Locale based call forwarding

• US 7,082,192 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2002
• Issued: 07/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Weaver, James Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Tieu, Benny Quoc
• Application Number:
  US10/290,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20040202304A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,356 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.01, 379/211.02, 37920101-20104, 379/201.12, 379/207.02, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/417, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42229 Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location diverting calls from one subscriber to another subscriber, i.e. two different subscriptions H04M3/54; selecting arrangements in intelligent networks H04Q3/005
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold

Abstract

Call forwarding a telephone number, including tracking recent locations of a user with the user'"'"'s mobile personal communications device and a wireless telecommunications network; identifying a locale for the user in dependence upon the recent locations and upon historical location records for the user; and forwarding a telephone number in dependence upon the locale. In many embodiments, identifying a locale further comprises comparing historical location records and recent locations, wherein the historical location records are related to the locale through a locale identification field used as a foreign key.

Claims

1. A method of forwarding a telephone number, the method comprising:

tracking recent locations of a user with the user'"'"'s mobile personal communications device and a wireless telecommunications network;

identifying a locale for the user by comparing historical location records and two or more recent locations to infer a locale, wherein a locale comprises a physical condition of a user that can be tracked for call forwarding; and

forwarding a telephone number in dependence upon the locale.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical location records are related to the locale through a locale identification field used as a foreign key.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding a telephone number further comprises forwarding a telephone number that the user is authorized to forward to a telephone number specified by the user.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding a telephone number further comprises provisioning the call forwarding instructions to a service control point through an appropriate gateway.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding a telephone number further comprises identifying a user-specified phone number from a forwarding instruction record, that is related to a locale through a foreign key.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding a telephone number further comprises:

identifying by a first telephone name a first telephone number that the user is authorized to forward;

identifying by a second telephone name a second telephone number specified by the user; and

forwarding the first telephone number to the second telephone number.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding a telephone number further comprises confirming the user'"'"'s forwarding instructions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein confirming a user specified call forwarding number comprises contacting a user and receiving confirmation from the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein confirming a user specificd call forwarding number further comprises checking user specified contact rules.

10. A system for forwarding a telephone number, the system comprising:

means for tracking recent locations of a user with the user'"'"'s mobile personal communications device and a wireless telecommunications network;

means for identifying a locale for the user by comparing historical location records and two or more recent locations to infer a locale, wherein a locale comprises a physical condition of a user that can be tacked for call forwarding; and

means for forwarding a telephone number in dependence upon the locale.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the historical location records are related to the locale through a locale identification field used as a foreign key.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means for forwarding a telephone number that the user is authorized to forward to a telephone number specified by the user.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means for provisioning the call forwarding instructions to a service control point through an appropriate gateway.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means for identifying a user-specified phone number from a forwarding instruction record, that is related to a locale through a foreign key.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises:

means for identifying by a first telephone name a first telephone number that the user is authorized to forward;

means for identifying by a second telephone name a second telephone number specified by the user; and

means for forwarding the first telephone number to the second telephone number.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means for confirming the user'"'"'s forwarding instructions.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein means for confirming a user specified call forwarding number comprises means for contacting a user and means for receiving confirmation from the user.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein means for confirming a user specified call forwarding number further comprises means for checking user specified contact rules.

19. A computer program product for forwarding a telephone number, the computer program product comprising:

a recording medium;

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for tracking recent locations of a user with the user'"'"'s mobile personal communications device and a wireless telecommunications network;

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for identifying a locale for the user by comparing historical location records and two or more recent locations to infer a locale, wherein a locale comprises a physical condition of a user that can be tracked for call forwarding; and

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for forwarding a telephone number in dependence upon the locale.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the historical location records are related to the locale through a locale identification field used as a foreign key.

21. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for forwarding a telephone number that the user is authorized to forward to a telephone number specified by the user.

22. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for provisioning the call forwarding instructions to a service control point through an appropriate gateway.

23. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for identifying a user-specified phone number from a forwarding instruction record, that is related to a locale through a foreign key.

24. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises:

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for identifying by a first telephone name a first telephone number that the user is authorized to forward;

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for identifying by a second telephone name a second telephone number specified by the user; and

means, recorded on the recoding medium, for forwarding the first telephone number to the second telephone number.

25. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein means for forwarding a telephone number further comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for confirming the user'"'"'s forwarding instructions.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein means for confirming a user specified call forwarding number comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for contacting a user and means, recorded on the recoding medium, for receiving confirmation from the user.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein means for confirming a user specified call forwarding number further comprises means, recorded on the recoding medium, for checking user specified contact rules.