Method and apparatus facilitating the placing, receiving, and billing of telephone calls

• US 20010026609A1
• Filed: 12/29/2000
• Published: 10/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lee Weinstein, Scott Brown
• Original Assignee: Lee Weinstein, Scott Brown
• Inventors: Brown, Scott, Weinstein, Lee
• Application Number:
  US09/752,365
• Publication Number:
  US 20010026609A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/47 Fraud detection or prevention means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/56 for VoIP communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/745 Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2033 Call handling or answering restrictions, e.g. specified by the calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0108 Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0148 Fraud detection or prevention means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/202 VoIP; Packet switched telephony
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/382 using authorisation codes or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42008 Systems for anonymous communication between parties, e.g. by use of disposal contact identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42195 Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/432 Arrangements for calling a subscriber at a specific time, e.g. morning call service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/48 Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/563 : User guidance or feature selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/565 : relating to time schedule aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 : Click to dial services

Abstract

A method and apparatus facilitating web-initiated communication by telephone, providing for both anonymous and non-anonymous communication, which allows users to contact each other through a trusted central connecting facility provides breakthroughs in personal control, privacy, and safety for people communicating over the telephone. All calls are incoming calls, both to callers and call recipients. Users may control what time windows they can receive calls from other users, on an individual basis. Billing for professional services delivered over the phone may be done automatically through the call delivery system. Both one-to-one and group calls are provided. An auction feature allows customers to bid for phone time with desired personalities. Calls may be scheduled to happen automatically at pre-arranged times. Use of PIN codes prevents unintended recipients from receiving a call. Users may generate temporary contact number cards which an be given out to people they meet, such that calling access will be controllable and traditional contact information (such as phone number and address, full name, etc.) can be kept private. Users may sign up for paid accounts or free accounts. Free accounts may only receive calls and make collect calls. Applications include dating websites, on-line greeting cards with a phone call contained, phone connection during on-line chat, customer service, time-controlled phone contact for on-line auctions, supplemental long-distance and international calling, and fund-raising.

Claims

1. An apparatus facilitating the placing conferenced multiple outbound telephone calls, comprising:

a. an internet-connected computer for receiving dialing information over the internet;

b. an outbound call engine capable for placing a plurality of outbound telephone calls, said call engine responsive to said dialing information;

c. call conferencing means capable of connecting a plurality of outbound telephone calls together.

2. The apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein said internet-connected computer comprises a web server.

3. The apparatus of

claim 1

wherein said call conferencing means connect said plurality of outbound calls together through third on-premises telephony equipment.

4. The apparatus of

claim 1

, further comprising a telephone carrier digital network command interface, and where said call conferencing means connect said plurality of outbound calls together by issuing commands through said command interface to a telephone network switch to disconnect said calls from said call engine and maintain a connection between said calls in said telephone network switch

5. The apparatus of

claim 1

, further comprising a database for storing customer information.

6. The apparatus of

claim 1

, wherein:

a. said call engine incorporates call-progress detection means capable of detecting a connected call;

b. said dialing information uniquely identifies a first customer and at least one second customer;

c. and wherein said call engine automatically dials said second customers immediately subsequent to successfully connecting to said first customer, but only if the call to said call-initiating customer connected.

7. The apparatus of

claim 5

, wherein said database comprises enabled-caller criteria identifying for each customer which other customers are enabled to call, and said call engine will only place calls to connect customers when said enabled-caller criteria is met.

8. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein said enabled caller information further comprises for each customer allowed contact time windows during which calls will be accepted from other customers.

9. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein customers from whom calls will be accepted can be defined as a group.

10. The apparatus of

claim 9

, wherein said dialing information for a customer calling as a member of a group includes both group-identifying information and individual-customer-identifying information.

11. The apparatus of

claim 10

, wherein said call-acceptance criteria further comprises call-blocking information specifying for each customer any individual customers from whom calls will not be accepted.

12. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein said database further comprises PIN-code information for each customer, and wherein a call-progress detector requires entry of a valid PIN code from a called customer before said customer is considered connected.

13. The apparatus of

claim 7

, further comprising call-acceptance criteria specifying which customers can call a given customer and which criteria are modifiable via a website by said given customer.

14. The apparatus of

claim 5

, further comprising means for timing telephone connection time.

15. The apparatus of

claim 14

, further comprising means for calculating charges based on telephone connection time, and wherein said database further comprises past charges accrued for each customer and billability status for customers, indicating whether each customer is billable for calls they set up, and whether they are billable for calls others set up to them.

