Caller control of call forwarding services

• US 6,754,325 B1
• Filed: 03/29/2002
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Benhov GmbH, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Silver, Edward M., Roberts, Linda A., Nguyen, Hong T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Creighton
• Application Number:
  US10/113,391
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.02, 379/211.01, 379/207.02, 379/207.11
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308

Abstract

A method and system are provided for allowing caller control of calls directed to a called party where the called party has forwarded incoming calls. A call forwarding control feature is selected at the local telephone switch of the calling party on a call-by-call basis. Alternatively, the call forwarding control feature may be provisioned at the switch for all outgoing calls. After a directory number of a called party is entered, a determination is made as to whether the called party has call forwarding service and whether the called party as activated call forwarding for incoming calls. If the called party has activated a call forwarding service for incoming calls, the caller'"'"'s switch is instructed to terminate the call attempt. A message may be played to the caller to alert the caller that the call attempt is being terminated. If the called party'"'"'s calls are not forwarded, the caller'"'"'s call is connected to the called party. The call forwarding control method and system may be switch-based where the determination as to the call forwarding status of the called party'"'"'s line is made at the called party'"'"'s switch. Alternatively, the call forwarding control method and system may be network-based where the determination as to whether the called party'"'"'s calls are forwarded is performed at a network component such as a service control point that is tasked with forwarding calls directed to the called party.

Claims

1. A method for controlling calls directed to a telephone number from which incoming calls have been forwarded, comprising the steps of:

provisioning a call forwarding control feature at a calling party switch;

entering a telephone directory number of a called party to place a call from a calling party to a called party;

determining whether a telephone line of the called party is provisioned with a call forwarding feature;

determining a status of the call forwarding feature; and

if the call forwarding feature is activated on the telephone line of the called party, sending a call attempt termination instructions from a service control point to the calling party switch and terminating a call attempt from the calling party to the called party.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of terminating the call attempt from the calling party to the called party is performed if calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded to a second telephone directory number.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

playing a message to the calling party to notify the calling party that calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded to a second telephone directory number and that the call attempt from the calling party to the called party is terminated.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

monitoring at the service control point the status of the call forwarding feature; and

notifying the calling party via the calling party switch when the status of the call forwarding feature is changed such that calls directed to telephone directory number of the called party are not forwarded to a second telephone directory number.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

if the call forwarding feature is not activated on the telephone line of the called party, connecting the call from the calling party to the called party.

6. The method of claim 5, prior to the step of connecting the call from the calling party to the called party, further comprising the step of:

sending a message from the service control point to the calling party switch to connect the call from the calling party to the called party.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of provisioning a call forwarding control feature at a calling party switch includes:

entering a call forwarding control feature code at the calling party switch.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether a telephone line of the called party is provisioned with a call forwarding feature, further comprises the steps of:

querying the service control point to initiate the call forwarding control feature;

at the service control point, determining whether the telephone line of the called party is provisioned with a call forwarding feature based on the telephone directory number of the called party; and

sending a call forwarding feature update request from the service control point to the called party switch.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

sending a status update response from the called party switch to the service control point indicating the status of the call forwarding feature.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein sending a call forwarding feature update request from a service control point to the called party switch includes sending a Query_Request message having a format of:

UserID=Called Party Telephone Number

ProvideInfo

RequestGroups=RequestGroup4

RequestGroup4 {Service4=CallForwardingVariable Request4=ActivationStatus}.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein sending a status update response from the called party switch to the service control point indicating the status of the call forwarding feature includes sending a response message having a format of:

InfoProvided

ActivationStateCode=off/on;

whereby a response result of ActivationStateCode=on indicates calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded; and

whereby a response result of ActivationStateCode=off indicates calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are not forwarded.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein sending a status update response from the called party switch to the service control point indicating the status of the call forwarding feature includes sending a response message having a format of:

FalureCause=Unavailable Resources, indicating that the call forwarding feature is not subscribed to by the called party.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a status of the call forwarding feature further comprises:

querying the service control point to determine the status of the call forwarding feature.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of:

at the service control point, determining whether calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded to a second telephone directory number.

15. A system for controlling calls directed to a telephone number from which incoming calls have been forwarded, comprising:

a calling party switch operative

to receive provisioning of a call forwarding control feature;

to receive a telephone directory number of a called party to place a call from a calling party to a called party;

to generate a query to a service control point to initiate the call forwarding control feature;

the service control point operative

to determine whether a telephone line of the called party is provisioned with a call forwarding feature;

to determine a status of the call forwarding feature; and

to terminate a call attempt from the calling party to the called party if the call forwarding feature is activated on the telephone line of the called party.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the service control point is further operative

to send a call attempt termination instruction to the calling party switch if the call attempt is to be terminated.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the calling party switch is further operative:

to play a message to the calling party to notify the calling party that calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded to a second telephone directory number and that the call attempt from the calling party to the called party is terminated.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the service control point is further operative:

to monitor the status of the call forwarding feature; and

to cause the calling party switch to notify the calling party when the status of the call forwarding feature is changed such that calls directed to telephone directory number of the called party are not forwarded to a second telephone directory number.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the calling party switch is further operative:

to receive instructions from the service control point to complete the call; and

to connect the call from the calling party to the called party if the call forwarding feature is not activated on the telephone line of the called party.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the service control point is further operative:

to send a call forwarding feature update request to the called party switch to determine the status of the call forwarding feature; and

the called party switch is operative;

to send a status update response from to the service control point indicating the status of the call forwarding feature.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the update request includes a Query_Request message includes a format of:

UserID=Called Party Telephone Number

Providelnfo

RequestGroups=RequestGroup4

RequestGroup4 {Service4=CallForwardingVariable Request4=ActivationStatus}.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the status update response includes a format of:

InfoProvided

ActivationStateCode=off/on;

whereby a response result of ActivationStateCode=on indicates calls directed to the telephone directory number of the called party are forwarded; and

whereby a response result of ActivationStateCode=off indicates calls.

23. A method for controlling calls directed to a telephone number from which incoming calls have been forwarded, comprising the steps of:

receiving a call forwarding control feature code at the calling party switch;

responsive to receiving the call forwarding control feature code, provisioning a call forwarding control feature at the calling party switch;

entering a telephone directory number of a called party to place a call from a calling party to a called party;

determining whether a telephone line of the called party is provisioned with a call forwarding feature;

determining a status of the call forwarding feature; and

if the call forwarding feature is activated on the telephone line of the called party, terminating a call attempt from the calling party to the called party.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the call forwarding control feature code is received on a call by call basis.