CallWave Communication LLC v. Verizon Communications Inc. et al.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT filed with Jury Demand against Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, Google Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. - Magistrate Consent Notice to Pltf. ( Filing fee $ 350, receipt number 0311-1190019.) - filed by CallWave Communications LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Civil Cover Sheet)(els)

EXHIBIT C

111111

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US007636428B2

(54)

(75)

United States Patent

(10)

Brahm et al.

c12)

(45)

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALL
SCREENING

4,485,470 A

Notice:

1111984 Reali
4/1988 Akiyama

4,809,321 A

2/1989 Morganstein et a!.

4,893,336 A

111990 Wuthnow

4,994,926 A

2/1991 Gordon eta!.

5,040,208 A

8/1991 Jolissaint

Assignee: Callwave, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA (US)

( *)

*Dec. 22, 2009

4,736,405 A

Inventors: David Brahm, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
David Trandal, Santa Barbara, CA
(US); Robert Smith, Newbury Park, CA
(US)

(73)

US 7,636,428 B2

Patent No.:
Date of Patent:

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 540 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(21)

Filed:

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
CA

Appl. No.: 11/374,390

(22)

(Continued)

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Prior Publication Data

US 2006/0153354 AI

5/1994

(Continued)

Mar. 13, 2006

(65)

1329852

International Search Report dated May 19, 2003.

Jul. 13, 2006

(Continued)

Related U.S. Application Data

Primary Examiner-Creighton Smith
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Knobbe, Martens, Olson &
BearLLP

(63)

Continuation of application No. 10/439,601, filed on
May 16, 2003, now Pat. No. 7,103,167.

(60)

Provisional application No. 60/382,257, filed on May
20,2002.

(57)

(51)

Int. Cl.
H04M 1164
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl. ............................... 379/88.23; 379/211.02
Field of Classification Search ................ 379/67.1,
379/6, 142.04, 211.02, 88.23
See application file for complete search history.

The present invention provides flexible, user-definable call
screening processes. The user can optionally define to which
telecommunication terminals a screened call is to be broadcast to and under what conditions. An incoming call is forwarded to a call management system that asks the caller to
leave a voice message. The call management system selectively couples the call to a POTS line or a VoiP-capable device
so that the user can listen to the incoming message and
thereby screen the incoming call. Based on the screening, the
user can instruct the call management system to connect the
caller to the user.

(52)
(58)

(56)

References Cited

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A
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ABSTRACT

77 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets

!J2

Call Processing System

US 7,636,428 B2
Page 2
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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A
A
A
A
A
A
A
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A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1

*

9/1991
3/1994
4/1995
7/1995
10/1995
1111995
6/1996
7/1996
1111996
12/1996
4/1997
6/1997
7/1997
5/1998
6/1998
9/1998
9/1998
9/1998
10/1998
1111998
1111998
4/1999
4/1999
8/1999
9/1999
9/1999
10/1999
1111999
1111999
112000
212000

*

3/2000
3/2000
3/2000
3/2000
6/2000
8/2000
1112000
12/2000
12/2000
112001
112001
112001
112001
3/2001
4/2001
5/2001
6/2001
6/2001
8/2001
8/2001
10/2001
212002

3/2002
3/2002
3/2002
6/2002
6/2002
6/2002
8/2002
8/2002

Sakai
Gordon eta!.
Olnowich eta!.
Klein
Gordon eta!.
Redd, Jr. eta!.
Madduri
Robinson eta!.
Iida eta!.
Nakagawa
Van Berkurn
Karlsson
Dunn et al.
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Norris et al.
McMullin
Tsukazoe et a!.
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Fo ladare et al. .......... 455/556.2
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Fo ladare et al.
Kikinis et al.
Jung
Shaffer et a!.
Anderson
Florence et a!.
Hallet a!.
Olnowich eta!.
Silverman
La Porta eta!. ............ 379/67.1
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Shtivelman et a!.
Benson
Bajzath eta!.
Beyda eta!.
Smith eta!.
Dunn et al.
Bauer eta!.
Buskirk, Jr.
Markgraf eta!.
Rieley eta!.
Meubus eta!.
Holmes eta!.
Olnowich
Belzile
Creamer et a!.
Varney
Ramamurthy
Bobo, II
Burger et al.
Stevens et a!.
Nichols eta!.
Singh
Shaffer et a!.
Becker et al.
Aktas
Burg

6,477,246
6,496,569
6,496,576
6,501,750
6,505,163
6,510,162
6,510,417
6,512,930
6,519,258
6,539,084
6,545,589
6,546,087
6,549,612
6,553,222
6,564,264
6,567,505
6,584,321
6,574,319
6,621,892
6,643,034
6,662,232
6,690,785
6,751,299
6,775,370
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6,785,021
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6,898,275
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2004/0247105
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2005/0053216
2005/0123118
2005/0207556
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B1
B2
B2
B1
B1
B1
B1
B2
B1
B1
B1 *
B2
B2
B1
B1
B1
B1
B2
B1
B1
B1
B1
B1
B2
B1
B1
B1
B2
B2
B2
A1
A1
A1
A1
A1
A1 *
A1
A1 *
A1
A1
A1
A1
A1

1112002
12/2002
12/2002
12/2002
112003
112003
112003
112003
2/2003
3/2003
4/2003
4/2003
4/2003
4/2003
5/2003
5/2003
5/2003
6/2003
9/2003
1112003
12/2003
2/2004
6/2004
8/2004
8/2004
8/2004
9/2004
2/2005
5/2005
2/2006
1/2002
7/2002
2/2003
8/2003
2/2004
4/2004
9/2004
12/2004
12/2004
3/2005
6/2005
9/2005
112006

Dolan eta!.
Pelletier eta!.
Tanaka eta!.
Shaffer et a!.
Zhang et al.
Fijolek et a!.
Woods eta!.
Sandegren
Tsukazoe et a!.
Long
Fuller eta!. ................ 340/7.22
Shaffer et a!.
Gifford et al.
Weiss
Creswell et a!.
Omori eta!.
Bobo II
Latter eta!.
Banister et a!.
Gordon eta!.
Nicholls eta!.
Stelter eta!.
Brown eta!.
Burg
Gabara
Gordon eta!.
Kirckpatrick
Bobo,II
Dolan eta!.
Spencer et al.
Itzhaki
Burg
Luehrig et a!.
Brown eta!.
Wurster et a!.
Trivedi ....................... 707/102
Fleischer, III et a!.
Mullis eta!. ........... 379/211.02
Levine eta!.
Spencer et al.
Terry eta!.
Gonzalez et a!.
Fleischer III, eta!.

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP
EP
JP
JP
JP

wo
wo
wo

1 120 954
41 120 954
10-513632
11-506292
2001-168989
wo 97/26749
wo 00/60840
wo 01/76210

8/2001
8/2001
12/1998
6/1999
6/2001
7/1997
10/2000
10/2001

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Article: Johnson, Dave; "Now You're TALKING-voice-response
systems for home offices- Product Information"; Home Office Computing: http://www.findarticles.com: Feb. 1999.
Supplementary European Search Report.
Communication pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC; dated Jun. 3, 2009; 6
pages.

* cited by examiner

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Sheet 2 of7

US 7,636,428 B2

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US 7,636,428 B2

PI?OCESS IZOW STEPS
401.

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402.

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Sheet 7 of7

US 7,636,428 B2

PROCESS IZOW STEPS
501. Co/ling Porly 102 originoles col/ lo Coiled Porly Phone Line I 14
502. Coiled Porly LEC swilch 128 de/eels Coiled Porly Telephone Line I 14 .bvsy
503. Coiled Porly LEC swilch 1.28 f"orwords /he col/ lo /he IAN Llne/Trvnk I 18
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50.9. IAN system 1.24 slreoms Co/ling Porly's ovdlo comments lo /he online
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message recording
51 I. Calling Porly 10.2 .begtns recording voice message
512. IAN system 1.24 slreoms Co/ling Porly's voice message to the online
Compvler I 10
513. Coiled Porly I 1.2 signals IAN system 124 lo pickvp /he col/ lo lALK lo
the caller vsing /heir !lONE Ph'ONE
514. IAN system 124 1nlerrvpls Co/ling Porly 10.2 message recording .by
generolli'Jg lone
515. IAN system 1.24 reqvesls /hoi Co/ling Porly I 12 hold while .br/dgtng
resovrces ore ollocoled
516. Client oppllcolton I 16 rvn171ng on Coiled Porly's Compvler I 10 lermli'Joles
In/erne/ sess1on (re/eostng phone Ltne I I 4)
517. IAN system 1.24 orijpnoles new col/ lo Coiled Porly lelep!Jone I 1.2
518. Coiled Porly I 12 answers lncomtng col/ kom IAN system 1.24
51.9. IAN system 1.24 onnovnces col/ lo Coiled Porly ! 12
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I 1.2 col/
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F/C. 5B

US 7,636,428 B2
1

2

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALL
SCREENING

Some recent TAS systems provide call screening while
recording a message from a caller. However, many of these
conventional call screening methods disadvantageously only
allow a call to be screened using a particular phone line of the
called party, which may not be the most desirable phone line
for performing the call screening operation. In addition, these
conventional methods generally are not capable of providing
the called party with the caller's Caller-ID. Further, these
conventional methods may not allow calls to be screened
while the particular phone is being used by the called party to
access the Internet or the like via their computer. Lastly, these
services typically require tight coupling with the called party's local telephone switch, thereby limiting the breadth of the
serving territory that can be covered by a single system.

