Methods and apparatus for connecting family members
First Claim
1. A communications method, comprising:
- detecting when a call to a telephone number goes unanswered;
determining if the unanswered call is from a member of a group identified in a stored set of information associated with the called telephone number; and
when it is determined that the calling party is a member of the group identified in said stored set of information;
presenting the calling party with a list of other members of said group who have provided telephone numbers for contact purposes;
receiving information from the calling party identifying one or more members of the group who are to be included in a conference call; and
initiating a conference call to any group members identified by the received information.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Communications methods for allowing groups of individuals, such as family members, to contact one another when no one is available to answer calls to a primary, e.g., family, telephone number are described. Calls which go unanswered are connected to a telephony device capable of storing messages and initiating conference calls. If the calling party is determined to be a family member the telephony device accesses a table of contact information corresponding to the unanswered telephone number and offers the caller the opportunity to hear messages from other family members and/or initiate a conference call to one or more family members who have supplied a contact telephone number. Family members can access and update the table of messages and contact number information by telephone or the Internet. Table information can be accessed and updated remotely thereby providing a method of communicating with family members even when no one is at home.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A communications method, comprising:
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detecting when a call to a telephone number goes unanswered; determining if the unanswered call is from a member of a group identified in a stored set of information associated with the called telephone number; and when it is determined that the calling party is a member of the group identified in said stored set of information; presenting the calling party with a list of other members of said group who have provided telephone numbers for contact purposes; receiving information from the calling party identifying one or more members of the group who are to be included in a conference call; and initiating a conference call to any group members identified by the received information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A communications system, comprising:
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a telephone switch for receiving calls directed to a subscriber telephone number; a peripheral device coupled to said switch including; i. circuitry for accessing a set of information corresponding to the subscriber telephone number, the set of information including a list of telephone numbers corresponding to a group of individuals associated with said subscriber telephone number; ii. circuitry for playing a message to a calling party who made an unanswered call to the subscriber telephone number, the message including the names of the group members who have included contact telephone numbers in said set of information; iii. call conferencing circuitry coupled to said telephone switch for placing calls to members of said group selected by the calling party and for bridging said calls to the call placed by the calling party to the subscriber telephone number when said calls are answered; and a service control point coupled to said telephone switch including control logic for instructing said switch to connect an unanswered call directed to said subscriber telephone number to said peripheral device in response to receiving call completion status information indicating that the call has gone unanswered. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A communications method comprising:
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storing a set of information including a list of members of a group associated with a telephone number who may be contacted when a call to said telephone number goes unanswered, the set of information including for each group member who may be contacted, a contact telephone number; detecting, based on the failure to receive an answer to the call, when a call to the telephone number associated with said group goes unanswered; presenting the calling party placing the unanswered call with a list of group members who have contact telephone numbers stored in said set of information; receiving information from the calling party indicating the group member or members who the calling party would like to contact; and initiating a conference call using at least one contact telephone number obtained from the set of stored information corresponding to a group member indicated by the received information. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification