Did You Know...
...that Robert Adler has the dubious distinction of being the Father of the Couch Potato? Back in 1955 Adler was employed by what was then Zenith Radio Corp., where he was charged to invent something that would allow viewers to turn down the TV volume without leaving their chairs. After a series of flops (such as a wired contraption that people tripped over), Adler hit on the idea of using sound waves. Thus the Remote Control was born...
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7440564 | System and method for privacy management A privacy management system is disclosed for when a calling party has a private telephone number. Privacy screening services allow a subscriber to manage and monitor incoming telephone calls, such that unwanted calls are not terminated to the subscriber. When a call... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7379544 | Comprehensive telephone call screening system A dynamic telephone-call screening system detects indications of the character for incoming calls as a basis to determine acceptance. Calls that are identified and indicated to be undesirable, as from a facsimile machine, may be categorically screened on the basis o... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7359499 | Method and apparatus for eliminating unwanted telephone calls In accordance with the principles of the present invention, unwanted calls may be prevented. In particular, information about a particular destination is stored in a registry at a clearinghouse server located within a network, e.g., the public telephone network. Whe... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7356133 | Method and system for anonymously transmitting messages by means of a telecommunication network Method for anonymously transmitting a message by means of a telecommunication network. A first exchange (2) between the sender (1) and the receiver (4) of said message replaces identifying features (MSISDN) of the sender (1) of the messag... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7352855 | Method and system for providing a privacy management service A method for providing a privacy management service in a telephone system including initiating a telephone call from a subscriber telephone number to a called party telephone number. The initiating is performed by a subscriber. It is determined if the called party t... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7353035 | Method and system for selective display of the origination address and the call-back number of the originator of an electronic message A method and system for selectively displaying an origination address of a mobile message, e.g., an SMS message, includes the steps of: (1) determining that a mobile message includes an origination address that should not be displayed on a recipient device; and (2) ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7295660 | Telemarketer screening A called party may screen for a telemarketing solicitation made by a calling party by receiving a traditional telephony call from the calling party at a messaging service platform and using the messaging service platform to perform telemarketer-screening operations.... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7272219 | Method and system for providing enhanced caller identification information for subscribers that interface via private trunk groups A system and method deliver audible caller identification information when standard Caller ID information is invalid or can not be provided, even when the called party connects to the network by private trunk group facilities. In one disclosed embodiment, a trunk gr... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7260385 | Method of providing caller identification for calls placed over an internet The invention uses the advanced intelligent network to provide caller identification for calls placed over the internet (24). A long distance call placed with an internet carrier results in the originating SSP (14) forwarding the call to an originating... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7233656 | Method and system for identifying telemarketer communications A method and system for identifying telemarketer communications directed to a subscriber of a call screening service is provided. A link monitoring system monitors all inbound and outbound calls of a carrier network collecting data such as calling and called telepho... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7231029 | On-demand call blocking service In a telecommunication system configured to provide a connection between a caller and a callee via a telephone network, wherein the telephone network is configured to connect the caller and the callee, a method for allowing the callee to prevent the caller from esta... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231030 | Passive call blocking method and apparatus A process and apparatus to support passive call blocking, a call block that is performed in a manner that the caller does not recognize as a call block. When passive call blocking is utilized, blocked callers receive a passive response, such as a continuous telephon... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7212620 | System and method for providing an anti-telemarketing feature in a telephony network An anti-telemarketing program uses the calling party identification of an incoming call to determine if the call is a telemarketing call by accessing a telemarketing database. The incoming call can be identified as a telemarketing call by direct correlation with a k... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7194076 | Apparatus and method for network-initiated real-time multi-party communications A method for providing telecommunications services in a telecommunications network. A telecommunications service provider monitors data relating to communications initiation or termination criteria for at least two communicants in the telecommunications network and ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7162019 | System and method for privacy screening A communications network-based system and service is disclosed. The service permits subscribers to control and manage incoming telephone calls. Subscribers can establish preferences for how calls will be handled by a communications network if the calls are received ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7139374 | System and method for gathering information related to a geographical location of a callee in a public switched telephone network In a telecommunication system having at least two communicants (i.e., a caller and a callee), a system and method are presented for collecting information associated with the geographical location of either of the communicants. In one embodiment, the approach entail... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7136472 | System and method for privacy management A privacy management system is disclosed for when a calling party has a private telephone number. Privacy screening services allow a subscriber to manage and monitor incoming telephone calls, such that unwanted calls are not terminated to the subscriber. When a call... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7127488 | System and method for gathering information related to a geographical location of a caller in an internet-based communication system In a telecommunication system having at least two communicants (i.e., a caller and a callee), a system and method are presented for collecting information associated with the geographical location of either of the communicants from a server. In one embodiment, the a... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7113577 | Caller identification employing a digital content set An information server according to one embodiment of the invention includes a communication interface configured to communicate over a communication network and a processing system connected to the communication interface. The processing system is configured to rece... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7085358 | Visual caller identification A visual caller identification system and method are provided. A caller identification device of a called party's telephone, whether integrated with the telephone or stand-alone, includes a series of colored lights for visually alerting the called party to an incomi... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7079638 | System and method for privacy screening with special information tones A system and method delivers an audible tone to an unidentified caller who places a call to a subscriber to a privacy screening service with special information tones (SITs). The service is initiated when an unidentified caller places a telephone call to a subscribe... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7042997 | Passive call blocking method and apparatus A process and apparatus to support passive call blocking, a call block that is performed in a manner that the caller does not recognize as a call block. When passive call blocking is utilized, blocked callers receive a passive response, such as a continuous telephon... | 05/09/2006 |
