Selectively activated integrated real-time recording of telephone conversations with automated documentation of consent to call recording

• US 6,665,376 B1
• Filed: 10/23/1998
• Issued: 12/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Securus Technologies Incorporated (Securus Special Investments LLC)
• Original Assignee: T-Netix, Inc. (Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.)
• Inventors: Brown, Barry D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US09/178,367
• Time in Patent Office: 1,880 Days
• Field of Search: 379/112, 379/7, 379/88.01, 379/223, 379/67.1, 379/372, 379/88.22, 379/8, 379/32.01, 379/93.01, 455/556
• US Class Current: 379/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/656 for recording conversations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/258 Service state indications

Abstract

A system for controlling and monitoring the recording of telephone calls in institutions such as jails and correctional facilities, and for obtaining consent to such recording and monitoring. Calls are recorded automatically in response to the occurrence of specific triggering events, as pre-defined under software control by a system administrator. Triggering events may include, for example, use of a specific line, attempts to use particular features (such as three-way calling), attempts to dial particular telephone numbers, or use by a particular person. Consent to recording or monitoring is obtained from either the calling or called party, or both, in a language selected for such party. Evidence of which prompts were played to request consent, the language of such prompts, and whether consent was given is stored in a computer readable record. Recorded calls are digitized and stored in standard MS-DOS files on either a local computer system or a remote computer across a network. Stored digitized recordings may be selected for playback under software control by a system administrator. The system of the present invention allows control of recordings from within a conventional telephone system. The integrated nature of the system provides cost savings and improved flexibility.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of obtaining consent to the recording of telephone calls, comprising:

establishing a call record of a telephone call made by a calling party to a called party;

playing a first prompt requesting the calling party to consent to, or to refuse a recording of the telephone call;

receiving a first input signal from the calling party in response to the first prompt indicating either the calling party'"'"'s consent or the refusal of consent to the recording of the telephone call;

storing an indication of the either the calling party'"'"'s consent or refusal of consent to the recording of the telephone call in the call record; and

blocking the telephone call in response to the received first input signal when the received first input signal indicates the calling party'"'"'s refusal of consent to the recording of the telephone call.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the first prompt was played.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing a second prompt requesting a called party to consent to or refuse the recording of the telephone call;

receiving a second input signal from the called party indicating either the called party'"'"'s consent or refusal; and

storing an indication of either the called party'"'"'s consent or refusal in the call record.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the second prompt was played.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein playing a second prompt further comprises:

playing the second prompt in a plurality of languages.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein playing a second prompt further comprises:

playing the second prompt in a language selected by the calling party.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the second prompt was played.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein playing a second prompt further comprises:

playing the second prompt in a first default language, and in a second, different language selected by the calling party.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein playing a second prompt further comprises:

prompting the called party to select a language for the second prompt; and

playing the second prompt in the language selected by the called party.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the second prompt was played.

11. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining from a telephone number of the telephone call whether a language for the second prompt has been selected;

responsive to a language for the second prompt having been previously selected, playing the second prompt in the selected language;

responsive to a language for the second prompt having not been previously selected, prompting the called party to select a language for the second prompt, and storing an indication of the selected language in association with the telephone number.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the second prompt was played.

13. The method of claim 3, wherein playing a second prompt further comprises:

determining from a telephone number of the telephone call whether a language for the second prompt has been selected;

responsive to a language for the second prompt having been previously selected, playing the second prompt in the selected language;

responsive to a language for the second prompt having not been previously selected, prompting the calling party to select a language for the second prompt, and storing an indication of the selected language in association with the telephone number.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

storing in the call record an indication of the language in which the second prompt was played.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing a second prompt informing a called party that the telephone call may be recorded;

receiving a second input signal from the called party indicating either the called party'"'"'s acceptance or refusal of the telephone call; and

storing an indication of either the called party'"'"'s acceptance or refusal in the call record.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing an indication of whether or not the telephone call was recorded in the call record.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining synchronized clocks in a call processing system from which the telephone call is made and in a call recording system in which the telephone call is recorded;

storing in the call record a time at which the telephone call is recorded; and

storing in a call recording log in the call recording system the time at which the call is recorded, such that the times in the call record and the call recording log are the same.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining from a telephone number of the telephone call whether the telephone call may be recorded;

responsive to determining that the telephone call may be recorded;

playing the first prompt; and

storing an indication in the call record that the first prompt was played; and

responsive to determining that the telephone call may not be recorded;

playing a second prompt indicating that the telephone call will not be recorded.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

storing an indication in the call record that the second prompt was played; and

storing an indication in the call record that the telephone call was not recorded.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining from a telephone number of the telephone call whether the telephone call may be recorded;

responsive to determining that the telephone call may be recorded;

playing the first prompt; and

storing an indication in the call record that the first prompt was played; and

responsive to the first input signal indicating that the calling party refuses the recording of the telephone call, terminating the telephone call; and

responsive to the first input signal indicating that the calling party consents to the recording of the telephone call, completing the telephone call.

