System and method for facilitating a custom ring in connection with a call

• US 7,616,741 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2004
• Issued: 11/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reynolds, Douglas F., Brandt, Jeffrey L., Bangor, Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US10/774,351
• Publication Number:
  US 20050175161A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,104 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/142.17, 379/373.02, 379/373.01, 379/88.12, 379/88.19, 379/142.01, 379/211.01, 379/207.14, 379/215.01, 379/114.13, 379/88.17, 379/142.12, 370/352, 370/354, 709/206, 455/414.1, 455/461
• US Class Current: 379/88.17
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/578 associated with a synthesized vocal announcement
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/041 Encoding the ringing signal, i.e. providing distinctive or selective ringing capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42051 where the notification is included in the ringing tone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for facilitating a custom ring in connection with a call. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an electronic device operable to support telephonic communication. The electronic device may have a housing component at least partially defining an enclosure. A memory may be located within the enclosure and may be storing ring tone information representing a custom ring tone. The device may also have a user interface capable of receiving user inputs that could indicate, for example, a desire to place a call to a called party. In some embodiments, the device may have an output engine capable of initiating communication of the ring tone information to the called party such that a telephonic device of the called party outputs the select ring tone as an indication of the call.

Claims

1. A call indication method comprising:

recognizing a request to complete a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) call to a called party;

receiving custom ring information from a calling party of the VoIP call, the custom ring information representing a calling party selected ring tone to be played to the called party;

determining whether the called party has a piece of telephonic equipment capable of outputting the calling party selected ring tone, wherein the piece of telephonic equipment is selected from a group consisting of a computer, a telephone communicatively coupled to a twisted pair network, a cordless telephone, a VoIP telephone, a cellular telephone, a fixed wireless telephone, and an 802.11(x) telephone;

determining whether the calling party selected ring tone is allowed; and

when the calling party selected ring tone is allowed and when the called party has a piece of telephonic equipment capable of outputting the calling party selected ring tone, initiating delivery of the custom ring information to a telephone of the called party.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing a public switched telephone network (PSTN) node to perform at least one of the recognizing step, the receiving step, and the initiating step.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering at least a portion of the custom ring information in VoIP packets.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the custom ring information across a wireline connection comprising a link of coaxial cable operable to carry data traffic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a VoIP switch initiates delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting the calling party to communicate the custom ring information; and

recording the custom ring information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing a piece of calling party customer premises equipment (CPE) to perform at least one of the recognizing step, the receiving step, and the initiating step.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the custom ring information has a file format selected from the group consisting of a .WAV file, a .MIDI file, and a .AU file.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the custom ring information represents a spoken message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein recognizing the request to complete the VoIP call occurs after receiving the custom ring information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the custom ring information in a memory residing in a piece of calling party customer premises equipment.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the custom ring information in a memory located within a service provider network.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

recognizing caller identification information of the calling party; and

finding a location in the memory storing the custom ring information.

14. The call indication method of claim 1, wherein when the calling party selected ring tone is not allowed, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

15. The call indication method of claim 1, wherein when the calling party selected ring tone is not allowed, blocking delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

16. The call indication method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the calling party selected ring tone is allowed includes:

receiving caller identification information associated with the VoIP call; and

using the caller identification information to determine whether the calling party is included in a list of allowed calling parties.

17. The call indication method of claim 16, wherein when the calling party is included in the list of allowed calling parties, initiating delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

18. The call indication method of claim 16, wherein when the calling party is not included in the list of allowed calling parties, blocking delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

19. The call indication method of claim 16, wherein when the calling party is not included in the list of allowed calling parties, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

20. The call indication method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the calling party selected ring tone is allowed includes determining whether the calling party selected ring tone includes a branded ring tone.

21. The call indication method of claim 20, wherein when the calling party selected ring tone includes the branded ring tone, blocking delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

22. The call indication method of claim 21, wherein the branded ring tone includes an advertisement.

23. The call indication method of claim 20, wherein when the calling party selected ring tone includes the branded ring tone, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

24. The call indication method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the calling party selected ring tone is allowed includes determining whether caller identification information of the calling party is blocked.