16. The apparatus of

claim 15

, wherein said billability status further comprises whether each customer is willing to accept split-charge billing.

17. The apparatus of

claim 15

, wherein billability status for each customer with respect to each other customer may be individually defined.

18. The apparatus of

claim 14

, further comprising means for automatically providing an audio call-length reminder on a call a predetermined length of time after said call begins, and wherein said database further comprises call-length-reminder information.

19. The apparatus of

claim 18

, further comprising means for ending a call automatically a predetermined time after it begins.

20. The apparatus of

claim 6

, further comprising means of making said second customer'"'"'s phone number look busy to any calls being placed through said call engine to said second number while said first number is being called and said second number has not been called yet.

21. The apparatus of

claim 4

, further comprising means for determining whether a line is busy through a query submitted through said telephone carrier digital network command interface.

22. The apparatus of

claim 12

, wherein said database further comprises call scheduling information, and conferenced outbound telephone calls may be scheduled in advance and placed at predetermined times, and call schedule data for a given customer may be accessed and modified by that customer via a website.

23. The apparatus of

claim 7

, further comprising means for playing to a call recipient at the beginning of a call an audio announcement identifying the other party to said call, and means for accepting an audio command disabling call acceptance from said other party prior to connecting said other party to the call.

24. The apparatus of

claim 23

, further comprising means for including in said audio announcement information about the last time said other party placed a conferenced outbound call between himself and said recipient.

25. The apparatus of

claim 7

, further comprising means for playing to a call recipient at the beginning of a call an audio greeting in said call recipient'"'"'s own voice.

26. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein for each customer said database further comprises digital audio greetings recorded by said customer and data associations between particular audio greetings and particular other call recipients to whom said customer might set up calls, and further comprising means to play the appropriate associated greeting each time a call is set up by said customer to a call recipient for whom said customer has recorded and designated an associated audio greeting.

27. The apparatus of

claim 11

, further comprising automatic means for sending an e-mail notification to a customer if someone said customer has designated as blocked tries to set up a call to said customer.

28. The apparatus of

claim 8

, further comprising means to automatically notify a customer by e-mail when an enabled caller'"'"'s last allowed contact time windows have expired.

29. The apparatus of

claim 1

, further comprising a web-based dialing directory with clickable representations of numbers to be dialed.

30. The apparatus of

claim 7

, further comprising means for encrypting membership numbers of other members as seen by a given member, based on the given member'"'"'s own member number, and wherein customers are identified to each other through said database by uniquely encrypted member numbers.

31. The apparatus of

claim 6

, further comprising privacy-protected mail means for leaving a private message for an intended call recipient if an intended recipient is not reachable, said voice mail being retrievable only by the intended recipient through the use of private member-identification information.

32. The apparatus of

claim 31

, further comprising inbound call receiving means allowing retrieval of privacy-protected voice mail by dialing a number and entering member identification information.

33. The apparatus of

claim 7

, further comprising means allowing any member to automatically generate a temporary membership number for a prospective member, and means to automatically generate a permanent membership for that prospective member when that prospective member uses said temporary membership number to become a member, and automatically replace occurrences of said temporary membership number in said database with member numbers uniquely related to said permanent member number.

34. The apparatus of

claim 1

, further comprising means for serving a web page indicative of call placement progress.

35. The apparatus of

claim 34

, further comprising means to serve a web page allowing call placement options of an intended call does not go through.

36. The apparatus of

claim 35

, further comprising means for periodically checking a busy line, and setting up a call when said line stops being busy.

37. The apparatus of

claim 36

, further comprising timing means to stop the checking of the busy line after a customer-specified amount of time.

38. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein said database further comprises for each customer phone numbers at which said customer can be contacted.

39. The apparatus of

claim 38

, further comprising web-based sign-up and account access means, and automated outbound call placement during sign-up, wherein said outbound calls are placed to all contact numbers specified for the person signing up, and proper PIN code entry is required during said automated calls during sign-up in order to validate phone numbers to be called to reach said person.

40. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein said database further comprises information for each customer indicating at what phone numbers said customer can be dialed.

41. The apparatus of

claim 40

, wherein said database further comprises for each customer said customer'"'"'s preferences as to what phone said customer is allowed to be called at and at what times.

42. The apparatus of

claim 41

, wherein said database further comprises for each customer what phone numbers said customer is reachable at by any particular other customer.

43. The apparatus of

claim 7

, wherein said database further comprises for each customer past call information including time of each call and member number of calling or called party, and further comprising means for serving up such past call information as web page data.

