Method and system for providing caller identification for an unidentified calling party

• US 6,914,971 B1
• Filed: 06/29/2000
• Issued: 07/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bruening, Gregory W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Bing Q.
• Application Number:
  US09/606,617
• Time in Patent Office: 1,832 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/70, 379/88.01, 379/88.02, 379/88.13, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/88.19, 379/88.21, 379/88.26, 379/142.06, 379/142.08, 379/215.01, 379/211.01
• US Class Current: 379/215.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13091 CLI, identification of calling line
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13093 Personal computer, PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13175 Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13199 Modem, modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13377 Recorded announcement
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13546 Intelligent Peripheral
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/72 Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber

Abstract

A telecommunication system provides calling party identification for an unidentified calling party while the subscriber is logged on to the Internet on their subscriber line. If a call is made to the subscriber'"'"'s line while the subscriber is logged onto the internet on the subscriber line, the SCP determines whether the calling party information is present. If the calling party information is not present (either unavailable or blocked), the calling party is prompted to record their name (or some sort of identification). The subscriber can choose to have the recorded identification played on the subscriber'"'"'s computer via the Internet. After listening to the audible identification on the subscriber'"'"'s computer, the subscriber then can choose to reject the call, send the call to voicemail, terminate the Internet connection and take the call, etc.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a caller, the method comprising:

a) receiving, in an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a call to a subscriber line having a device connected to a computer network;

b) determining that the subscriber line is connected to the computer network;

c) in response to said step b), prompting the caller to provide identification;

d) receiving, at the AIN, an audible identification from the caller; and

e) providing the audible identification via the computer network and the subscriber line to the device.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of recording the audible identification in said step d).

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of sending the recording of the audible identification via the subscriber line in said step e).

4. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

f) before said step c), determining whether calling party information is present in response to said step b);

g) determining that the calling party information is not present; and

h) performing said step c) in response to said step g).

5. The method of claim 4 further including the steps of:

i) detecting a trigger at the subscriber line in said step a);

j) performing said step f) in response to said step i).

6. The method of claim 5 further including the step of directing the call to an intelligent peripheral based upon said step g).

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of displaying a plurality of disposition options for the call via the subscriber line.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

f) allowing a user of the subscriber line to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

9. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a communication network comprising:

a service switching point (SSP) in communication with a subscriber line and generating a query in response to an attempted call by a third party to the subscriber line;

a service control point (SCP) receiving the query from the SSP, and in response to the query, generating a signal indicating how to process the attempted call; and

a programmable network computer in the AIN configured to receive the signal from the SCP, request an audible identification from the third party, and send the audible identification to a user computer connected to the subscriber line via a computer network.

10. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the programmable network computer records the audible identification.

11. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the programmable network computer comprises an online call alert (OCA) server communicating with the SCP, the OCA server including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the programmable network computer sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

12. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the programmable network computer is an intelligent peripheral (IP) sending the audible identification via the computer network to the subscriber line.

13. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the subscriber line is connected to the computer network and the audible identification is sent via the computer network to the subscriber line.

14. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the programmable network computer comprises an intelligent peripheral (IP), the IP including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the IP sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

15. The communication network of claim 9 wherein the programmable network computer comprises an online call alert (OCA) server communicating with the SCP, the OCA server including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the OCA server sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

16. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein the programmable network computer is further configured to allow a user of the subscriber line to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

17. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a communication network computer programmed to receive an audible identification from an originating subscriber line attempting a call to a terminating subscriber line and play the audible identification to the terminating subscriber line via a computer network.

18. The communication network computer of claim 17 wherein the communication network computer requests the audible identification on the originating subscriber line.

19. The communication network computer of claim 17 wherein the communication network computer records the audible identification.

20. The communication network computer of claim 17 wherein the communication network computer comprises an online call alert (OCA) server communicating with a service control point (SCP), the OCA server including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the communication network computer sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

21. The communication network computer of claim 17 wherein the communication network computer is an intelligent peripheral sending the audible identification via the computer network to the terminating subscriber line.

22. The communication network computer of claim 17 wherein the subscriber line is connected to the computer network and the audible identification is sent via the computer network to the subscriber line.

23. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a method for identifying a caller including the steps of:

a) detecting an attempted call to a subscriber line;

b) in response to said step a), prompting the caller to provide an audible identification;

c) receiving the audible identification from the caller; and

d) providing the audible identification via a computer network and the subscriber line.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the computer network is the Internet.

25. A method as recited in claim 23, the method further comprising:

e) allowing a user of the subscriber line to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

26. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a method for identifying a caller, the method comprising:

a) receiving a third party call to a subscriber line including a user computer connected thereto;

b) prompting a third party caller to provide identification;

c) receiving an audible identification from the third party caller, wherein the audible identification is provided via the subscriber line and a computer network to the user computer; and

d) providing a visual interface to the user computer via the computer network and the subscriber line to notify a user of the third party call.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the computer network is the Internet.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the visual interface comprises an Internet web page.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein the visual interface comprises a pop-up screen.

