Patent ID: 6804334
Filing Date: 2004-10-12
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A method comprising the steps of:identifying a calling party associated with an incoming call to a subscriber; and determining if said calling party is a member of any caller groups defined by said subscriber, said subscriber defining membership within a calling group using the respective telephone number of each member of the calling group; wherein, in response to said calling party being a member of a caller group having associated with it a respective group message, playing said respective group message for said calling party and selectively routing said incoming call to said subscriber; and wherein, in response to said subscriber's line being busy due to an existing connection to a network service provider, communicating, to said network service provider, calling party information about said calling party such that said subscriber may be alerted to said incoming call; receiving, from said network service provider, a response from said subscriber; and routing said incoming call according to said subscriber response.