PRIORITY CLAIM
5

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/439,601, filed May 16, 2003, now U.S. Pat.
No. 7,103,167which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119
(e) ofU.S. ProvisionalApplicationNo. 60/382,257, filed May
20, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated herein in its
entirety.

10

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and in particular to systems and methods for screening
telephone calls.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional telephone systems often offer a Telephone
Answering Service (TAS) that redirects incoming calls
encountering a ring-no-answer condition, a busy condition,
or a do-not-disturb condition, to a network voice messaging
system on which the caller can record a message for the called
party. The called party is then provided with a MessageWaiting-Indicator (MWI). In many conventional systems, the
MWI notification is in the form of a stutter dial tone or a
flashing light on the called party's telephone. Upon detection
of this indicator, the called party can dial into the voice
messaging platform to retrieve the recorded message from
his/her mailbox.
Alternatively, many residential telephone customers equip
their homes with a Telephone Answering Machine (lAM) that
automatically answers their phone and takes a message when
an incoming call is not answered within the first three or four
ring cycles. The lAM plays the caller's message over its
speakers so that the call can be screened and if desired, picked
up by the called party to initiate a two-way conversation. If the
call is not picked up, the lAM provides a MWI notification,
usually by illuminating a lamp on the lAM device. Once
again, the called party, upon detection of this indicator, can
retrieve the recorded message from his/her mailbox.
The above described two classes of conventional automated telephone call answering solutions have distinct
advantages and disadvantages. TheTAS handles busy as well
as unanswered calls but does not allow message screening.
The lAM allows screening of unanswered calls but does not
handle busy calls. In addition, neither solution provides a
timely notification of calls missed when the phone line is tied
up while the called party is surfing the Internet on a dialup
connection.
A more recent call answering service called the Internet
Answering Machine (lAM), provided by CallWave, Inc.,
works with the "Call Forward On Busy" feature of the called
party's phone line to answer calls while the called party is
using the phone line to access the Internet via the called
party's computer. Once activated, callers no longer get
annoying busy signals when the called party is online.
Instead, callers hear a greeting after which they can leave a
short message. The caller's phone number and message are
transmitted in near real-time to the called party's computer so
that the called party can screen the call and optionally choose
to interact with the caller during the call. For example, the
called party could choose to answer the call, continue screening on an alternate telephone, or request that a telemarketer
blocking message be played to the caller.

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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Embodiments of the present invention are directed methods and systems for providing call screening in conjunction
with a variety of network-based telephone call answering
processes and services.
In one example embodiment, an Internet Answering
Machine (lAM) system allows a called party to monitor a
message being left by a caller even when the called party is
connected to the Internet over a dial-up connection. Calls are
forwarded from the called party's line to the lAM system
using the called party's local phone company's fixed and
variable call forward functions. These functions can include,
by way of example, call forwarding on busy, call forwarding
on ring-no-answer, and call-forward-all calls (sometimes
called do-not-disturb). The lAM system answers the forwarded calls and a plays a greeting to the caller. At the same
time, a communication channel is opened with the called
party over the public Internet and speech is "streamed" to the
called party and played over the speakers of the called party's
computer, which may be, by way of example, a personal
computer or networked television. With streaming, a client
application executing on the called party's computer can start
playing the transmitted speech data in substantially or almost
real-time, before an entire speech data file of a caller's message has been transmitted. In particular, the Internet channel
is opened at the time a call arrives at the call answering system
so the called party hears the caller's speech during the playing
of the greeting.
If the called party wishes, the called party can instruct the
lAM system to pickup the call by linking the called party to
the caller. The lAM system interrupts the caller, who may be
in the process of leaving a message, by playing a voice
prompt, such as "please hold while we connect your call." The
call management system causes the called party computer to
be disconnected from the Internet, originates a new call from
the lAM system to the called party's POTS (plain old telephone service-which refers to the standard telephone service that most homes use) phone, and bridges the two calls
together.
In another embodiment, rather than opening a channel over
the Internet to the called party's computer, a second call is
selectively originated upon the arrival of the forwarded call to
a second POTS Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
phone line or the called party's wireless/cellular phone. The
lAM system determines which of the POTS lines and cellular
lines to call and which calls are to be forwarded based on a set
of rules defined by the called party. These rules can include
online and, offline status (Internet presence), telephone presence (called party on the phone line/off the phone line), VIP
Caller-ID filtering (calling number), called number, time of
day, day of week, and other parameters. When the called party

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answers, a brief greeting is played and the called party can
monitor and interact with the caller as described above.
In still another embodiment, when the call is originated
from the lAM system to the POTS phone line or wireless
device, the call is originated, using by way of example the SS7
protocol, to the line with the calling party ID of the "original
caller". Having the original calling party's number delivered
with the outbound call and then displayed on the POTS line or
wireless phone display can help the called party decide how to
handle the call.
In yet another embodiment, rather than the lAM system
receiving only forwarded calls, the called party can selectively publish a unique phone number that terminates calls
directly to the lAM system. The called party can monitor and
selectively interact with their callers as described above.
In one embodiment, the call screening information is
simultaneously multi-cast to multiple telephone and IP
devices. Any one of the multi-cast destination devices can
directly interact with the caller during the call.
In another embodiment, a method of providing a called
party the ability to screen calls comprises: receiving over a
switched network at a call manager system a forwarded call
from a calling party intended for the called party, wherein
signaling information associated with the forwarded call
includes the calling party's phone number; playing a greeting
to the calling party; originating a second call from the call
manager system to the called party, wherein signaling information associated with the second call includes the calling
party's phone number so that the second call appears to be
originating from the calling party; and bridging the forwarded
call with the second call.
In yet another embodiment, a method of processing calls
comprises: receiving over a switched network at a call processing system a first call from a caller intended for a called
party, wherein the first call includes signaling information
having a phone number of the caller; and placing a new call
from the call processing system over the switched network to
a terminal associated with the called party, the new call
including signaling information having at least a selected
portion of the phone number of the caller so that the called
party can determine the identity of the caller of the first call
and thereby screen the caller.
In still another embodiment, a method of providing a called
party the ability to selectively accept phone calls comprises:
receiving at a call processing system a first call from a calling
party intended for the called party, wherein the first call
includes at least a first portion of the calling party's phone
number; and initiating a second call from the call processing
system to the called party, the second call including at least
part of the first portion of the calling party's phone number to
thereby provide the called party with information related to
the identity of the calling party so that the called party can
screen the first call.
In one embodiment, a call screening apparatus comprises:
a first instruction stored in computer readable memory, the
first instruction configured to cause a call from a calling party
intended for a called party to be answered; a second instruction stored in computer readable memory, the second instruction configured to play a greeting to the calling party; a third
instruction stored in computer readable memory, the third
instruction configured to maintain a communication channel
over the Internet with a networked computer associated with
the called party while the greeting is being played; a fourth
instruction stored in computer readable memory, the fourth
instruction configured to receive and stream speech from the
calling party over the Internet communication channel to the
networked computer, wherein the streamed speech is

intended to be screened by the called party by the networked
computer; a fifth instruction stored in computer readable
memory, the fifth instruction configured to receive a command, via the Internet communication channel, from the
called party to connect the calling party to the called party; a
sixth instruction stored in computer readable memory, the
sixth instruction configured to cause the called party's networked computer to go offline; and a seventh instruction
stored in computer readable memory, the seventh instruction
configured to originate a second call from the call manager
system to the called party, and to bridge the calling party's call
with the second call.
In another embodiment, a method of providing a called
party the ability to screen calls comprises: receiving at a first
call processing apparatus a call from a first user for a second
user; receiving a voice communication from the first user at
the first call processing apparatus; and multi -casting at least a
portion of the voice communication to a plurality of client
devices at substantially the same time so that the first user's
call can be screened.
In still another embodiment, a method of providing a called
party the ability to screen calls comprises: receiving at a first
call processing apparatus a call from a first user for a second
user; and multi-casting a call alert to a plurality of client
devices at substantially the same time so that the first user's
call can be screened.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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Embodiments of the present invention will now be
described with reference to the drawings summarized below.
These drawings and the associated description are provided to
illustrate example embodiments of the invention, and not to
limit the scope of the invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example telecommunications system
that can be used in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention.
FIG. 2 further details the subsystems that comprise the
lAM system depicted in FIG. 1 described above.
FIG. 3 displays an example menu of call screening/handling options available to the called party during the processing of the inbound call.
FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate a first example call screening process in accordance with the present invention.
FIGS. SA-SB illustrate a second example call screening
process in accordance with the present invention.
Throughout the drawings, like reference numbers are used
to refer to items that are identical or functionally similar.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS
The present invention provides systems and methods for
call screening. As will be described in greater detail below, in
one embodiment, an lAM system allows a called party to
monitor a message being left by a caller even when the called
party is using a phone line to access a computer network, such
as the Internet.
Throughout the following description, the term "Web site"
is used to refer to a user-accessible network site that implements the basic World Wide Web standards for the coding and
transmission of hypertextual documents. These standards
currently include HTML (the Hypertext Markup Language)
and HTTP (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It should be
understood that the term "site" is not intended to imply a
single geographic location, as a Web or other network site
can, for example, include multiple geographically distributed

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computer systems that are appropriately linked together. Furthermore, while the following description relates to an
embodiment utilizing the Internet and related protocols, other
networks, such as networked interactive televisions, and other
protocols may be used as well. In addition, unless otherwise
indicated, the functions described herein are preferably performed by executable code and instructions running on one or
more general-purpose computers. However, the present
invention can also be implemented using special purpose
computers, state machines, and/or hardwired electronic circuits. In addition, a communications line is referred to as
"busy" when the communication line is being utilized in such
a way that a conventional incoming call will not be connected
to the communications line. Thus, for example, if a user is
utilizing a conventional line capable of only conducting one
of a conventional voice session and a data session, but not
both at the same time, for a data session, the line will be busy.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example telecommunications system
that can be used in accordance with the present invention. As
illustrated, the telecommunications system includes:
a plurality of user telephone stations 102, 112.
a plurality of user computer terminals 110.
a call processing system 124 that acts as an Internet
Answering Machine (lAM) system.
These devices are linked together using various line and
trunk circuits to a Public Switched Network (PSTN) 104 and
to a common data network, such as the Internet 106.
FIG. 2 further decomposes the lAM system 124 into its
functional components:
a Call Management (CM) subsystem 108, which serves as
the interface to the PSTN 104 to manage inbound and outbound telephone calls.
a Router subsystem 140, which serves as the interface to
the Internet 106 to manage communications between online
IP client devices and the various lAM servers.
an online presence detection Internet Session Management
(SM) subsystem 122, which monitors the status of subscriber
data terminals to determine availability for call handling serVIces.
a shared Media Storage (MS) subsystem 138, which persistently archives the callers voice messages and the called
party/subscriber's personal greeting(s).
an lAM Database (DB) subsystem 136 in which called
party/subscriber lAM service parameters are stored.
Theses various subsystems are interconnected via a Local
Area Network (LAN) and/or via a Wide Area Network
(WAN). Other embodiments of the lAM system 124 are
described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/539,375,
filed Mar. 31,2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,246, the contents
of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
Call Wave, Inc. operates one such lAM system. As is well
known in the field of Internet telecommunications, an lAM
service works with the "Call Forward On Busy" feature of a
standard phone line to answer calls while the subscriber is
online and is using the phone line to access the Internet. Once
activated, callers no longer get annoying busy signals when
the subscriber is online. Instead, callers hear a brief greeting
after which they can leave a short message. The recording can
be streamed in substantially real-time or sent to the subscriber
over the Internet within seconds after the recording has completed. Just like a home telephone answering machine, the
subscriber can elect to interact with the caller while they are
still on the line or can call them back at a later time.
Referring back to FIG. 1, the user telephone stations 102,
112 are respectively connected to local exchange switches
126, 128 via telephone lines 134, 114. The stations 102, 112

can optionally be conventional POTS (Plain Old Telephone
Service) telephones or local extensions behind a corporate
Private Branch Exchange (PBX).
The telephone stations 102, 112 can be coupled to the same
switch or different switches. If the telephone stations 102, 112
are coupled to the same switch, the switch will be local to both
the calling and called parties, such as for intra-LATA or local
calls. If telephone stations 102, 112 are coupled to different
switches, each switch may be local only to one of the parties,
as is the case for non-local calls such as inter-LATA (longdistance) calls.
In the illustrated embodiment, the CM subsystem 108 is
coupled into the PSTN 104 through voice trunk circuits 118
directly interfacing with the Inter Exchange Carrier's (IXC)
circuit switched or packet switched telephony network. Thus,
advantageously the lAM system 124 does not have to be
directly serviced by the same Local Exchange Carrier's
(LEC) switch or PBX as the calling or called terminals 102
and 112. Indeed, the lAM system 124 or its individual subsystem components can be located in a different country than
the called and calling parties. In this instance, the lAM system
124 is optionally configured as, or to appear as, a telephone
end office and can interface with the PSTN 104 as a Class 5
switch. In other embodiments, the lAM system 124 is locally
attached to a LEC switch with a physical line or local trunk
interface circuit. This switch may or may not be serving
telephone stations 102 and/or 112.
The lAM voice trunk circuits 118 are not limited to a
particular signaling convention. For example, the present
invention can be utilized with a Common Channel Signaling
system, such as Signaling System 7 (SS7), having separate
voice/user data and signaling channels. In addition, the
present invention can be used with other signaling methods,
such as the following trunk-side signaling interfaces: ISDNPRI; Advanced Intelligent Network; and/or Service Node
architectures. Preferably, the selected signaling system provides a suite of call presentation information to the lAM
system 124, including one or more of:
ANI-Automatic Number Identification: phone number
and privacy indicator of the calling party ("Caller-ID").
DNIS-Dialed Number Identification: phone number of
the lAM system's voice trunks 118 that the call was forwarded to.
OCN-Original Called Number Identification: phone
number of the original called party (subscriber to the lAM
service).
Call Type-Forwarded call due to a BCF, RNA, or DND/
CFA condition. In addition, directly dialed inbound calls can
be handled as well. In this instance, the caller will be required
to implement a second stage of dialing to enter the subscriber's phone number or the subscriber could be assigned a
unique personal number that is directly dialed by their callers.
The telephone lines 134, 114 may be shared with one or
more computer terminals. For example, telephone terminal
112 shares the telephone line 114 with a computer terminal
110. While in the illustrated example the computer terminal
110 is a personal computer, the computerterminal110 can be
an interactive television, a networked-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA), other IP (Internet Protocol) device, or the
like. Alternatively, the computer terminal110 can be a personal computer having a monitor, keyboard, a mouse, a disk
drive, sound card or similar sound reproduction circuitry such
as a codec, streaming media playback software, such as the
Media Player program available from Microsoft, speakers,
and a modem, such as a standard V.90 56K dial-up modem.
The modem can optionally be configured to dial-up a number
under control of an application, such as a contact manager

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application or teleconnnunications client application phone
dialer, stored and executing on the computer terminal110.
The telephone line 114, can be used to establish a dial-up
connection for computer terminals, such as terminal110 via
the computer modem, to an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
offering dial-in remote access service connections from the
PSTN 104 via trunk interface circuits 120. The computer
terminal110 can also be connected to the Internet 106 via a
broadband connection, such as a DSL line, a television cable
line, or a T1 line.
In addition, the computer terminal110 can be equipped
with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoiP) software module
and a headset or a handset 132, including a microphone and
speaker, allowing voice connnunications to be conducted
over a computer network, such as the Internet 106. VoiP
communicates information via packet switching, which
opens a connection just long enough to send a small packet of
data. Each packet includes a destination address informing
the network where to send the packet along with the actual
voice data payload. If the receiving station is also a VoiP
terminal, then when the receiving terminal receives the packets, VoiP software executing on the receiving terminal reassembles the packets into the original data stream. The data
stream is then converted to a voice signal. If the receiving
station is a conventional telephone, then a VoiP gateway
converts the packets into a voice signal that is then connected
to the PSTN 104.
In one embodiment, the VoiP process is performed using
the H.323 standardized protocol established by the International Teleconnnunications Union (ITU). Advantageously,
H.323 provides specifications for real-time, interactive videoconferencing, data sharing and audio applications such as
IP telephony. Alternatively, the Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP), established by the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF), can be used. SIP is generally more efficient than the
H.323 protocol as SIP is specifically intended for IP telephony. Alternatively, proprietary protocols could be deployed
where multi-vendor interoperability is not required.
Optionally residing and executing on the computer terminal110 is a connnunications management Client application
116. The Client application 116 is used to provide enhanced
communication services, as discussed in greater detail below.
The Client application 116 is connected to and communicates
with the lAM system 124 via the Internet 106, other public
wide area computer networks, or the like.
The lAM system 124 optionally hosts a Web site used by
subscribers of the lAM service to setup and manage their
accounts, to view information about incoming calls, and to
instruct the lAM system 124 on how to route incoming calls
to one or more destination stations. Many of these same
functions can be implemented by the Client application 116
as well.
The CM subsystem 108 manages connnunications with the
Client application 116 and with forwarded calls. The CM
subsystem 108 can interact with callers and called parties
through voice prompts, voice connnands, and/or DTMF
touch-tone entries. The CM subsystem 108 is optionally configured to perform additional functions, such as acting as a
telephone answering system that answers calls, playing outgoing greetings and announcements, recording incoming
messages, and bridging calls. In addition, as will be described
in greater detail below, the CM subsystem 108 further provides a call screening process.
The SM subsystem 122 monitors the Internet for online IP
devices registered to lAM subscribers to determine their
availability for handling inbound call screening and call handling services. When a user or subscriber connects to the

Internet using, for example, a dial-up ISP, the Client application 116 executing on the subscriber's computerterminal110
makes the subscriber's online presence known to the lAM
system 124. Presence detection can be performed by the SM
subsystem 122 polling or pinging the computer terminal110
via the teleconnnunications Client application 116, or by the
teleconnnunications Client application 116 transmitting a
"Login/I'm alive" message and subsequent periodic "keep
alive" messages to the SM subsystem 122. Just prior to the
normal termination of the online Internet session, the Client
application 116 sends a "Logout" message to the SM subsystem 122. Abnormal Internet session termination conditions are detected by the SM subsystem 122 timing out the
expected Client "Keep alive" message.
If, rather than using a dial-up connection, the user or subscriber is using a broadband, always on-connection, such as
via a DSL line or cable modem, the Client application 116
becomes active when the computer 110 is turned on or powered up and stays on until the user manually shuts down the
Client application 116, or the computer 110 is turned off or
powered down.
FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate one example embodiment of the
present invention, including an abstraction of the previously
described teleconnnunications system and an example call
flow diagram. For clarity, the detailed breakout of the network
elements and individual subsystems of the lAM system 124
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 are not shown in FIG. 4A. In this
example, the calling party is associated with telephone terminal102 and the called party is associated with terminal112. In
this embodiment, the called party is subscribed to an Internet
call answering service that forwards calls to the remote lAM
system 124 upon the occurrence of selected conditions,
wherein the lAM system 124 transmits a notification to the
called party regarding the call.
With reference to FIG. 1, the called party's station 102 has
been configured with the local switching system 128 to forward calls on busy (BCF), ring-no-answer (RNA), or do-notdisturb (DND) to the voice trunk circuits 118 connecting the
CM subsystem 108 to the PSTN 104. The calling party initiates a call using the calling party telephone station 102 by
dialing the number of a called party's phone line 114. The
PSTN 104 routes this call to the called party's local switching
system 128 causing the called party's telephone terminal112
to either ring or to forward the call innnediately if the line 114
is busy or set to do-not-disturb. If, for example, the called
party does not answer within a certain amount of time or after
a certain amount of rings, the associated switching system
128 detects a no-answer condition and invokes a switch
operation connnand termed "call forwarding on RNA". The
call is then forwarded to a phone number of the CM subsystem 108.
Based at least in part on the OCN of the forwarded call (i.e.
the original called party's phone number), the CM subsystem
108 queries the SM subsystem 122 to determine whether the
called party is a registered subscriber, is online or offline, and
what the subscriber's call handling preferences are. If the
called party's computer 110 is online, the CM subsystem 108
opens a connnunication channel over the public Internet 106
to the Client application 116 running on the called party's
computer terminal110. The Caller-ID of the calling party, if
available, and if not designated as private, is transmitted to the
Client application 116 and is displayed to the subscriber
along with an optional sound notification. The sound notification can be in the form of ringing produced using the called
party's computer terminal110 speakers.
The CM subsystem 108 proceeds to play a greeting to the
calling party. The greeting can be a "canned" greeting or a

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personalized greeting previously recorded by the subscriber
and stored in the MS subsystem 138. The CM subsystem 108
records and stores the caller's message in the MS subsystem
138, while simultaneously "streaming" the message speech
through the opened Internet channel to the Client application
116 on the called party's computer terminal110. The Client
application 116 uses the computer terminal's codec to play
the streamed speech through the speakers on the called party's computerterminal110, thereby allowing the called party
to listen to and screen the call. Optionally, to prevent the
calling party from hearing any sounds made by the called
party during the screening process, the audio return path over
the Internet channel to the CM subsystem 108 is muted.
While monitoring the Caller-ID of the incoming call, via
the Incoming Call field illustrated in FIG. 3 for example, and
listening to the corresponding streaming message, the called
party is presented with one or more of the following options
(see FIG. 3 which depicts an example Client application
popup dialog menu):
1. do nothing.
2. pickup (answer) the call to talk to the caller using a
software telephone running on the "home PC" (the computer
terminal110).
3. pickup (answer) the call to talk to the caller using the
"home phone" on the phone line used to connect to the Internet (the user telephone station 112).
4. pickup (answer) the call to talk to the caller after transferring the call to an alternate phone or to an alternate PC.
5. continue screening the call after transferring it to an
alternate phone or to an alternate PC.
6. terminate the call substantially immediately-with a do
not disturb message.
7. do not answer the call.
The called party may choose to ignore the incoming call.
For example, the call may not have been urgent enough to
interrupt what they are doing or the call may have been
intended for another member of the household. Under option
(1 ), the called party can close the call handling options dialog
box illustrated in FIG. 3 using the "CLOSE" option, thereby
informing the lAM system 124 that no further instructions for
caller interaction will be forthcoming. Alternatively, the
called party, having screened the Caller-ID of the incoming
call and/or the associated caller's message, can simply continue doing what they were doing before the call arrived. After
the caller has left a complete message, as indicated by the
caller terminating the call or after a predetermined recording
time period, the lAM system 124 downloads the recorded
message to the subscriber's computer terminal 110 and
updates the Client application's call log, which lists the calls
handled by the lAM system 124 for the called party. The
message is archived in the MS subsystem 138 and is also
available locally on the computer terminal11 0 for playback at
the called party's convenience.
Under option (2), the called party may decide to pickup the
call in progress to talk to the calling party using the computer
terminal110. Having screened the call, the called party can
signal the lAM system 124 to indicate a desire to talk to the
calling party using VoiP. For example, the called party can
activate the "HOME PC (VoiP)" option displayed in FIG. 3.
After the called party has selected option (2), the Client
application 116 sends an instruction by way of an Internetbased client/server control message to the lAM system 124.
Upon receiving the instruction, the lAM system 124 interrupts the recording and streaming process and plays a canned
audio prompt to the calling party. The audio prompt can be,
for example, "please hold while your call is being connected,"
followed by audible ringing. The lAM system 124 then

bridges, in full duplex mode, the inbound call from the calling
party to the CM subsystem 108 with the outbound VoiP call
from the CM subsystem 108 to the called party computer 110.
The lAM system 124 will stay bridged between the calling
party and called party for the duration of the call and may
respond to internal events or called party actions. For
example, the lAM system 124 can selectively interrupt the
bridged call if a time limit is exceeded and play an announcement to notifY the calling party and/or the called party that the
call will be terminated shortly. The lAM system 124 can also
initiate or transmit a warning message directly to the Client
application 116 that then displays a visual notice regarding
call termination or the like on the called party's computer
terminal110.
FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate an example call process workflow
that can be used when a called party is online and can answer
screened calls via a VoiP session. In this example, after
screening the call, the called party agrees to talk directly to the
caller. Of course, after screening the call the called party
could have elected to decline the call. With reference to FIGS.
4A-4B, at state 401, the calling party phone 102 (hereinafter,
referred to as the "calling party") calls the called party phone
line 114 connected to the telephone 112 and computer 110. In
this example, the computer 110 is using the phone line 114 to
access the Internet; i.e. the computer is online and hence the
phone line is busy.
At state 402, the PSTN 104 detects that the called party
phone line 114 is busy. At state 403, in accordance with a call
forwarding service, the PSTN 104 forwards the call on busy
to the lAM system 124 via the voice trunk circuits 118. At
state 404, the lAM system 124 transmits an incoming call
alert to the computer 110 that is displayed to the called party
by the Client application 116. At the same time or shortly
thereafter, at state 405 the lAM system 124 answers the
forwarded incoming call. At state 406, the PSTN 104 establishes a full duplex, 2-way talk path with the calling party. At
state 407, the lAM system 124 plays a greeting to the calling
party. At state 408, the calling party optionally begins leaving
a voice message that is recorded by the lAM system 124.
Alternatively, similar to a telephone answering machine, the
calling party can begin speaking to the called party even while
the lAM system 124 is playing the greeting. At state 409 the
lAM system 124 begins streaming the message being left by
the calling party in substantially real-time to the Client application 116 or other media player executing on the computer
110, that then plays the message to the called party.
At state 410 of FIGS. 4A-4B, the lAM system 124 generates a tone or other audio signal to indicate to the calling party
that the calling party should begin recording a message. At
state 411, the calling party begins leaving a voice message. At
state 412, the lAM system 124 begins streaming the message
being left by the calling party in substantially real-time to the
Client application 116 or other media player executing on the
computer 110, which plays the message to the called party.
At state 413, the called party notifies the lAM system 124
that the called party wants to take the call. At state 414, the
lAM system 124 interrupts the calling party, via a tone or
voice notification. At state 415, the lAM system 124 requests
that the calling party hold or wait while the lAM system 124
connects the calling party to the called party.At state 416, the
lAM system 124 bridges the calling party with the called
party computer 110, via the VoiP software module 130, by
establishing a VoiP session. This entails bridging the two calls
together through the lAM system so that the caller and the
called party can converse (state 417):
the inbound call from the calling party 102 connected into
the CM subsystem 108 through the PSTN 104; is bridged with

