Systems and methods of intercepting telephony communications to provide information to communicants
First Claim
1. A method of providing information to at least one of a calling party and a called party while a telephony communication is being setup between the calling party and the called party, comprising:
- receiving a call setup request for the purpose of connecting the calling party to the called party;
initiating call setup procedures to connect the calling party to the called party;
determining whether to provide information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party while the call setup procedures are ongoing and before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party, wherein the determination is based on at least one characteristic associated with at least one of the calling party and the called party;
tracking a number of times the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup has been provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party;
providing information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party based on the result of the determining step and when the number of times is below a specified value; and
preventing the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup from being provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party when the number of times exceeds the specified value.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
During setup of a telephony communication between a calling and a called party, a check is made to determine is a special message or information should be played to the calling or called party before the telephony communication is established between the calling and called parties. If so, the message or information is delivered to the party as early media. Systems and methods embodying the invention may track which messages and information have been played to individual parties to thereby avoid delivering the same message or information more than once.
22 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of providing information to at least one of a calling party and a called party while a telephony communication is being setup between the calling party and the called party, comprising:
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receiving a call setup request for the purpose of connecting the calling party to the called party; initiating call setup procedures to connect the calling party to the called party; determining whether to provide information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party while the call setup procedures are ongoing and before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party, wherein the determination is based on at least one characteristic associated with at least one of the calling party and the called party; tracking a number of times the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup has been provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party; providing information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party based on the result of the determining step and when the number of times is below a specified value; and preventing the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup from being provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party when the number of times exceeds the specified value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 30, 31, 32)
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15. A system for providing information to at least one of a calling party and a called party while a telephony communication is being setup between the calling party and the called party, comprising:
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means for receiving a call setup request for the purpose of connecting the calling party to the called party; means for initiating call setup procedures to connect the calling party to the called party; means for determining whether to provide information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party while the call setup procedures are ongoing and before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party, wherein the determination is based on at least one characteristic associated with at least one of the calling party and the called party; means for tracking a number of times the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup has been provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party; means for providing information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party based on the determination made by the determining means and when the number of times is below a specified value; and means for preventing the information relevant to the tele bony communication being setup from being provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party when the number of times exceeds the specified value.
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16. A system for providing information to at least one of a calling party and a called party while a telephony communication is being setup between the calling party and the called party, comprising:
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an intercept determination unit that receives information about a call setup request that has been received for the purpose of connecting the calling party to the called party, initiates call setup procedures to connect the calling party to the called party, determines whether to provide information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party while the call setup procedures are ongoing and before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party, wherein the determination is based on at least one characteristic associated with at least one of the calling party and the called party, and tracks a number of times the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup has been provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party; and a message playing unit that provides information relevant to the telephony communication being setup to at least one of the calling party and the called party before the telephony communication is established between the calling party and the called party based on the determination made by the intercept determination unit and when the number of times is below a specified value, and prevents the information relevant to the telephony communication being setup from being provided to at least one of the calling party and the called party when the number of times exceeds the specified value. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification