Remote call monitoring

A method of monitoring calls, the method comprising:

• comparing, at a first network element, a directory number of a received call to at least one directory number stored in a list of directory numbers to determine whether a remote call monitoring service should be applied to the received call;
• causing a second network element to set up a three-way communication between a calling party, a voice mail system, and a subscriber when the remote call monitoring service is to be applied to the received call;
• and
• forwarding the call to the voice mail system when the remote call monitoring service should not be applied to the received call, wherein forwarding the call to the voice mail system comprises;
• determining whether a calling party's identification for the calling party is on an “always monitor” list provided by the subscriber,
• forwarding the call to the voice mail system when the calling party's identification is not on the “always monitor” list, and
• causing the second network element to set up a three-way communication between the calling party, the voice mail system, and the subscriber so that the subscriber may monitor the received call when the calling party's identification is on the “always monitor” list.

A method of monitoring routed calls, the method comprising:

• forwarding a received call to a voice mail system;
• determining whether a calling party's identification for the received call is on a monitor list provided by a subscriber;
• and
• causing a second network element to set up a three-way communication between the calling party, the voice mail system, and the subscriber so that the subscriber may monitor the received call when the calling party's identification is on the monitor list.

A system for monitoring a call, the system comprising:

• a first network element, comprising:
• means for storing a list of directory numbers,
• means for comparing a directory number of the received call to a list of directory numbers to determine if a remote call monitoring service should be applied to a received call, and
• means for forwarding the received call to a second network element;
• and
• the second network element comprising:
• means for determining whether a calling party's identification for the calling party is on a monitor list provided by a subscriber,
• means for forwarding the call to a voice mail system when the calling party's identification is not on the monitor list, and
• means for setting up a three-way communication between the calling party, the voice mail system, and the subscriber so that the subscriber may monitor the received call when the calling party's identification is on the “always monitor” list.