Patent Publication Number: US-2007115923-A1

Title: Methods, apparatus and computer program products for secondary routing of calls in a voice over internet protocol communication system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is related to and claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed ______, entitled Methods, Apparatus And Computer Program Products For Allowing Access To In-Progress Calls Via Calling Groups In A Voice Over Internet Protocol Communication System, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed ______, entitled Methods, Apparatus And Computer Program Products For Allowing Access To Linegroups And Linegroup Functions In A Voice Over Internet Protocol Communication System, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention generally relates to the field of telephony, and more particularly to apparatus, methods, and computer program products for Voice Over Internet Protocol communication systems.  
     BACKGROUND  
      The Internet has become a mainstream network for communicating not just data, such as email and pictures, but also for providing real-time bi-directional voice communications. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an industry standard that has evolved to enable users to place phone calls through the Internet, instead of through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). A conventional phone or other Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE) may now be connected to the Internet using an interface device that converts analog phone signals to digital signals that can be communicated through the Internet. A phone call may thereby be communicated through the Internet to a VoIP provider, who converts the call back to an analog signal and places the call through the PSTN that is local to the called phone. A user can thereby dial a telephone number in a conventional manner and have the call routed through the Internet, instead of through the PSTN.  
      It is also known to provide a VoIP terminal as the CPE itself, rather than converting between the VoIP/analog formats. One such VoIP CPE is the Cisco IP Phone 7960, marketed by Cisco Systems, Inc, of San Jose, Calif. These types of CPEs (or phones) may provide some functionality that may not be otherwise provided by PSTN type phones. For example, some VoIP phones support what is sometimes referred to as a “simultaneous ring” function, where phone lines that are “grouped” will all ring in response to an inbound call.  
     SUMMARY  
      Embodiments according to the invention can provide methods, apparatus and computer program products for secondary routing of calls in a voice over internet protocol communication system. Pursuant to these embodiments, a method of providing Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications can include processing a call placed to a VoIP phone line based on whether the VoIP phone line is included in a calling group of a plurality of VoIP phone lines.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, the calling group is a logical association of the plurality of VoIP phone lines. In some embodiments according to the invention, processing includes routing the call responsive to input from a caller VoIP phone line if a status of the called VoIP phone line is unavailable status. In some embodiments according to the invention, unavailable status includes do-not-disturb status, out-of-office status, or on-another-line status.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, processing further includes processing the call according to a contact profile associated with the called VoIP phone line. In some embodiments according to the invention, a contact profile is at least one secondary VoIP phone line to which the call is routed if selected. In some embodiments according to the invention, the secondary VoIP phone line is included in the calling group of a plurality of VoIP phone lines.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, the contact profile is one of a plurality of contact profiles associated with the called VoIP phone line. In some embodiments according to the invention, the method can further include processing the call according to the one of the plurality of contact profiles responsive to information associated with a VoIP phone line of the caller.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, information associated with the VoIP phone line of the caller includes the VoIP phone line of the caller and/or a calling group in which the VoIP phone line of the caller is included. In some embodiments according to the invention, processing further includes determining that the called VoIP phone line is unavailable, accessing the contact profile, providing routing options in the contact profile to a caller VoIP phone line from which the call is placed, receiving input from caller VoIP phone line and routing the call based on the input.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, a method of providing Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications includes receiving a call from a caller to a called VoIP phone line at a service provider based on an indication that VoIP phone line is unavailable. It is determined whether the VoIP phone line is included in a calling group of a plurality of VoIP phone lines. Routing options for the call are provided to the caller according to a contact profile associated with the called VoIP phone line. Input is received from the caller to route the call according to an option selected by the input the call is routed according to the option selected.  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, a computer program product for providing Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications includes a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein. The computer readable program product includes computer readable program code configured to process a call placed to a VoIP phone line based on whether the VoIP phone line is included in a calling group of a plurality of VoIP phone lines. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system including VoIP Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) that communicates with PSTN communication equipment via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) according to various embodiments of the present invention.  
