Systems and methods for call screening

A method of providing a called party the ability to screen calls, the method comprising:

• receiving at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
• opening a communication channel over the Internet with a networked computer associated with the called party;
• transmitting, while the first call is in progress, a call alert message, including at least a portion of the signaling information, to a terminal associated with the called party,;
• recording speech from the caller and transmitting the speech to the terminal in substantially real time, wherein the speech is intended to be played to the called party via the terminal;
• and
• receiving a connection instruction via the terminal, and causing the caller to be connected to at least one of a plurality of potential destinations associated with the called party.

A method of providing call screening, the method comprising:

• receiving at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
• transmitting over the Internet to a networked computer associated with the called party in substantially real time at least a portion of the signaling information included in the first call for display to the called party;
• placing a second call from the call processing system to a destination associated with the called party, the second call including signaling information having at least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller;
• recording speech from the caller and transmitting the speech in substantially real time to the destination and/or over the Internet to the networked computer to be played by the networked computer to the called party;
• and
• receiving an instruction from the called party via the networked computer or a destination phone associated with the called party, and at least partly in response to the received instruction, causing the first call to be connected to one of a plurality of potential terminal destinations.

A method of processing calls, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a first system a first call from a caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
• placing a second call from the first system over the network to a first terminal associated with the called party, the second call including signaling information having at least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller so that the called party can determine the identity of the caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
• receiving an instruction from the called party to forward the caller to a second terminal;
• and
• at least partly in response to the instruction, placing a third call from the first system over the switched network to the second terminal.

A method of processing calls, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party;
• placing a second call from the call processing system over the network to a terminal associated with the called party, the second call including signaling information having at least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller so that the called party can determine the identity of the caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
• receiving an instruction from the called party to forward the caller to a second terminal;
• and
• placing a third call from the call processing system over the switched network to the second terminal.

A method of processing calls via a wireless phone, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party;
• answering the first call from the caller at the call processing system;
• playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
• receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
• placing an outcall from the call processing system to a wireless phone associated with the called party,
• wherein the outcall is performed at least in part over a wireless communications network;
• streaming the voice message to the wireless phone via the outcall in substantially real time;
• the call processing system automatically muting a return talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the called party wireless phone to the caller to thereby allow the called party to perform call screening via the wireless phone while the caller is unaware that their call is being screened;
• receiving a call acceptance instruction;
• and
• enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least partly in response to receiving the call acceptance instruction, wherein the called party is speaking into the wireless phone.

A method of processing calls via a wireless phone, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a processing system a first call from a calling party intended for a called party;
• providing a greeting to the calling party via the processing system;
• receiving a voice communication from the calling party at the processing system;
• streaming at least a first portion of the voice communication via the processing system to a wireless phone associated with the called party in substantially real time while automatically ensuring that sound does not travel back to the calling party from the wireless phone to thereby allow the called party to screen the call via the wireless phone while the calling party is unaware that their call is being screened;
• providing a first control via the wireless phone that, when selected by the called party, causes duplex communication to be provided so that the called party can converse with the calling party;
• and
• providing a second control via the wireless phone that, when selected by the called party, causes at least a second portion of the voice communication to be streamed to another communication device in substantially real time.

A method of processing calls, comprising:

• receiving over a communications network at a processing system a first call from a calling party intended for a called party;
• providing a greeting to the calling party;
• receiving a voice communication from the calling party;
• transmitting in substantially real time from the processing system at least a first portion of the voice communication to a telephone associated with the called party to allow the called party to screen the call via the telephone while preventing the calling party from hearing sounds received via the called party telephone;
• receiving via the telephone a first command to continue transmitting the voice communication to a second communication device;
• and
• at least partly in response to the first command, transmitting in substantially real time at least a second portion of the voice communication from the calling party to the second communication device.

A method of processing calls via a wireless phone, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party;
• answering the first call from the caller at the call processing system;
• playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
• receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
• streaming the voice message over the Internet to a terminal associated with the called party;
• the call processing system automatically muting a return talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the called party's terminal to the caller to thereby allow the called party to perform call screening via the terminal while the caller is unaware that their call is being screened;
• receiving a call acceptance instruction;
• and
• enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least partly in response to receiving the call acceptance instruction, wherein the called party is speaking into a microphone associated with the terminal.

A method of processing calls via a wireless phone, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called party;
• answering the first call from the caller at the call processing system;
• playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
• receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
• placing an outcall from the call processing system to a wireless phone or networked computer associated with the called party,
• wherein the outcall is performed at least in part over a wireless communications network or a data network;
• streaming the voice message to the wireless phone or the networked computer via the outcall in substantially real time;
• the call processing system automatically muting a return talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the called party wireless phone or networked computer to the caller to thereby allow the called party to perform call screening while the caller is unaware that their call is being screened;
• receiving a call acceptance instruction;
• and
• enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least partly in response to receiving the call acceptance instruction.

A method of processing calls, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a first system a first call from a caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
• placing a second call from the first system over the network to a first terminal associated with the called party, the second call including signaling information having at least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller so that the called party can determine the identity of the caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
• placing a third call from the first system over the network after the second call to a third terminal associated with the called party;
• playing a greeting to the calling party, and
• streaming at least a first portion of the voice communication via the processing system to a networked computer associated with the called party, the terminal associated with the second call, and/or the terminal associated with the third call to thereby allow the called party to screen the call while automatically ensuring that sound does not travel back to the calling party from the networked computer or the terminal at least until a first action by the called party.

A method of processing calls, comprising:

• receiving over a network at a first system a first call from a caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
• placing a second call from the first system over the network to a first terminal associated with the called party, the second call including signaling information having at least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller so that the called party can determine the identity of the caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
• placing a third call from the first system over the network after the second call to a second terminal associated with the called party, the second call;
• playing a greeting to the calling party,
• streaming at least a first portion of the voice communication via the processing system to a networked computer associated with the called party, the terminal associated with the second call, and/or the terminal associated with the third call to thereby allow the called party to screen the call via the terminal or network computer while automatically ensuring that sound does not travel back to the calling party from the networked computer or the terminal;
• and
• causing duplex communication to be provided so that the called party can converse with the calling party if the called party provides an instruction indicating that the called party wants to speak to the caller.