30. The method of claim 26 wherein the visual interface includes an option of playing the audible identification of the third party caller and an option of disconnecting the third party call.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein if the user selects the option of playing the audible identification of the third party caller.

32. The method of claim 26 wherein providing the audible identification further comprises recording the third party caller audible identification and sending the recording of the audible identification via the computer network and the subscriber line.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the programmable network computer records the audible identification.

34. The method of claim 26 further comprising using a service control point (SCP) to instruct an online call alert (OCA) server to provide the visual interface to the user computer via the computer network.

35. A method as recited in claim 26, the method further comprising:

e) allowing the user to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

36. In an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a system for identifying a caller, the system comprising:

a service switching point (SSP) in communication with a subscriber line and configured to generate a query in response to an attempted call by a third party to the subscriber line;

a service control point (SCP) configured to receive the query from the SSP, and in response to the query, generate a signal indicating how to process the third party call; and

a programmable network computer in the AIN configured to;

receive the signal from the SCP;

request an audible identification from the third party, wherein the audible identification is provided via the subscriber line and a computer network; and

send a visual interface to the subscriber line via the computer network indicating the third party caller, the visual interface including options for handling the third party call.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the programmable network computer sends a notification message to the user computer via the visual interface.

38. The system of claim 36 wherein the visual interface comprises an Internet web page.

39. The system of claim 36 wherein the visual interface comprises a pop-up screen.

40. The system of claim 36 wherein the visual interface indicates that the third party caller identification is unavailable.

41. The system of claim 36 wherein the visual interface includes an option of playing the audible identification of the third party caller and an option of disconnecting the third party call.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein if a user selects the option of playing the audible identification of the third party caller.

43. The system of claim 36 wherein the programmable network computer records the third party caller audible identification.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein the programmable network computer sends the recording of the audible identification via the computer network and the subscriber line.

45. The system of claim 36 wherein the programmable network computer comprises an OCA server communicating with the SCP, the OCA server including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the programmable network computer sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

46. The system of claim 36 wherein the programmable network computer comprises an intelligent peripheral (IP), the IP including information associating the subscriber line with an address on the computer network, and wherein the IP sends the audible identification to the address associated with the subscriber line.

47. A system as recited in claim 36, wherein the programmable network computer is further configured to allow a user of the subscriber line to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

48. A method for identifying a caller through a computer network, the method comprising:

receiving, at an advanced intelligent network (AIN), a call from a third party to a first subscriber line;

determining, at the AIN, the identity of the third party placing the call to the first subscriber line; and

notifying a user of the call from the third party by sending a message to a user computer connected to the computer network via a second subscriber line, wherein an audible identification of the caller is provided via the second subscriber line and the computer network.

49. The method of claim 48, the method further comprising recording the message from the third party placing the call.

50. The method of claim 48, the method further comprising sending the recording of the message to the user computer connected to the computer network via the second subscriber line.

51. The method of claim 48, the method further comprising sending a visual notification of the message to the user computer connected to the computer network via the second subscriber line.

52. The method of claim 48 wherein the second subscriber line comprises a DSL line.

53. The method of claim 48 wherein the second subscriber line comprises a cable modem.

54. The method of claim 48 wherein the second subscriber line comprises a telephone line.

55. A method as recited in claim 48, the method further comprising:

e) allowing the user to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the first subscriber line.

56. A method for identifying a caller, the method comprising:

a) receiving a call to a subscriber line having a device connected to a computer network;

b) determining that the subscriber line is connected to the computer network;

c) in response to said step b), prompting the caller to provide identification;

d) receiving an audible identification from the caller;

e) providing the audible identification via the computer network and the subscriber line to the device; and

f) allowing a user of the subscriber line to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

57. A communication network comprising:

a service switching point (SSP) in communication with a subscriber line and configured to generate a query in response to an attempted call by a third party to the subscriber line;

a service control point (SCP) configured to receive the query from the SSP, and in response to the query, generate a signal indicating how to process the attempted call; and

a programmable network computer configured to receive the signal from the SCP, request an audible identification from the third party, send the audible identification to a user computer connected to the subscriber line via a computer network and the subscriber line, and allow a user to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

58. A communication network computer programmed to receive an audible identification from an originating subscriber line attempting a call to a terminating subscriber line, play the audible identification to the terminating subscriber line via a computer network and the terminating subscriber line, and allow a user to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.

59. A system for identifying a caller, the system comprising:

a service switching point (SSP) in communication with a subscriber line and configured to generate a query in response to an attempted call by a third party to the subscriber line;

a service control point (SCP) configured to receive the query from the SSP, and in response to the query, generate a signal indicating how to process the third party call; and

a programmable network computer configured to;

receive the signal from the SCP;

request an audible identification from the third party, wherein the audible identification is provided via the subscriber line and a computer network to a user;

send a visual interface to the subscriber line via the computer network indicating the third party caller, the visual interface including options for handling the third party call; and

allow the user to choose to take the call over the computer network or via the subscriber line.