| 6975714 | Method and apparatus for defeating predictive telemarketing systems by simulating facsimile machines or modems upon answering incoming calls A method and apparatus that generate a 2100 Hz answer tone, similar to the answer tones sent by facsimile machines and modems, upon answering an incoming call. This causes predictive telemarketing dialers to remove the telephone number from their databases. ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6970546 | Intelligent remote caller ID An intelligent remote caller identification system is provided that typically includes a central office, a service control point, and an internet call routing system. The central office typically triggers a query responsive to receiving a call request. The service c... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6961413 | Residential telephone system and method The invention relates to a telephone system and method for use by a residential user. A residential telephone system is electrically coupled to an external telephone service facility and electrically coupled to a user telephone. The system comprises a telephone serv... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6956937 | Apparatus and method for network-initiated real-time multi-party communications A method for providing telecommunications services in a telecommunications network. A telecommunications service provider monitors data relating to communications initiation or termination criteria for at least two communicants in the telecommunications network and ... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6853717 | Method and apparatus for eliminating unwanted telephone calls In accordance with the principles of the present invention, unwanted calls may be prevented. In particular, information about a particular destination is stored in a registry at a clearinghouse server located within a network, e.g., the public telephone network. Whe... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6768792 | Identifying call parties to a call to an incoming calling party A method, system, and program for identifying parties to a call to an incoming calling party are provided. A context for a current call is identified, wherein the context comprises at least an identity of a caller and an identity of a callee to the current call. An ... | 07/27/2004 |
| 6763100 | Method for providing additional information to a telephone customer having a non-published telephone number A method and system for notifying a non-published customer of a telephone network the number and possibly the identity of callers who have been attempting to obtain their non-published number from directory assistance. When a calling party calls for directory assist... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6744869 | Method and system for one party to pass a calling invitation to another party A method and apparatus facilitates voice, text, pager or e-mail communication between first and second parties. The second party requests a token from the first party, wherein the token is associated with contact information, such as a telephone number, but does not... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6690780 | Apparatus and method for network-initiated real-time multi-party communications A method for providing telecommunications services in a telecommunications network. A telecommunications service provider monitors data relating to communications initiation or termination criteria for at least two communicants in the telecommunications n... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6687337 | Method and system for termination blocking of message delivery service A method (20) and system (50) is provided that permits a telephone caller to leave a message for a called party that does not have a conventional answering service, such as voice mail, an answering machine, a third-party operator-assisted answering servic... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6665389 | Anonymous interactive internet-based dating service An interactive Internet-based dating service allows people to anonymously interact via Internet browsers, telephone communications and/or video conferencing. The system employs an interactive web site allowing a person to seek another person who may be co... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6650734 | System and method for automatic collect messaging on collect call restricted telephone numbers In a telephone network for use in placing telephone calls to a destination number associated with a called party, the destination number having restricted access for collect telephone calls, a system and method for providing a message to the called party ... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6584178 | Method and system for termination blocking of message delivery service in a switch-based telecommunication system A method for providing a messaging service in a telecommunication system (900) includes providing a calling party with an option to leave a voice message (1010). If the calling party accepts the option, determining screening criteria for the called commun... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6553110 | Selective telephone caller identification service A method of selective telephone caller identification includes the steps of providing a list of telephone numbers of second parties to which a first party is willing to release identification information regarding the first party (101). This list is suppl... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6549619 | Method for screening calls Methods for automatically administrating incoming and outgoing call services include, for example, a method for screening calls from a caller to a subscriber intercepts a call and sends the call directly to the subscriber when the caller is on an establis... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6504921 | Apparatus and method for network-initiated real-time multi-party communications A method for providing telecommunications services in a telecommunications network. A telecommunications service provider monitors data relating to communications initiation criteria for at least two communicants in the telecommunications network and init... | 01/07/2003 |
| 6385310 | Marking and screening telephone calls A system and method that controls calls, such as telephone solicitations, by a calling party to a called party. A switch receives a call from the calling party and marks the call to identify it as a telephone solicitation. Such marking can be performed in... | 05/07/2002 |
| 5673299 | Adjunct controller for a telephone system An adjunct call processor connected to a communications network for providing call processing services. The network includes a switching system including a switch for concurrently servicing a plurality of communications paths and a switch controller for c... | 09/30/1997 |
