# US 2018/0324299 A1 · Network-controlled robocall and scam call handling

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- Number: US 2018/0324299 A1
- Document ID: US20180324299A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/863,562
- Filed: 2018-01-05
- Published: 2018-11-08
- Earliest claimed: 2017-05-08
- Assignees: T-Mobile USA, Inc.
- Applicants: T-Mobile USA, Inc.
- Inventors: Muhammad Ejaz Sial; Shujaur Mufti; Zeeshan Jahangir
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180324299A1

## 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)}
- H04L 65/1016: IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
- H04L 65/1063: Application servers providing network services (systems providing special services to telephonic subscribers H04M3/42)
- H04L 65/1076: Screening of IP real time communications, e.g. spam over Internet telephony [SPIT]
- H04L 65/1104: Session initiation protocol [SIP]
- H04M 3/42153: {by subscriber}
- H04M 3/543: {Call deflection}
- H04W 4/16: Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
- H04L 69/329: in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
- H04M 3/42059: {Making use of the calling party identifier}
- H04M 3/53308: {Message originator indirectly connected to the message centre, e.g. after detection of busy or absent state of a called party}
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

Systems and methods for network-controlled scam/robocall handling are described. When an incoming call destined for a user device is detected, if the user device is subscribed to network-controlled scam/robocall handling, the incoming call is handled at the network according to the subscription. If user preferences are specified, the call may be blocked, forwarded to another number, sent directly to voice mail, or delivered to the device. How a call is handled may be determined based on a category associated with an originating number of the incoming call.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method implemented at a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving, at the communication network, a call directed to a particular user device;
determining an originating number associated with the call;
determining, based at least in part on the originating number, that the call is a robocall or a scam call;
based, at least in part, on the determining that the call is a robocall or a scam call, preventing the call from being delivered to the user device.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising receiving a request to subscribe the user device to network-controlled robocall blocking, wherein:
preventing the call from being delivered to the user device is further based, at least in part, on the request to subscribe the user device to network-controlled robocall blocking.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

A method as recited in claim 2, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request as an extensible markup language configuration access protocol (XCAP) request via a Ut interface.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:
in response to receiving the request to subscribe the user device to network-controlled robocall blocking, updating a network user profile to indicate that the user device is subscribed to network-controlled robocall blocking.

### Claim 5

A method implemented at a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving, at the communication network, a call directed to a particular user device;
determining an originating number associated with the call;
determining, based at least in part on the originating number, a category associated with the call;
determining a user-specified call handling preference associated with the category; and
the communication network handling the call according to the user-specified call handling preference.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

A method of claim 5, wherein the category associated with the call is selected from a plurality of categories comprising:
basic/personal calls;
trusted entity calls;
emergency/public service calls;
informational calls;
healthcare calls;
telemarketing calls;
survey calls;
political calls;
charity/non-profit calls;
collection calls;
spoofing calls; and
suspected fraudulent calls.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

A method of claim 5, wherein handling the call according to the user-specified call handling preference comprises terminating the call without delivering the call to the user device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

A method of claim 5, wherein handling the call according to the user-specified call handling preference comprises sending the call directly to voice mail without delivering the call to the user device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 5)

A method of claim 5, wherein handling the call according to the user-specified call handling preference comprises forwarding the call to another number.

### Claim 10 (depends on 5)

A method of claim 5, wherein handling the call according to the user-specified call handling preference comprises delivering the call to the user device.

### Claim 11

A communication network comprising:
one or more processors;
memory, communicatively coupled to the one or more processors;
a call handling module stored in the memory and executed on the processor, the call handling module configured to:
determine a category associated with an incoming call;
based, at least in part, on the category, handle the incoming call according to one or more user-specified preferences.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, wherein the user-specified preferences indicate that the call is to be:
terminated without being delivered to the user device;
forwarded to another number instead of being delivered to the user device; or sent directly to voice mail without being delivered to the user device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, wherein the category associated with the incoming call is selected from a plurality of categories comprising:
basic/personal calls;
trusted entity calls;
emergency/public service calls;
informational calls;
healthcare calls;
telemarketing calls;
survey calls;
political calls;
charity/non-profit calls;
collection calls;
spoofing calls; and
suspected fraudulent calls.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, further comprising:
a subscriber profile data repository, the subscriber profile data repository including:
supplementary service subscriptions that indicate, for a particular user device, any number of supplementary service subscriptions to which the user device is subscribed,
wherein:
the user-specified preferences include an indication that a user device to which the incoming call is destined is subscribed to network-controlled scam/robocall handling.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

A communication network as recited in claim 14, wherein:
the subscriber profile data repository further includes call handling preferences that specify, for one or more call categories, a user preference for how the network is to handle an incoming call associated with a particular category.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, further comprising:
a Ut interface for receiving an XCAP request from a user device, the XCAP request indicating that the user device is to requesting to subscribe to network-controlled scam/robocall handling.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

A communication network as recited in claim 16, wherein the XCAP request further indicates, for one or more categories, a user preference for how an incoming call associated with a particular category is to be handled by the communication network.

### Claim 18 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, further comprising a robocall number data repository configured to store a list of numbers associated with known scams or robocalls.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

A communication network as recited in claim 18, wherein the robocall number data repository is configured to receive, from a user device, via a Ut interface, an XCAP request to add a number to the robocall number data repository.

### Claim 20 (depends on 11)

A communication network as recited in claim 11, further comprising:
a performance data repository configured to store data associated with calls that are identified as scam or robocalls; and
a call handling analytics module configured to provide access to the data in the performance data repository.