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the outbound call from the CM subsystem 108 connected
Conditions:
through the Router subsystem 140 and the Internet 106 to the
Time-of-Day (can include a range of times), Day of Week
(can include a range of days), Day of Year (holiday)
VoiP session running on the subscriber's computer terminal
110.
Calling Party Number (Caller ID, non-local area code,
Either party can terminate the call at state 418 by hanging 5 phone type, caller name)
up their telephone (calling party station set 102, or the called
Called Party Number
party can terminate the VoiP session on the computer terminal
Subscriber presence (IP device)
110). At state 419, the lAM system 124 releases the bridging
Telephony presence (phone)
resources and signals completion of the call by sending a
Treatments:
corresponding control message to the called party which is 10
Take a voice message (using selective greeting(s))
either displayed or played to the called party via the Client
Take the call on home PC
application 116.
Take the call on home phone
In another embodiment, the SM subsystem 122 detects the
Take the call on work phone
presence of the called party on different IP devices, such as
Take the call on another phone
other computers or web-enabled cellular phones, at other 15
Remote screen on another phone( s) or other device( s)
locations. For example, the session manager SM subsystem
Block call (for example, using an audio message, a SIT
tone or the like)
122 optionally interfaces with other instant messaging serDo not answer call
vices, such as:
AOL®'s Instant Messenger™,
Multiparty conference
MSN®'s Instant Messenger™,
By way of example, a subscriber can specifY that if a call
20
from a specified calling party number is received at a speciYahoo!® Messenger,
fied time of day (8:00-5:00), during the work week (MondayICQ
Friday), the call should be forwarded to a specified phone,
where presence of the called party can be detected on other
IP networks and at other geographic locations. The same
which can be the subscriber's work phone. By way of another
call/session dialog described above is similarly performed in 25 example, a subscriber can specifY that if a call to a specified
this embodiment.
phone number associated with the subscriber is received, on a
Under option (3), the called party may decide to pickup the
holiday, remote screening should be performed using a different one of the subscriber's phone numbers.
call in progress to talk to the calling party via a POTS teleIf the call treatment specifies that the caller is to be conphone, such as the telephone terminal112. Having screened
the call, the called party can signal the lAM system 124 to 30 nected to the subscriber using a given device, the subscriber
indicate a desire to talk to the calling party. If the called party
can optionally still be provided with the ability to manually
specifY further call treatment, such as similarly described
activates, by way of example, the "TALK @ HOME" key
illustrated in FIG. 3 with the Home Phone radio button
above. For example, the called party can be presented with
depressed, the Client application 116 sends an instruction to
one or more of the following options: take a voice message
the lAM system 124 and then substantially immediately ter- 35 (using selective greeting(s)); take the call on home PC; take
minates the called party's dial-up Internet session in order to
the call on home phone; take the call on office phone; take the
make available the called party's phone line 114. Upon
call on another phone; remote screen on another phone( s) or
receiving the instruction from the Client application 116, the
other device(s); block call; do not answer call. Depending on
the device the subscriber is currently using, the options can be
lAM system 124 interrupts the recording and streaming process and plays a canned voice prompt, such as "please hold 40 provided via a visual menu, a voice menu, or the like.
while your call is being connected," followed by audible
FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate an example call process workflow
ringing. The lAM system 124 then proceeds to originate a
that can be used when a called party requests to interrupt the
new call on a free outbound voice trunk 118 from the lAM
caller message and to talk to the caller using the home telesystem 124 to the called party's phone line 114. The call from
phone. With reference to FIGS. 5A-5B, at state 501, the
the lAM system 124 to the called party can be a local, intra- 45 calling party calls the called party phone line 114 connected
state, inter-state, or International PSTN call, as needed.
to the telephone 112 and computer 110. In this example, the
Optionally, the call originated by the lAM system 124 is to be
computer 110 is using the phone line 114 to access the Interjurisdictionally interstate so as to be rated and billed or
net or other computer network, and so is online. At state 502,
charged as an interstate call. For example, in one embodithe PSTN 104 detects that the called party phone line 114 is
ment, a six digit Information Element in the SS7 call setup 50 busy. At state 503, in accordance with a call forwarding sermessage may be configured with the geographic area code
vice, the PSTN 104 forwards the call on busy to the lAM
system 124 via the voice trunk circuits 118. At state 504, the
and prefix of the Call Processing lAM System 124 so as to
cause the rating of the outgoing call to be Inter-state rather
lAM system 124 transmits an incoming call alert to the comthan Intrastate.
puter 110 that is displayed to the called party by the Client
When the called party's phone line 114 is answered a brief 55 application 116. At the same time or shortly thereafter, at state
announcement is played to the called party and the lAM
505 the lAM system 124 answers the forwarded incoming
system 124 then bridges, in full duplex mode, the inbound call
call. At state 506, the PSTN 104 establishes a full duplex,
between the calling party and lAM system 124 with the
2-way talk path with the calling party. At state 507, the lAM
system 124 plays a greeting to the calling party. At state 508,
outbound call between the lAM system 124 and called party's
60 the calling party optionally begins leaving a voice message
line 114.
In addition, the user can specifY call handling rules that
that is recorded by the lAM system 124. Once again, the
determine, at least in part, the call treatment for an incoming
calling party can begin speaking to the called party even while
call based on one or more conditions. A rule can specify, for
the lAM system 124 is playing the greeting. At state 509 the
example, that if one or more conditions are met for a call, the
lAM system 124 begins streaming the message being left by
call will be processing in accordance with a corresponding 65 the calling party in substantially real-time to the Client applispecified treatment. For example, the following conditions
cation 116 or other media player executing on the computer
110, that then plays the message to the called party.
and automatic treatments can be defined:

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At state 510 of FIGS. 4A-4B, the lAM system 124 generates a tone or audible signal to indicate to the calling party that
the calling party should begin recording a message. At state
511, the calling party begins leaving a voice message. At state
512, the lAM system 124 begins streaming the message being
left by the calling party in substantially real-time to the Client
application 116 or other media player executing on the computer 110, which plays the message to the called party.
At state 513, the called party notifies the lAM system 124
that the called party wants to take the call via the home
telephone 112, and the lAM system 124 instructs the Client
application 116 to terminate the online session of the computer 110 by disconnecting from the Internet 106. At state
514, the lAM system 124 interrupts the calling party, via a
tone or voice prompt. At state 515, the lAM system 124
requests that the calling party hold or wait while the lAM
system 124 connects the calling party to the called party. At
state 516, the Client application 116 terminates the online
session of the computer 110 by disconnecting from the Internet 106 thereby idling the called party's telephone line 114.
At state 517, the lAM system 124 initiates a new call to the
called party phone 112. At state 518, the called party answers
the new incoming call from the lAM system 124. At state 519,
the lAM system 124 generates a call announcement to the
called and/or calling party. At state 520, the lAM system 124
bridges the call between the calling party phone 102 and the
called party phone 112. The calling and called parties can now
conduct a normal telephone conversation at state 521. Again,
either party can terminate the call by simply hanging up their
telephone (state 522). At state 523, the lAM system 124 then
releases the bridging resources and terminates the remaining
call by optionally notifYing the calling/called party that the
other party has hung up and then disconnecting the call.
Under option (4), the called party may decide to pickup the
call in progress to talk to the calling party using a communications device other than the telephone terminal 112 or the
computer 110. Having screened the call, the called party
signals the lAM system 124 by, for example; activating the
"TALK REMOTELY" button option illustrated in FIG. 3, to
indicate a desire to talk to the calling party. As similarly
discussed above with respect to option (3), based on the called
party selecting option (4 ), the Client application 116 sends a
corresponding instruction to the lAM system 124 along with
a specification of the desired destination station phone number. The destination number specification can be an index into
the subscriber's electronic phone book or may literally be the
desired destination phone number. For example, the called
party can select via the "Would you like to TALK to this
caller" option that the called party wants to talk to the calling
party using the called party's cell phone, office phone, other
phone, or at a phone associated with a phone number entered
by the called party in the "ENTER PHONE#" field.
Upon receiving the instruction from the Client application
116, the lAM system 124 interrupts the recording and streaming process and plays a voice prompt to the caller. The lAM
system 124 then proceeds to originate a new call on a free
outbound voice trunk circuit 118. In contrast to option (3)
described above, the Client application 116 does not terminate the online Internet session of the subscriber's computer
terminal110. In fact, the Client application 116 may continue
online call monitoring operation while the above described
transferred call is in progress. Multiple subsequent inbound
calls could be simultaneously handled in this manner.
By way of example and not limitation, the destination
station of the outbound call from the lAM system 124 can
include:
a wireless or cellular phone or device;

a called party's phone line and/or extension at work;
another POTS line of the called party (e.g. a second home
phone number); or
a neighbor's or friend's phone line.
In addition, the called party can optionally specify the
destination station by manually entering a phone number
while the call is being screened. This new entry could be
automatically journaled in an electric phone book available to
the Client application 116 or an extension to the options menu
could popup to query the subscriber to determine if this is
desired. Alternatively, the called party selecting an existing
entry from the phone book can optionally dynamically assign
the destination station. The phone book entries can be persistently stored locally on the computer terminal110, in a centralized medium like the lAM DB subsystem 136, or in both.
Under option (5), the called party may decide to allow the
call in progress to be remotely screened using a communications device other than the telephone terminal 112 or the
computer 110. This can optionally be in addition to continued
screening of this call on the subscriber's computer 110 or
instead of continued screening of this call on the subscriber's
computer 110. The called party signals the lAM system 124,
using the "SCREEN REMOTELY" option illustrated in FIG.
3, to indicate a desire to remotely screen the incoming call.
Once again, as similarly discussed with respect to options (3)
and (4) above, based on the called party selecting option ( 5),
the Client application 116 sends a corresponding instruction
to the lAM system 124 along with a specification of the
desired destination phone number. The destination number
selection and specification is identical to that utilized in
option (4) above, however the Screen Remotely options are
used, rather than the Talk Remotely options. For example, the
called party can select via the "Would you like to SCREEN to
this caller" option that the called party wants to screen the
calling party using the called party's cell phone, office phone,
other phone, or at a phone associated with a phone number
entered by the called party in the "ENTER PHONE#" field.
Upon receipt of this instruction, the lAM system 124 initiates an outbound call from the CM subsystem to the specified destination phone number. The call setup signaling information for this outbound call is modified by the lAM system
124 to deliver the calling party number from the inbound call
in the outbound call's ANI field. This allows the forwarded
destination station to display the "original Caller-ID" to use
as a first level filter for remotely screening the call. Should the
remote called party decide to ignore this call, they simply do
not answer it and the lAM system 124 will abort the transferred call attempt after a progrmable time interval or a
programmable number of ring cycles.
If the remote called party answers the transferred call, the
lAM system 124 plays a brief greeting prompt to the remote
party to announce the remote screening call in progress. The
caller message streaming can start at the beginning of the
recording or cut over to live recording in real time. The output
talk path from the remote party back to the lAM system 124
is active but is muted with respect to the original calling party
call. This allows the remote party to monitor the inbound call
without the original calling party knowing that they are doing
so. If the remote party decides to pickup the call in progress to
talk to the calling party, they instruct the lAM system 124 to
bridge the two calls together by depressing a DTMF key or by
uttering a voice command. Upon receiving this instruction,
the lAM system 124 interrupts the recording and streaming
process and plays a canned audio prompt to the calling party.
Once again, the audio prompt can be, for example, "please
hold while your call is being connected," followed by audible
ringing. The lAM system 124 then bridges, in full duplex

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mode, the inbound call from the calling party to the CM
subsystem 108 with the outbound call from the CM subsystem 108 to the remote called party station.
Once again, the lAM system 124 will stay bridged between
the calling party and remote called party for the duration of
the call and may respond to internal events or called party
actions. For example, the lAM system 124 can selectively
interrupt the bridged call if a time limit is exceeded and play
an announcement to notifY the calling party and/or the remote
called party that the call will be terminated shortly. The lAM
system 124 can also transmit a warning message (such as a
short text message) over the Internet 106 to the remote station
set that then displays a visual notice regarding call termination or the like.
Under option (6), the called party may decide to not accept
calls from the calling party. Having screened the call, the
called party can signal the lAM system 124 to abort the
caller's message recording and to communicate the request to
not be called in the future. For example, the called party can
activate the "BLOCK CALL" option illustrated in FIG. 3. The
called party can either select a do not answer option or a "Tell
them to TAKE ME OFF their list" option. As in the cases
above, based on a user action the Client application 116 sends
a corresponding instruction to the lAM system 124. Upon
receiving the "Tell them to TAKE ME OFF their list" instruction from the Client application 116, the lAM system 124
interrupts the recording and streaming process, plays a voice
prompt to the caller, such as: "The person you have called
does not accept solicitations, please remove this phone number from your calling list. Thank you and goodbye." The lAM
system 124 then disconnects the call. The options dialog box
could pop an additional query to determine if the subscriber
would like the lAM system 124 to always apply this treatment
to future calls from this Calling phone number. This automatic call handling rule would be stored in a table of subscriber preference settings local to the lAM system 124 (for
example in a simple extension table of the subscriber's phone
book). If directed to do so, the lAM system 124 would automatically screen-out future calls from this caller and not
"bother" the subscriber with needing to handle them.
Option (7) is a variant of option (6). The called party can
monitor the Caller-ID of the incoming call and decide to not
accept calls from this calling party. The lAM system 124
could be optionally configured to delay answering the incoming call for a fixed time interval or for a specific number of
ring cycles in order to allow the subscriber time to review the
Caller-ID. If the Client application 116 instructs the lAM
system 124 to block the call in this manner before the incoming call has been answered, the lAM system 124 will ignore
the call (i.e. let it ring). If the Client application 116 instruction comes after the incoming call has been answered, the
lAM system 124 will apply the call treatment described above
for option (6). Alternatively, the lAM system 124 could be
configured to instead default to a standard Internet answering
call when the Client application 116 instruction comes after
the incoming call has already been answered. Once again, the
options dialog box could pop an additional query to determine if the subscriber would like the lAM system 124 to
always apply this treatment to future calls from this Calling
phone number. Again, these automatic call handling rules
would be stored in the lAM system 124 and, when directed to
do so, the lAM system 124 would automatically screen-out
future calls from this caller and not "bother" the subscriber
with needing to handle them.
The above scenarios describe situations in which the called
party's computer 110 is on-line and serves as the initial lAM
call screening device. Alternatively, the lAM system 124

could be configured to automatically forward the call notification announcement and streamed caller message to an alternate device such as a POTS or wireless telephone or another
online IP device. This alternative call screening device selection could be configured to vary based on the availability of
the online presence of the called party's computer 110 or
alternate IP devices, on the Caller-ID of the calling party 102,
on the dialed number for the Called party 112, on the reason
that the call was directed to the lAM system 124 (for example,
call forwarding on busy, ring-no-answer, or do-not-disturb
conditions), on time of day, day of week, etc. Configuration
rules governing the automatic call handling treatment can be
stored in the lAM DB subsystem 136.
The following process describes a typical lAM call screening scenario when the called party's computer 110 is offline.
When the called number forwards on busy, ring-no-answer, or
do-not-disturb, and arrives on one of the lAM voice trunks
118 along with the signaling information, the CM subsystem
queries the SM subsystem 122 and/or the lAM DB subsystem
136 using the incoming call's OCN (the original called party
number) to determine that the call is for a registered subscriber, to determine the subscriber's online/offline presence
status, and to retrieve that subscriber's call handling preference rules. Assuming that the subscriber has previously configured the account to handle diverted offline calls, the lAM
system carries out the specified call handling treatment. This
could be simply to answer the call and take a message. Alternatively, it could include one of the seven call management
options previously described. For example, the subscriber
may have specified that automatic remote call screening on
their cell phone was desired when their home computer 110
was not online. In this case, the CM subsystem 108 originates
another call to the destination device, based on the previously
described configuration rules. Additionally, the CM subsystem 108 may optionally delay answering the incoming
calling party's call for a predetermined amount of time or
number of rings. This gives the called party additional time to
answer the call originated from the CM subsystem 108.
Normally, when the lAM system 124 originates a call, the
calling party ID passed in the SS7 and/or ISDN-PRI trunk
signaling is the calling party ID of the trunks originating the
call. In one embodiment, the CM subsystem 108 modifies the
network signaling to replace the calling party ID of the trunks
to be that of the phone number of the original calling party.
Thus, a Caller-ID device will advantageously display the
phone number of the original calling party. The call is processed in an analogous above described fashion for handling
a remote screening call forwarded by the subscriber from the
online computer 110 to a wireless station. If the called party
answers the call, the lAM system 124 plays a brief announcement of the call to the subscriber and the inbound call is
answered by the lAM system 124 (if not already answered
due to timeout reasons). For example, the CM subsystem 108
might announce the call as "This is an Internet Answering
Machine call for John Doe". The lAM system 124 then
bridges the inbound calling party call with the outbound
called party call. The lAM system 124 optionally mutes the
return talk path to prevent sound traveling back to the calling
party so that the calling party is unaware that their call is being
screened. Preferably, though not required, the called party is
bridged onto the call as the called party is either listening to a
personal/system greeting or, as the calling party is beginning
to leave a message for the called party. In this manner, the
called party can further screen the call.
Once the called party begins to screen the call, the called
party may decide not to connect to the calling party. The
called party, having screened the caller who is in the process

