INBOUND CALL IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT

• US 20090086947A1
• Filed: 09/24/2008
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Inventors: Vendrow, Vlad
• Granted Patent: US 8,670,545 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/201.120
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/158 Call-type dependent routing route determination based on the nature of the carried application in packet switching networks H04L45/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42051 where the notification is included in the ringing tone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4211 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42229 Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location diverting calls from one subscriber to another subscriber, i.e. two different subscriptions H04M3/54; selecting arrangements in intelligent networks H04Q3/005
• 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

Abstract

Examples of inbound call identification and management are described including a call management system that includes one or more repositories that can include data representing call action policies and data representing attributes associated with the caller devices and the callee devices. Further, the call management system can include one or more computing devices that include a call identifier (“IDer”) configured to characterize the attributes of the caller devices to form characterized attributes, a call management system controller configured to match the characterized attributes against routing criteria specified in the data representing the call action policies, and a call management system router configured to route calls from the caller devices to the callee devices responsive to a match between the characterized attributes and the routing criteria.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving data representing a call at a communication management system that includes one or more processors;

identifying a rule for routing the call from a first communication endpoint to a second endpoint, the rule being a default routing rule;

evaluating at least one call attribute associated with the call;

substituting a second routing rule for the default routing rule as a function of data representing the at least one call attribute;

adopting an alternate routing of the call responsive to the second routing rule to route the call to a third communication endpoint; and

routing the call to the third communication endpoint.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein adopting the alternate routing of the call occurs after receiving the data representing the call.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the data representing the call further comprises:

receiving data representing a location of the first communication endpoint,

wherein the first communication endpoint generates the data representing the location of the first communication endpoint.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving the data representing the location of the first communication endpoint further comprises:

receiving the data representing the location of the first communication endpoint via an internet protocol (“

IP”

) network,

wherein the first communication endpoint is configured to communicate via both the IP network and a digital cellular network.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein substituting the second routing rule comprises:

identifying that the data representing the at least one call attribute specifies the location of the first communication endpoint;

comparing data representing one or more routing criteria associated with the second routing rule against the data representing the at least one call attribute to determine a comparison result; and

adopting the alternate routing based on the comparison result.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

receiving data representing a location of the second communication endpoint and data representing a location of the third communication endpoint;

determining a first distance between the location of the first communication endpoint and the location of the second communication endpoint;

determining a second distance between the location of the first communication endpoint and the location of the third communication endpoint;

comparing the first distance and the second distance to the at least one attribute; and

routing the call to the third communication endpoint based on the second distance.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein substituting the second routing rule further comprises:

analyzing data representing a call history as the at least one call attribute against data representing a first routing criterion to determine whether to select the second routing rule; and

adopting the alternate routing of the call responsive to a match between the data representing the call history and the data representing the first routing criterion,

wherein the data representing the call history includes data representing a number of calls from the first communication endpoint to the communication management system during a time interval.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein substituting the second routing rule further comprises:

analyzing data representing availability of the second communication endpoint as the at least one call attribute against data representing a second routing criterion to determine whether to select the second routing rule; and

adopting the alternate routing of the call responsive to a match between, the data representing the availability of the second communication endpoint and the data representing the second routing criterion,

wherein the data representing the availability includes data indicating that the second communication endpoint is unavailable to accept the call.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the routing of the call further comprises:

analyzing data representing time-related information as the at least one call attribute against data representing a third routing criterion to determine whether to select the second routing rule; and

adopting the alternate routing of the call responsive to a match between the data representing the time-related information and the data representing the third routing criterion,

wherein the data representing the time-related information includes data indicating whether to route the call to the third communication endpoint as a function of a time duration.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein modifying the routing of the call further comprises:

accessing destination contact identifiers (“

IDs”

) from an application;

extracting the destination contact identifiers from the application; and

routing the call to the third communication endpoint using at least one of the destination contact identifiers.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting the adoption of alternate routing of the call;

associating the call with data representing a ring signal configured to specify a type of call; and

transmitting the ring signal and the call to the third communication endpoint,

wherein the ring signal is configured to generate a sound indicating the type of call associated with the call.

12. A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions to:

receive data representing a call from a first communication endpoint;

determine a subset of default rules to apply a default action associated with the call;

determine one or more attributes associated with the data representing the call from the first communication endpoint;

select a customized rule to bypass the application of the default action responsive to the one or more attributes; and

generate a call action substantially while the call is pending and prior to connecting to the call.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 further comprising executable instructions to:

connect the call from the first communication endpoint to a second communication endpoint.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the one or more attributes includes data representing a physical geographic location associated with the first communication endpoint relative to at least a second communication endpoint,

wherein the call action is determined by the customized rule responsive to the at least one attribute.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the one or more attributes includes a call history associated with the first communication endpoint.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the one or more attributes includes a call frequency associated with the first communication endpoint.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the one or more attributes includes an authorization code configured to access a communication management system.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the executable instructions to generate the call action comprise executable instructions to:

route the call to a second communication endpoint.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the executable instructions to generate the call action comprise executable instructions to:

forward the call to another communication endpoint.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the executable instructions to generate the call action comprise executable instructions to:

select a call notification according to a priority; and

transmit data representing the call notification.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the executable instructions to generate the call action comprise executable instructions to:

notify a ringing group.

22. A call management system, comprising:

one or more repositories configured to include;

data representing call action policies that include a call action policy for routing caller devices to callee devices as a function of locations of the caller devices, the call action policies further comprising;

a set of default routing rules, and

a set of customized routing rules, and

data representing attributes associated with the caller devices and the callee devices; and

one or more computing devices configured to include;

a call identifier (“

IDer”

) configured to characterize the attributes of the caller devices to form characterized attributes,

a call management system controller configured to match the characterized attributes against routing criteria specified in the data representing the set of the customized routing rules, and further configured to substitute a customized routing rule to bypass the use of a default routing rule based on the match between the characterized attributes and the routing criteria; and

a call management system router configured to route calls from the caller devices to the callee devices.

23. The call management system of claim 22 further comprising:

a first communication interface configured to receive data via an IP network; and

a second communication interface configured to receive data via a digital cellular network,

wherein the first communication interface and the second communication interface are configured to receive data representing the locations of the caller devices. 34