Abstract:
A telephone system includes a primary unit having a processor, memory device, speaker, microphone, and transmitter. The system further includes an auxiliary unit having a processor, speaker, microphone, and a receiver. The primary unit processor stores routing instructions, each one being call specific and identifying at least one of the primary or auxiliary speakers. The primary processor includes programming to route caller data to a respective one or both primary and auxiliary speakers (e.g. to ring the appropriate telephone(s)). The primary unit includes programming for transmitting call data to the appropriate respective telephone. The primary unit processor further includes time-filtering instructions such that incoming call data may be selectively sent to a voicemail unit or rejected depending on predetermined call data characteristics. Similarly, the system includes blocking instructions stored in the primary memory and utilized by the processor for blocking predetermined incoming calls.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to telephone screening systems and, more particularly, to a telephone system for screening incoming calls at a primary unit and routing them to predetermined auxiliary telephones. 
         [0002]    Residents within a household are frequently disturbed at inopportune times, e.g. dinner time, by telephone calls. Sometimes, of course, the call may be coming from a person who one of the residents desires to speak with, but often the call may be from an unwelcome source such as a telemarketer, market research firm, or some other source considered by the residents to be non-essential or inconvenient at the present time. 
         [0003]    Various devices have been proposed in the art for screening calls, including Caller-ID, audible call announcing systems, and systems that actuate predetermined ring tones upon screening a call. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not screen incoming calls and then selectively block them, allow them to ring all telephones, or to route them to a predetermined telephone auxiliary to the primary telephone. For example, the residents may want all calls to be blocked during certain hours of the day or to calls from a chosen source to ring through to a particular telephone, e.g. a child&#39;s room or an adult&#39;s home-office. 
         [0004]    Therefore, it would be desirable to have a telephone system that screens incoming calls having a primary unit and at least one auxiliary unit that screens incoming calls for the purpose of either blocking them, allowing them to ring all auxiliary units, or to ring only a predetermined auxiliary unit. Further, it would be desirable to have a telephone system that enables a user to set up the screening process according to multiple call data characteristics such as time parameters, source of the call data, etc. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Accordingly, a telephone system according to the present invention includes a primary unit having a processor, memory device, speaker, microphone, and transmitter. The system further includes an auxiliary unit having a processor, speaker, microphone, and a receiver. The primary unit processor stores routing instructions, each one being call specific and identifying at least one of the primary or auxiliary speakers. The primary processor includes programming to route caller data to a respective one or both primary and auxiliary speakers (e.g. to ring the appropriate telephone(s)). The primary unit includes programming for transmitting call data to the appropriate respective telephone. 
         [0006]    The primary unit processor further includes time-filtering instructions such that incoming call data may be selectively sent to a voicemail unit or rejected depending on predetermined call data characteristics. Similarly, the system includes blocking instructions stored in the primary memory and utilized by the processor for blocking predetermined incoming calls. Both the primary and auxiliary units have respective filter input means that enable a user to direct the system to reject or terminate incoming call data. 
         [0007]    A general object of this invention is to provide a telephone system for screening incoming calls and selecting ringing a telephone, directing incoming call data to a voicemail unit, or blocking the call data. 
         [0008]    Another object of this invention is to provide a telephone system, as aforesaid, which includes a primary telephone unit and one or more auxiliary telephone units. 
         [0009]    Still another object of this invention is to provide a telephone system, as aforesaid, in which the primary unit includes a processor capable of evaluating incoming call data and determining if it should be blocked, if all units should be activated, or if the call data should be routed to a particular auxiliary unit. 
         [0010]    Yet another object of this invention is to provide a telephone system, as aforesaid, that may filter incoming call data according to time characteristics. 
         [0011]    Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a telephone screening system according to the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an isolated perspective view of an auxiliary unit as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a primary unit as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the electronic components of the telephone screening system as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating the logic followed by the telephone screen system according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6   a  is a block diagram illustrating the electronic components of one aspect of an auxiliary unit; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6   b  is another block diagram illustrating the electronic components of another aspect of an auxiliary unit. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]    A telephone system  100  according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 1 through 6   b  of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, according to the current invention, telephone system  100  for use with a telecommunication network includes a primary unit  110  and at least one auxiliary unit  130  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the primary unit  110  includes a processor  112 . The processor  112  is in data communication with the telecommunication network, such as through a fixed telephone line, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connection, or a cellular telephone connection. A memory device  114 , a transmitter  116 , a receiver  118 , a speaker  120 , a microphone  122 , a display  124 , and/or an input device  126  are respectively in data communication with the processor  112 . The speaker  120  and the microphone  122  may be part of a telephone handset  123  ( FIGS. 1 and 3 ), a telephone headset, or a speaker phone, for example. The transmitter  116  and the receiver  118  may utilize wireless and/or hard-wired technology.  FIG. 3  shows that a filter input  128  may additionally be in data communication with the processor  112 . This button may enable a user to manually refuse a call that has been forwarded by the primary processor  112 , as will be described in more detail later. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 6   a,  each auxiliary unit  130  may include a transmitter  132 , a receiver  134 , a speaker  136  in data communication with the receiver  134 , and a microphone  138  in data communication with the transmitter  132 . The transmitter  132  is configured to communicate with the primary unit receiver  118 , and the receiver  134  is configured to communicate with the primary unit transmitter  116 . As shown in  FIG. 6   b,  each auxiliary unit  130  may additionally include a processor  140  in data communication with the speaker  136 , the microphone  138 , the transmitter  132 , the receiver  134 , a display  142 , and/or a filter input  144 . 
         [0022]    It is understood that the processor, memory device, speaker, etc. associated with the primary processor may be referenced herein as a first/primary processor, first/primary memory device, first/primary speaker, and so on. Similarly, the processor, speaker, microphone associated with the auxiliary unit may be referenced herein as the second or auxiliary processor, second/auxiliary speaker, second/auxiliary unit, and so on. 
         [0023]    Means for storing various instructions in the primary unit memory device  114  may be included. More particularly, a computer  150  may be in data communication with the primary unit processor  112  ( FIG. 4 ), either through wireless or hard-wired technology, and/or an input device  152  (e.g., a keypad) may be in data communication with the primary unit processor ( FIG. 4 ). 
         [0024]    Among other instructions, the means for storing may be used to store a plurality of caller specific routing instructions, a plurality of caller specific blocking instructions, and/or time-related filtering instructions, as discussed in detail below. The plurality of caller specific routing instructions may identify the primary unit speaker  120  and/or at least one auxiliary unit speaker  136 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  shows an exemplary process  500  utilized by the system  100 . At a first step  502 , the primary unit processor  112  determines if there is incoming call data (i.e., an incoming telephone call) from the telecommunication network. When there is incoming call data, the process  500  proceeds to step  504 . 
         [0026]    At step  504 , the primary unit processor  112  employs programming to utilize the time-related filtering instructions noted above. For example, the time-related filtering instructions may require all calls received between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. to be directed to a voicemail device or declined. Therefore, the processor  112  would determine if the incoming call data was arriving between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. If the incoming call data passes the time restrictions (i.e., if in the above example the incoming call data was arriving between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.), the process  500  proceeds to step  510 . If not, the process  500  proceeds to step  505 . 
         [0027]    At step  505 , the primary unit processor  112  determines if there is a setting associated with the time-related filtering instructions, and the process  500  then proceeds to carry out those settings using the programming for utilizing the time-related filtering instructions. For example, if there is a setting associated with the time-related filtering instructions that instructs the processor  112  to send the call data to a voicemail device (which may either be located in the primary unit  110  or at a remote location in the telecommunication network, for example), the process  500  proceeds to step  506 , where the processor  112  sends the call data to the voicemail device. Alternately, if there is a setting associated with the time-related filtering instructions that instructs the processor  112  to decline the call data (i.e., to refuse the call, or in other words, to “hang up” on the caller), the process  500  proceeds to step  507 , where the processor  112  declines the call data. While in some embodiments there may be a choice between steps  506  and  507 , other embodiments may directly proceed from step  504  to step  506  or step  507  without option. 
         [0028]    At step  510 , the primary unit processor  112  employs programming to utilize the caller specific blocking instructions noted above. For example, the processor  112  determines if the incoming call data is from a phone number that is included in the caller specific blocking instructions. A phone number may be included in the caller specific blocking instructions as an individual number, or all phone numbers from a specific area code may be included, for example. To determine if the incoming call data is from a phone number that is included in the caller specific blocking instructions, the processor  112  may compare caller identification data obtained from the telecommunication network with the blocking instructions, for example. If the call data is from a phone number that is included in the caller specific blocking instructions, the method  500  may proceed to step  512  where the processor  112  declines the call data (i.e., refuses the call, or in other words, “hangs up” on the caller); if not, the method  500  may continue to step  514 . 
