Originating locator service

• US 8,971,513 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2009
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Brooks, Euclid S., Evans, Jeffrey R., Sidhom, Nashwa F., Tam, Henry L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Van D
• Application Number:
  US12/472,846
• Publication Number:
  US 20100303220A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,106 Days
• Field of Search: 379/142.05, 379/142.07, 37921103-21104, 379/211.02, 379/209.01, 370/259
• US Class Current: 379/211.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/08 ISDN systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/12 intelligent networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/46 Arrangements for calling a number of substations in a predetermined sequence until an answer is obtained
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

A device receives information associated with a calling party, validates the calling party for an originating locator service based on the calling party information, and sends an instruction to play an announcement requesting information associated with a called party. The device also receives the called party information from the calling party in response to the announcement, and retrieves called party destination information based on the called party information. The device then sends an instruction to originate a sequence of calls to the called party based on the called party destination information.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device and from a calling party, destination information,

the destination information identifying multiple destinations associated with a single called party,

each of the multiple destinations being associated with a different phone number;

receiving, by the device, information associated with the calling party;

validating, by the device, the calling party based on the information associated with the calling party;

receiving, by the device, identification information associated with the called party;

retrieving, by the device, the destination information based on the identification information associated with the called party;

sending, by the device and based on a time of day associated with receiving the identification information, an instruction to originate a sequence of calls to the multiple destinations based on the destination information,

a first order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a first time of day associated with receiving the destination information, and

a second order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a second time of day associated with receiving the destination information,

the first order being different than the second order and the first time of day being different than the second time of day;

receiving, by the device and based on a call to a first destination of the multiple destinations, information, from the first destination, indicating a busy condition; and

executing, by the device, a busy condition treatment by sending, based on stored information indicating that a continue command is associated with the busy condition, another call to the first destination before sending a call, of the sequence of calls, to a second destination of the multiple destinations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending an instruction to play an announcement requesting the identification information associated with the called party; and

receiving the identification information associated with the called party from the calling party based on the announcement.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an answer from the second destination;

connecting the calling party to the second destination; and

discontinuing a remainder of the sequence of calls.

4. The method of claim 1,

where the busy condition treatment is defined in the destination information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a third destination of the multiple destinations and based on a call to the third destination, information indicating a busy condition associated with the third destination; and

executing a busy condition treatment for the third destination,

where executing the busy condition treatment for the third destination comprises one or more of;

continuing to a next destination of the multiple destinations associated with a next call in the sequence of calls;

leaving a voice mail for the called party;

sending an email to the called party;

paging the called party;

sending a text message to the called party;

or

re-trying the call to the third destination.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a no-answer condition from the second destination; and

executing a no-answer condition treatment for the second destination,

where the no-answer condition treatment is defined in the destination information.

7. The method of claim 6, where executing the no-answer condition treatment comprises one or more of:

continuing to a next destination of the multiple destinations associated with a next call in the sequence of calls;

leaving a voice mail for the called party;

sending an email to the called party;

paging the called party;

or

sending a text message to the called party.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device and from a calling party device, called party destination information,

the called party destination information including multiple calling destinations, each of the multiple calling destinations being associated with a different phone number;

receiving, by the device, a request from the calling party device to originate a sequence of calls to a single called party;

sending, by the device and based on a time of day associated with receiving the request, an instruction to originate a sequence of calls to the multiple calling destinations based on the called party destination information,

a first order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple calling destinations, and being based on a first time of day associated with receiving the called party destination information, and

a second order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple calling destinations, and being based on a second time of day associated with receiving the called party destination information,

the first order being different than the second order and the first time of day being different than the second time of day;

originating, by the device and based on the instruction, a first call in the sequence of calls to a first calling destination, of the multiple calling destinations, based on the called party destination information and the time of day;

receiving, by the device, information indicating that the first call is not answered; and

executing, by the device and based on the information indicating that the first call is not answered, a busy condition treatment by sending, based on stored information, a second call to the first calling destination before sending a third call, of the sequence of calls, to a second calling destination of the multiple calling destinations.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving an answer for the third call from the second calling destination; and

connecting the calling party device to the second call second calling destination.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

where the busy condition treatment is defined in the called party destination information.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, from a third calling destination of the multiple calling destinations and based on a call to the third calling destination, information indicating a busy condition associated with the third calling destination; and

executing a busy condition treatment for the third calling destination,

where executing the busy condition treatment for the third calling destination comprises one or more of;

continuing to a next destination of the multiple calling destinations in the sequence of calls;

leaving a voice mail for the called party;

sending an email to the called party;

paging the called party;

sending a text message to the called party;

or

re-trying the call to the third calling destination.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a no-answer condition from the second calling destination; and

executing a no-answer condition treatment for the second calling destination.

