Intelligent telephone set

• US 6,584,188 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2001
• Issued: 06/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: WorldCom, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Kim, Hack
• Primary Examiner(s): BARNIE, REXFORD N
• Application Number:
  US09/824,116
• Publication Number:
  US 20020141555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 813 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.02, 379/142.07, 379/142.12, 379/142.14, 379/93.24, 379/212.01, 379/142.15, 379/142.13, 455/414, 455/417, 455/416
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/006 Call diverting means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• 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 15/745 Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• 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 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308

Abstract

An intelligent telephone set is disclosed that includes a caller-ID circuit that extracts a call identifier from an incoming call. A call processing circuit in communication with the caller-ID circuit assigns the incoming call to a caller category associated with the call identifier. Subsequently, it selects a call processing action corresponding to the caller category and processes the incoming call using the selected call processing action. The intelligent telephone set allows users to set criteria for receiving and processing calls based on CID data. One such call processing action is to use CID data to forward an incoming call to a predetermined location.

Claims

1. A telephone device for use in a telecommunications network, the telephone device being coupled to the telecommunications network by a plurality of telephone lines, the telephone device comprising:

a caller-ID circuit operative to extract a call identifier from an incoming call propagating on a first telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines;

a call processing circuit coupled to the caller-ID circuit, the call processing circuit being operative to assign the incoming call to a caller category based on the call identifier, to select a call processing action corresponding to the caller category, and to process the incoming call in accordance with the selected call processing action, the call processing action includes forwarding the incoming call to a predetermined destination over a second telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines; and

a computer interface circuit coupled to the call processing circuit, wherein an e-mail message is transmitted to a predetermined e-mail address via the computer interface when a connection is not established with the predetermined destination.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the call processing action includes forwarding the incoming call to a voice mail system.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the call processing action includes disconnecting the incoming call.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a voice mail component coupled to the call processing circuit;

a ring generator coupled to the call processing circuit;

a computer interface coupled to the call processing circuit; and

a memory, the memory including,

a first look-up table having stored therein at least one caller identifier, each at least one caller identifier being associated with one calling category of a plurality of calling categories,

a second look-up table including a library of ringing tones, each ringing tone being associated with one calling category of the plurality of calling categories, and

a record log for storing at least one call characteristic of at least one telephone call established between the telephone set and a remote destination telephone set.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of calling categories includes an important call category, a regular call category, and an undesirable call category.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the ring generator sounds a first distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the important call category, the first distinctive ringing tone being retrieved from the library of ringing tones in the second look-up table.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the incoming call is forwarded to a predetermined party over the second telephone line when the call identifier is associated with the important call category.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein a pager message is transmitted to a predetermined paging address over a second telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines when a connection is not established with the predetermined party.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the incoming call is forwarded to the voice mail component when a connection is not established with the predetermined party.

10. The device of claim 5, wherein the regular call category is a default category, such that an incoming call having a call identifier not stored in the first look-up table is processed as a regular call.

11. The device of claim 5, wherein the ring generator sounds a second distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the regular call category, the second distinctive ringing tone being retrieved from the library of ringing tones in the second look-up table.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the incoming call is forwarded to the voice mail component when the call identifier is associated with the regular call category.

13. The device of claim 5, wherein the ring generator sounds a third distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the undesirable call category, the third distinctive ringing tone being retrieved from the library of ringing tones in the second look-up table.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the incoming call is disconnected when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the undesirable call category.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the voice mail component transmits a pre-recorded message to a calling party before disconnecting the incoming call.

16. The device of claim 4, wherein the ring generator sounds a fourth distinctive ringing tone when the device is connected to a computer via the computer interface, and the computer is coupled to the internet via one of the plurality of telephone lines.

17. The device of claim 4, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each incoming call in the record log.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a telephone number, a date of the incoming call, a time of the incoming call, and the category of the incoming call.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each incoming call in the record log for at least thirty days.

20. The device of claim 4, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each outgoing call in the record log.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a called party identifier, a date of the outgoing call, a time of the outgoing call, and a duration of the outgoing call.

22. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory coupled to the call processor, the memory being operative to store device programming instructions;

a user interface coupled to the memory, the user interface being operative to add, modify, or delete the device programming instructions stored in the memory;

a remote interface coupled to the plurality of telephone lines and the memory, the remote interface being operative to add, modify, or delete the device programming instructions stored in the memory from a remote location; and

display coupled to the user interface.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the user interface includes a keyboard device.

