Systems and methods for restricting the use and movement of telephony devices
First Claim
1. A system for restricting the use of a telephony device with a communications network comprising a cellular network, the system comprising:
- an interface configured to detect a dialed sequence of numbers entered into the telephony device, wherein the interface is located between the telephony device and the communications network and is further configured to prevent the telephony device from communicating with the communications network when the dialed sequence matches a restricted sequence of numbers stored in the interface, the interface comprising;
a docking station configured to convey a DTMF-dialing signal indicative of the dialed sequence; and
a cellular telephone configured to receive the DTMF-dialing signal from the docking station; and
at least one device connector configured to couple the telephony device to the interface;
thereby enabling use of the telephony device with the cellular network via the cellular telephone when the dialed sequence does not match a restricted sequence of numbers stored in the interface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for restricting the use and movement of plain old telephone system (POTS) devices and cellular telephones are presented. In a broad sense, the system includes an interface configured to only allow telephone calls to a limited set of telephone numbers or area codes. The interface may be configured to detect a telephone number during a call attempt and compare the number to a stored sequence list of allowed telephone numbers or area codes. If the detected number matches one of the allowed telephone numbers or area codes, the call attempt is allowed to continue. However, if the detected number does not match a number in the stored sequence list, the call attempt is blocked by the interface. The interface may also be configured to restrict the movement of a cellular telephone based on received location data indicating a current position of the cellular telephone. An alert, such as an audible alarm, is automatically generated when the location of the cellular telephone is greater than a predetermined distance from the interface to deter unauthorized movement. The interface may also be configured with a physical lock to prevent the cellular telephone from being removed from a docking station. The interface may also be configured to generate a locking signal to inhibit the use of the cellular telephone after it has been moved greater than the predetermined distance.
104 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system for restricting the use of a telephony device with a communications network comprising a cellular network, the system comprising:
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an interface configured to detect a dialed sequence of numbers entered into the telephony device, wherein the interface is located between the telephony device and the communications network and is further configured to prevent the telephony device from communicating with the communications network when the dialed sequence matches a restricted sequence of numbers stored in the interface, the interface comprising; a docking station configured to convey a DTMF-dialing signal indicative of the dialed sequence; and a cellular telephone configured to receive the DTMF-dialing signal from the docking station; and at least one device connector configured to couple the telephony device to the interface; thereby enabling use of the telephony device with the cellular network via the cellular telephone when the dialed sequence does not match a restricted sequence of numbers stored in the interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for restricting the use of a telephony device with a cellular communications network, comprising:
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detecting a dialed sequence of numbers entered into the telephony device; and preventing the telephony device from communicating with the cellular communications network via an interface when the dialed sequence does not match an allowed sequence of numbers stored in the interface between the telephony device and the cellular communications network; wherein the interface comprises a cellular telephone configured to receive a signal indicative of the dialed sequence. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An interface system for restricting the movement of a mobile telephony device, comprising:
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means for receiving location data indicative of a current location of a mobile telephony device; the mobile telephony device configured for communication with a communications network; and a docking station wherein the docking station comprises a receiver configured to receive the location data indicative of a current location of the mobile telephony device with respect to the docking station; wherein the interface system is further comprises means for generating an alert when the current location of the mobile telephony device is greater than a predetermined distance from the docking station. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for restricting the movement of a mobile telephony device, comprising:
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receiving location data indicative of a current location of the mobile telephony device; and generating an alert when the current location of the mobile telephony device is greater than a predetermined distance from a docking station associated with the mobile telephony device. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method for restricting the use of a telephony device with a cellular communications network, the method comprising;
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detecting a dialed sequence of numbers entered into the telephony device; and preventing the telephony device from communicating with the cellular communications network via an interface when the dialed sequence does not match an allowed sequence of numbers stored in the interface between the telephony device and the cellular communications network; wherein the interface comprises a cellular telephone configured to receive a signal indicative of the dialed sequence for dialing on the cellular telephone. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method for restricting the movement of a mobile telephony device via an interface to a communications network, comprising:
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receiving location data indicative of a current location of the mobile telephony device; and generating an alert when the current location of the mobile telephony device is greater than a predetermined distance from a docking station associated with the mobile telephony device; wherein the interface comprises the mobile telephony device and the docking station. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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Specification