Method for called party identification and call re-routing
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorDavid Phillip Silverman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for a telephone call routed over a network to include called party identification information personally identifying the called individual such that the called individual is distinguished from any other individual associated with a common telephone number of an end-user device. The telephone call is connected or rerouted based upon the called party identification information. Based on the called party identification information, a call may be automatically routed by the network to an end-user device, and the end-user device may further be provided with the called party identification information. A premises-based end-user device may automatically or by user control route the call based on the called party identification information.
Claims14
A method implemented in a telephone network for routing a call that is initiated by a caller at a first end-user station, said call routing being performed based on a telephone identifier associated with a second end-user station, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving call setup information for said call, said call setup information including a called party identification information that (a) uniquely identifies an individual for whom said call is destined and (b) includes one or more forwarding parameters indicating one or more possible end-user stations that may be selected as a destination end-user station for forwarding the call to the individual;
- sending to said second end-user station a first signal that includes (i) said called party identification information and (ii) position information indicating the relative position of said one or more forwarding parameters with respect to a predetermined sequence of said one or more forwarding parameters;
- receiving a second signal from said second end-user station that generates said second signal in response to receiving said first signal wherein said second signal identifies a destination end-user station to route said call;
- and
- routing said call to said destination end-user.
A method in a telephone network for routing a call initiated by a caller at a first end-user station according to a telephone identifier associated with a second end-user station, comprising the telephone network executed steps of:
- acquiring a called party identification information for said call prior to routing said call to an end-user station, said called party identification information uniquely identifying an individual for whom said call is intended;
- selecting a third end-user station according to said called party identification information;
- sending to said third end-user station a signal that includes said called party identification information;
- receiving from said third end-user station, in response to said signal, a command signal that identifies a destination end-user station to forward said call;
- and
- routing said call to said destination end-user station.
A method in a telephone network for routing a call initiated by a caller at a first end-user station according to a telephone identifier associated with a second end-user station, comprising the telephone network executed steps of:
- acquiring a called party identification information for said call prior to routing said call to an end-user station, said called party identification information uniquely identifying an individual for whom said call is intended;
- and
- routing the call to a destination end-user station;
- wherein said step of obtaining said called party identification information includes the steps of:
- sending to said first end-user station a query signal requesting entry of called party identification information;
- receiving a signal containing said called party identification information from said first end-user station in response to said query signal.
A method in a telephone network for routing a call initiated by a caller at a first end-user station according to a telephone identifier associated with a second end-user station, comprising the telephone network executed steps of:
- acquiring a called party identification information for said call prior to routing said call to an end-user station, said called party identification information uniquely identifying an individual for whom said call is intended;
- and
- routing the call to a destination end-user station;
- wherein said step of acquiring said called party identification information includes the steps of:
- determining, in response to said call being initiated, whether said telephone identifier is associated with a called party identification feature;
- sending to said first end-user station, in the event that said telephone identifier is associated with the called party identification feature, a query signal requesting designation of called party identification information;
- and
- receiving a signal indicative of said called party identification information from said first end-user station in response to said query signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.