;

determine whether a wireless telephone of the user is positioned within a predetermined range of a first telephone of the first set of telephones stored in said at least one database;

in response to determining that the wireless telephone is within the predetermined range of the first telephone, cause a call associated with the call request to be routed to the first telephone;

otherwise, determine whether the wireless telephone of the user is within the predetermined range of a second telephone of the second set of telephones stored in said at least one database; and

in response to determining that the wireless telephone is within the predetermined range of the telephone, cause the call associated with the call request to be routed to the second telephone.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

provide a first interface configured to enable the user to associate the telephone numbers and set of location coordinates with a telephone assigned to the user; and

provide a second interface configured to enable a second user to associate the second set of telephones with second respective sets of location coordinates.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the first interface is configured to receive and store the at least one first telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the second interface is configured to enable the second user to identify the second set of telephones with respect to offices within a facility.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the first interface is an application operating on the wireless device.

6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the second interface is a graphical user interface accessible via a network.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second sets of location coordinates are global position system (GPS) coordinates.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit is further configured to determine whether the user has set a parameter to cause said processor to determine whether the wireless telephone is within the predetermined distance from any of the telephones of the first and second sets of telephones.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit is further configured to cause the call associated with the call request to be routed to the second telephone using a distinctive ring.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the distinctive ring is selectable by the user.

11. A method for providing telephone services, said system comprising:

storing at least one telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates of a first set of telephones registered as being available for a call to be routed in an attempt to connect with a user;

storing at least one telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates of a second set of telephones registered as being available for a call to be routed in an attempt to connect with the user, the first set of telephones including at least one telephone being assigned to the user and the second set of telephones including at least one telephone assigned to an organization of which the user is associated; and

in response to receiving a call request;

determining whether a wireless telephone of the user is positioned within a predetermined range of a first telephone of the first set of telephones;

in response to determining that the wireless telephone is within the predetermined range of the first telephone, causing a call associated with the call request to be routed to the first telephone;

otherwise, determining whether the wireless telephone of the user is within the predetermined range of a second telephone of the second set of telephones; and

in response to determining that the wireless telephone is within the predetermined range of the telephone, causing the call associated with the call request to be routed to the second telephone.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein further comprising:

providing a first interface configured to enable the user to associate the telephone numbers and set of location coordinates with a telephone assigned to the user; and

providing a second interface configured to enable a second user to associate the second set of telephones with second respective sets of location coordinates.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein providing the first interface further includes:

receiving the at least one first telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates; and

storing the at least one first telephone number and associated sets of location coordinates.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein providing the second interface further includes enabling the second user to identify the second set of telephones with respect to offices within a facility.

15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising downloading the first interface as an application for operation on the wireless device.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein providing the second interface includes presenting a graphical user interface accessible via a network.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein storing the first and second sets of location coordinates includes storing global position system (GPS) coordinates.

18. The method according to claim 11, further comprising determining whether the user has set a parameter to cause a determination as to whether the wireless telephone is within the predetermined distance from any of the telephones of the first and second sets of telephones.

19. The method according to claim 11, further comprising generating a distinctive ring on the second telephone for the call.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising enabling the user to select the distinctive ring.