21. A computer readable medium for use in a telephone call recording system, comprising:

a call record stored in the computer readable medium and including;

a telephone number of a called party associated with a telephone call;

an indication of at least one of;

a prompt that was played informing the calling party that the telephone call may be recorded;

a prompt that was played informing the calling party that the telephone call would not be recorded;

an indication of the calling party'"'"'s consent or refusal of consent to recording of the telephone call in response to the prompt informing the calling party that the telephone call may be recorded; and

an indication that the call was blocked in response to the indication of the calling party'"'"'s refusal of consent to the recording of the call.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the call record further comprises:

an indication of a language of the prompt that was played.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the call record further comprises:

an indication of whether the telephone call was recorded or not.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the call record further comprises:

an indication of at least one of;

a prompt that was played informing the called party that the telephone call may be recorded;

a prompt that was played informing the called party that the telephone call would not be recorded; and

an indication of the called party'"'"'s consent to the recording of the telephone call.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the call record further comprises:

an indication of a language of the prompt played to the called party.

26. A computer program product for obtaining consent to the recording of telephone calls, comprising:

a computer readable medium;

an executable computer program stored on the computer readable medium, for controlling a computer system to perform the operations of;

receiving from a calling party a telephone number of a called party to completing a telephone call;

playing a first prompt requesting the calling party to consent to the recording of the telephone call;

receiving a first input signal from the calling party in response to the first prompt indicating either the calling party'"'"'s consent or the refusal;

storing an indication of either the calling party'"'"'s consent or refusal to consent to the recording of the telephone call received from the first input signal; and

blocking the telephone call in response to the indication of the calling party'"'"'s refusal to consent to the recording of the telephone call from the received first input signal.

27. A computer program product for obtaining consent to the recording of telephone calls, comprising:

a computer readable medium;

a plurality of recorded prompts in at least two different languages, and including;

at least one prompt indicating that a telephone call will not be recorded;

at least one prompt indicating that a telephone call may be recorded;

a computer executable program stored on the computer readable medium for controlling a computer system to perform the operations of;

establishing a telephone call to an input telephone number from a calling party to a called party;

selecting a language for, and at least one of, the prompts for playing to the calling party as to whether the telephone call to the input telephone number is to be recorded;

playing the selected prompt in the selected language to the calling party;

recording an input from the calling party in response to the selected prompt as to whether the calling party consents or refuses to consent to recording of the telephone call; and

blocking the telephone call in response to the recorded input when the recorded input indicates that the calling party refuses to consent to the recording of the telephone call.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the executable computer program on the computer readable medium further control the computer system to perform the operations of:

selecting a language for, and at least one of, the prompts for playing to the called party as to whether the telephone call to the input telephone number is to be recorded;

playing the selected prompt in the selected language to the called party; and

recording an input from the called party as to whether the called party consents to recording of the telephone call.

29. A computer system for obtaining consent to the recording of telephone calls, comprising:

a storage device for storing a plurality of recorded prompts in at least two different languages, including;

at least one prompt indicating that a telephone call will not be recorded;

at least one prompt indicating that a telephone call may be recorded;

a memory;

a telephone interface for coupling the computer system to a telephone network;

a processor coupled to the memory for executing a computer program stored in the memory; and

a computer program stored in the memory for controlling the computer system to perform the operations of;

establishing a telephone call to an input telephone number from a calling party to a called party;

selecting a language for, and at least one of, the prompts for playing to the calling party as to whether the telephone call to the input telephone number is to be recorded;

playing the selected prompt in the selected language to the calling party;

recording an input from the calling party in response to the selected prompt as to whether the calling party consents or refuses to consent to recording of the telephone call; and

blocking the telephone call when the input from the calling party indicates refusal to consent to the recording of the telephone call.

30. A computer implemented method of obtaining consent to the recording of telephone calls, comprising:

establishing a call record of a telephone call made by a calling party to a called party;

playing a first prompt requesting the calling party to consent to, or to refuse a recording of the telephone call;

receiving a first input signal from the calling party in response to the first prompt that indicates either the calling party'"'"'s consent or the refusal of consent to the recording of the telephone call;

storing an indication of either the calling party'"'"'s consent or refusal of consent to the recording of the telephone call in the call record as indicated by the first input signal; and

overriding an indication of a refusal in the received first input signal if recording of the call is necessary.