         [0029]    At step  514 , the primary unit processor  112  employs programming to utilize the caller specific routing instructions noted above. More particularly, the processor  112  determines if the incoming call data is from a phone number that is included in the caller specific routing instructions. A phone number may be included in the caller specific routing instructions as an individual number, or all phone numbers from a specific area code may be included, for example. To determine if the incoming call data is from a phone number that is included in the caller specific routing instructions, the processor  112  may compare caller identification data obtained from the telecommunication network with the routing instructions, for example. If the call data is not from a phone number that is included in the caller specific routing instructions, the method  500  may proceed to step  516 ; if so, the method  500  may proceed to step  520 . 
         [0030]    At step  516 , the primary unit processor  112  may actuate the display  124  to present incoming call data (i.e., the identification of the caller) and the transmitter  116  to relay the incoming call data to the auxiliary units  130 . The auxiliary unit processor  140  may similarly actuate the display  142  to present the incoming call data. The primary unit  110  and the auxiliary units  130  may “ring” to announce the incoming call data. Either the speakers  120 ,  136  may be used to ring, or additional output devices may be utilized. The method  500  then proceeds to step  517 ,  518 , or  519 , depending on user action. 
         [0031]    If a user accepts the call data (or in other words, if a user answers the call using either the primary unit  110  or an auxiliary unit  130 ), the method  500  proceeds to step  517  and then terminates. If an auxiliary unit  130  is used, the transmitter  132  and the receiver  134  may communicate with the primary unit transmitter  116  and receiver  118 , and the primary unit  110  may communicate with the telecommunication network. 
         [0032]    If a user employs an input (i.e., a button) in data communication with the processor  112  or an input (i.e., a button) in data communication with a respective processor  140  to send the call data to a voicemail device (i.e., the voicemail device discussed above in relation to step  506 , or a separate voicemail device specifically related to the auxiliary unit processor  140 ), the method  500  proceeds to step  518  and then terminates. At step  518 , the processor  112  or the processor  140  sends the call data to a respective voicemail device, depending on which input were used. Alternately, a single voicemail device could be used for the primary unit  110  and all auxiliary units  130 . 
         [0033]    If a user employs a filter input  128 ,  144  to decline the call data, the method  500  proceeds to step  519  and then terminates. In other words, a user may manually terminate or decline a call that has otherwise passed the screening filters described above). At step  519 , if the primary unit filter input  128  were used, the primary unit processor  112  utilizes programming to reject the call data (i.e., to refuse the call, or in other words, “hang up” on the caller). At step  519 , if an auxiliary unit filter input  144  were used, a respective auxiliary unit processor  140  utilizes programming to reject the call data. 
         [0034]    At step  520 , the primary unit processor  112  routes the call data to the appropriate unit(s)  110 ,  130 , in accordance with the caller specific routing instructions noted above. Notably, the routing is executed automatically, or in other words, without input from the caller. To route call data to a respective auxiliary unit  130 , the primary unit processor  112  may actuate the transmitter  116  to send the call data to the appropriate auxiliary unit receiver  134 . Once the call data is routed to the correct unit(s)  110 ,  130 , the appropriate displays  124 ,  142  may be actuated (i.e., by the processor  112  or the processor  140 ) to present the incoming call data, and the appropriate unit(s)  110  may “ring” to announce the incoming call data. As noted above, either the speakers  120 ,  136  may be used to ring, or additional output devices may be used. The method  500  then proceeds to step  521 ,  522 , or  523 , depending on user action. 
         [0035]    If a user accepts the call data (or in other words, if a user answers the call using either the primary unit  110  or an auxiliary unit  130 ), the method  500  proceeds to step  521  and then terminates. If an auxiliary unit  130  is used, the transmitter  132  and the receiver  134  may communicate with the primary unit transmitter  116  and receiver  118 , and the primary unit  110  may communicate with the telecommunication network. 
         [0036]    If a user employs an input (i.e., a button) in data communication with the processor  112  or an input (i.e., a button) in data communication with a respective processor  140  to send the call data to a voicemail device (i.e., the voicemail device discussed above in relation to step  506 , or a separate voicemail device specifically related to the auxiliary unit processor  140 ), the method  500  proceeds to step  522  and then terminates. At step  522 , the processor  112  or the processor  140  sends the call data to a respective voicemail device, depending on which input were used. Alternately, a single voicemail device could be used for the primary unit  110  and all auxiliary units  130 . 
         [0037]    If a user employs a filter input  128 ,  144  to decline the call data, the method  500  proceeds to step  523  and then terminates. At step  523 , if the primary unit filter input  128  were used, the primary unit processor  112  utilizes programming to reject the call data (i.e., to refuse the call, or in other words, “hang up” on the caller). At step  523 , if an auxiliary unit filter input  144  were used, a respective auxiliary unit processor  140  utilizes programming to reject the call data. 
         [0038]    It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.