       FIG. 1B  is a schematic illustration of a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a display of a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 3A  is a schematic illustration of a display of a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 3B  is a schematic illustration showing additional detail of a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of a display of a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 5A  is a block diagram of a system that provides service according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 5B  is a table illustrating VoIP phone lines and associated information in a database according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart that illustrates operations of VoIP CPEs according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 7  is a flowchart that illustrates operations of a service provider to a VoIP CPE according to some embodiments of the invention.  
      FIGS.  8 A-C are schematic illustrations showing services provided to VoIP CPEs according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram that illustrates embodiments of call processing/routing system according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 10  is a table illustrating a calling group including a plurality of phone lines according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIGS. 11A-11C  are illustrations of contact profiles according to some embodiments of the invention.  
       FIG. 12  is a flowchart that illustrates operations of a call processing/routine system according to some embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION  
      The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description of the figures.  
      The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.  
      It will be understood that, when an element is referred to as being “coupled” to another element, it can be directly coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.  
      Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense expressly so defined herein.  
      The present invention may be embodied as methods, apparatus, and/or computer program products. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.  
      The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.  
      The present invention is described below with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, apparatus, and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.  
       FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication system  101  that includes a VoIP CPE serviced by a VoIP service provider (i.e., service provider)  122  according to various embodiments of the present invention. The VoIP communication system  101  can communicate with PSTN communication equipment  190  via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)  180  and/or can communicate with other VoIP CPE  160 . The VoIP communication system  101  enables phone calls to be initiated and/or received by the VoIP CPEs and/or the PSTN communication equipment  190  via the Internet  130 , and such phone calls are sometimes referred to as VoIP phone calls. It will be understood that each of the VoIP CPEs can be assigned to a VoIP phone line. It will be further understood that the Internet  130  referred to herein may be any packet switched data network.  
      The VoIP CPE  100  may be a computer with a microphone, speaker, and software that is configured to convert voice to/from a digital format that can be routed through the Internet  130 . Alternatively, the VoIP CPE  100  may be a conventional telephone that is connected through a VoIP interface device that is configured to convert voice to/from a digital format that can be routed through the Internet  130 . The VoIP CPE  100  may be provided by single or dual mode cellular radiotelephone with or without a multi-line display; a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal that may combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communications capabilities; a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) that can include a mobile terminal, pager, Internet/intranet access, Web browser, organizer, calendar and/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and a conventional laptop and/or palmtop computer.  
      A subscriber may setup VoIP services by registering with the VoIP service provider  122  and being assigned one or more VoIP telephone numbers. The VoIP service provider  122  can then route phone calls from/to the VoIP phone line(s) assigned to the subscriber based on a called telephone number (e.g., the telephone number to which the phone call is directed). For example, the VoIP service provider  122  may route and establish a phone call from the VoIP CPE  100  through local access Internet providers (not shown) and the Internet  130 , and through a trunk gateway (also not shown) and the PSTN  180  to the PSTN communication equipment  190 . The PSTN communication equipment  190  may be a conventional plain old telephone system (POTS) telephone.  
       FIG. 1B  is a schematic illustration of the VoIP CPE  100  shown in  FIG. 1A  according to some embodiments of the invention. In particular, the VoIP CPE  100  includes a display  115  that is capable of displaying indicia of line groups thereon. It will be understood that as used herein the term “line group” refers to a collection of VoIP phone lines that can be logically associated with one another. A line group may be a group of VoIP phone lines that a user of the VoIP CPE  100  associates with one another for either temporary or permanent purposes. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, a line group can be a group of family or friends VoIP phone lines, a group of c-worker&#39;s VoIP phone lines (such as a research and development line group, a marketing line group, a sales line group, etc.), or a social organization line group, etc. Moreover, a VoIP line group can have it&#39;s own associated VoIP phone line.  
