Methods and systems for telephony processing, including location based call transfers

• US 8,494,504 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2005
• Issued: 07/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CallWave Communications, LLC
• Original Assignee: CallWave Communications, LLC
• Inventors: Kirchhoff, Leland W., Day, John R., Trandal, David S.
• Primary Examiner(s): CAI, WAYNE HUU
• Application Number:
  US11/294,638
• Publication Number:
  US 20060142012A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,787 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4566, 455/414.1, 455/457, 455/459, 455/461, 37920702-20709, 379/207.12, 379/211.02, 379/352
• US Class Current: 455/417
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2094 Proximity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42102 Making use of the called party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• 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: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

The present invention provides flexible call processing. In one embodiment, an inbound call from a calling party is received at a call processing system. The inbound call is intended for a called party. A determination is made that a first condition has occurred and/or is occurring. The called party'"'"'s location is determined via a location based service associated with the mobile device of the called party. Based at least in part on the called party'"'"'s mobile device location, a phone number stored in computer readable memory is selected. The calling party is connected to a communication device associated with the selected phone number.

Claims

1. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

providing a user interface via which a user can register phone numbers in association with corresponding geographical location information;

receiving at a call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party, wherein

the called party has registered one or more phone numbers via the user interface with corresponding geographical location information, and

wherein the one or more phone numbers and corresponding geographical location information are stored in computer readable memory in association with an identifier associated with the called party;

placing an outcall to a mobile device associated with the called party;

determining the called party'"'"'s current geographical location via a location based service associated with the mobile device;

receiving an indication that the called party wants to have the calling party connected to another communication device associated with the called party;

based at least in part on the called party'"'"'s mobile device current geographical location and the geographical location information stored in computer readable memory, selecting, using a computing device, a phone number from the one or more registered phone numbers stored in computer readable memory, wherein the selected phone number is associated with a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to a communication device associated with the selected phone number.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a call transfer destination based at least in part on the mobile device location; and

providing the called party with the option of transferring at least one call to the selected call transfer destination.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the user interface is provided as a Web page via which the called party can register phone numbers in association with corresponding location information.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining the mobile device location based at least in part on a cell identifier.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining the mobile device location based at least in part on triangulation of the mobile phone.

6. The method as defined in claim 5, wherein the triangulation is performed using at least two cell towers.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining the mobile device location using assisted GPS.

8. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

receiving at a call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party;

prior to receiving the inbound call, associating location data with a phone number via a call received at the call processing system from the called party from a communication device with location capabilities;

storing the location data and the phone number in computer readable memory;

placing an outcall to a mobile device associated with the called party;

determining the called party'"'"'s current geographical location via a location based service associated with the mobile device;

receiving an indication that the called party wants to have the calling party connected to another communication device associated with the called party;

based at least in part on the called party'"'"'s mobile device current geographical location and the location data, selecting, using a computing device, the phone number stored in computer readable memory, wherein the selected phone number is associated with a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to a communication device associated with the selected phone number.

9. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

receiving a user selection of a phone number of a first communication device from a list of numbers;

determining a physical location of the first communication device;

storing, at a call processing system, an association of physical location data, corresponding to the physical location of the first communication device, with the user-selected phone number of the first communication device;

receiving at the call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party, wherein the called party is the user;

placing an outcall to a mobile device associated with the called party;

determining the called party'"'"'s current geographical location via a location based service associated with the mobile device;

receiving an indication that the called party wants to have the calling party connected to another communication device associated with the called party;

based at least in part on the called party'"'"'s mobile device current geographical location and the physical location data, selecting, using a computing device, the first phone number associated with the first communication device, wherein the first communication device is a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to the first communication device.

10. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

receiving at a call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party wherein

location data is associated with at least one phone number via a call received from the called party at the call processing system from a communication device with location capabilities prior to the receiving of the inbound call from the calling party,

wherein the at least one phone number is stored in computer readable memory in association with the location data;

determining the called party'"'"'s current physical location via a location based service associated with the mobile device of the called party;

based at least in part on the party'"'"'s mobile device current physical location and the location data stored in computer readable memory, selecting, using a computing device, a phone number from the at least one phone number stored in computer readable memory, wherein the selected phone number is associated with a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to a communication device associated with the selected phone number.

11. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising providing a Web page via which the called party can register at least a first phone number in association with corresponding location information.

12. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising determining the called party'"'"'s location based at least in part on a cell identifier.

13. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising determining the called party'"'"'s location based at least in part on triangulation of the mobile phone.

14. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising determining the called party'"'"'s location using assisted GPS.

15. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising determining the called party'"'"'s location at least partly in response to at least one of the following events:

the mobile device being out of range;

the mobile device being busy;

the mobile device being turned off;

a ring-no-answer condition occurring on the mobile device;

a do-not-disturb condition occurring on the mobile device/line;

a scheduled event occurring.

16. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

receiving at a call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party;

providing a user interface via which the called party can register at least a first phone number in association with corresponding location information;

storing the at least first phone number in computer readable memory in association with the corresponding location information;

determining the called party'"'"'s current physical location via a location based service associated with the mobile device of the called party;

based at least in part on the party'"'"'s mobile device current physical location and the stored location information, selecting, using a computing device, the first phone number stored in computer readable memory, wherein the selected phone number is associated with a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to a communication device associated with the selected phone number.

17. A method of processing a call, the method comprising:

receiving a user selection of a phone number associated with a first communication device from a list of numbers;

determining a physical location of the first communication device;

storing, at a call processing system, an association of physical location data, corresponding to the physical location of the first communication device, with the user-selected phone number of the first communication device;

receiving at the call processing system an inbound call from a calling party intended for a called party, wherein the called party is the user;

determining the called party'"'"'s current physical location via a location based service associated with a mobile device of the called party;

based at least in part on the called party'"'"'s mobile device current physical location and the stored physical location data, selecting, using a computing device, the phone number of the first communication device stored in computer readable memory, wherein the first communication device is a different communication device than the mobile device; and

causing the calling party to be connected to a communication device associated with the first communication device.