System and method of connecting a caller to a recipient based on the recipient's status and relationship to the caller

A method implemented by a processor executing instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium, the method comprising:

• receiving, from a recipient, a plurality of categories of availability statuses of the recipient, each of the categories of the plurality of categories being associated with a different availability status;
• receiving a plurality of categories of different contact groups of the recipient;
• identifying, for each contact of a plurality of contacts, at least one contact group of the different contact groups, there being at least two contacts of the plurality of contacts belonging to at least two different contact groups;
• receiving a plurality of rules for call handling, each of the plurality of rules being associated with at least one of the different availability statuses of the recipient and at least one of the different contact groups, there being at least two rules of the plurality of rules, each rule of at least two rules being associated with different contact groups;
• receiving a telephone call from a first caller;
• determining at least two contact groups of the first caller of the different contact groups, the first caller being a member of both of the at least two contact groups;
• determining a prioritized contact group between the at least two contact groups, a priority of each contact group being set by the recipient;
• determining a current availability status of the recipient at a time of the call from the first caller;
• identifying an applicable rule of the plurality of rules based on the prioritized contact group of the first caller and the availability status of the recipient;
• waiting a predetermined connect period after receiving the telephone call, wherein the predetermined connect period is determined based on both the current availability status of the recipient and the prioritized contact group of the first caller;
• selecting a first response of a plurality of responses based on the applicable rule, each of the plurality of responses including different information;
• and
• presenting the first response to the first caller based on the applicable rule after the predetermined connect period.

A system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• memory, the memory including instructions to control the at least one processor to:
• receive, from a recipient, a plurality of categories of availability statuses of the recipient, each of the categories of the plurality of categories being associated with a different availability status;
• receive a plurality of categories of different availability statuses of the recipient and at least one of the different contact groups, there being at least two contacts of the plurality of contacts belonging to at least two different contact groups;
• receive a plurality of rules for call handling, each of the plurality of rules being associated with at least one of the different contact groups;
• associate different rules of the plurality of rules for call handling with different contact groups, there being at least two rules of the plurality of rules, each rule of at least two rules being associated with different contact groups;
• receive a telephone call from a first caller;
• determine at least two contact groups of the first caller of the different contact groups, the first caller being a member of both of the at least two contact groups;
• determine a prioritized contact group between the at least two contact groups, a priority of each contact group of the at least two contact groups being set by the recipient;
• determine a current availability status of the recipient at a time of the call from the first caller;
• identify an applicable rule of the plurality of rules based on the prioritized contact group of the first caller and the current availability status of the recipient;
• wait a predetermined connect period after receiving the telephone call, wherein the predetermined connect period is determined based on both the current availability status of the recipient and the prioritized contact group of the first caller;
• select a first response of a plurality of responses based on the applicable rule, each of the plurality of responses including different information;
• and
• present the first response to the first caller based on the applicable rule after the predetermined connect period.