Method and apparatus for managing missed-call lists

• US 7,409,050 B1
• Filed: 04/21/2005
• Issued: 08/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Lundy, Michael T., Li, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Hai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoque; Nafiz E
• Application Number:
  US11/111,275
• Time in Patent Office: 1,202 Days
• Field of Search: 379/209.01, 379/210.01, 379/376.01, 379/142.06, 379/142.07, 455/415, 455/112.01, 455/418
• US Class Current: 379/142.01
• 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 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing a missed-call list in a telephone device by flagging a missed-call entry as “called-back” when a telephone call is placed to or received from the party listed in a missed-call list. The telephone device may still maintain the missed-call in the missed-call list after being flagged. A user may view the missed-call list to see which missed-calls (if any) the user has returned and which missed-call (if any) the user has not returned. Beneficially, the invention enables a user to retain valuable information about a missed-call and is therefore advantageous to the user of a telephone.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining in a telephone device a missed-call-log that indicates respectively for each of one or more missed incoming-calls a calling telephone number from which the missed incoming-call was placed;

the telephone device detecting successful connection of a call to or from a given telephone number and responsively determining if the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log; and

in response to the telephone device determining that the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log, the telephone device automatically flagging the at least one missed incoming-call as called-back, while maintaining the at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone device is a cellular telephone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone device is an adjunct telephone device comprising a display for presentation of the missed-call log.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the missed-call log on a display screen for viewing by a user, including on the display screen a visual called-back indication for each missed incoming-call that has been flagged as called-back.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the visual called-back indication includes a differential flag that indicates whether the missed incoming-call was called back by an outgoing or by an incoming call.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the visual called-back indication comprises an icon.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the visual called-back indication comprises text.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a user request to present the missed-call log on the display screen,

wherein the detecting, determining, flagging, and presenting functions are all performed in response to the user request.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a user request to present details of a given missed-call-log entry; and

responsively presenting on the display screen for viewing by the user a set of data underlying the given missed-call-log entry, the set of data comprising (i) telephone number, (ii) missed-call timestamp, and (iii) called-back timestamp.

10. The method of claim 1,

wherein maintaining the missed-call log of one or more missed incoming-calls comprises maintaining in data storage an entry respectively for each missed incoming-call, wherein the entry includes data specifying (i) the calling telephone number from which the missed incoming-call was placed and (ii) a first timestamp indicating when the missed incoming-call was received, and

wherein flagging the at least one missed incoming-call as called-back comprises adding a called-back indication to the entry for each of the at least one missed incoming-call.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user request to delete from the missed-call log all missed-call-log entries flagged as called-back; and

responsively deleting from the missed-call log all missed incoming-calls that have been flagged as called-back.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

presenting on a display screen a menu that lists as options (i) delete a currently selected missed incoming-call from the missed-call log, (ii) delete all missed incoming-calls from the missed-call log, and (iii) delete all called-back missed incoming-calls from the missed-call log.

13. A method comprising:

maintaining in a telephone device a missed-call log that indicates respectively for each of one or more missed incoming-calls a calling telephone number from which the missed incoming-call was placed;

the telephone device detecting placement of an outgoing-call to a given telephone number and responsively determining if the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log; and

in response to the telephone device determining that the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log, the telephone device automatically flagging the at least one missed incoming-call as called-back, while maintaining the at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein detecting placement of an outgoing-call to the given telephone number comprises detecting placement of an outgoing-call from the telephone device to the given telephone number.

15. The method of claim 13,

wherein maintaining the missed-call log of one or more missed incoming-calls comprises maintaining in data storage an entry respectively for each missed incoming-call, wherein the entry includes data specifying (i) the calling telephone number from which the missed incoming-call was placed and (ii) a first timestamp indicating when the missed incoming-call was received,

wherein flagging the at least one missed incoming-call as called-back comprises adding a called-back indication to the entry for each of the at least one missed incoming-call, and

wherein the called-back indication comprises a Boolean flag indicating that the outgoing-call has been placed to the given telephone number.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the called-back indication comprises a second timestamp indicating when the outgoing-call was placed.

17. A telephone device comprising:

a communication interface arranged to be coupled with a telephone line;

a display screen;

data storage;

a processor;

a missed-call log stored in the data storage, the missed-call log indicating respectively for each of one or more missed incoming-calls a calling telephone number from which the missed incoming-call was placed; and

flagging logic stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to (i) detect placement of an outgoing-call to a given telephone number, (ii) to determine if the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log, and (iii) in response to a determination made by the flagging logic that the given telephone number is indicated as a calling telephone number of at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log, flagging the at least one missed incoming-call as called-back while maintaining the at least one missed incoming-call in the missed-call log.

18. The telephone device of claim 17, wherein the telephone device is a cellular telephone.

19. The telephone device of claim 17, further comprising display logic stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to present the missed-call log on the display screen for viewing by a user, including on the display screen a visual called-back indication for each missed incoming-call that has been flagged as called-back.

20. The telephone device of claim 19, wherein the visual called-back indication comprises an element selected from the group consisting of an icon and text.