Abstract:
A method and apparatus for prioritizing telephone calls that allow the caller to specify priority criteria relating to a call and the recipient to specify priority criteria relating to the treatment of incoming calls. The caller designates priority of the call based on specified priority criteria. The caller&#39;s specified priority criteria is stored in a database in the telephone service provider&#39;s network, is retrieved from the database when the caller places a call and is transmittal with the call through the telephone network. The call recipient designates specified priority criteria for incoming calls. The call recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria is stored in a database and is retrieved from the database in response to incoming calls. The treatment of a call, i.e. connection, termination or redirection, is based on comparison of the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria and the call recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a method and apparatus for prioritizing telephone call. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     There are existing methods of prioritizing telephone calls. For example, the name or telephone number of the calling party can be displayed on the recipient&#39;s telephone, a telephone can be provided with a function that blocks all incoming telephone calls on demand or telephone calls can be forwarded to an automated message center. 
     There also are existing methods of rerouting telephone calls. For example, call forwarding or automated answering systems that allow callers to reroute their telephone calls. 
     The existing methods of prioritizing and rerouting of telephone calls have several disadvantages. One distinct disadvantage with respect to prioritizing of telephone calls is that the caller does not have any control over the prioritizing of his telephone calls. Similarly, with respect to rerouting of telephone calls, the caller does not have any control over whether his call will be rerouted. 
     Existing methods of prioritizing and rerouting of telephone calls also have disadvantages from the recipient&#39;s perspective. For example, because the recipient does not know the nature of the call before answering, the recipient cannot prioritize or reroute calls based upon the nature of the call. 
     The deficiencies in the existing methods of prioritizing and rerouting of telephone calls is made readily apparent in telemarketing. Telemarketing is the use of telecommunication services to market and sell products and services and to provide customers with product and service information. 
     Often times, telemarketing agents expend time and effort calling potential customers only to be greeted by anger and irritation. Many people consider calls to their home during nonworking hours by nameless, faceless telemarketing agents to be an unwanted intrusion. In particular, potential customers often express anger and irritation when telemarketing agents call during dinner hour. 
     Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus that allows the caller to designate the priority of a telephone call based on specified priority criteria and the recipient to designate treatment of telephone calls based on their specified priority criteria. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above problems are solved according to the invention by providing a method and apparatus for prioritizing telephone calls. The invention allows a caller to designate the priority of his telephone call based upon specified priority criteria. The specified priority criteria follow the telephone call through the telephone network. The priority of the call is determined based on the specified priority criteria. The telephone call is connected, rerouted or terminated based upon the specified priority criteria. 
     More particularly a telephone service provider&#39;s network is equipped with an originating switch proximate to the caller. The originating switch is equipped with means for identifying specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to his call. That specified priority criteria follows the call through the telephone service provider&#39;s network. 
     The telephone service provider&#39;s network is also equipped with a terminating switch proximate to the recipient. The terminating switch is equipped with means for identifying specified priority criteria that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls. 
     When the caller places a call to the recipient, the call arrives at the originating switch which undertakes to identify the specified priority criteria, if any, that the caller has assigned to the call. The originating switch then connects the call to the terminating switch. If the caller has assigned specified priority criteria to the call, that specified priority criteria follows the call through the telephone service provider&#39;s network from the originating switch to the terminating switch. 
     When the call arrives at the terminating switch, the terminating switch identifies the specified priority criteria, if any, that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls. If the recipient has assigned a specified priority criteria to incoming calls, the specified priority criteria that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls is compared to the specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to the call. If the specified priority criteria that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls satisfies the specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to the call, then the call is connected. If the specified priority criteria that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls does not satisfy the specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to the call, then the call is either rerouted to an alternative destination or terminated. 
     The specified priority criteria that a caller can assign to a call and that the recipient can assign to incoming calls include any manner of denoting special treatment for a call. For example, the caller could specify that the call is a low priority call and the recipient could specify that low priority calls only be put through during certain times of the day. The specified priority criteria can be more particular. The caller could, for example, specify that the call relates to telemarketing or to a fund raising campaign and the recipient could specify that calls relating to telemarketing or fundraising not be put through at all or only be put through during certain times of the day. 
     The caller could, for example, designate that the call is of a personal nature. If the recipient, for example, is working at home and does not want to be interrupted by calls of a personal nature, the recipient could specify that all personal calls be directed to an answering machine device or a voice mail system. Similarly, if the recipient is out of his office and at home on vacation or with an illness, the recipient could, for example, specify that work related calls be directed to an answering machine or voice mail system. Alternatively if the recipient, for example, conducts business out of his home, and does not want business calls during evening hours, the recipient could specify that personal calls be put through during evening hours, but business calls received during evening hours be directed to an answering machine or voice mail. 
     As would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the invention can be used for prioritizing and directing of electronic data communication as well as telephone calls. For example, electronic mail (&#34;E-mail&#34;) and facsimile transmissions can be prioritized and directed in the same manner as described above with respect to telephone calls. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram which illustrates an embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of telephone calls in accordance with the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a basic configuration of an embodiment of the invention. A caller 10 is connected through a telephone service provider&#39;s network 12 to the call recipient 14. The telephone service provider&#39;s network 12 includes an originating switch 20 and a terminating switch 22 which are connected via link 24. 
     The caller 10 is connected via link 26 to the originating switch 20. Similarly, the terminating switch 22 is connected via link 28 to the call recipient 14. 
     The originating switch 20 is connected via link 30 to an automatic number identification (&#34;ANI&#34;) &#34;trigger table&#34; 32. An ANI trigger table contains a list of the telephone numbers of subscribers to various special services offered by the telephone service provider. The originating switch 20 is also connected via link 34 to a data base 36. 
     Similarly, the terminating switch 22 is connected via link 38 to an ANI trigger table 40. The terminating switch 22 is also connected via link 42 to a data base 44. 
     When the caller 10 places a call to the call recipient 14, the call proceeds via link 26 to the originating switch 20. The caller&#39;s telephone number, which is identified by the telephone service provider&#39;s system, is transmitted with the call to the originating switch 20. Using the caller&#39;s telephone number, the originating switch queries the ANI trigger table 32 as to whether the caller 10 subscribes to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. 
     If the caller&#39;s telephone number does not appear on the ANI trigger table 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20 that the caller 10 does not subscribe to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. The originating switch then connects the call to the terminating switch 22 via link 24 and the terminating switch 22 connects the call to the call recipient 14 via link 28. 
     If, however, the caller&#39;s telephone number appears on the ANI trigger table 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20 that the caller 10 subscribes to at least one of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. The originating switch 20 then queries the data base 36 as to the particular special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the caller subscribes. The database identifies the caller as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria. The originating switch 20 connects the telephone call to the terminating switch 22 via link 24. The specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to the call is transmitted with the call from the originating switch 20 to the terminating switch 22 via link 24. The call recipient&#39;s telephone number, which is identified by the telephone service provider&#39;s system, also is transmitted with the call from the originating switch 20 to the terminating switch 22 via link 24. The call and specified priority criteria arrive at the terminating switch 22. 
     Using the recipient&#39;s telephone number, the terminating switch queries the ANI trigger table 40 as to whether the call recipient 14 subscribes to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. If the call recipient&#39;s telephone number does not appear on the ANI trigger table 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals the terminating switch 22 that the call recipient 14, does not subscribe to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. The terminating switch 22 then connects the call to the call recipient 14 via link 28. 
     If, however, the call recipient&#39;s telephone number appears on the ANI trigger table 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals the terminating switch 22 that the call recipient 14 subscribes to at least one of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. The terminating switch 22 then queries the data base 44 as to the particular special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the call recipient subscribes. The database identifies the call recipient as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria and alternative treatment of calls that do not fall within the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria. 