25. The call indication method of claim 24, wherein when caller identification information of the calling party is blocked, blocking delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

26. The call indication method of claim 24, wherein when caller identification information of the calling party is blocked, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

27. The call indication method of claim 24, wherein when caller identification information of the calling party is not blocked, initiating delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

28. A ring tone delivery system, comprising:

an interface operable to receive a calling signal that indicates a request to complete a call from a calling party to a called party;

a network node communicatively coupled to the interface and operable to determine whether a calling party selected ring tone is allowed and when the calling party selected ring tone is allowed, to deliver packetized information representing the calling party selected ring tone to the called party; and

a memory maintaining information indicating an additional communication address for the called party, the additional communication address selected from the group consisting of an electronic mail address, a plain old telephony service telephone number, an instant messaging address, a short messaging service address, an enhanced messaging service address, a multimedia messaging service address, and a wireless telephone number.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the network node comprises a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) switch operable to communicatively couple to a plurality of subscribers across links comprising twisted pair wiring.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the network node is further operable to deliver packetized information across a cable network.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the network node is further operable to deliver packetized information across an xDSL network.

32. The system of claim 28, further comprising a custom ring tone block list, wherein the network node is further operable to block delivery of the calling party selected ring tone when the custom ring tone block list indicates that the called party does not want to receive the calling party selected ring tone.

33. The system of claim 28, further comprising a broadband modem providing at least a portion of a link communicatively coupling the network node to a piece of telephonic equipment associated with the called party.

34. A system for facilitating a calling party selected ring tone in connection with a call, comprising:

an electronic device operable to support telephonic communication, the electronic device comprising a housing component;

a memory located within an enclosure at least partially formed by the housing component, the memory storing ring tone information representing a calling party selected ring tone;

a user interface for the electronic device operable to receive a user input indicating a desire to place a call to a called party; and

an output engine operable to initiate communication of the calling party selected ring tone information to the called party such that a telephonic device of the called party outputs the calling party selected ring tone to indicate the call when the calling party selected ring tone is allowed and when the called party has a piece of telephonic equipment capable of outputting the calling party selected ring tone, wherein the piece of telephonic equipment is selected from a group consisting of a computer, a telephone communicatively coupled to a twisted pair network, a cordless telephone, a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone, a cellular telephone, a fixed wireless telephone, and an 802.11(x) telephone.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the memory stores additional ring tone information representing a second select ring tone, wherein the calling party selected ring tone is associated with the called party and the second select ring tone is associated with a different party.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising an electronic address book comprising a listing for the called party and a second listing for the different party.

37. A call indication method comprising:

recognizing a request to complete a call to a called party over a packet switched network;

receiving custom ring information from a calling party of the call, the custom ring information representing a calling party selected ring tone to be played to the called party;

determining whether a device of the called party is capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, wherein the device of the called party is one of a computer, a telephone communicatively coupled to a twisted pair network, a cordless telephone, a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone, a cellular telephone, a fixed wireless telephone, and an 802.11(x) telephone; and

when the device of the called party is capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, initiating delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

38. The call indication method of claim 37, wherein when the device of the called party is not capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

39. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions that, when executed by a computer performs a task of directing delivery of information to a telephonic device of a called party, comprising computer-readable data to:

maintain information representing a calling party selected ring tone;

recognize an event trigger signaling a request to place a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) call from the calling party to a called party;

initiate completion of the VoIP call;

direct delivery of the information to a telephonic device of the called party in a format that allows the telephonic device to output the calling party selected ring tone as an indication of an incoming call;

determine whether the telephonic device of the called party is capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, wherein the telephonic device of the called party is selected from a group consisting of a computer, a telephone communicatively coupled to a twisted pair network, a cordless telephone, a VoIP telephone, a cellular telephone, a fixed wireless telephone, and an 802.11(x) telephone; and

when the telephonic device of the called party is capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, initiating delivery of the custom ring information to the called party.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein when the telephonic device of the called party is not capable of playing the calling party selected ring tone, initiating delivery of a non-custom ring signal to the called party.

41. A ring tone delivery system, comprising:

an interface operable to receive a calling signal that indicates a request to complete a call from a calling party to a called party;

a network node communicatively coupled to the interface and operable to determine whether a calling party selected ring tone is allowed and when the calling party selected ring tone is allowed, to deliver packetized information representing the calling party selected ring tone to the called party; and

a memory maintaining information indicating that the called party has a piece of telephonic equipment capable of outputting the calling party selected ring tone, wherein the piece of telephonic equipment is selected from a group consisting of a computer, a telephone communicatively coupled to a twisted pair network, a cordless telephone, a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone, a cellular telephone, a fixed wireless telephone, and an 802.11(x) telephone.