System and method for dynamically specifying the manner in which calls to a roaming cellular telephone subscriber are to be handled

• US 5,440,614 A
• Filed: 08/25/1994
• Issued: 08/08/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation (Perspecta, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sonberg, Kenneth W., Bein, Timothy A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne D.
• Application Number:
  US08/295,971
• Time in Patent Office: 348 Days
• Field of Search: 379/59, 379/60, 379/201, 379/207, 379/211, 455/33.1, 455/33.2
• US Class Current: 455/432.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber located in a foreign service area to designate how calls placed to the subscriber should be handled by entering selections (such as call forwarding, caller notification) from the keyboard of his mobile telephone set. When these selections are received by a foreign service MTSO, the foreign service MTSO validates the roaming subscriber and the services that are available to the subscriber and then notifies the home MTSO how calls received at the home site should be handled. If the caller is to receive calls in the foreign service area (either forwarded calls or direct calls to the foreign service area), the foreign MTSO assigns a temporary roaming number to the subscriber for use in the foreign service area after the subscriber has been validated.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the method comprising:

detecting the presence of a subscriber in a foreign service area before subscriber makes a call by detecting a change in a MTSO system indentification code;

sending a registration message to at roam site MTSO;

receiving at the roam site MTSO, information indicating which of at least two call handling options is being requested by the subscriber;

validating the subscriber requesting the call handling option;

providing information to a subscriber'"'"'s home service area MTSO that indicates, based on one of said at least two call handling options, how calls to the subscriber are to be handled while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area; and

activating a call handling option for use within a particular foreign service area, if a subscriber had requested activation of said call handling option while in a previous service area.

2. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 1 wherein said keypad is located on the subscriber'"'"'s handset.

3. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 1 wherein one of said call handling option is call forwarding.

4. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 1 wherein said step of receiving information indicating the type of call handling option comprises the steps of:

entering a code representing the selected call handling option directly into the cellular telephone;

sending a mobile identification number and said code from a foreign service area switch to a foreign service area voice response system.

5. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to a subscriber are to be handle to claim 1 wherein said step of validating the subscriber comprises the step of sending a mobile identification number, a system identification number of the foreign service area and a code representing the selected call handling option to a central host computer.

6. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled to claim 1 further comprising the step of deactivation said requested call handling option by sending a deactivation code to a roam site MTSO or automatically after a preselected number of hours

7. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled to claim 1 further comprising the step of activating a preselected one of said at least two call handling options when the subscriber makes a first call in a roam area.

8. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 1 wherein one of said call handling options is caller notification.

9. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 8, wherein if caller notification is selected as a call handling option, providing a roamer port access number to said caller to enable said caller to call said subscriber through a switching means for the foreign service area.

10. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 8 wherein if caller notification is selected as a call handling option, preventing automatic activation of said caller notification option when the subscriber is in a foreign service area.

11. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

saving call handling settings that existed prior to the time subscriber specifier a manner in which the subscriber'"'"'s calls are to be handled in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings.

12. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handle of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

saving call handling settings that existed prior to the time subscriber specified a manner in which the subscriber'"'"'s calls are to be handled in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings.

13. A system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the system comprising:

means for detecting the presence of a subscriber in a foreign service area before the subscriber makes a call by detecting a change in an MTSO system identification code;

means for receiving one of at least two call handling instructions from a subscriber in a foreign service area for providing from the foreign service area a mobile identification number and a code representing the call handling instructions issued by the subscriber;

a central host processor means for validating the subscriber issuing call handling instructions and for providing information to the subscriber'"'"'s home service area concerning which of said at least two call handling instructions are to be implemented while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area;

means for sending a registration message to the roam site MTSO; and

means for activating a call handling option for use within a particular foreign service area, if a subscriber had requested activation of said call handling option while in a previous service area.

14. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 13 further comprising means for deactivating said requested call handling option by sending a deactivating code to a roam site MTSO or automatically after a preselected number of hours.

15. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to handled of claim 13 further comprising means for activating a preselected one of said at least two call handling options when the subscriber makes a first call in a roam area.

16. The system of claim 13 for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, wherein one of said call handling instructions is caller notification.

17. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area of claim 16, further comprising means for providing a the subscriber is in a foreign service area if caller notification is the call handling instruction issued by said subscriber.

18. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 13 further comprising means for saving call handling settings that existed prior to the time subscriber specified a manner in which the subscriber'"'"'s calls are to be handled in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings

19. A system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the system comprising:

means for receiving at a roam site MTSO information indicating which of at least two call handling options is being requested by the subscriber;

means for validating the subscriber requesting the call handling option;

means for providing information to a subscriber'"'"'s home service area MTSO that indicates, based on one of said at least two call handling options, how calls to the subscriber are to be handled while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area; and

means for activating a call handling option for use within a particular foreign service area, if a subscriber had requested activation of said call handling option while in a previous service area.

20. The system of claim 19 for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, wherein one of said call handling options is caller notification.

21. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area of claim 20, further comprising means for providing a roamer port access number to caller who calls the subscriber while the subscriber is in a foreign service area if caller notification is the call handling instruction issued by said subscriber.

22. The system of claim 19 for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area further comprising means for preventing automatic activation of said caller notification option when the subscriber is in a foreign service area.

23. The system of claim 19 for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service are further comprising means for detecting the presence of a subscriber in a foreign service area before the subscriber makes a call by detecting a change in an MTSO system identification code.

24. The system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 19 further comprising means for saving call handling settings that existed prior to the time subscriber specified a manner in which the subscriber'"'"'s calls are to be handled in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings.

25. A method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the method comprising:

sending a registration message to the roam site MTSO;

receiving at a roam site MTSO information indicating which of at least two call handling options is being requested by the subscriber;

validating the subscriber requesting the call handling option;

providing information to a subscriber'"'"'s home service area MTSO that indicates, based on one of said at least two call handling options, how calls to the subscriber are to be handled while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area; and

activating a call handling option for use within a particular foreign service area, if a subscriber had requested activation of said call handling option while in a previous service area.

26. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 wherein said keypad is located on the subscriber'"'"'s handset.

27. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 wherein one of said call handling options is call forwarding.

28. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 wherein said step of receiving information indicating the type of call handling option comprises the steps of:

entering a code representing the selected call handling option directly into the cellular telephone;

sending a mobile identification number and said code from a foreign service area switch to a foreign service area voice response system.

29. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to a subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 wherein said step of validating the subscriber comprises the step of sending a mobile indentification number, a system indentification number of the foreign service area and a code representing the selected call handling option to a central host computer.

30. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 further comprising the step of deactivating said requested call handling option by sending a deactivation code to a roam site MTSO or automatically after a preselected number of hours.

31. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to a dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 further comprising the step of activating a preselected one of said at least two call handling options when the subscriber makes a first call in a roam area.

32. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 25 where one of said call handling options is caller notification.

33. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 32 wherein if caller notification is selected as a call handling option, providing a roamer port access number to said caller to enable said caller to call said subscriber through a switching means for the foreign service area.

34. The method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which the calls to the subscriber are to be handled of claim 32 wherein if caller notification is selected as a call handling option, preventing automatic activation of said caller notification option when the subscriber is in a foreign service area.