Telecommunications answering feature method and apparatus

A telephone system for connecting an incoming call to a telephone of a called party, the telephone system comprising:

• an establishing means for establishing a connection between the incoming call, an intercepting system, and the telephone of the called party when
• (a) the telephone is ON HOOK,
• (b) the incoming call has been intercepted, such that the incoming call is no longer connected to the telephone of the called party, and the incoming call is in progress with said intercepting system, and
• (c) the called party has invoked a call screening feature, whereby the called party can monitor the progress of the intercepted incoming call;
• and
• a connection modification means for removing the intercepting system from the connection and establishing a full duplex voice connection between the incoming call and the telephone of the called party, when an acceptance signal is received from the telephone of the called party.

A method for operating a telephone set of a called party, in a telephone system including the telephone set of the called party and a telephone switching facility, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing to the telephone switching facility an indication that a call screening feature is invoked at the telephone set of the called party;
• receiving, from the telephone system, an incoming call while the telephone of the called party is ON-HOOK;
• receiving, from the telephone system, an indication that the incoming call was redirected away from the telephone set of the called party to a message receiver such that the incoming call is no longer connected to the telephone set of the called party;
• providing, for a user of the telephone set of the called party, an indication that the incoming call was redirected away from the telephone set of the called party to a message receiver;
• and
• receiving, from the telephone system, any message that is left by the redirected call at the message receiver, such that the message can be monitored at the telephone set of the called party as it is left at the message receiver.