44. The apparatus of

claim 43

, further comprising means for disabling or enabling callers in response to web click data received from a browser viewing said past call information.

45. The apparatus of

claim 5

, further comprising electronic billing means for periodically billing customers for accrued charges.

48. The apparatus of

claim 23

, further comprising means for a called party to initiate automatic delivery of a prerecorded audio message to a caller prior to and in place of connecting said caller to said called party.

46. The apparatus of

claim 46

, wherein said database further comprises for each customer professional services rate information, and further comprising means to charge customers for professional service time of a called party in addition to connection charges.

47. The apparatus of

claim 46

, further comprising means for serving up web-based schedule information for professional service providers, allowing web-based sign-up for paid telephone time with professional service providers.

49. A method of doing business comprising auctioning professional service time on the web.

50. A method of fund-raising comprising auctioning teleconference time with celebrities on the web, automatically calling high bidders and connecting them to said teleconference, and automatically billing teleconference participants the amounts they bid to be on said teleconference.

51. A method for placing conferenced multiple outbound telephone calls, comprising:

a. An receiving dialing information over the internet;

b. placing a plurality of outbound telephone calls in response to said dialing information;

c. connecting said multiple outbound calls together as a conference call.

52. The method of

claim 51

, further comprising serving up a web page of account information and calling options in response to web packets containing URL and cookie information.

53. The method of

claim 51

wherein said conferencing connection is done through on-premises telephony equipment.

54. The method of

claim 51

wherein the connecting of said outbound calls further comprises sending digital network commands to a telephone carrier switch to offload and maintain the connection.

55. The method of

claim 51

, further comprising storing customer information in a database.

56. The method of

claim 51

, wherein:

a. Monitoring call progress to detect connection to called parties;

b. dialing at least two customers based on said dialing information;

c. dialing other parties only after a firs party has been dialed and successfully connected to.

57. The method of

claim 55

, wherein a call between a call-initiating party and a call-receiving party is only set up only if information in said database indicates that said call-initiating party is allowed to contact a call-receiving party.

58. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising checking allowed contact time window criteria in said database set up by said call-receiving party regarding said call-initiating party, and only placing said conferenced outbound calls if said call time falls within said allowed contact time criteria.

59. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising checking allowed group contact criteria if said dialing information indicates that said call-initiating party is initiating said call as a member of a call-enabled group, and placing said call only if said group is currently contact-enabled by said call-receiving party.

60. The method of

claim 59

, wherein said calling information is indicative of both individual information and group information.

61. The method of

claim 60

, wherein said group must be currently enabled and said individual must not be currently disabled for said call-receiving party in order for said conferenced calls to be placed.

62. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising automatically prompting called parties for PIN-code information and checking PIN-code information entered by call-initiating and call-receiving parties on the telephone at the beginnings of their respectively received outbound calls against PIN-code information stored for said customers in said database, and considering said outbound calls connected only if proper PIN-code information is entered.

63. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising serving up customer information as a web page, and accepting customer modification of customer call setup and call-receiving parameters via the internet.

64. The method of

claim 55

, further comprising timing connected telephone calls and storing call durations in said database.

65. The method of

claim 64

, further comprising calculating call charges based on connection time, connection rates, and customer billability status.

66. The method of

claim 65

, wherein billability status may include fully billable status, split-billing status, or non-billable status.

67. The method of

claim 65

, wherein the billability status of each customer may be individually defined with respect to every other customer.

68. The method of

claim 64

, further comprising providing an audio call-length reminder a predetermined time after the beginning of a conferenced multiple outbound call.

69. The method of

claim 68

, further comprising automatically ending a conferenced call a predetermined time after it begins.

70. The method of

claim 68

, further comprising making the call-receiving party'"'"'s phone look busy to other callers using the present invention when the call-initiating party is being called to be connected to the call-receiving party.

71. The method of

claim 54

, further comprising determining whether a line is busy through a digital query submitted through a telephone carrier digital network command interface.

72. The method of

claim 62

, further comprising automatically making conferenced outbound calls at times scheduled in advance in said database.

73. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising automatically playing to said call-receiving party at the beginning of a call an audio announcement identifying the other party to said call, and allowing said call recipient to cancel said call without being connected to said party.

74. The method of

claim 73

, further comprising automatically playing to said call-receiving party at the beginning of a call audio information about the time the call-initiating party last called.

75. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising playing to the call-receiving party at the beginning of a call an audio greeting in the call-receiving party'"'"'s own voice.

76. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising playing to the call-receiving party at the beginning of a call a greeting in the voice of the call-initiating party, identifying the call-initiating party.