Telecommunications system for providing a calling party control service
First Claim
1. A method for use by a telecommunications service provider in offering a telecommunications service for establishing a contact between a calling party and a called party over a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
- initiating the contact to the called party by the calling party via the telecommunications service;
collecting, in response to the initiated contact, information input directly from the calling party which is related to the called party, the collected information being independent from any information originating from the telecommunications service provider in the service offering and including information regarding a plurality of communications devices associated with the called party and a plurality of contact numbers, each one of the plurality of contact numbers corresponding to at least one communications device of the plurality of communications devices; and
establishing the contact between the calling party and the called party by extending a call through the communications network as a function of the information collected from the calling party.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A technique for providing calling party definition and control of the contact information and sequencing used to reach a particular called party. The calling party specifies a set of communications devices along with their respective contact numbers for use in contacting a particular called party. Thereafter, for example, a telecommunications service provider will attempt to locate the called party in accordance with the designated set of devices and respective contact numbers so designated by the calling party. Advantageously, the technique provides a significant amount of increased control to the calling party in defining and controlling the sequence in which attempts are made to reach a particular called party.
37 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for use by a telecommunications service provider in offering a telecommunications service for establishing a contact between a calling party and a called party over a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
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initiating the contact to the called party by the calling party via the telecommunications service; collecting, in response to the initiated contact, information input directly from the calling party which is related to the called party, the collected information being independent from any information originating from the telecommunications service provider in the service offering and including information regarding a plurality of communications devices associated with the called party and a plurality of contact numbers, each one of the plurality of contact numbers corresponding to at least one communications device of the plurality of communications devices; and establishing the contact between the calling party and the called party by extending a call through the communications network as a function of the information collected from the calling party. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14)
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8. A method for use by a telecommunications service provider in offering a telecommunications service, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request from a calling party for access to the telecommunications service, the telecommunications service providing the calling party with the ability to contact a called party as a function of contact information input directly by the calling party and which is independent from any information originating from the telecommunications service; routing, in response to the received request the request from the calling party to the telecommunications service; transmitting a series of queries from the telecommunications service to the calling party, at least one query requesting from the calling party a designation of the contact information for use in contacting the called party, the contact information including information regarding a plurality of communications devices and a plurality of contact numbers, each one of the plurality of contact numbers corresponding to a respective one communications device of the plurality of communications devices; receiving the designation of the contact information from the calling party; and in response to the designated contact information received from the calling party, contacting the called party as a function of the designated contact information. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16)
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17. A method for use by a telecommunications carrier, the method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communication between a particular calling party of a plurality of calling parties with a service offered by the telecommunications carrier; receiving, in response to the established communication, from the calling party, a designation of contact information which includes information regarding a plurality of communications devices and a plurality of contact numbers for use in contacting a particular called party of a plurality of called parties, each one of the plurality of contact numbers corresponding to at least one communications device of the plurality of communications devices, the designation of contact information being independent of any information originating from the telecommunication carrier in the offered service; storing, in a particular one of a plurality of calling party sequence control records, the designation of the plurality of communications devices and the plurality of contact numbers received from the particular calling party; retrieving, in response to input received from the particular calling party, the particular one calling party sequence control record of the plurality of sequence control records; and extending a call through a communications network, in turn, to particular ones of the communications devices of the plurality of communications devices at their respective contact numbers as contained in the retrieved calling party sequence control record, until the call is completed to any of the particular ones of the communications devices. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification