US 7,095,838 B1Granted

Handling of forwarded calls

AssigneeNokia Networks Oy

InventorsMikko Kanerva, Pekka Hämäläinen, Seppo Huotari, Erkki Yli-Juuti

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Abstract

This invention presents a service of barring the forwarded calls. According to the invention, a subscriber may define in his subscriber information that all calls forwarded to him are to be rejected. In response to receiving a request for establishing a call to a subscriber, his subscriber information is checked to find out if he has defined that calls forwarded to him are to be rejected. If the subscriber information shows that the subscriber wishes to reject the forwarded incoming calls, the call establishment signaling is studied to find out if the call has been forwarded. If the call is determined to have been forwarded, the call is rejected. In a preferred embodiment the subscriber may define a set of allowed numbers from which even the forwarded calls are to be accepted.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method of handling calls in a telecommunication system comprising subscribers and network elements, comprising:

storing in the system subscriber information including service definitions of a second subscriber;
establishing connections to the second subscriber via a first network element having access to the subscriber information of the second subscriber;
allowing a first subscriber to define in his subscriber information that his incoming calls are to be forwarded to the second subscriber;
indicating the forwarding of a call and a caller's identity in a call establishment signaling;
allowing the second subscriber to define a set of caller identities in a portion of the subscriber information stored in a service database accessed by a second network element for defining a set of allowed caller identities for incoming forwarded calls from another subscriber, said allowed caller identities being either those included in or excluded from the set,
determining in the second network element whether the caller identity of an incoming forwarded call belongs to the allowed identities by comparing the caller identity with said set of caller identities, in response to receiving the call establishment signaling in the first network element and said first network element contacting said second network element,
continuing to establish the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity belongs to the allowed identities or rejecting the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity does not belong to the allowed identities;
in response to receiving call establishment signaling requesting establishment of a call from a third calling subscriber to the second subscriber and determining that the first subscriber has forwarded said first subscriber's calls to the second subscriber, forwarding the call to the second subscriber and incrementing a value of a call forwarding counter;
and
comparing the value of the call forwarding counter to a predefined value to determine whether the call is a forwarded call.

7 more elements

A telecommunication system comprising:

exchanges;
subscribers;
a service control network element;
means for storing subscriber information including information about the service definitions of a second subscriber;
means for establishing calls to the second subscriber via an exchange having access to the subscriber information of the second subscriber;
means for allowing a first subscriber to define in his subscriber information that his incoming calls are to be forwarded to the second subscriber;
storing means for storing a set of caller identities in the subscriber information of the second subscriber for defining a set of allowed caller identities for incoming forwarded calls from another subscriber, said allowed caller identities being either those included in or excluded from the set, and for providing said allowed caller identities to said service control network element;
means for allowing said second subscriber to define said set of caller entities;
means for indicating in the call establishment signaling the forwarding of a call, and a caller identity;
determining means in said service control network element for determining whether the caller identity of an incoming forwarded call belongs to the allowed identities by comparing the caller identity with said set of caller identities, in response to receiving the call establishment signaling in the exchange;
continuing means for continuing establishing the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity belongs to the allowed identities;
and
rejecting means for rejecting the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity does not belong to the allowed identities,
a call forwarding counter that is incremented when a call from a third calling subscriber to the second subscriber is determined to have been forwarded from the first subscriber;
and
a comparator for comparing the value of the call forwarding counter to a predefined value to determine whether the call is a forwarded call.

13 more elements

A network element for a telecommunication system having:

exchanges;
subscribers;
a service control network element;
means for storing subscriber information including information about the service definitions of a second subscriber;
means for establishing calls to the second subscriber via an exchange having access to the subscriber information of the second subscriber;
means for allowing a first subscriber to define in his subscriber information that his incoming calls are to be forwarded to the second subscriber;
storing means for storing a set of caller identities in the subscriber information of the second subscriber for defining a set of allowed caller identities for incoming forwarded calls from another subscriber, said allowed caller identities being either those included in or excluded from the set, and for providing said allowed caller identities to said service control network element;
means for allowing the second subscriber to define said set of caller identities;
means for indicating in the call establishment signaling the forwarding of a call, and a caller identity;
determining means in said service control network element for determining whether the caller identity of an incoming forwarded call belongs to the allowed identities by comparing the caller identity with said set of caller identities, in response to receiving the call establishment signaling in the exchange;
continuing means for continuing establishing the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity belongs to the allowed identities;
and
rejecting means for rejecting the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity does not belong to the allowed identities;
a call forwarding counter that is incremented when a call from a third calling subscriber to the second subscriber is determined to have been forwarded from the first subscriber;
and
a comparator for comparing the value of the call forwarding counter to a predefined value to determine whether the call is a forwarded call.

13 more elements

A home location register for a mobile telecommunication system comprising:

exchanges;
subscribers;
a service control network element;
means for storing subscriber information including information about the service definitions of a second subscriber;
means for establishing calls to the second subscriber via an exchange having access to the subscriber information of the second subscriber;
means for allowing a first subscriber to define in his subscriber information that his incoming calls are to be forwarded to the second subscriber;
storing means for storing a set of caller identities in the subscriber information of the second subscriber for defining allowed caller identities for incoming forwarded calls from another subscriber, said allowed caller identities being either those included in or excluded from the set, and for providing said allowed caller identities to said service control network element;
means for allowing the second subscriber to define said set of caller identities;
means for indicating in the call establishment signaling the forwarding of a call, and a caller identity;
determining means in said service control network element for determining whether the caller identity of an incoming forwarded call belongs to the allowed identities by comparing the caller identity with said set of caller identities, in response to receiving the call establishment signaling in the exchange;
continuing means for continuing establishing the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity belongs to the allowed identities;
and
rejecting means for rejecting the incoming forwarded call if the caller identity does not belong to the allowed identities;
a call forwarding counter that is incremented when a call from a third calling subscriber to the second subscriber is determined to have been forwarded from the first subscriber;
and
a comparator for comparing the value of the call forwarding counter to a predefined value to determine whether the call is a forwarded call.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/674,101Filed 28 Apr 2000
Priority: FI 9809915 May 1998
Granted: 22 Aug 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04M 3/38
Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges: graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections
H04M 3/54
Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers: arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined…
H04Q 3/0029
Arrangements providing connection between exchanges: provisions for intelligent networking
H04M
Telephonic communication