Method and apparatus for routing a call in a communications network

• US 8,942,367 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2005
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Croak, Marian, Eslambolchi, Hossein
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoque, Nafiz E
• Application Number:
  US11/263,273
• Time in Patent Office: 3,375 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.02, 379/212.01, 379/221.01, 370/217, 370/218, 370/352
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/548 with remote control

Abstract

A method and apparatus for routing a call based on electronic calendar entries in a communications network is described. In one embodiment, a call request to establish a connection with a subscriber of network services is received. An electronic calendar associated with the subscriber is subsequently accessed. Afterwards, the call request is routed to a phone number associated to a present agenda activity detailed in the electronic calendar.

Claims

1. A method for routing a call request in a communications network, comprising:

receiving, via a processor, the call request to establish a connection with a subscriber of a find me/follow me service, wherein the call request comprises a call setup message;

accessing, via the processor, an electronic calendar associated with the subscriber;

attempting, via the processor, to route the call request to a phone number associated with a present calendar entry detailed in the electronic calendar, wherein the attempting comprises attempting to determine the phone number in accordance with a phone number mapping data, wherein the phone number mapping data comprises designations of phone numbers to calendar entries, wherein each entry of the calendar entries comprises an activity, wherein the phone number mapping data is stored in a database, wherein the phone number mapping data is received from the subscriber via a web portal; and

routing, via the processor, the call request in accordance with the find me/follow me service when the phone number is not determined in accordance with the phone number mapping data, wherein the communications network comprises a voice over internet protocol network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic calendar is associated with an electronic calendar application that is capable of functioning as a stand-alone calendar application.

3. An apparatus for routing a call request in a communications network, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

receiving the call request to establish a connection with a subscriber of a find me/follow me service, wherein the call request comprises a call setup message;

accessing an electronic calendar associated with the subscriber;

attempting to route the call request to a phone number associated with a present calendar entry detailed in the electronic calendar, wherein the attempting to route the call attempts to determine the phone number in accordance with a phone number mapping data, wherein the phone number mapping data comprises designations of phone numbers to calendar entries, wherein each entry of the calendar entries comprises an activity, wherein the phone number mapping data is stored in a database, wherein the phone number mapping data is received from the subscriber via a web portal; and

routing the call request in accordance with the find me/follow me service when the phone number is not determined in accordance with the phone number mapping data, wherein the communications network comprises a voice over internet protocol network.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the electronic calendar is associated with an electronic calendar application that is capable of functioning as a stand-alone calendar application.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations for routing a call request in a communications network, the operations comprising:

receiving the call request to establish a connection with a subscriber of a find me/follow me service, wherein the call request comprises a call setup message;

accessing an electronic calendar associated with the subscriber;

attempting to route the call request to a phone number associated with a present calendar entry detailed in the electronic calendar, wherein the attempting comprises attempting to determine the phone number in accordance with a phone number mapping data, wherein the phone number mapping data comprises designations of phone numbers to calendar entries, wherein each entry of the calendar entries comprises an activity, wherein the phone number mapping data is stored in a database, wherein the phone number mapping data is received from the subscriber via a web portal; and

routing the call request in accordance with the find me/follow me service when the phone number is not determined in accordance with the phone number mapping data, wherein the communications network comprises a voice over internet protocol network.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the electronic calendar is associated with an electronic calendar application that is capable of functioning as a stand-alone calendar application.