13. The method of claim 12, where executing the no-answer condition treatment comprises one or more of:

continuing to a next destination of the multiple calling destinations in the sequence of calls;

leaving a voice mail for the called party;

sending an email to the called party;

paging the called party;

or

sending a text message to the called party.

14. A device comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute the plurality of instructions to;

receive calling party information associated with a calling party;

validate the calling party for an originating locator service based on the calling party information;

send an instruction to play an announcement requesting called party information associated with a single called party;

receive the called party information from the calling party based on the announcement;

retrieve called party destination information based on the called party information,

the called party destination information identifying multiple destinations associated with the called party,

each of the multiple destinations being associated with a different phone number;

send, based on a time of day associated with receiving the called party information, an instruction to originate a sequence of calls to the called party based on the called party destination information,

a first order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a first time of day associated with receiving the called party information, and

a second order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a second time of day associated with receiving the called party information,

the first order being different than the second order and the first time of day being different than the second time of day;

receive, based on a call to a first destination of the multiple destinations, information, from the first destination, indicating a busy condition; and

execute a busy condition treatment by sending, based on stored information indicating that a continue command is associated with the busy condition, another call to the first destination before sending a call, of the sequence of calls, to a second destination of the multiple destinations.

15. The device of claim 14, where

the calling party information comprises an access code associated with the calling party, and

the processor is further to:

compare the access code to a table of access codes associated with the originating locator service; and

validate the calling party if the access code matches one of the access codes contained in the table.

16. The device of claim 14, where

the called party information comprises an identifier of the called party, and

the processor is further to:

compare the called party identifier to information in a calling party database; and

retrieve the called party destination information from the calling party database based on the comparison.

17. The device of claim 16, where the calling party database comprises at least one of:

one or more names of people capable of being called by the calling party using the originating locator service;

one or more identifiers associated with the one or more names;

one or more telephone numbers associated with the one or more names, the one or more telephone numbers defining a calling sequence;

one or more time periods associated with the calling sequence;

one or more no-answer conditions associated with the one or more names;

or

one or more busy conditions associated with the one or more names.

18. The device of claim 14, where the called party destination information comprises a plurality of sequences of telephone numbers associated with the called party.

19. The device of claim 14, where the processor is further to:

terminate the other call; and

automatically initiate, based on terminating the other call, a further call to the second destination.

20. The device of claim 14, where the device comprises at least one of:

a service switching point;

a service control point;

an intelligent peripheral;

an application server;

an interactive voice response system;

a redirect server;

or

a proxy server.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

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

receive calling party information associated with a calling party;

validate the calling party for an originating locator service based on the calling party information;

send an instruction to play an announcement requesting called party information associated with a single called party;

receive the called party information from the calling party based on the announcement;

retrieve called party destination information based on the called party information,

the called party destination information identifying multiple destinations associated with the called party,

each of the multiple destinations being associated with a different phone number;

send, based on a time of day associated with receiving the called party information, an instruction to originate a sequence of calls to the called party based on the called party destination information,

a first order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a first time of day associated with receiving the called party information, and

a second order of the sequence of calls including information identifying a plurality of destinations, of the multiple destinations, and being based on a second time of day associated with receiving the called party information,

the first order being different than the second order and the first time of day being different than the second time of day;

receive, based on a call to a first destination of the multiple destinations, information, from the first destination, indicating a busy condition; and

execute a busy condition treatment by sending, based on stored information indicating that a continue command is associated with the busy condition, another call to the first destination before sending a call, of the sequence of calls, to a second destination of the multiple destinations.