System for providing virtual called party identification in a voice mail system
First Claim
1. A telephone switching system providing virtual called party identification for a voice mail system comprising:
- a first telephone number assigned to a called party;
a second telephone number assigned to a telephone line;
a telephone set connected to a called party end of said telephone line;
means for receiving a request from said telephone set over said telephone line indicating incoming telephone calls to said first telephone number of said called party are to be extended to said telephone line of said second telephone number wherein said request includes an input of digits of said first telephone number;
means responsive to a reception of said request for extending an incoming telephone calls for said first telephone number to said telephone line of said second telephone number; and
means responsive to one of said incoming telephone calls not being completed for extending said one incoming call to said voice mail system; and
means responsive to said reception of said request for preventing incoming calls to said second telephone number from being extended to said telephone line.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A telephone system having a voice mail system and supporting virtual telephone numbers for called parties. A switching system in the telephone system has a plurality of telephone lines connected to the switching system with each telephone line having a telephone number. Each called party in the system has a virtual telephone number that is not associated with a particular telephone line. When a called party desires to receive incoming telephone calls over a telephone line, the called party performs a log-in from the telephone line. The log-in causes the switching system to extend all calls specifying the virtual telephone number of the called party to the telephone line. If the incoming call is not answered, the call is extended to a voice mail system which records a message and stores the message in a voice mail box associated with the virtual telephone number of the called party. The called party then performs a log-out when the called party no longer desires to receive telephone calls at the telephone line and all incoming calls are extended directly to the voice mail system.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A telephone switching system providing virtual called party identification for a voice mail system comprising:
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a first telephone number assigned to a called party; a second telephone number assigned to a telephone line; a telephone set connected to a called party end of said telephone line; means for receiving a request from said telephone set over said telephone line indicating incoming telephone calls to said first telephone number of said called party are to be extended to said telephone line of said second telephone number wherein said request includes an input of digits of said first telephone number; means responsive to a reception of said request for extending an incoming telephone calls for said first telephone number to said telephone line of said second telephone number; and means responsive to one of said incoming telephone calls not being completed for extending said one incoming call to said voice mail system; and means responsive to said reception of said request for preventing incoming calls to said second telephone number from being extended to said telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10)
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8. A switching system for providing voice mail services to a called party that does not have a dedicated phone line associated with a telephone number, said system comprising:
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a telephone line having a first end connected to said switching system; a telephone station set connected to a second end of said telephone line; a first telephone number assigned to a called party; a second telephone number assigned to said telephone line; a processor controlling connections to said telephone line to complete telephone calls; a first set of instructions executed by said processor for directing said switching system to receive a request over said telephone line having said second number to extend incoming telephone calls specifying said first telephone number to said telephone line wherein said request includes digits of said first telephone number input by a user into said telephone station set; a second set of instructions for directing said switching system to extend incoming telephone calls specifying said first telephone number to said telephone line having said second telephone number; a third set of instructions for directing said switching system to forward said call to a voice mail system responsive to said incoming telephone call not being completed over said telephone line to said telephone station set; A fourth set of instructions for directing said switching system to prevent incoming calls for said second telephone numbers from being extended to said telephone line responsive to said request to extend said incoming calls for said first telephone number to said telephone line; and a storage medium readable by said processor for storing said first second, third and fourth sets of instructions. - View Dependent Claims (9, 11, 12)
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13. Method for extending incoming telephone calls to a proper telephone line in a switching system having a voice mail system supporting a user having a first telephone number comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request over a telephone line having a second telephone number requesting incoming calls specifying said first telephone number be extended to said telephone line wherein said request includes digits of said first telephone number input by said user into a telephone station connected to said telephone line; receiving an incoming telephone call; determining a called number of said incoming call; extending said incoming telephone call for said first telephone number to said telephone line of said second telephone number in response to said request; forwarding said incoming telephone call to said voice mail system in response to said incoming telephone call not being completed to said telephone station connected to said telephone line; and preventing said incoming call for said second telephone number from being extended to said telephone line in response to said request. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification