Automatic routing of incoming telephone calls to a plurality of receiving devices based on caller identification

Apparatus for determining the routing of externally generated incoming ring signals of an incoming telephone call, wherein a caller identification number follows the first ring signal, to a plurality of outputs comprising:

• means for storing a list of caller identification numbers,
• means for detecting and suppressing said first incoming ring signal such that no audible ring occurs,
• means for detecting and receiving said incoming caller identification numbers,
• means for comparing said incoming caller identification numbers to said stored caller identification numbers,
• responsive to said comparing, means for routing said second subsequent incoming ring signals to at least one of said outputs,
• means for maintaining an on-hook condition while performing said routing, and
• means for setting a plurality of priority groups, and means for identifying each of said stored caller identification numbers with a priority group,
• means for detecting the priority group of an incoming telephone call, by comparing the incoming caller identification number with the stored caller identification number,
• means for programming a sequence of outputs, responsive to said priority group of an incoming telephone call, to which each of said incoming calls are to be routed, said sequence ordered from high to low priority, and
• means for connecting said incoming call to the highest priority output.

Apparatus for determining the routing of externally generated incoming ring signals of an incoming telephone call, wherein a caller identification number follows the first ring signal, to a plurality of outputs comprising:

• means for storing a list of caller identification numbers,
• means for detecting and suppressing said first incoming ring signal such that no audible ring occurs,
• means for detecting and receiving said incoming caller identification numbers,
• means for comparing said incoming caller identification numbers to said stored caller identification numbers,
• responsive to said comparing, means for routing said second subsequent incoming ring signals to at least one of said outputs,
• means for maintaining an on-hook condition while performing said routing, and
• means, responsive to said means for comparing, for determining incoming telephone calls that are to be terminated,
• means for connecting the incoming telephone call to be terminated to an automatic answering device,
• means for detecting when said automatic answering device goes off hook, and
• responsive to detecting said off-hook condition,
• means for directly disconnecting said incoming call from said automatic answering device.

A method for routing of externally generated incoming ring signals of incoming telephone calls, wherein a caller identification number follows the first ring signal, to a plurality of outputs comprising the steps of:

• loading and storing a list of caller identification numbers,
• detecting and suppressing the first ring signal of said incoming telephone calls, such that no audible ring occurs,
• detecting and receiving said incoming caller identification numbers,
• comparing said incoming caller identification numbers to said stored caller identification numbers,
• responsive to said comparison, routing said second and subsequent incoming ring signals to at least one of said outputs,
• maintaining an on-hook condition while performing said routing,
• programming a sequence of outputs to which said incoming ring signals are to be directed,
• connecting said second the subsequent incoming ring signals to each of said sequence of outputs,
• programming a selected number of incoming ring signals to be directed to each output,
• counting the number of incoming ring signals occurring at each of said outputs,
• responsive to the count equaling the programmed number of incoming ring signals at each output, connecting subsequent of said incoming ring signals to the next sequential output,
• detecting when the output, to which said incoming ring signals are being directed, goes off-hook, and
• responsive to said off-hook condition, maintaining the incoming call to said off-hook output and terminating the sequential connections to the other of said outputs.

A method for routing of externally generated incoming ring signals of incoming telephone calls, wherein a caller identification number follows the first ring signal, to a plurality of outputs comprising the steps of:

• loading and storing a list of caller identification numbers,
• detecting and suppressing the first ring signal of said incoming telephone calls, such that no audible ring occurs,
• detecting and receiving said incoming caller identification numbers,
• comparing said incoming caller identification numbers to said stored caller identification numbers,
• responsive to said comparison, routing said second and subsequent incoming ring signals to at least one of said outputs,
• maintaining an on-hook condition while performing said routing,
• setting a plurality of priority groups,
• identifying each of said stored caller identification numbers with a priority group,
• detecting the priority group of an incoming telephone call, by comparing the incoming caller identification number with the stored caller identification number,
• programming a sequence of outputs responsive to said priority group of an incoming telephone call, to which each of said incoming calls are to be routed, said sequence ordered from high to low priority, and
• connecting said incoming call to the highest priority output.