Method of screening and prioritizing an incoming call
First Claim
1. A method of screening and prioritizing an incoming call directed to a subscriber while said subscriber is off-hook on a first call, comprising the steps of:
- a) detecting whether said incoming call is directed to said subscriber;
b) determining whether said incoming call is from a calling party known to said subscriber;
c) if said calling party is known to said subscriber, determining whether a priority level has been assigned to calls from said calling party;
d) if a priority level has been assigned, comparing the priority level of said incoming call with the priority level of said first call;
e) forwarding a call waiting announcement to said calling party to present the calling party with call termination options based on the result of step (d); and
f) if the calling party selects an option to interrupt the call, notifying the subscriber without interrupting the first call.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A subscriber interface operating as a Personal Agent is provided to simplify, enhance and integrate the currently fragmented telephone services. The Personal Agent enables the subscriber to access and activate telephone network services using voice recognition technology. The subscriber interface is seamlessly integrated with the telephone network to enable the subscriber to perform one or more activation and deactivation commands of telephone features, initiate a call, and take calls at their discretion. The subscriber interface also enables the subscriber to administer the options that tailor the system to the subscriber. Access and activation of telephone features are enabled by the subscriber using voice commands. In particular, the present invention integrates Calling Line ID (CLID) with the names identified in a voice dialing personal directory and/or Name Display database to enable the user to use spoken names to instruct the various telephone features to work specifically on particular lines, e.g. "Call Forward all calls to voice mail except for "Mom". The voice dialing directory (or Name Display database) can then be used to identify "mom"'"'"'s phone number(s) which would be matched against the incoming CLIDs to determine how to route incoming calls.
345 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of screening and prioritizing an incoming call directed to a subscriber while said subscriber is off-hook on a first call, comprising the steps of:
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a) detecting whether said incoming call is directed to said subscriber; b) determining whether said incoming call is from a calling party known to said subscriber; c) if said calling party is known to said subscriber, determining whether a priority level has been assigned to calls from said calling party; d) if a priority level has been assigned, comparing the priority level of said incoming call with the priority level of said first call; e) forwarding a call waiting announcement to said calling party to present the calling party with call termination options based on the result of step (d); and f) if the calling party selects an option to interrupt the call, notifying the subscriber without interrupting the first call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of screening and prioritizing an incoming call directed to a subscriber while said subscriber is off-hook on a first call, comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether said incoming call is a voice or data call; (b) if said incoming call is a voice call, determining whether said incoming call is from a calling party known to said subscriber; (c) if said incoming call is from a calling party known to said subscriber, determining whether a priority level has been assigned to calls from said calling party; (d) if a priority level has been assigned, comparing the priority level of said incoming call with the priority level of said first call; (e) forwarding a call waiting announcement to said calling party to provide the calling party with call termination options based on the result of step (d); (f) if the calling party selects an option to interrupt the call, notifying the subscriber without interrupting the first call; and (g) obtaining an indication from the subscriber as to how the incoming call should be terminated without interrupting the first call. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification