Method and system for verifying incoming telephone numbers

• US 8,000,458 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2006
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Walker, Keith Raymond, Chen, Yen-Fu, Morgan, Fabian F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah; Melur
• Assistant Examiner(s): Laekemariam; Yosef K
• Application Number:
  US11/558,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20080112553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,740 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.02, 379/142.05, 379/142.06, 379/142.01, 379/221.09, 370/230, 370/360, 370/363, 370/278, 370/395.2
• US Class Current: 379/142.06
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party

Abstract

A system for automatically verifying an incoming telephone number. In response to detecting an incoming communication, a determination is made as to whether a telephone number associated with the incoming communication matches one of a plurality of telephone numbers in a storage unit. In response to determining that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does not match one of the plurality of telephone numbers in the storage unit, telephone number verification rules are applied to determine whether to continue with the incoming communication. In response to a determination not to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules, an alert is provided.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method in a mobile communication device for automatically verifying an incoming telephone number, the method comprising:

responsive to detecting an incoming communication by the mobile communication device, determining, by the mobile communication device, whether a user enabled a telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device;

responsive to a determination that the user did not enable the telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device, connecting, by the mobile communication device, with a telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

responsive to a determination that the user did enable the telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device, determining, by the mobile communication device utilizing the telephone number verification unit, whether the telephone number associated with the incoming communication matches one of a plurality of telephone numbers in a storage unit within the mobile communication device;

responsive to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does match one of the plurality of telephone numbers stored in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, determining, by the mobile communication device, whether the user enabled a confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device;

responsive to a determination that the user did not enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device, connecting, by the mobile communication device, with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

responsive to a determination that the user did enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device, using, by the mobile communication device, a display screen to prompt the user for confirmation to continue with the incoming communication;

responsive to the mobile communication device prompting the user for the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication, determining, by the mobile communication device, whether the mobile communication device received the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication;

responsive to the mobile communication device receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication, connecting, by the mobile communication device, with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

responsive to the mobile communication device not receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication, terminating, by the mobile communication device, the connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

responsive to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does not match one of the plurality of telephone numbers in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, applying, by the mobile communication device, telephone number verification rules to determine whether to continue with the incoming communication, wherein the telephone number verification rules direct the mobile communication device to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to a contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to display a selectable background color alert within a display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a second predetermined number of times or less without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, or to display the selectable background color alert within the display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the second predetermined number of times or less;

determining, by the mobile communication device, whether to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules;

responsive to a determination not to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules, displaying, by the mobile communication device, the selectable background color alert within the display screen of the mobile communication device to indicate that the incoming communication is questionable;

responsive to a determination to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules, determining, by the mobile communication device, whether the user enabled an automatic update function within the mobile communication device;

responsive to a determination that the user did enable the automatic update function within the mobile communication device, updating, by the mobile communication device, the storage unit within the mobile communication device to include the telephone number associated with the incoming communication and a name associated with the telephone number; and

sending, by the mobile communication device, an update message to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication to alert a calling party of an update to the storage unit within the mobile communication device to include the telephone number.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores data, and wherein the data includes contact names, telephone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and instant messaging screen names, and wherein the data is located within one or more contact lists.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the incoming communication is one of a telephone call, text message, electronic mail, or instant message.

4. A computer program product stored on a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions capable of being executed by a computer for automatically verifying an incoming telephone number, the computer program product comprising:

instructions, responsive to detecting an incoming communication, for determining whether a user enabled a telephone number verification unit;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the user did not enable the telephone number verification unit, for connecting with a telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the user did enable the telephone number verification unit, for determining whether the telephone number associated with the incoming communication matches one of a plurality of telephone numbers in a storage unit;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does match one of the plurality of telephone numbers stored in the storage unit, for determining whether the user enabled a confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the user did not enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function, for connecting with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the user did enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function, for using a display screen to prompt the user for confirmation to continue with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive to prompting the user for the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication, for determining whether the mobile communication device received the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication, for connecting with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive to not receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication, for terminating the connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does not match one of the plurality of telephone numbers in the storage unit, for applying telephone number verification rules to determine whether to continue with the incoming communication, wherein the telephone number verification rules direct the mobile communication device to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to a contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to display a selectable background color alert within a display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a second predetermined number of times or less without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, or to display the selectable background color alert within the display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the second predetermined number of times or less;

instructions for determining whether to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules;

instructions, responsive to a determination not to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules, for displaying the selectable background color alert within the display screen to indicate that the incoming communication is questionable;

instructions, responsive to a determination to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules, for determining whether the user enabled an automatic update function;

instructions, responsive to a determination that the user did enable the automatic update function, for updating the storage unit to include the telephone number associated with the incoming communication and a name associated with the telephone number; and

instructions for sending an update message to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication to alert a calling party of an update to the storage unit to include the telephone number.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the storage unit stores data, and wherein the data includes contact names, telephone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and instant messaging screen names, and wherein the data is located within one or more contact lists.

6. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the incoming communication is one of a telephone call, text message, electronic mail, or instant message.

7. A mobile communication device for automatically verifying an incoming telephone number, the mobile communication device comprising:

a bus system;

a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device stores instructions; and

a processor unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processor unit executes the instructions to determine whether a user enabled a telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device in response to detecting an incoming communication by the mobile communication device;

connect with a telephone number associated with the incoming communication in responsive to a determination that the user did not enable the telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device;

determine whether the telephone number associated with the incoming communication matches one of a plurality of telephone numbers in the storage device in response to a determination that the user did enable the telephone number verification unit within the mobile communication device;

determine whether the user enabled a confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device in response to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does match one of the plurality of telephone numbers stored in the storage device;

connect with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication in response to a determination that the user did not enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device;

use a display screen to prompt the user for confirmation to continue with the incoming communication in response to a determination that the user did enable the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication function within the mobile communication device;

determine whether the mobile communication device received the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device prompting the user for the confirmation to continue with the incoming communication;

connect with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication;

terminate the connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device not receiving the confirmation from the user to continue with the incoming communication;

apply telephone number verification rules to determine whether to continue with the incoming communication in response to a determination that the telephone number associated with the incoming communication does not match one of the plurality of telephone numbers in the storage device, wherein the telephone number verification rules direct the mobile communication device to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to a contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to continue with the incoming communication in response to the mobile communication device having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the first predetermined number of times or more without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, to display a selectable background color alert within a display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously completed a connection with the telephone number associated with the incoming communication a second predetermined number of times or less without saving the telephone number to the contact list in the storage unit within the mobile communication device, or to display the selectable background color alert within the display screen in response to the mobile communication device not having previously made a connection to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication the second predetermined number of times or less;

determine whether to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules;

display the selectable background color alert within the display screen of the mobile communication device to indicate that the incoming communication is questionable in response to a determination not to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules;

determine whether the user enabled an automatic update function within the mobile communication device in response to a determination to continue with the incoming communication based on the telephone number verification rules;

update the storage device to include the telephone number associated with the incoming communication and a name associated with the telephone number in response to a determination that the user did enable the automatic update function within the mobile communication device; and

send an update message to the telephone number associated with the incoming communication to alert a calling party of an update to the storage device to include the telephone number.

8. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the storage unit stores data, and wherein the data includes contact names, telephone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and instant messaging screen names, and wherein the data is located within one or more contact lists.

9. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the incoming communication is one of a telephone call, text message, electronic mail, or instant message.