      According to  FIG. 1B , the display  115  can be configured to allow the display of a plurality of VoIP line groups where at least some of the line groups include a plurality of VoIP phone lines. For example, a line group may be associated with a number of VoIP phone lines that can be provided on the display  115  so that a user may select, via buttons  120 , certain ones of the VoIP phone lines. In other words, a user may select certain ones of the VoIP phone lines included in the line group provided on the display and, moreover, may elect not to select other ones of the VoIP phone lines in the line group. In further embodiments according to the invention, one or more operations may be selected to be performed on selected VoIP phone lines included in the line group. For example, buttons  125  may be associated with operations that can be selected once a number of the VoIP phone lines included in the selected line group is provided by input via the buttons  120 .  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of the display  115  showing a number of line groups thereon. In particular, the display  115  shows line groups A, B, and C, each having one of the buttons  120  associated therewith. In particular, group A is associated with button  120 A; group B is associated with button  120 B; and group C is associated with button  120 C. In operation, when a user depresses one of the buttons  120 A-C, the corresponding line group A-C is selected. It will be understood that although only three line groups are shown, more or fewer line groups can actually be implemented according to other embodiments of the invention.  
      It will be further understood that the functions associated with each of the buttons  120  can change based on the indicia provided on the display  115 . For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, depressing the button  120 A selects line group A whereas in other embodiments according to the invention, depressing the same button  120 A may select a particular VoIP phone line included within line group A as described hereinbelow in greater detail.  
       FIG. 3A  is a schematic illustration of the display  115  showing a number of VoIP phone lines included in line group A in some exemplary embodiments according to the invention. In particular, the display  115  illustrates an exemplary view in response to selection of line Group A using button  120 A in  FIG. 2 . In response, the display  115  is updated to provide indicia of the line group A and the VoIP phone lines  1 - 4  included therein. As described above, the VoIP phone lines can be a logical grouping of phone lines, such as a social organization, a family group, a work-related group, or other groups of related VoIP phone lines. Each of the VoIP phone lines  1 - 4  is associated with one of the buttons  120 A-D shown to the right of the display  115 . Any of the VoIP phone lines  1 - 4  can be selected by providing input via the associated button  120 A-D. For example, VoIP phone lines  1  and  3  can be selected by depressing buttons  120 A and  120 C.  
      Once the VoIP phone lines are selected, an operation to be associated therewith can be selected using buttons  125 A-B shown at the bottom of the display  115 . Furthermore, each of the buttons  125 A-B has an action associated therewith. Accordingly, when a number of VoIP phone lines included in the line group A have been selected, operations A and/or B can be selected to be performed on the selected VoIP phone lines. In other words, one or more operations can be performed on the selected VoIP phone lines. For example, if VoIP phone lines  1  and  3  are selected, both operations A and B can be performed on the VoIP phone lines  1  and  3 . It will be understood that the operations associated with the buttons  125 A and B can be, for example, commands to connect to the selected VoIP phone lines, disconnect from the selected VoIP phone lines, and/or other types of common communication operations.  
      It will be further understood that the indicia associated with the buttons  125 A-B can be changed in response to the VoIP phone lines that are selected. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, not all operations may be allowed for all VoIP phone lines. Accordingly, if a relatively large number of operations is allowed to be performed on the selected VoIP phone lines, more operations may be provided on the display  115 . Alternatively, if fewer operations to the selected VoIP phone lines are allowed, fewer options may be made available on the display  115 . In some embodiments according to the invention, the operations allowed can depend on the privileges of the VoIP phone line associated with the VoIP CPE  100  and/or with the selected VoIP phone lines.  
       FIG. 3B  is a schematic illustration of the display  115  showing VoIP line  1  and status information associated therewith. In particular, status information provided on the display  115  is associated with the respective VoIP phone line. The status information can include, for example, the status of the VoIP phone line such as “out of office,” “on the phone,” “do not disturb,” or privileged information that indicates, for example, the type of operations that can be performed by users associated with the respective VoIP phone line. The status information can further include security information that indicates how secure the communications channel provided by the VoIP phone line  1  is. The security information can further include, for example, a security clearance associated with the user of VoIP phone line  1 .  
      In operation, it will be understood that the status information may be provided for each of the VoIP phone lines included in the line group A, and further, the status information may be different for each of the VoIP phone lines. In still other embodiments according to the invention, some VoIP phone lines included in the line group A may not be shown on the display  115  (i.e., suppressed). For example, some VoIP phone lines included in the line group A may be those associated with managers or supervisors which may monitor communications among the VoIP phone lines included in the line group A discreetly. Accordingly, the status information associated with such suppressed VoIP phone lines may not be displayed.  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of the display  115  showing line group A where VoIP phone lines  1  and  3  have been selected whereas VoIP phone lines  2  and  4  (shown in  FIG. 3A ) have not been selected. In particular, the display of indicia associated with the VoIP phone lines  2  and  4  may be suppressed from the display  115  in response to the nonselection of these VoIP phone lines. Accordingly, the buttons  120 B and  120 D formerly associated with the VoIP phone lines  2  and  4  may be made available for other uses. Furthermore, as described above, the operations A and B associated with buttons  125 A and  125 B may be modified once the selection of VoIP phone lines  1  and  3  is complete, for example, to reflect the status of VoIP phone lines  1  and  3 .  
       FIG. 5A  is a block diagram of a service provider  550  that can provide the line group information from a database  555  to the VoIP CPE  100  in some embodiments according to the invention. In particular, the service provider  550  may provide the services described herein in much the same way that other services are provided in the VoIP environment. In operation, the service provider  550  can access the database  555  to retrieve the line groups therefrom, which can be provided to the VoIP CPE  100 . Furthermore, the service provider  550  can respond to input provided via the VoIP CPE  100  to perform selected operations thereon.  
      For example, in operations according to some embodiments of the invention as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the service provider  550  can access the database  555  and provide line group information to the VoIP CPE  100  (block  605 ). One of the line groups provided to the VoIP CPE  100  can be selected (block  610 ), whereupon the VoIP phone lines included in the selected line group are displayed on the VoIP CPE  100 . It will be understood that in some embodiments according to the invention, the VoIP phone lines displayed on the VoIP CPE  100  can be transmitted by the service provider  550  along with the line group information (block  605 ). In other embodiments according to the invention, the VoIP CPE  100  transmits a request to the service provider  550  in response to the selection of the line group, whereupon the service provider  550  accesses the database  555  and returns a list of VoIP phone lines included in the selected line group.  
      A number of VoIP phone lines provided on the display of the VoIP CPE  100  can be selected (block  615 ) along with selected operations to be performed thereon (block  620 ). The requested operations are provided to the service provider  550  (block  625 ) to determine whether the requested operations are valid in view of the selected VoIP phone lines (block  630 ). If the selected operations are invalid (block  630 ), the VoIP CPE  100  informs the user of the invalid request and prompts the user for new input (block  610 ). If the requested operations are valid (block  630 ), the requested operation is performed on the selected VoIP phone lines (block  635 ).  
      As shown in  FIG. 5B , in some embodiments according to the invention, individual VoIP phone lines can be included in multiple line groups. For example, as shown in  FIG. 5B , VoIP line  1  is included in both line group A and line group B. Furthermore, a particular VoIP phone line can have status information for each of the line groups in which it is included. Furthermore, the status information associated with a particular VoIP phone line can be different in each group. For example, as shown in  FIG. 5B , privileged information associated with VoIP phone line  1  in group A is X, whereas privileged information for the same VoIP phone line  1  as part of group B is Y. Similar characteristics can be associated with other types of status information associated with the VoIP phone lines (such as security information).  
      Accordingly, certain operations requested to be performed on some of the VoIP phone lines may be valid whereas other requested operations may be invalid. For example, if the security clearance associated with the VoIP CPE  100  is relatively high, an operation to connect to another VoIP CPE having an unacceptably low security clearance may be invalid. In further embodiments according to the invention, VoIP phone lines having relatively high level privileges may have a wider range of valid operations available, whereas VoIP phone lines having relatively low level privileges may have fewer operations available.  
      It will be further understood that the VoIP phone lines in the database  555  may be designated as to be preconfigured to particular VoIP CPEs. For example, when the VoIP CPE  100  is detected as being powered on, the service provider  550  may spontaneously upload line group information and VoIP phone line information to the VoIP CPE  100  before operations begin. Accordingly, the VoIP CPE  100  may have necessary information required to begin operation once the power-up sequence is complete. Furthermore, the service provider  550  may periodically modify the configuration of the VoIP CPE  100  so that subsequent power-up sequences may result in the VoIP CPE  100  being loaded with updated configuration information such as new line groups and/or new VoIP phone lines included therewith.  
       FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating operations of VoIP CPEs  100  to select line groups in VoIP phone lines for configuration thereof. In particular, the service provider  550  may provide the configuration application to the VoIP CPE  100  which may prompt a user for input via an interface including the display  105  thereon. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the user is prompted by the display to select a line group for which VoIP phone lines are to be added and/or deleted (block  705 ). It will be understood that the service provider  550  may provide the configuration application to VoIP CPEs  100 , which have sufficient privileges associated therewith to enable the modification of existing line groups and/or the creation of entirely new line groups. For example, in addition to prompting the user for the input of an existing line group, the user may also enter an identification of what is to be a new line group to be added to the database  555  for subsequent use by the VoIP CPE  100  and other CPEs.  
      The service provider accesses the line groups in the database, which are provided to the VoIP CPE  100  (block  710 ). The user can select which of the VoIP phone lines are to be included in the line group (block  715 ). The service provider  550  determines if the VoIP phone lines provided by the VoIP CPE  100  are valid (i.e. registered in the database) (block  720 ). If any of the VoIP phone lines are invalid (block  720 ), the service provider  550  does not update the database  555  and informs the VoIP CPE  100  that the requested VoIP phone line is invalid, whereupon a new VoIP phone line may be entered (block  715 ). If all of the VoIP phone lines are valid (block  720 ), the selected VoIP phone lines are added to the database  555  by the service provider  550  (block  725 ). The VoIP CPE  100  may prompt the user for whether additional VoIP phone lines should be added to the line group (block  730 ).  
      In still further embodiments according to the invention, a VoIP phone line that is included in a calling group of VoIP phone lines may be allowed to connect to an in-progress call between the VoIP phone lines that are included in the calling group. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, if a call is currently in-progress between two VoIP phone lines that are included in a calling group, a third VoIP phone line included in the calling group may be allowed to join the in-progress call in a similar fashion to that provided by an extension telephone in a plain old telephone system (POTS). As used herein the term “calling group” includes VoIP phone lines that receive service from the service provider that enables calls between group members to be bridged or joined together.  
      Each of the VoIP phone lines included in the calling group can further receive information regarding the status of the in-progress call between members of the calling group. The members receiving this status information may request to join the in-progress call (or alternatively request to disconnect from the in-progress call). It will be understood that whether a requesting member of the calling group is allowed to join an in-progress call may depend on the privileges associated with the requesting member as well as security information and/or privacy information associated with the in-progress call. In some embodiments according to the invention, some members of the calling group may have privileges such that they may join or disconnect from the in-progress call without the knowledge of the calling group members participating in the in-progress call. For example, the status information indicating whether a certain member has joined or disconnected from an in-progress call can be suppressed from being displayed to other members of the calling group.  
      FIGS.  8 A-C are schematic illustrations that represent operations of VoIP calling group members supported by in-progress call services according to some embodiments of the invention. In particular, as shown in  FIG. 8A , an in-progress call  865  is established between a first VoIP phone line associated with CPE  100 A and a second VoIP phone line associated with a second CPE  100 B which is monitored by the service provider  550 . The database  555  includes lists of VoIP phone lines included in particular calling groups so that the service provider  550  may allow calling group members to join or disconnect from in-progress calls between other members of the same calling group. Status information  860 A and  860 B is respectively provided to CPE  100 A and  100 B to reflect the in-progress status of the call  865 . Furthermore, status information indicating that the call  865  is in-progress is provided to CPE  100 C-E.  
      According to FIGS.  8 A-C, CPE  100 D is associated with a VoIP phone line having relatively high privileges, such as those that would be associated with the supervisor or manager of an organization. Furthermore, the CPE  100 E may be associated with a VoIP phone line having a relatively low level of privileges compared to that of CPE  100 D. The different privileges associated with the different VoIP phone lines may result in some request to join an in-progress call being allowed while other requests to join the in-progress call are denied.  
      Referring to  FIG. 8A , the CPE  100 C provides a request  870 E to the service provider  550  to join the in-progress call  865 . The service provider  550  accesses the database  555  to determine whether the VoIP phone line associated with CPE  100 C is included in the calling group that includes the VoIP phone lines already participating in the in-progress call  865 . If the service provider  550  determines that the VoIP phone line associated with CPE  100 C is included in the calling group, the request to join the in-progress call  865  may be allowed if, for example, the privileged information associated with the VoIP phone line associated with CPE  100 C is sufficiently high. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the in-progress call  865  may have security or privacy information associated therewith such that the VoIP phone line requesting to join the in-progress call  865  may be required to have sufficiently high privileges to be allowed the in-progress call  865 . Otherwise, the request to join the in-progress call  865  may be denied.  
