Providing selective voice mail services

• US 8,781,084 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Parker, Benjamin J., Ait-Ameur, Samir, Reyes, Emerando Delos
• Primary Examiner(s): SING, SIMON P
• Application Number:
  US13/307,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20130136245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 958 Days
• Field of Search: 379 8822- 8825
• US Class Current: 379/88.25
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4211 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53333 Message receiving aspects

Abstract

A device is configured to receive a request for a first user, of a first telephone device, to leave a voice mail message for a second user of a second telephone device; retrieve a profile associated with the second telephone device and to determine, based on the profile, whether the second telephone device is registered for a selective voice mail service; determine, based on the profile, whether the first user is allowed to leave the voice mail message when the second telephone device is registered for the selective voice mail service; and allow the first user to leave the voice mail message for the second user of the second telephone device when the second telephone device is not registered for the selective voice mail service or when the first user is allowed to leave the voice mail message.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server device, contact information associated with a first user or a first telephone device from the first telephone device, wherein the contact information includes user names and corresponding telephone numbers;

creating, by the server device, one or more whitelists of telephone numbers based on the contact information and storing the one or more whitelists as part of a profile associated with the first telephone device;

receiving, by the server device, a request for a second user, of a second telephone device, to leave a voice mail message for the first user of the first telephone device;

retrieving, by the server device, the profile associated with the first telephone device;

determining, by the server device and based on the profile, whether the second user is allowed to leave the voice mail message for the first user of the first telephone device based on the contact information associated with the second user or the second telephone device, by determining whether a telephone number of the second user device is in the one or more whitelists;

allowing the second user to leave the voice mail message for the first user of the first telephone device in response to determining that the telephone number is in the one or more whitelists; and

preventing the second user from leaving the voice mail message in response to determining that the telephone number is not in the one or more whitelists,

wherein determining whether the second user is allowed to leave the voice mail message comprises;

determining, based on a particular field of the profile, whether the first telephone device is registered for a selective voice mail service provided by a carrier associated with the first telephone device, and

determining that the second user is allowed to leave the voice mail message in response to determining that the first telephone device is not registered for the selective voice mail service.

2. The method of claim 1, where preventing the second user from leaving the voice mail message comprises:

providing a message to the second telephone device that indicates that the second user cannot leave the voice mail message, or

dropping a call associated with the request to leave the voice mail message.

3. The method of claim 1,

where the request comprises a telephone number of the first telephone device, and

where retrieving the profile associated with the first telephone device comprises:

identifying the telephone number of the first telephone device based on the request, and

retrieving the profile that corresponds to the first telephone device based on the telephone number.

4. The method of claim 1, where the telephone number is based on a telephone numbering plan or is a session initiation protocol (SIP) uniform resource identifier (URI) telephone number.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein preventing the first user from leaving the voice mail message comprises:

providing a message to the first telephone device that indicates that the first user cannot leave the voice mail message, or

dropping a call associated with the request to leave the voice mail message;

wherein the request comprises a telephone number of the second telephone device; and

wherein retrieving the profile associated with the second telephone device comprises;

identifying the telephone number of the second telephone device based on the request, and

retrieving the profile that corresponds to the second telephone device based on the telephone number.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein preventing the first user from leaving the voice mail message comprises:

providing a message to the first telephone device that indicates that the first user cannot leave the voice mail message, or

dropping a call associated with the request to leave the voice mail message; and

wherein the telephone number is based on a telephone numbering plan or is a session initiation protocol (SIP) uniform resource identifier (URI) telephone number.

7. A server device comprising:

a memory to store;

a profile for a first telephone device;

a processor to;

receive a request for a user of a second telephone device to leave a voice mail message for the first telephone device after the user makes a call to the first telephone device by using the second telephone device and the call is not answered,

where the request comprises;

a first telephone number assigned to the first telephone device, and

contact information associated with the user or the second telephone device,

retrieve the profile based on the first telephone number,

determine, based on the profile and the contact information, whether the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message for the first telephone device by;

determining, based on a particular field of the profile, whether the first telephone device is registered for a selective voice mail service provided by a carrier associated with the first device, and

determining that the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message at the server device when the first telephone device is not registered for the selective voice mail service,

allow the user to leave the voice mail message when it is determined that the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message, and

prevent the user from leaving the voice mail message when it is determined that the user is not allowed to leave the voice mail message.

8. The server device of claim 7, where, when preventing the user from leaving the voice mail message, the processor is further to:

provide a message to the second telephone device that indicates that the user cannot leave the voice mail message, and

drop the call.

9. The server device of claim 7, where, when determining whether the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message, the processor is further to:

determine, when the user is registered for the selective voice mail service, whether the contact information is specified in the profile, and

determine that the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message when the contact information is specified in the profile.

10. The server device of claim 7,

where the profile comprises a blocks of telephone numbers whitelist,

where the contact information comprises a second telephone number assigned to the second telephone device, and

where, when determining whether the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message, the processor is further to:

determine whether the second telephone numbers is within a block of telephone numbers specified in the blocks of telephone numbers whitelist, and

determine that the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message when the second telephone number is within the block of telephone numbers.

11. The server device of claim 10,

where the blocks of telephone numbers whitelist comprises an identifier associated with the block of telephone numbers,

where, when determining whether the second telephone number is within the block of telephone numbers, the processor is further to:

identify a portion of the second telephone number,

determine whether the portion matches the identifier, and

determine that the second telephone numbers is within the block of telephone numbers when the portion matches the identifier.

12. The server device of claim 10,

where the profile further comprises a telephone numbers whitelist,

where, when determining whether the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message, the processor is further to:

determine, when the second telephone number is not within the block of telephone numbers, whether the second telephone number matches any telephone number listed in the telephone numbers whitelist, and

determine, when the second telephone number matches a listed telephone number in the telephone numbers whitelist, that the user is allowed to leave the voice mail message, and

determine, when the second telephone number is not within the block of telephone numbers and the second telephone number does not match any telephone number listed in the telephone numbers whitelist, that the user is not allowed to leave the voice mail message.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising:

instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a request for a first user, of a first telephone device, to leave a voice mail message for a second user of a second telephone device;

retrieve a profile associated with the second telephone device;

determine, based on the profile, whether the second telephone device is registered for a selective voice mail service;

determine, based on the profile, whether the first user is allowed to leave the voice mail message when the second telephone device is registered for the selective voice mail service by determining whether a first telephone number of the first telephone device is in a blacklist of telephone numbers, wherein the profile includes the blacklist;

allow the first user to leave the voice mail message for the second user of the second telephone device when the second telephone device is not registered for the selective voice mail service or when it is determined that the first telephone number is not in the blacklist; and

prevent the first user from leaving the voice mail message it is determined that the first telephone number is in the blacklist.

14. The media of claim 13, where the request comprises at least one of:

contact information associated with the first user or the second telephone device, or

a second telephone number assigned to the second telephone device.

15. The media of claim 14,

where the profile comprises the second telephone number, and

where the profile is retrieved based on the second telephone number.

16. The media of claim 14, where determining whether the first user is allowed to leave the voice mail message comprises:

determining whether the profile specifies an identifier associated with the contact information, and

determining that the first user is allowed to leave the voice mail message when the profile specifies the identifier.

17. The media of claim 16,

where the identifier comprises a first telephone number assigned to the first telephone device,

where the profile comprises:

a first whitelist that specifies one or more blocks of telephone numbers selected by the second user, and

a second whitelist that specifies one or more telephone numbers selected by the second user,

where the profile specifies the identifier when the first telephone number is included in one of the one or more blocks of the first whitelist or matches one of the one or more telephone numbers of the second whitelist.