Method and system for multicasting call notifications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for communication to a called party, comprising:
- receiving a request for a call to a telephone number of the called party initiated from a telephone on a circuit-switched network;
determining multiple destinations associated with the called party based on the telephone number; and
initiating simultaneous transmission of multiple call notifications over a packet-switched network to the multiple destinations, wherein at least one of the destinations is a telephone, pager, or voice mail system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for communication over a network, which can be both analog and digital includes simultaneously transmitting a call notification to a plurality of communication devices. These communication devices include devices such as telephones, pagers, computers, and voice mail systems. The addresses (e.g., telephone numbers) are stored in a database which is queried based on the call notification. For example, this method can be used in a find-me/follow-me system or to initiate a conference call.
243 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for communication to a called party, comprising:
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receiving a request for a call to a telephone number of the called party initiated from a telephone on a circuit-switched network;
determining multiple destinations associated with the called party based on the telephone number; and
initiating simultaneous transmission of multiple call notifications over a packet-switched network to the multiple destinations, wherein at least one of the destinations is a telephone, pager, or voice mail system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19)
receiving a receipt notification from one of the destinations and, in response, canceling the call notification to each of the other destinations.
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6. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing a communication with at least one of the multiple destinations.
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8. The method of claim 6 wherein the established communication comprises an audio communication.
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19. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple transmission includes an IP (Internet, Protocol) muticast transmission.
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7. A method for communication, comprising:
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receiving a call notification for a called party;
extracting identification information of the called party from the call notification;
determining multiple destinations associated with the called party;
initiating simultaneous transmission of multiple call notifications over a packet-switched network to the multiple destinations, wherein at least one of the destinations is selected from a group consisting of a telephone, pager, and voice mail system; and
establishing a communication with more than one of the destinations.
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9. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of converters having a same network address, each converter operable to sample voice signals and create digital packets containing a representation of the voice signals;
a storage device containing a database of records, each record including a call list of telephone numbers associated with each of a plurality of subscribers; and
a computer system operable, upon receipt of a call notification from a caller to a subscriber, to query the database to retrieve a record associated with the subscriber and initiate simultaneous transmission of digital call notification packets to a plurality of the converters at the same network address, the digital notification packets including information relating to the call list of telephone numbers in the received record. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
at least one modem;
a router coupled to the modem; and
control circuitry coupled to both the modem and the router.
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11. The system of claim 9 wherein the computer system communicates with the converters through an internet.
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12. The system of claim 11 wherein the same network address is a same Internet Protocol (IP) address.
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13. The system of claim 9 wherein the computer system comprises a plurality of interlinked computers.
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14. The system of claim 9 and further comprising a plurality of communication devices, each communication device coupled to receive a call notification from the caller via one of the converters.
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15. The system of claim 9 wherein each converter is also operable to create voice signals from a digital packet.
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16. A communication system comprising:
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means for accessing a plurality of data records in response to a request for call to a telephone number of a subscriber initiated from a telephone on a circuit-switched network, each data record including a list of addresses of respective communication devices associated with each of a plurality of subscribers;
means for initiating simultaneous transmission of digital call notification packets via a packet-switched network, the digital notification packets addressed to each of the addresses associated with a subscriber; and
means for forwarding one of the digital call notification packets from the packet-switched network to a corresponding one of communication devices via a circuit-switched network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 20)
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21. A method for communication over a packet-switched network, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a call notification for a called party;
extracting identification information of the called party from the call notification;
determining multiple destinations associated with the called party;
initiating simultaneos transmission of multiple call notifications over the packet-switched network to the multiple destinations; and
forwarding at least one of the multiple call notifications from the packet-switched network to a device via a circuit-switched network. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method for communication over a packet-switched network, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a call notification for a telephone number;
determining multiple destinations associated with the telephone number; and
initiating simultaneous transmission of multiple call notifications over the packet-switched network to the multiple destinations; and
establishing a conference communication with a plurality of the multiple destinations.
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Specification