      If the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 C is allowed to join the in-progress call  865 , updated status information is provided to each of the members of the calling group including those previously participating in the in-progress call  865 . In particular, as shown in  FIG. 8A , status information reflecting the fact that CPE  100 C has joined the in-progress call  865  can be provided to CPE  100 D even though CPE  100 D has not currently joined the in-progress call as shown in  FIG. 8B . Furthermore, it will be understood that even though the CPE  100 D has not joined the in-progress call  865 , the status information may be provided thereto. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 D may have relatively high privileges, for example, associated with a supervisor or manager of the calling group. Furthermore, the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 D may receive audio of the in-progress call  865  to monitor communications among the calling group but may not join the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 D to the in-progress call so as to prevent alerting the calling group members that the supervisor is monitoring the in-progress call  865 , such as when a supervisor may wish to monitor calls for training purposes or for quality assurance purposes.  
      As shown in  FIG. 8C , the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 C provides a request to the service provider  550  to disconnect from the in-progress call  865 . Accordingly, the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 C is no longer bridged to the in-progress call  865  and updated status information is provided to the remaining participants of the in-progress call to reflect that the VoIP phone line associated with the CPE  100 C is no longer a participant.  
      In still further embodiments according to the invention, a call placed to a VoIP phone line can be processed based on whether the VoIP phone line called is included in a calling group. For example, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the calling group A includes a plurality of VoIP phone lines (e.g., lines  1 - 3  . . . ) that are logically associated with one another. In operation, if a call is placed to a member of the calling group A (for example, line  3 ) which is determined to be unavailable, the call can be rerouted to other members of the calling group A based, for example, on input provided via the VoIP phone line from which the call is made. For example, in some embodiments according to the invention, if a call is placed to line  3  of calling group A, which is determined to be unavailable, the VoIP phone lines associated with the other members of the calling group A may be provided to the caller. The caller may select one of the other VoIP phone lines so that the call may be rerouted to the selected line.  
      As discussed herein in greater detail, the options for rerouting of the call may be provided to the caller via information in contact profiles that are associated with either the calling group or individual phone lines within the calling group. Furthermore, in some embodiments according to the invention, there may be multiple contact profiles for each phone line and/or calling group. In still further embodiments according to the invention, the information in the contact profile that is provided to the caller can be selected based on the caller&#39;s VoIP phone line (i.e., the caller VoIP phone line) and/or the calling group in which the caller VoIP phone line is a member.  
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram that illustrates a call processing/routing system  900  according to some embodiments of the invention. According to  FIG. 9 , calls can be initiated by a caller VoIP phone line  905  to a primary VoIP phone line  915  and/or a secondary VoIP phone line  920 . The VoIP phone lines  905 ,  915 , and  920  can be utilized with VoIP phones or other Customer Premises Equipment which enables input to select secondary VoIP phone lines provided thereto from contact profiles.  
      The VoIP phone lines  915  and  920  can be VoIP phone lines which are registered subscribers of the system  900  included in a calling group. A call processing/routing circuit  910  routes a call from the caller VoIP phone line  905  to the primary CPE  915 . A subscriber database  925  stores a list of subscribers to the system  900  including which calling groups each of the subscribers may be included within. For example, the subscriber database  925  can store information indicating the calling groups in which the primary VoIP phone line  915  and the secondary VoIP phone line  920  are included. Furthermore, if the caller VoIP phone line  905  is a subscriber to the system  900 , the subscriber database  925  can store the calling groups to which the caller VoIP phone line  905  belongs.  
      A service provider  930  can access a contact profile database  935  to determine, for example, whether a call from the caller VoIP phone line  905  can be rerouted to the secondary VoIP phone line  920  if the primary VoIP phone line is unavailable. It will be understood that a subscriber VoIP phone line can have one or more contact profiles which can be invoked based, for example, on the status of the called VoIP phone line, the time of the call, the day of the call, etc. Furthermore, a phone line associated with the calling group in which the called VoIP phone line is a member, can also have a contact profile which may be the same for each of the members included in the calling group.  
      The service provider  930  can provide the information included in the contact profile to the caller VoIP phone line  905  so that an option for secondary routing of a call may be selected. Once the caller selects an option for re-routing of the call (according to the provided information from the contact profile), the service provider  930  can pass the information specifying the re-routing of the call to the call processing/routing circuit  910 , which can re-route the call from the caller VoIP phone line  905  to, for example, the secondary VoIP phone line  920 .  
      FIGS.  11 A-C are schematic illustrations of information included in contact profiles according to some embodiments of the invention. In particular,  FIG. 11A  shows the display on the caller&#39;s VoIP phone provided with information from a contact profile according to some embodiments of the invention. According to  FIG. 11A , the contact profile shows lines  1 ,  2  and  4  being available as secondary contacts if, for example, line  3  is unavailable. As further shown in  FIG. 11A , more options may be available than may fit on the display at one time, which may be accessed by selecting “more.” When a user selects one of the available secondary contacts, the call processing/routine circuit  910  routes the call to the selected secondary phone line.  
      It will be further understood that the available secondary contacts displayed by the calling VoIP phone line may depend on which of the phone lines is actually available at that time. For example, if it is determined that line  2  in the calling group is also unavailable, line  2  may not be provided on the display as an option. It will be further understood that the contact profile for each of the phone lines in the calling group may be the same (i.e., the same contact profile may be used for each of the phone lines in the group).  
      In some embodiments according to the invention, the contact profile may be different for different called phone lines. For example, as shown in  FIG. 11B , a call to phone line  1  (when is unavailable) may result in phone lines  4  and  3  being offered as options for secondary contacts on the display of the caller&#39;s VoIP phone. If, for example, the subscriber associated with phone line  4  is designated as the primary backup for the phone line  1 . Furthermore, phone line  3  may be offered as a less preferred option to phone line  4  if, for example, the subscriber associated with phone line  3  is the backup for phone line  4 . Accordingly, in some embodiments according to the invention, the options provided to the caller&#39;s VoIP phone as part of the contact profile may be based on the relationship between the members of the calling group that are available.  
      According to  FIG. 11C , the options for secondary contact provided on the display of the caller&#39;s VoIP phone may be based on the calling group of which the caller VoIP phone line is a member and based on the function associated with the lines in the calling group. For example, if a call is made from a member of a sales calling group, the information from the contact profile provided to the display of the caller&#39;s VoIP phone may be organized according to which members of the calling group are designated as “sales support.” In particular, the subscriber associated with phone line  1  in the calling group may be the primary sales support person within the group, whereas the subscriber associated with phone line  2  is designated as the backup to the primary sales support person. It will be further understood that the subscriber associated with phone line  2  may be the primary support person for calls received from other calling groups. Accordingly, the contact profile information provided to the calling VoIP phone line may be based on the calling group in which the calling party is a member.  
       FIG. 12  is a flowchart that illustrates operations of a call processing/routing system according to some embodiments of the invention. According to  FIG. 12 , a call is placed from a caller VoIP phone line to a primary VoIP phone line (block  1205 ). If the primary VoIP phone line is available (block  1210 ), the call is routed to the primary VoIP phone line (block  1215 ). If, however, the primary VoIP phone line is unavailable (block  1210 ), the call processing system determines whether the primary VoIP phone line is included in a calling group by accessing a subscriber database (block  1220 ).  
      If the primary VoIP phone line is not included in a calling group (block  1220 ), call processing can be terminated. If, however, the primary VoIP phone line is in a calling group (block  1220 ), the system accesses a contact profile associated with the primary VoIP phone line (block  1225 ). The information included in the contact profile is provided to the caller VoIP phone line for display (block  1230 ) on the caller&#39;s VoIP phone. Input is provided via the caller VoIP phone line to select a secondary VoIP phone line to which the call is to be re-routed in response to the unavailability of the primary VoIP phone line (block  1235 ). The input is provided to the system, which re-routes the call from the caller VoIP phone line to the selected secondary VoIP phone line (block  1240 ).  
      In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.