Patent ID: 7263370
Filing Date: 2007-08-28
Classification: H04L,H04M

Abstract:
1. A method for managing telephone service for a plurality of persons sharing a common telephone and utilizing a plurality of telephone numbers that may be accessed via the common telephone, each of the telephone numbers being associated with one or more of the persons, based on determining whether a person associated with a telephone number and sharing the common telephone is as the location served by the common telephone and for restricting completion of a telephone call to one of the telephone numbers accessible via the common telephone to permit said telephone call to be completed only when a person associated with that telephone number is present at the location served by the common telephone, comprising the steps of: periodically transmitting a unique signal from a transmitter adapted to accompany the person; receiving said signal in a base station serving each person sharing the common telephone at the location served by the common telephone, the base station containing a processor, a receiver, and for each person sharing the common telephone, a database record unique to the person; the signal emitted by said transmitter having sufficient strength to be received by said base station receiver only when said transmitter is in close proximity to said receiver; processing said unique signal within the base station; correlating said unique signal to the unique record maintained for each person in the base station database; recording a receipt of said signal in said base station database record; recording a failure to receive said signal in said base station database record; whereby the base station database maintains a record for each person sharing the common telephone indicating whether that person is or is not at the location served by the common telephone; upon detecting a change in at least one of said records in said base station database, initiating a wire line telephone call over the common telephone to a local telephone network controller located in the telephone network providing telephone service to the common telephone; uploading said changed records in the base station database via the wire line telephone call into a network database maintained by the local telephone network controller, thereby to record in the network database whether each of the persons sharing the common telephone is or is not at the location served by the common telephone; after uploading said base station database, disconnecting said telephone call to the local telephone network controller; maintaining in the network database records a database of subscriber numbers including the plurality of telephone numbers associated with the common telephone; maintaining in the network database records, for each of the telephone numbers associated with the common telephone, a list of persons associated with each of the telephone numbers; receiving an inbound telephone call to one of the telephone numbers associated with the common telephone; checking the updated network database to determine whether at least one person associated with the telephone number is present at the location served by the common telephone; and permitting said inbound telephone call to be completed only if said at least one required person is present at the location served by the common telephone; and providing another service to the caller if said at least one required person is not present at the location served by the common telephone.