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of leaving a message, can hang up, thereby terminating the
bridged call without the calling party being aware that the
screening process took place. The calling party can continue
to leave a message for the called party after the bridged call is
terminated. Alternatively, the called party may decide to
pickup the incoming call to talk to the calling party. Having
screened the calling party, the called party can signal the CM
subsystem 108, by entering a touch-tone signal or providing
a voice command, to indicate a desire to talk to the calling
party. The lAM system 124 will then bridge in full duplex
mode the call between the calling party and CM subsystem
108 with the call between the CM subsystem 108 and called
party.
The lAM system 124 will stay bridged between the calling
party and called party. The lAM system 124 can selectively
interrupt the bridged call if a predetermined time limit is
reached and play an announcement to the calling and/or the
called party that the call will be terminated shortly. Optionally, this announcement will only be played to the called
party. In another case, the lAM system 124 can selectively
interrupt the bridged calls to announce to the called party that
the call will be terminating unless the called party authorizes
billing by entering a touch-tone command or by providing a
verbal authorization to charge the called party's telephone
number or a credit card.
In another embodiment, an external bridging system (hardware and/or software), including a connecting switch, is used
to bridge calls. The CM subsystem 108 can instruct the connecting switch located within the PSTN 104 equipped with
the call bridging system to create a 3-party conference call
between the calling party, the called party, and the lAM
system. This process advantageously reduces the number of
voice ports needed on the lAM system 124. In this scenario,
the called party can optionally signal the switch with touchtone or voice commands to cause the lAM system 124 to
connect back into the bridged call.
The example embodiments described above referred to
calls forwarded from a called party's line. Another embodiment uses a personal number uniquely assigned to each subscriber by which calls to that number can be screened. The
personal number can be, for example a telephone number that
has been acquired through governmental telephone number
administration bodies, provisioned in the PSTN network,
assigned to the lAM system 124 and registered to an individual subscriber.
The personal number call screening process will now be
described. A calling party 102 at a phone dials a phone numberpublished by a subscriber to the lAM system 124. The call
routes through the PSTN 104 and terminates on the lAM
voice trunk 118 along with its associated call signaling information. Thus, for example, rather than using an existing wireless or POTs phone number, a subscriber can publish a private
phone number, wherein all calls to the private phone number
undergo an automatic screening process, as previously
described. This technique enables the subscriber to better
manage their incoming call costs.
Using the called party personal phone number or normal
phone number as a search key or index, the lAM system 124
extracts or retrieves call treatment actions and conditions
stored in association with the called party personal number or
normal phone number. The call treatment conditions and
actions can include some or all of those described above. For
example, the conditions can include one or more of:
Time-of-Day (can include a range of times), Day of Week
(can include a range of days), Day of Year (holiday)
Calling Party Number (Caller ID, non-local area code,
phone type, caller name)

Called Party Number
Subscriber presence (IP device)
Telephony presence (phone)
The call treatments can include one or more of:
Take a voice message (using selective greeting(s))
Take the call on computer
Take the call on POTS phone (specify home, work, other
POTS phone)
Take the call on a wireless phone
Remote screen on another phone( s) or other device( s)
Block call (for example, using an audio message, a SIT
tone or the like)
Do not answer call
Multiparty conference
The following is a more detailed description of example
call treatment actions that can be executed or orchestrated by
the lAM system 124:
Do not answer action: the incoming calling party phone
number is screened against a list of phone numbers or subscriber-specified other criteria (such as no caller id available),
wherein if the calling phone number matches the listed phone
numbers and/or the other criteria, the incoming call is not
answered;
Take call on computer (online/offline status action): if the
called party is online when a call is received, initiate a VoiP
session with the Client application 116 running on the subscriber's IP device 110 and screen the call as described above;
Take the call on POTS phone action: originate a call to a
specified POTS line and bridge the POTS call with remote
screening as described above;
Take the call on POTS phone action: originate a call to a
wireless phone action and bridge the wireless call with
remote screening as described above; or
multi-party conference action: in which the call screening
session described above is broadcast to multiple phones and
IP Clients substantially at the same time.
In one embodiment, the multi-party conference action can
include the following states. A first call processing apparatus,
such as the lAM system 124, receives a call from a first user
for a second user. A voice communication from the first user
is received at the first call processing apparatus. At least a
portion of the voice communication is multicasted to a plurality of client devices, which can include for example POTs,
wireless, cellular and/or VoiP phone devices, at substantially
the same time so that the first user's call can be screened. An
instruction is received via a first of the plurality of client
devices to connect the first user to a first of the plurality of
client devices. The second user is then bridged to the first of
the plurality of client devices.
In another embodiment, the multi-party conference action
can include the following states. A first call processing apparatus, such as the lAM system 124, receives a call from a first
user for a second user. A call alert is then multicasted to a
plurality of client devices, which can include for example
POTs, wireless, cellular and/or VoiP phone devices, at substantially the same time so that the first user's call can be
screened. In addition, a voice communication received from
the first user can be multicasted to the plurality of client
devices at substantially the same time. The call alert can
include at least a portion of Caller ID information associated
with the first call. An instruction can then be received via a
first of the plurality of client devices to connect the first user
to a first of the plurality of client devices. The second user's
call is then bridged to the first of the plurality of client devices.
Thus, as described above, embodiments of the present
invention provide flexible, user definable call screening processes that can advantageously optionally be used even when

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the user is online. Further embodiments advantageously
enable the user to define to which telecommunication terminals the screened call is to be broadcast to and under what
conditions.
It should be understood that certain variations and modifications of this invention would suggest themselves to one of
ordinary skill in the art. The scope of the present invention is
not to be limited by the illustrations or the foregoing descriptions thereof.

recording speech from the caller and transm1ttmg the
speech in substantially real time to the destination and/or
over the Internet to the networked computer to be played
by the networked computer to the called party; and
receiving an instruction from the called party via the networked computer or a destination phone associated with
the called party, and at least partly in response to the
received instruction, causing the first call to be connected to one of a plurality of potential terminal destinations;
wherein the act of causing the first call to be connected to
one of a plurality of potential terminal destinations further comprises:
placing an outcall from the call processing system to at
least one destination, wherein the at least one destination
is a phone;
bridging the first call and the outcall; and
transmitting status information related to the bridged first
call and outcall to the terminal.
7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the called
party communicates with the caller using Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoiP).
8. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the act of
causing the first call to be connected to one of a plurality of
potential terminal destinations includes placing an outcall
from the call processing system and bridging the first call and
the outcall.
9. The method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:
placing an outcall from the call processing system to at
least one destination;
bridging the first call and the outcall; and
automatically interrupting the bridged first call and outcall
after a first time period.
10. A method of processing calls, comprising: receiving
over a network at a first system a first call from a caller
intended for a called party, wherein the first call includes
signaling information having a phone number of the caller;
placing a second call from the first system over the network
to a first terminal associated with the called party, the
second call including signaling information having at
least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller
so that the called party can determine the identity of the
caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
receiving an instruction from the called party to forward
the caller to a second terminal; and
at least partly in response to the instruction, placing a third
call from the first system over the switched network to
the second terminal.
11. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising
causing the first call and the third call to be bridged.
12. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the called
party communicates with the caller using Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoiP).
13. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the second
terminal is a cellular phone.
14. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising
transmitting status information regarding first call and outcall
to the first terminal.
15. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the first
terminal is a computer.
16. A method of processing calls, comprising:
receiving over a network at a call processing system a first
call from a caller intended for a called party;
placing a second call from the call processing system over
the network to a terminal associated with the called
party, the second call including signaling information
having at least a selected portion of the phone number of

What is claimed is:
1. A method of providing a called party the ability to screen
calls, the method comprising:
receiving at a call processing system a first call from a
caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call
includes signaling information having a phone number
of the caller;
opening a communication cham1el over the Internet with a
networked computer associated with the called party;
transmitting, while the first call is in progress, a call alert
message, including at least a portion of the signaling
information, to a terminal associated with the called
party;
recording speech from the caller and transmitting the
speech to the terminal in substantially real time, wherein
the speech is intended to be played to the called party via
the terminal;
receiving a connection instruction via the terminal, and
causing the caller to be connected to at least one of a
plurality of potential destinations associated with the
called party;
placing an outcall from the call processing system to at
least one destination, wherein the at least one destination
is a phone;
bridging the first call and the outcall; and
transmitting status information related to the bridged first
call and outcall to the terminal.
2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the called
party communicates with the caller using Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoiP).
3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of
causing the caller to be connected to at least one of a plurality
of potential destinations includes placing an outcall from the
call processing system and bridging the first call and the
outcall.
4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
placing an outcall from the call processing system to at
least one destination;
bridging the first call and the outcall; and
automatically interrupting the bridged first call and outcall
after a first time period.
5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the terminal
is a computer.
6. A method of providing call screening, the method comprising:
receiving at a call processing system a first call from a
caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call
includes signaling information having a phone number
of the caller;
transmitting over the Internet to a networked computer
associated with the called party in substantially real time
at least a portion of the signaling information included in
the first call for display to the called party;
placing a second call from the call processing system to a
destination associated with the called party, the second
call including signaling information having at least a
selected portion of the phone number of the caller;

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the caller so that the called party can determine the
identity of the caller of the first call and thereby screen
the caller;
receiving an instruction from the called party to forward
the caller to a second terminal; and
placing a third call from the call processing system over the
switched network to the second terminal.
17. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising
causing the first call and the third call to be bridged.
18. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the called
party communicates with the caller using Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoiP).
19. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the second
terminal is a cellular phone.
20. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising
transmitting status information regarding first call to the first
terminal.
21. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the first
terminal is a computer.
22. A method of processing calls via a wireless phone,
comprising:
receiving over a network at a call processing system a first
call from a caller intended for a called party;
answering the first call from the caller at the call processing
system;
playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
placing an outcall from the call processing system to a
wireless phone associated with the called party,
wherein the outcall is performed at least in part over a
wireless communications network;
streaming the voice message to the wireless phone via the
outcall in substantially real time;
the call processing system automatically muting a return
talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the
called party wireless phone to the caller to thereby allow
the called party to perform call screening via the wireless phone while the caller is unaware that their call is
being screened;
receiving a call acceptance instruction; and
enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least
partly in response to receiving the call acceptance
instruction, wherein the called party is speaking into the
wireless phone.
23. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising
enabling the caller to converse with the called party in duplex
mode at least partly in response to receiving the call acceptance instruction.
24. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the call
acceptance instruction is from the wireless phone.
25. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the call
acceptance instruction is from a personal computer associated with the called party.
26. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising
enabling the called party to provide a call transfer instruction
via the wireless phone while performing call screening.
27. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising
enabling the called party to instruct the call processing system
to play a call termination voice message to the caller and to
terminate the first call.
28. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising
bridging the outcall and the caller call.
29. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the wireless phone is a cellular phone.

30. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the call
processing system is serviced by a different local exchange
then the caller communication device and the wireless phone
of the called party.
31. A method of processing calls via a wireless phone,
comprising:
receiving over a network at a processing system a first call
from a calling party intended for a called party;
providing a greeting to the calling party via the processing
system;
receiving a voice communication from the calling party at
the processing system;
streaming at least a first portion of the voice communication via the processing system to a wireless phone associated with the called party in substantially real time
while automatically ensuring that sound does not travel
back to the calling party from the wireless phone to
thereby allow the called party to screen the call via the
wireless phone while the calling party is unaware that
their call is being screened;
providing a first control via the wireless phone that, when
selected by the called party, causes duplex communication to be provided so that the called party can converse
with the calling party; and
providing a second control via the wireless phone that,
when selected by the called party, causes at least a second portion of the voice communication to be streamed
to another communication device in substantially real
time.
32. The method as defined in claim 31, further comprising
enabling the calling party to converse with the called party in
duplex mode.
33. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the communication device is another wireless phone.
34. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the communication device is a home phone or a work phone.
35. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the communication device is a computer.
36. The method as defined in claim 31, further comprising
placing an outcall from the processing system to the wireless
phone and bridging the first call with the outcall.
3 7. The method as defined in claim 31, further comprising:
placing an outcall from the processing system to the wireless phone and bridging the first call with the outcall; and
based on a first call time limit, providing a voice notification to the called party that a call termination will be
performed.
38. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the called
party selects the first control by selecting a wireless phone
key.
39. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the called
party selects the first control by a voice command.
40. The method as defined in claim 31, further comprising
providing the called party with a third control, which when
selected by the called party,
causes a call termination voice message to be played to the
calling party, and
causes the first call to be terminated.
41. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein the wireless phone is a cellular phone.
42. A method of processing calls, comprising:
receiving over a communications network at a processing
system a first call from a calling party intended for a
called party;
providing a greeting to the calling party;
receiving a voice communication from the calling party;

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transmitting in substantially real time from the processing
system at least a first portion of the voice communication
to a telephone associated with the called party to allow
the called party to screen the call via the telephone while
preventing the calling party from hearing sounds
received via the called party telephone;
receiving via the telephone a first command to continue
transmitting the voice communication to a second communication device; and
at least partly in response to the first command, transmitting in substantially real time at least a second portion of
the voice communication from the calling party to the
second communication device.
43. The method as defined in claim 42, further muting a
communication path between the telephone and a calling
party communication device.
44. The method as defined in claim 42, further comprising
enabling the calling party to converse with the called party in
duplex mode.
45. The method as defined in claim 42, where the telephone
is a cellular telephone.
46. The method as defined in claim 42, where the second
communication device is a home telephone or a work telephone.
47. The method as defined in claim 42, where the second
communication device is a computer.
48. The method as defined in claim 42, where the second
communication device is a voice over Internet protocol terminal.
49. The method as defined in claim 42, where the second
communication device hosts a communication application
client.
50. The method as defined in claim 42, further comprising,
based at least in part on a first time limit, providing a voice
notification to the called party that a call termination will be
performed.
51. The method as defined in claim 42, wherein the called
party provides the first command by selecting a telephone key
or by providing a voice command.
52. The method as defined in claim 42, further comprising
providing the called party with a call termination user interface, which when activated by the called party,
causes a call termination voice message to be played to the
calling party, and
causes the first call to be terminated.
53. The method as defined in claim 42, wherein the communications network includes a switched circuit network.
54. The method as defined in claim 42, wherein the communications network includes a packet switched network.
55. The method as defined in claim 42, wherein the first call
is forwarded to the processing system.
56. A method of processing calls via a wireless phone,
comprising:
receiving over a network at a call processing system a first
call from a caller intended for a called party;
answering the first call from the caller at the call processing
system;
playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
streaming the voice message over the Internet to a terminal
associated with the called party;
the call processing system automatically muting a return
talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the
called party's terminal to the caller to thereby allow the

called party to perform call screening via the terminal
while the caller is unaware that their call is being
screened;
receiving a call acceptance instruction; and
enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least
partly in response to receiving the call acceptance
instruction, wherein the called party is speaking into a
microphone associated with the terminal.
57. The method as defined in claim 56, further comprising
enabling the caller to converse with the called party in duplex
mode at least partly in response to receiving the call acceptance instruction.
58. The method as defined in claim 56, wherein the call
acceptance instruction is from the terminal.
59. The method as defined in claim 56, wherein the terminal is a personal computer associated with the called party.
60. The method as defined in claim 56, further comprising
enabling the called party to provide a call transfer instruction
while performing call screening.
61. The method as defined in claim 56, further comprising
enabling the called party to instruct the call processing system
to play a call termination voice message to the caller and to
terminate the first call.
62. The method as defined in claim 56, further comprising
bridging the outcall and the caller call.
63. A method of processing calls via a wireless phone,
comprising:
receiving over a network at a call processing system a first
call from a caller intended for a called party;
answering the first call from the caller at the call processing
system;
playing a greeting message to the caller via the call processing system;
receiving a voice message from the caller at the call processing system;
placing an outcall from the call processing system to a
wireless phone or networked computer associated with
the called party,
wherein the outcall is performed at least in part over a
wireless communications network or a data network;
streaming the voice message to the wireless phone or the
networked computer via the outcall in substantially real
time;
the call processing system automatically muting a return
talk path to the caller to prevent sound traveling from the
called party wireless phone or networked computer to
the caller to thereby allow the called party to perform
call screening while the caller is unaware that their call is
being screened;
receiving a call acceptance instruction; and
enabling the caller to hear the called party speak at least
partly in response to receiving the call acceptance
instruction.
64. A method of processing calls, comprising:
receiving over a network at a first system a first call from a
caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call
includes signaling information having a phone number
of the caller;
placing a second call from the first system over the network
to a first terminal associated with the called party, the
second call including signaling information having at
least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller
so that the called party can determine the identity of the
caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
placing a third call from the first system over the network
after the second call to a third terminal associated with
the called party;

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playing a greeting to the calling party; and
streaming at least a first portion of the voice connnunication via the processing system to a networked computer
associated with the called party, the terminal associated
with the second call, and/or the terminal associated with
the third call to thereby allow the called party to screen
the call while automatically ensuring that sound does not
travel back to the calling party from the networked computer or the terminal at least until a first action by the
called party.
65. The method as defined in claim 64, wherein the first
action is the activation of a control on networked computer.
66. The method as defined in claim 64, wherein terminal
associated with the second call is a wireless phone, and the
first action is a key press of a wireless phone key.
67. The method as defined in claim 64, wherein terminal
associated with the second call is a wireless phone, and the
first action is a call acceptance instruction.
68. The method as defined in claim 64, further comprising
enabling the called party to provide a call transfer instruction
while performing call screening.
69. The method as defined in claim 64, further comprising
bridging the first call and the second call.
70. The method as defined in claim 64, further comprising
bridging the first call and the third call.
71. A method of processing calls, comprising:
receiving over a network at a first system a first call from a
caller intended for a called party, wherein the first call
includes signaling information having a phone number
of the caller;
placing a second call from the first system over the network
to a first terminal associated with the called party, the
second call including signaling information having at
least a selected portion of the phone number of the caller

so that the called party can determine the identity of the
caller of the first call and thereby screen the caller;
placing a third call from the first system over the network
after the second call to a second terminal associated with
the called party, the second call;
playing a greeting to the calling party;
streaming at least a first portion of the voice communication via the processing system to a networked computer
associated with the called party, the terminal associated
with the second call, and/or the terminal associated with
the third call to thereby allow the called party to screen
the call via the terminal or network computer while
automatically ensuring that sound does not travel back to
the calling party from the networked computer or the
terminal; and
causing duplex connnunication to be provided so that the
called party can converse with the calling party if the
called party provides an instruction indicating that the
called party wants to speak to the caller.
72. The method as defined in claim 71, wherein the instruction is provided via the networked computer.
73. The method as defined in claim 71, wherein the instruction is provided via a wireless phone.
74. The method as defined in claim 71, wherein the instruction is provide via the terminal associated with the third call.
75. The method as defined in claim 71, further comprising
enabling the called party to provide a call transfer instruction
while performing call screening.
76. The method as defined in claim 71, further comprising
bridging the first call and the second call.
77. The method as defined in claim 71, further comprising
bridging the first call and the third call.

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UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION
PATENT NO.
APPLICATION NO.
DATED
INVENTOR(S)

:
:
:
:

7,636,428 B2
11/374390
December 22, 2009
Brahm et al.

Page 1 of 1

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below:

On the Title Page:

The first or sole Notice should read --

Subjectto any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b)
by 824 days.

Signed and Sealed this
Twenty-first Day of December, 2010

David J. Kappas
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office