Method for automatically establishing a conference call
First Claim
1. A call processing method comprising the steps of:
- receiving in a communications network an initiating telephone call requesting to establish a conference call between a plurality of participants identified from a data record that corresponds to an Automatic Number Identification of a subscriber that placed the initiating telephone call;
responsive to the Automatic Number Identification, automatically originating a call to a plurality of preselected telephone stations each associated with a respective one of the plurality of participants identified in the data record corresponding to the Automatic Number Identification; and
bridging the calls to the plurality of preselected telephone stations.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for automatically establishing a conference call to a preselected list of prospective participants to the conference call. A subscriber to the conference calling service predefines one or more lists of participants, each list being associated with a different conference call. When the subscriber wishes to initiate a conference call, the subscriber accesses the network and requests that the call be set up. The network originates (e.g., dials) calls to each of the participants on a specified list. The network then bridges these individual calls to establish the conference call. The cost of the conference call can be billed to the subscriber or shared among the participants to the call.
208 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A call processing method comprising the steps of:
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receiving in a communications network an initiating telephone call requesting to establish a conference call between a plurality of participants identified from a data record that corresponds to an Automatic Number Identification of a subscriber that placed the initiating telephone call; responsive to the Automatic Number Identification, automatically originating a call to a plurality of preselected telephone stations each associated with a respective one of the plurality of participants identified in the data record corresponding to the Automatic Number Identification; and bridging the calls to the plurality of preselected telephone stations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for establishing a conference call between a plurality of participants, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an initiating telephone call requesting to establish a conference call between a conference call group comprising a plurality of participants, the conference call group being identified by a group identifier associated with an Automatic Number Identification of a subscriber that placed the initiating telephone call; responsive to the request, accessing a data base which stores information identifying the conference call group associated with the group identifier, to obtain a plurality of telephone numbers to be dialed to establish the conference call between participants; automatically originating a call to a plurality of telephone stations identified by a respective one of the plurality of telephone numbers; and bridging the calls to the plurality of telephone stations so as to establish the conference call. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification