# US 11,115,527 B2 · System and method for identifying unwanted communications using communication fingerprinting > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,115,527 B2 - Document ID: US11115527B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/931,721 - Filed: 2020-05-14 - Published: 2021-02-25 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2015-04-20 - Assignees: YouMail, Inc. - Applicants: YouMail, Inc. - Inventors: Alexander E. Quilici; Michael J. Rudolph; Justin Malvin; Jeffrey Verdegan; Dylan Gise - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11115527B2 ## CPC - 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)} - H04M 3/42068: {where the identifier is used to access a profile} - H04M 3/42153: {by subscriber} - H04M 15/06: Recording class or number of calling {, i.e. A-party} or called party {, i.e. B-party} - H04M 15/41: {Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]} - H04W 4/24: Accounting or billing - H04M 3/42059: {Making use of the calling party identifier} - H04M 2201/18: Comparators - H04M 2203/6054: Biometric subscriber identification - H04M 2215/0164: Billing record, e.g. Call Data Record [CDR], Toll Ticket[TT], Automatic Message Accounting [AMA], Call Line Identifier [CLI], details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure - H04M 2250/60: logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A method for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators comprising receiving, by the data processing system, an inbound message from a communicator, comparing, by the data processing system, the inbound message to fingerprints stored in a database accessible to the data processing system, determining, by the data processing system, at least one match to the fingerprints, determining, by the data processing system, an identity of the communicator by determining whether and how likely the communicator is wanted or unwanted based on the at least one match to the fingerprints, and configuring, by the data processing system, handling of calls from the communicator based on the identity. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, in a communication environment including a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory, for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators, the method comprising: receiving, by the data processing system, an inbound communication from a communicator; comparing, by the data processing system, the inbound communication to fingerprints stored in a database accessible to the data processing system, the fingerprints including data representative of content features from communications associated with unwanted communicators; determining, by the data processing system, at least one match of the inbound communication to the fingerprints; associating, by the data processing system, a communicator identifier with the communicator based on the at least one match to the fingerprints, the communicator identifier including a descriptive name associated with the fingerprint; and providing, by the data processing system, the communicator identifier to recipients of future communications from the communicator. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the inbound communication includes a voice message. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 further comprising transcribing, by the data processing system, the voice message into text. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the fingerprints comprise features associated with messages from phone numbers associated with the unwanted communicators, the features selected from the group consisting of: phone number, message duration, call frequency, time of call, call recipients, keywords, phrases, speech tone, and speech frequency range. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: recording the inbound communication by electronically deploying a call answering artificial intelligence computer program that conducts conversations with the unwanted communicators; and generating a fingerprint based on the recorded inbound communication. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising promoting the inbound communication to a verified fingerprint based on the at least one match. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating transcripts for a plurality of communications from a plurality of communicators; converting the transcripts to candidate fingerprints; and promoting a given one of the candidate fingerprints to a verified fingerprint based on the given candidate fingerprint matching a minimum number of other ones of the candidate fingerprints. ### Claim 8 A system for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators, the system comprising: a processor; and a memory having executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: receive an inbound communication from a communicator; compare the inbound communication to fingerprints stored in a database accessible to the processor, the fingerprints including data representative of content features from communications associated with unwanted communicators; determine at least one match of the inbound communication to the fingerprints; associate a communicator identifier with the communicator based on the at least one match to the fingerprints, the communicator identifier including a descriptive name associated with the fingerprint; and provide the communicator identifier to recipients of future communications from the communicator. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the inbound communication includes a voice message. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 wherein the processor is further configured to transcribe the voice message into text. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the fingerprints comprise features associated with messages from phone numbers associated with the unwanted communicators, the features selected from the group consisting of: phone number, message duration, call frequency, time of call, call recipients, keywords, phrases, speech tone, and speech frequency range. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the processor is further configured to: record the inbound communication by electronically deploying a call answering artificial intelligence computer program that conducts conversations with the unwanted communicators; and generate a fingerprint based on the recorded inbound communication. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the processor is further configured to promote the inbound communication to a verified fingerprint based on the at least one match. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8 wherein the processor is further configured to: generate transcripts for a plurality of communications from a plurality of communicators; convert the transcripts to candidate fingerprints; and promote a given one of the candidate fingerprints to a verified fingerprint based on the given candidate fingerprint matching a minimum number of other ones of the candidate fingerprints. ### Claim 15 Non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program code that when executed by a programmable processor causes execution of a method for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators, the computer-readable media comprising: computer program code for receiving an inbound communication from a communicator; computer program code for comparing the inbound communication to fingerprints stored in a database accessible to the processor, the fingerprints including data representative of content features from communications associated with unwanted communicators; computer program code for determining at least one match of the inbound communication to the fingerprints; computer program code for associating a communicator identifier with the communicator based on the at least one match to the fingerprints, the communicator identifier including a descriptive name associated with the fingerprint; and computer program code for providing the communicator identifier to recipients of future communications from the communicator. ### Claim 16 A method, in a communication environment including a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory, for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators, the method comprising: receiving, by a data processing system, a recording of a communication from a communicator; generating, by the data processing system, a candidate fingerprint based on the communication recording, the candidate fingerprint including data representative of content features from the communication recording; determining, by the data processing system, that the candidate fingerprint does not match any fingerprints stored in a database of verified fingerprints; identifying, by the data processing system, the communicator as unwanted and tagging, by the data processing system, the candidate fingerprint as being unwanted; associating, by the data processing system, a descriptive name with the candidate fingerprint, the descriptive name including an identification of the unwanted communicator; and adding, by the data processing system, the candidate fingerprint to the database for comparison with future communications. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 wherein the communication includes a voice message. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein receiving the recording comprises receiving a transcription of the voice message into text. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 wherein the fingerprints comprise features associated with messages from phone numbers associated with the unwanted communicators, the features selected from the group consisting of: phone number, message duration, call frequency, time of call, call recipients, keywords, phrases, speech tone, and speech frequency range. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 further comprising recording the communications by electronically deploying a call answering artificial intelligence computer program that conducts conversations with the unwanted communicators. ### Claim 21 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 further comprising promoting the candidate fingerprint to a verified fingerprint based on the candidate fingerprint matching a minimum number of other ones of the stored fingerprints.