Automated unavailability response for call handling

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving, at a network server of a wireless carrier network, an incoming call that is initiated from an originating caller device for routing to a terminating user device of a specific subscriber;
• retrieving, via the network server, a user profile of the specific subscriber that includes one or more unavailability notification settings for the incoming call from a user profile database;
• selecting, via the network server, an unavailability notification message from a data store based at least on the one or more unavailable notification settings;
• and
• sending, via the network server, the unavailability notification message to a telephone number of the originating caller device via a messaging service.

A server, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• memory having instructions stored therein, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
• receiving an incoming call that is initiated from an originating caller device at a network server for routing to a terminating user device of a specific subscriber;
• checking a telephone number that is used by the originating caller network to initiate the incoming call against an address book of the specific subscriber to determine a group to which the telephone number belongs;
• in response to determining that the telephone number belongs to a first group in the address book, sending an unavailability notification message that corresponds to the first group to the originating caller device;
• and
• in response to determining that the telephone number belongs to a second group in the address book, refraining from sending any unavailability notification message to the originating caller device.