Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8144847 | Telephone number assignment method Various example embodiments are described. According to one example, a method may include maintaining a database of a plurality of direct inward dial telephone numbers, including a subset of the direct inward dial telephone numbers which are available for assignment... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8102980 | Revenue management systems and methods with bill and account suppression A revenue management system for telecommunication systems is disclosed. The revenue management system can have multiple integrated modules. The modules can include a revenue generation module, a revenue capture module, a revenue collection module, a revenue intellig... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8073117 | Rating communications and special communities A number of communication entities can be associated to provide one or more special communities. A special rating can be applied to certain communication events of users associated with a special community. Users associated with a special community can be offered va... | 12/06/2011 |
| 7995723 | Methods and systems to connect consumers to information The present invention provides a method and apparatus for specifying and obtaining services through audio commands, resulting in a live conversation between a user and a selected service provider using an audio-transmission medium (the telephone). A service seeker l... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7924992 | Method of ensuring call processing for intelligent user A method of ensuring call processing for an intelligent user, including: upon receiving a call, judging, by a first Service Switching Point (SSP), whether traffic between the first SSP and a Service Control Point (SCP) is abnormal; if the traffic is abnormal, turnin... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7688957 | Information service system, information service method, and information service program There is provided an information service system, an information service method, and an information service program, the information service system comprising an interactive system 31 that implements an interactive control apparatus 3103 for providing i... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7453998 | Methods and systems to connect consumers to information The present invention provides a method and apparatus for specifying and obtaining services through audio commands, resulting in a live conversation between a user and a selected service provider using an audio-transmission medium (the telephone). A service seeker l... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7428497 | Methods and apparatuses for pay-per-call advertising in mobile/wireless applications Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls resulting from advertisements on mobile/wireless media channels. In one embodiment, a method includes: assigning a telephone number to an advertiser, one of the teleph... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7424442 | Method and apparatus to allocate and recycle telephone numbers in a call-tracking system In one embodiment, the invention provides a method. The method includes dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone n... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7406307 | System and method for providing interoperable and on-demand telecommunications service The present invention relates in general to the field of voice and data communications, and in particular, to a novel system for providing interoperable on-demand communications and services across otherwise incompatible narrowband voice and broadband systems. The s... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7403602 | Internet-based message delivery with PSTN billing A global computer network message delivery service is disclosed. A sender enters a short message for delivery to a recipient's telephone. The sender also enters the recipient's telephone number. The sender may also enter the telephone number that he can be reached a... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7403603 | Method of billing in an abbreviated dialing service A telecommunications service translates an abbreviated dialing code into a toll free number, routes the call to an interexchange carrier, and manages the billing associated with the call. A billing system processes the billing such that a subscriber of the abbreviat... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7397909 | System and method for providing segmented applications The invention provides systems and methods in which an incoming call port is looped back at a switch and, under control of a call segment controller, is directed to applications and/or other termination points to provide enhanced calling services. According to a pre... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7366683 | Methods and apparatuses for offline selection of pay-per-call advertisers Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls resulting from advertisements for groups of advertisers. In one embodiment, a method includes: determining a geographic area after receiving a telephone call to a firs... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7359502 | System for providing network information service using CID-type messages A network-based announcement and message delivery service for providing a landline customer with information of interest such as weather, financial market data, time/temperature, sporting event results, etc. The information is provided to the subscriber by way of in... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7359715 | Method and system for detecting a preferred wireless network for a mobile device A method and system for detecting a wireless network includes receiving at a mobile device a signal having data indicative of a location of the mobile device. A determination is made whether the mobile device is within the coverage area of a specified network based ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7359500 | Method for carrying out predetermined actions by a receiving telecom device using an answer prefix A method for carrying out predetermined actions by a telecom receiving device. A predetermined answer string is entered and stored in a memory portion of a receiving telecom device. Incoming calls are checked for appropriateness. Accepted incoming calls are monitore... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7340045 | Method of billing a communication session conducted over a computer network A method of billing a communication session between a user and a value-added service. A request is received from a user for a communication session, such as a circuit-switched call, a computer-network telephony call or a multimedia session, between the user and a va... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7340044 | Method and apparatus for bulletin board messaging in a voice mail system The present invention provides an option to record messages that can be geared to specific audiences, using PIN-restricted access as needed. The present invention provides a method and apparatus way for subscribers to record a number (more than one) of personalized ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7296026 | Method and apparatus for automatically performing an online content distribution campaign A computer implemented method is described. Data is collected about a number of member entities that have online interaction with a group entity. A predefined state is assigned to a selected one of the member entities automatically, in response to applying a predefi... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7280816 | Techniques for monitoring mobile telecommunications for shared accounts The present invention provides techniques for monitoring mobile communications. In one aspect, a method of monitoring mobile telephone usage is provided. The method comprises the step of relaying usage information pertaining to one or more mobile telephones to one o... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7274776 | Methods and systems for routing a call Schemes for routing a call using caller identification are described herein. These schemes are termed “real caller ID” and can be capable of determining the identity of a calling party independent of a telephone number from which the call originated. According t... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7272217 | Telecommunications call time slicing system and method A telecommunications system and method provides a time slicing capability whereby alternate services, such as advertising, can be provided to a party while being kept on hold. Thus, charges associated with portions of the call during which alternate services are pro... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7272406 | System and method for in-transit SMS language translation A system and method for facilitating electronic communication between people who speak different languages. An SMS message including content in a first language is received at a network node. It is then determined whether the content of the SMS message is to be tran... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7269251 | Method and system for billing subscribers in a telecommunication network The invention relates to a method of changing a balance of a subscriber (MS1 . . . MS6) belonging to a subscriber group (G1, G2) of a telecommunication network. The invention comprises forming at least one subscriber group (G1, G | 09/11/2007 |
| 7260536 | Distributed voice and wireless interface modules for exposing messaging/collaboration data to voice and wireless devices In one aspect, a system for providing remote electronic services to a device includes an access module and a voice interface module. The access module is configured to expose messaging/collaboration data stored on a messaging/collaboration server. The voice interfac... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7260195 | Call management service A system and method that enables a telecommunications consumer to define groups to be included in a monthly bill, and then periodically generate a bill in accordance with the consumer's specifications. In one embodiment, the invention includes a plurality of portabl... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7251317 | Methods and systems for making telephone calls Methods and systems are disclosed for making a call. In one embodiment, methods and systems may request the call using a network, initiate a first leg to a caller device based on the request, initiate a second leg to a receiver device based on the request, connect t... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7249110 | Individual authentication method, individual authentication apparatus, accounting method, accounting apparatus The service presentation apparatus includes a member database (310) for storing the information of members registered preliminarily as users, basic authentication means (321) for authenticating official members through an open information communication... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7242759 | System and method for enhanced origination services for toll free telephone calls Enhanced Origination Services (EOS) for Toll Free (TF) telephone calls consists of uploading instructions to the SMS/800 National Database, which instructions are subsequently downloaded by Signal Control Points (SCPs) in the United States for the routing of TF tele... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7239873 | Shared information system in network A terminal A which is an owner of contents transmits a request to share contents downloaded from a contents provider with terminals B and C to an Application Service Provider (ASP). The ASP obtains permission that a license can be shared from the contents provider, ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7233784 | Method for selecting wireless path of portable communication terminal, portable communication terminal and wireless communication system for use thereof A wireless communication system comprises a portable telecommunication terminal and a server unit possessed by the communication service provider for the portable communication terminal. The portable communication terminal has a first communication section performin... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7224781 | Method and system to connect consumers to information The present invention provides a method and apparatus for specifying and obtaining services through audio commands, resulting in a live conversation between a user and a selected service provider using an audio-transmission medium (the telephone). A service seeker l... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7215750 | System and method for providing custom caller-ID messages Systems and methods for providing a message in Caller-ID information are described. In one embodiment of the present invention, an applications server, such as service control point (SCP), substitutes a message for Caller-ID information when a switch serving the cal... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7212615 | Criteria based marketing for telephone directory assistance The current invention is a system for providing telephone directory assistance service in which a telephone user calls to the system and the system will, based on the requested number or type of service, hear a recorded advertisement. The advertisements are selected... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7206502 | Apparatus and method for recording and reproducing digital data An apparatus for recording and reproducing digital data, which is capable of recording digital broadcast data while reproducing previously-recorded digital broadcast data is provided. An apparatus 10 for recording and reproducing digital data, which is capabl... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7200150 | System and method for bypassing data from egress facilities An open architecture platform bypasses data from the facilities of a telecommunications carrier, e.g. an incumbent local exchange carrier, by distinguishing between voice and data traffic, and handling voice and data traffic separately. An SS7 gateway receives and t... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7184749 | System and method for analyzing wireless communication data In general, a system and method for analyzing wireless communication data for determining an optimal wireless communication service plan is disclosed. A transceiver is configured to receive billing information associated with a subscriber of a telecommunications ser... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7181210 | Method and system for international roaming and call bridging Disclosed is an enhanced system and method for bridging calls across telecommunications networks, including an illustrative application of the invention as it relates to international roaming among prepaid wireless subscribers. For instance, whenever wireless subscr... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7180994 | Method and system for operator services automation using an operator services switch A telecommunications system includes a front end automation system, an operator services switch, an automated operator, and an automation data server. The front end automation system interacts with a caller in order to recognize a request of the caller and determine... | 02/20/2007 |
