Techniques for automatically activating or deactivating a phone associated with a virtual phone number

• US 8,725,131 B1
• Filed: 06/18/2012
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Kirkham, Stephen, Bilinski, Brandon
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisner, Ronald
• Application Number:
  US13/525,930
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 4554561-457, 455/417, 4554321-434, 4554351-4533, 455/414.1, 455/418, 340/539.13, 340988-996, 379/211.01, 379/211.02, 379/212.01, D10/104.2
• US Class Current: 455/417
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/28 Number portability ; Network address portability

Abstract

A computer-implemented technique is presented. The technique includes determining, at a server including one or more processors, one or more phones associated with a virtual phone number associated with a user. The technique includes determining, at the server, a location for each of the one or more phones. The technique includes receiving, at the server, position information from a mobile phone associated with the user indicating the user crossed a geo-fence corresponding to a specific location of a specific one of the one or more phones. The technique includes determining, at the server, a status of the specific phone associated with the geo-fence based on a previous status of the specific phone and the position information. The technique further includes selectively forwarding, from the server, an incoming phone call to the virtual phone number to the one or more phones based on their respective statuses.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, using one or more computing devices, an address for a location;

determining, using the one or more computing devices, one or more geo-fence parameters based on a type of structure situated at the address;

determining, using one or more computing devices, a geo-fence for a phone associated with a virtual phone number, the virtual phone number being associated with a user and a size and shape of the geo-fence being based on the one or more geo-fence parameters;

receiving, using the one or more computing devices, a fence-cross indication from a mobile device associated with the user that the user crossed the geo-fence, the geo-fence being stored at the mobile device;

determining, using the one or more computing devices, a call forwarding status of the phone based on the fence-cross indication; and

selectively forwarding, using the one or more computing devices, an in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the phone based on the call forwarding status.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the call forwarding status of the phone based on the fence-cross indication includes changing, using the one or more computing devices, the call forwarding status of the phone in response to receiving the fence-cross indication.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein changing the call forwarding status in response to receiving the fence-cross indication includes determining, using the one or more computing devices, a previous call forwarding status for the phone and changing, at the computing device, the previous call forwarding status to obtain the call forwarding status.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the call forwarding status is changed to active in response to receiving the fence-cross indication when the previous call forwarding status is inactive, and wherein the call forwarding status is changed to inactive in response to receiving the fence-cross indication when the previous call forwarding status is active.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, using the one or more computing devices, information indicating a location of the phone from the mobile device, wherein the determining of the geo-fence for the phone is based on the information indicating the location of the phone.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the information indicating the location of the phone includes at least one of (i) global positioning satellite (GPS) coordinates for the location and (ii) an address for the location.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining the geo-fence for the phone includes determining, using the one or more computing devices, a circular geo-fence centered at the location of the phone to obtain the geo-fence.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining the geo-fence for the phone includes determining, using the one or more computing devices, a geo-fence identifier to identify the geo-fence.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone, and wherein the phone is a landline phone or a mobile phone.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining, using the one or more computing devices, a plurality of geo-fences for a plurality of phones, respectively, associated with the virtual phone number, and selectively forwarding, using the one or more computing devices, the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the plurality of phones based on their respective statuses.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone, and wherein the plurality of phones includes the mobile phone.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the status of the mobile phone is always active and in-coming phone calls to the virtual phone number are always forwarded to the mobile phone.

13. A computing system comprising:

a crossing determination module configured to;

receive an address for a location;

determine one or more geo-fence parameters based on a type of structure situated at the address;

determine a geo-fence for a phone associated with a virtual telephone number, the virtual phone number being associated with a user, and a size and shape of the geo-fence being based on the one or more geo-fence parameters;

receive a fence-cross indication from a mobile device associated with the user that the user crossed the geo-fence, the geo-fence being stored at the mobile device;

a status determination module configured to determine a call forwarding status of the phone based on the fence-cross indication; and

a call forwarding module configured to selectively forward an in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the phone based on the call forwarding status.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the status determination module is further configured to determine the call forwarding status of the phone based on the fence-cross indication by changing the call forwarding status of the phone in response to receiving the fence-cross indication.

15. The computing system of claim 14, wherein the status determination module is further configured to change the call forwarding status in response to receiving the fence-cross indication by determining a previous call forwarding status for the phone and changing the previous call forwarding status to obtain the call forwarding status.

16. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the status determination module is further configured to change the call forwarding status to active in response to receiving the fence-cross indication when the previous call forwarding status is inactive, and wherein the status determination module is further configured to change the call forwarding status to inactive in response to receiving the fence-cross indication when the previous call forwarding status is active.

17. The computing system of claim 13, further comprising a location determination module configured to receive information indicating a location of the phone from the mobile device, wherein crossing determination module is further configured to determine the geo-fence for the phone based on the information indicating the location of the phone.

18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the information indicating the location of the phone includes at least one of (i) global positioning satellite (GPS) coordinates for the location and (ii) an address for the location.

19. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the crossing determination module is further configured to determine the geo-fence for the phone by determining a circular geo-fence centered at the location of the phone to obtain the geo-fence.

20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the crossing determination module is further configured to determine the geo-fence identifier to identify the geo-fence.

21. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone, and wherein the phone is a landline phone or a mobile phone.

22. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the crossing determination module is further configured to determine a plurality of geo-fences for a plurality of phones, respectively, associated with the virtual phone number, and wherein the call forwarding module is further configured to selectively forward the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the plurality of phones based on their respective statuses.

23. The computing system of claim 22, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone, and wherein the plurality of phones includes the mobile phone.

24. The computing system of claim 23, wherein the status of the mobile phone is always active and in-coming phone calls to the virtual phone number are always forwarded to the mobile phone.

25. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, using one or more computing devices, first information from a mobile phone associated with a user, the first information specifying a geo-fence for a specific phone, wherein both the mobile phone and the specific phone are associated with a virtual phone number that is associated with the user;

receiving, using the one or more computing devices, second information from the mobile phone associated with the user, the second information specifying an initial call forwarding status of the specific phone;

receiving, using the one or more computing devices, a fence-cross indication from the mobile phone that the user crossed the geo-fence associated with the specific phone, the geo-fence being stored at the mobile phone;

determining, using the one or more computing devices, a modified call forwarding status for the specific phone in response to receiving the fence-cross indication, wherein the modified call forwarding status is an opposite of the initial call forwarding status;

forwarding, using the one or more computing devices, an in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the mobile phone; and

selectively forwarding, using the one or more computing devices, the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the specific phone based on the modified call forwarding status.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the first information specifies a set of coordinates representing the geo-fence.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the first information specifies a location of the specific phone and further includes third information for obtaining the geo-fence including either (i) a radius for a circular geo-fence centered about the location or (ii) a type of structure located at the location and defining a shape.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 27, wherein the specific phone is a landline phone or a mobile phone.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein when the initial call forwarding status is active, the modified call forwarding status is determined to be inactive, and when the initial call forwarding status is inactive, the modified call forwarding status is determined to be active.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein selectively forwarding the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the specific phone based on the modified call forwarding status includes:

forwarding the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the phone when the modified call forwarding status is active; and

not forwarding the in-coming phone call to the virtual phone number to the phone when the modified call forwarding status is inactive.