Patent ID: 7742468

Claim:
A method, executed by a computerized telephone services device, for providing enhanced telephone services comprising: a) recognizing, by the computerized telephone services device, tones generated by an originating telephone line, the originating telephone line being associated with a calling number, wherein the tones represent a common number associated with a called party and assigned to two or more telephone lines; b) identifying, by the computerized telephone services device, the two or more telephone lines associated with the common number; c) causing, by the computerized telephone services device, a first telephone line and a second telephone line of the two or more telephone lines to ring substantially simultaneously; d) awaiting, by the computerized telephone services device, the called party to answer via one of the two or more telephone lines; e) sending, by the computerized telephone services device, a challenge to the answered telephone line and waiting for the called party to satisfy the challenge if one of the two or more telephone lines is answered, wherein the challenge comprises a menu of options for routing the call; f) establishing, by the computerized telephone services device, a first telephone connection between the originating telephone line and one of the two or more telephone lines associated with the common number of the called party if the challenge is satisfied; g) detecting, by the computerized telephone services device, entry of a code from the answered telephone line, the code indicative of a request to pass the established first telephone connection from the answered telephone line to a third telephone line associated with the common number of the called party; h) calling, by the computerized telephone services device, the third telephone line in response to the detection of the service code; i) detecting, by the computerized telephone services device, whether the third telephone line has been answered by the called party; j) connecting, by the computerized telephone services device, the established first telephone connection between the originating telephone line and the third telephone line if the third telephone line is answered by the called party; k) recognizing independently of steps a-j, by the computerized telephone services device, tones generated by an originating telephone line, wherein the tones represent a request for a telephone conference over a conference line and are associated with one or more telephone lines of the called party; l) determining, by the computerized telephone services device, whether the calling telephone number associated with the originating telephone line is included in a set of defined telephone numbers permitted to connect to the conference line without requiring authentication of the calling party; and m) establishing, by the computerized telephone services device, a telephone connection between the originating telephone line and the conference line if the set of defined telephone numbers includes the calling telephone number.