24. The device of claim 22, wherein the user interface includes a touch screen device.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the user interface includes a voice activated device.

26. The device of claim 22, wherein the display includes a liquid crystal display.

27. The device of claim 1, wherein the telephone set is a wireless telephone set.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the telephone set is a wireline telephone set.

29. A telephone device for use in a telecommunications network, the telephone device being coupled to the telecommunications network by a plurality of telephone lines, the telephone device comprising:

a database component having stored therein a plurality of caller identifiers, each caller identifier being associated with one calling category of a plurality of calling categories;

a caller-ID circuit operative to extract a call identifier from an incoming call propagating on a first telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines;

a call processing circuit coupled to the caller-ID circuit and the database, the call processing circuit being operative to associate the incoming call to a caller category based on the call identifier association in the database, to select a call processing action corresponding to the caller category, and to process the incoming call in accordance with the selected call processing action;

a call forwarding circuit coupled to the call processing circuit, the call forwarding circuit being operative to forward the incoming call to a predetermined telephone number over the second telephone line when the call identifier is associated with a predetermined caller category; and

a computer interface circuit coupled to the call processing circuit, wherein an e-mail message is transmitted to a predetermined e-mail address via the computer interface when a connection is not established with the predetermined telephone number.

30. The device of claim 29, wherein the predetermined caller category is an important call category.

31. The device of claim 29, wherein the plurality of calling categories includes an important call category, a regular call category, and an undesirable call category.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein the device sounds a first distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the important call category, the first distinctive ringing tone being retrieved from a library of ringing tones in the database.

33. The device of claim 29, wherein a pager message is transmitted to a predetermined paging address when a connection is not established with a party at the predetermined telephone number.

34. The device of claim 29, wherein the incoming call is forwarded to the voice mail component when a connection is not established with a party at the predetermined telephone number.

35. The device of claim 29, wherein the database further comprises:

a first database having stored therein the plurality of caller identifiers;

a second database including a library of ringing tones, each ringing tone being associated with one calling category of the plurality of calling categories; and

a third database including a record log for storing at least one call characteristic of at least one telephone call established between the telephone set and a remote destination telephone set.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each incoming call in the record log.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a telephone number, a date of the incoming call, a time of the incoming call, and the category of the incoming call.

38. The device of claim 37, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each incoming call in the record log for at least thirty days.

39. The device of claim 35, wherein the call processor stores the at least one call characteristic for each outgoing call in the record log.

40. The device of claim 35, wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a called party identifier, a date of the outgoing call, a time of the outgoing call, and a duration of the outgoing call.

41. The device of claim 29, wherein the telephone set is a wireless telephone set.

42. The device of claim 29, wherein the telephone set is a wireline telephone set.

43. A method for processing an incoming telephone call using a telephone set, the telephone set being coupled to a telecommunications network by a plurality of telephone lines, the method comprising:

extracting a call identifier from the incoming call propagating on a first telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines;

assigning the incoming call to a caller category based on the call identifier;

selecting a call processing action corresponding to the caller category;

processing the incoming call in accordance with the selected call processing action, the call processing action includes forwarding the incoming call to a predetermined destination over a second telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines; and

transmitting an e-mail message to a predetermined e-mail address via a computer interface when a connection is not established with the predetermined destination.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the plurality of calling categories includes an important call category, a regular call category, and an undesirable call category.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes transmitting a pager message to a predetermined paging address when a connection is not established with the predetermined location.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes forwarding the incoming call to voice mail when a connection is not established with the predetermined location.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes setting the regular call category as a default category, such that an incoming call having a call identifier not stored in the telephone set is processed as a regular call.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes forwarding the incoming call to voice mail when the call identifier is associated with the regular call category.

49. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes disconnecting the incoming call when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the undesirable call category.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of processing a call in the undesirable call category includes transmitting a pre-recorded message to a calling party before disconnecting the incoming call.

51. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes generating a first distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the important call category.

52. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes generating a second distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the regular call category.

53. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes generating a third distinctive ringing tone when the call identifier of the incoming call is associated with the undesirable call category.

54. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing includes generating a fourth distinctive ringing tone when the telephone set and a computer are coupled to a telephone line of the plurality of telephone lines, and the computer is connected to the internet.

55. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of assigning includes providing a database having stored therein data, the data including a plurality of caller identifiers, each caller identifier being associated with one calling category of a plurality of calling categories.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of assigning includes adding, modifying, or deleting data from the database.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the steps of adding, modifying, or deleting data from the database are performed at a location remote from the telephone set.