     Based on the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria transmitted with the telephone call and the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria and alternative treatment information, the terminating switch 22 directs the telephone call. If the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria satisfies the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria, the call is connected. If the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria does not satisfy the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria, the call is rerouted to an alternative destination or terminated. 
     FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the processing of a telephone call in accordance with the principles of the invention. The caller 10 places a telephone call and the telephone call arrives at the originating switch 20 (step 100). Using the caller&#39;s telephone number, the originating switch queries the ANI trigger table 32 to check if the caller&#39;s telephone number appears (step 104). 
     If the caller&#39;s telephone number does not appear on the ANI trigger table 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20 that the caller 10 does not subscribe to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider and the originating switch 20 then connects the call through the terminating switch 22 via link 24 to the call recipient 14 via link 28 (step 106). If, however, the caller&#39;s telephone number appears on the ANI trigger table 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20 that the caller 10 subscribes to at least one of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. 
     The originating switch 20 then queries the data base 36 as to the particular special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the caller subscribes. The database identifies the caller as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria (step 108). The originating switch 20 then routes the call to the terminating switch 22 with the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria in the signalling path (step 110). 
     The call arrives at the terminating switch 22 (step 112). Using the recipient&#39;s telephone number, the terminating switch 22 queries the ANI trigger table 40 to check if the recipient&#39;s telephone number appears (step 116). 
     If the recipient&#39;s telephone number does not appear on the ANI trigger table 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals the terminating switch 22 that the recipient does not subscribe to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider and the terminating switch 22 connects the call (step 118). If, however, the recipient&#39;s telephone number appears on the ANI trigger table 40, the terminating switch 22 queries the data base 44 for the particular special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the call recipient subscribes. The database identifies the call recipient as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria and desired alternative treatment of calls that do not fall within the specified priority criteria (step 120). 
     Finally, based on the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria transmitted with the telephone call and the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria and alternative treatment information, the terminating switch 22 directs the telephone call (step 122). If the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria satisfies the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria, the call is connected (step 124). If the caller&#39;s specified priority criteria does not satisfy the recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria, the call is either terminated or rerouted based on the call recipient&#39;s alternative treatment information (step 126). 
     The following is an example of use of the method and apparatus for prioritizing telephone calls. 
     A telemarketing center subscribes to the telephone call prioritizing system and has specified that all calls originating from its telephone number are &#34;low priority&#34; calls. At 6:30 pm, a telemarketing agent calls a potential customer from that telemarketing center. The potential customer also subscribes to the telephone call prioritizing system and has specified that he, the customer, does not wish to receive low priority calls between the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 am and that incoming low priority calls during those hours should be connected through to his answering machine. 
     The call arrives at the originating switch that handles the telemarketing center&#39;s telephone numbers. The originating switch, using the telephone number of the telemarketing center, queries the ANI trigger table. The ANI trigger table signals the originating switch that the telemarketing center subscribes to at least one of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. 
     The originating switch then queries the database for the special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the telemarketing center subscribes. The database identifies the telemarketing center as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides the telemarketing center&#39;s specified priority criteria. The data base signals the originating switch that all calls originating from the telephone number of the telemarketing center are low priority. The originating switch connects the call to the terminating switch with the telemarketing center&#39;s specified priority criteria in the signalling path. 
     The terminating switch queries the ANI trigger table as to whether the call recipient subscribes to any of the special services offered by the telephone service provider. The ANI trigger table signals the terminating switch that the call recipient subscribes to a special service offered by the telephone service provider. 
     The terminating switch then queries the database as the special service offered by the telephone service provider to which the call recipient subscribes. The database identifies the call recipient as a subscriber to the telephone call prioritizing system and provides the call recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria. The database signals the terminating switch that the call recipient does not wish to have low priority calls connected between the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 am and that incoming low priority call received during these hours should be connected to an answering machine. Per the call recipient&#39;s specified priority criteria and alternative treatment information, the terminating switch connects the call to the recipient&#39;s answering machine. 
     It is to be understood that the above description is only of one preferred embodiment of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is thus limited only as defined in the accompanying claims.