Calling party announcement apparatus

• US 7,206,572 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2005
• Issued: 04/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ClassCo Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ClassCo Incorporated
• Inventors: Luneau, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Lee
• Application Number:
  US11/234,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20060040649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/415, 455/459, 455/563, 455/419, 379/67.1, 379/88.01, 379/88.19, 379/88.2, 379/88.21, 379/88.22, 379/88.23, 379/88.24
• US Class Current: 455/415
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2854 Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/573 Line monitoring circuits for detecting caller identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/578 associated with a synthesized vocal announcement
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72

Abstract

A calling party announcement apparatus that provides the identity of the caller in synthesized human speech. The invention captures the Incoming Caller Line Identification (ICLID) signal sent by the telephone company. The invention announces the calling party'"'"'s identity to the called party through a built-in speaker and over the telephone receiver. The called party can elect to accept or reject the call before the telephone company central office has connected the two parties together. The invention makes it possible to screen incoming telephone calls without the aid of a special Caller ID telephone set or auxiliary Caller ID display terminal. The invention is installed in the customer premises, such as a residence or office, between the telephone line demarcation point and the telephone sets. The invention is compatible with any standard telephone set and subscriber trunks provisioned with the Caller ID enhanced customer feature. One of the most important features of the invention is its ability to deliver a vocalized announcement of the caller'"'"'s identity over a standard telephone set'"'"'s receiver without the call having actually been declared answered by the telephone company, and without the caller having been cut through. The call is not considered “answered” nor is it billed by the telephone company unless the called party or a telephone answering device, such as an answering machine, accepts the call.

Claims

1. A caller announcement apparatus for a telephone system that provisions a telephone call between a caller station and a called station, where the telephone system provides signals to the called station that include caller identification signals, the caller announcement apparatus comprising:

a signal receiver at the called station operatively connected to the telephone system to receive signals therefrom, the signal receiver being operative to extract caller identification signals from the signals received from the telephone system and to provide caller identification data corresponding to the extracted caller identification signals;

memory storage for storing audio identity information associated with the caller identification data;

a processing unit operatively connected to the signal receiver to receive caller identification data therefrom, the processing unit being operative to access the memory storage to retrieve stored audio identity information associated with the caller identification data;

an audio transducer;

an audio announcing circuit operatively connected to the processing unit to receive retrieved audio identity information therefrom, the audio announcing circuit being operative to use the retrieved audio identity information to produce audio using the audio transducer.

2. The caller announcement apparatus of claim 1 wherein the audio transducer is a component of a called telephone at the called station.

3. The caller announcement apparatus of claim 1 wherein the stored audio identity information is a name of a party associated with the caller station.

4. The caller announcement apparatus of claim 1 wherein the stored audio identity information is a geographical location associated with the caller station.

5. In a telephone system that provisions a telephone call between a caller station and a called station, where the telephone system provides signals to the called station that include caller identification signals, a method comprising:

extracting caller identification signals from the signals received at the called station from the telephone system;

providing caller identification data corresponding to the extracted caller identification signals;

storing audio identity information associated with the caller identification data;

using the caller identification data to retrieve stored audio identity information;

producing audio using the retrieved audio identity information.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the audio is produced using an audio transducer in a called telephone at the called station.

7. The caller announcement apparatus of claim 5 wherein the stored audio identity information is a name of a party associated with the caller station.

8. The caller announcement apparatus of claim 5 wherein the stored audio identity information is a geographical location associated with the caller station.

9. In a telephone system that provides signals to the called station that include non-voice alphanumeric signals, a method comprising:

extracting non-voice alphanumeric signals from the signals received at the called station from the telephone system;

providing non-voice alphanumeric data corresponding to the extracted non-voice alphanumeric signals;

storing audio information associated with the non-voice alphanumeric data;

using the non-voice alphanumeric data to retrieve stored audio information;

producing audio using the retrieved audio identity information.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the non-voice alphanumeric signals are caller identification signals.