Anonymous interactive telephone system
November 1, 2011. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesDevice to automatically screen incoming telephone calls, determine the identity of the caller and process the call accordingly Method and apparatus for screening telephone calls Method of providing person locator service Personal-servicing communication system Anonymous interactive telephone system Automated call filter Remote access telephone control system Call announcement arrangement Spontaneous voice and data messaging Telephone answering machine in paging systems with automatic number identification based message operations InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 774963 filed on 10/11/1991US Classes:379/67.1, AUDIO MESSAGE STORAGE, RETRIEVAL, OR SYNTHESIS379/35, Listening-in or eavesdropping type379/88.2, Automatic Number Identification (ANI)379/88.26, Recording voice message from non subscriber caller379/142.17, Having display unit379/196, At switching center379/201.11, Anonymous party (e.g., protection of called or calling party's identity, privacy)379/202.01, Conferencing379/211.02, Call forwarding379/213.01, Intercept (e.g., dead or changed number)379/214.01Secretarial or answering serviceExaminersPrimary: Brown, Thomas W.Attorney, Agent or FirmForeign Patent References
International ClassesH04M 001/64H04M 001/66 H04M 003/42 AbstractAn anonymous interactive telephone system for connecting a caller to a subscriber without divulging the identity or telephone number of either unless voluntarily revealed. The subscriber publishes an advertisement together with a telephone number of a system controller station. A subscriber reference number is embedded within the telephone number of the system controller station as a DID number. The subscriber also supplies information to the system controller station related to time periods during which calls may be directly forwarded to the subscriber or intercepted by the system controller. The system controller repeatedly accesses the central switching station or local switching station of the public telephone company to activate and de-activate the call forwarding function of the switching station for controlling call forwarding to the subscriber on the basis of the subscriber's published DID number. In a second embodiment, a service for providing call screening for persons having unpublished telephone numbers is provided. In a third embodiment, a caller ID blocking service is provided. In a fourth embodiment, methods are provided by which telephone company switches and associated network components implement the anonymous interactive telephone system and other functions. In a fifth embodiment, a call screening system having answer machine style interfacing is provided.Other References
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