System and method for providing advanced telephony services using a virtual telephone number

#A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figures contain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.

#This patent application relates to Ser. No. 10/245,153, filed the same day as the present patent application by Bedingfield, et al., entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ADVANCED TELEPHONY SERVICES USING A VIRTUAL TELEPHONE NUMBER,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This patent application also relates to Ser. No. 10/245,170, filed the same day as the present patent application by Bedingfield, et al., entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING USAGE MONITORING TELEPHONY SERVICES,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

#The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing advanced telephony services using elements within a service providing network which is separate from the transport network which would normally be used to carry a customer's calls, an example being providing advanced telephony services to a wireless customer using a wireline network-based universal telephone number.

#These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention are better understood when the following Detailed Description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a system for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers using a virtual telephone number;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the system for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers using a virtual telephone number, highlighting the use of a wireline telephone number to provide advanced wireless telephony services to a subscriber;

#Referring now to the Figures in which like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several Figures, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a system for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers. In the embodiment shown, a system 10 for providing advanced telephony services to a plurality of subscribers includes a telephone call 12 which is routed into or out of a telecommunications network 14 belonging to a telecommunications service provider. This telecommunications network 14 is also referred to herein as the service-providing network because all communications that take advantage of the advanced telephone services are routed through telecommunications network 14. The telecommunications network 14 includes a switch and an application server, which is described below. The application server is operable for providing a plurality of advanced telephony services to a subscriber for each telephone call 12. In an AIN environment, the application server may be an SCP. Other network elements, including, but not limited to softswitches, media gateway controllers, web servers, media servers, and media gateways, may also be included in telecommunications network 14 to provide the advanced telephony services. These advanced telephony services may include, for example, call delivery services, call forwarding services, call rescue services, custom ring-pattern services, call logging services, and call reporting services. The application server may also provide voicemail services, custom messaging services, message notification services, message waiting indicator services, caller identification (caller ID) services, privacy director services, anonymous call rejection services, usage monitoring services, personal identification number (PIN) override services, and the like.

#The telecommunications network 14 is in communication with a plurality of callers, subscribers, and/or other individuals via the public-switched telephone network (PSTN), which includes incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), and inter-exchange carriers (IXC). In the embodiment shown, the telecommunications network 14 is directly or indirectly in communication with a subscriber's wireline telephones or devices, such a home telephone 16 or work telephone 18. The telecommunications network 14 is also in communication with a plurality of callers, subscribers, and/or other individuals via a wireless telephone network. The telecommunications network 14 also is directly or indirectly in communication with the subscriber's wireless telephone or device, cellular telephone 20 in FIG. 1. The telecommunications network 14 is further in communication with a plurality of callers, subscribers, and/or other individuals via a packet voice or Internet-protocol (IP)-based telephone network. The telecommunications network 14 is directly or indirectly in communication with a subscriber's IP-based telephone or device, IP telephone 22 and notification device 24.

#In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a subscriber profile 26 is disposed within a database that resides in the telecommunications network 14. The subscriber profile 26 contains information related to a subscriber's advanced telephony service preferences, e.g., the advanced telephony services that are associated with the subscriber's incoming and outgoing telephone calls. The subscriber adds to, subtracts from, or otherwise modifies these advanced telephony services preferences via a subscriber control 28, such as a wireline link, a wireless link, an Internet web page, an intranet web page, or the like. The subscriber profile 26 and the subscriber control 28 provide a subscriber with control over the identity and nature of the advanced telephony services that are provided to telephone calls associated with the subscriber or with a telephone number associated with the subscriber.