Patent ID: 7197127

Claim:
A method for managing incoming telephone calls to a telephone user's telephone, each incoming telephone call being associated with a respective telephone number, the method comprising: selecting telephone numbers to assign a priority code to each of the selected telephone numbers; selecting a time constraint to associate with the priority code of each of the selected telephone numbers, the time constraint being indicative of a possible period of time at which the telephone user's telephone receives an incoming telephone call associated with a selected telephone number; selecting a telephone use status to associate with the priority code of each of the selected telephone numbers, the telephone use status being indicative of a possible status of the telephone user's telephone during the time at which the telephone user's telephone receives an incoming telephone call associated with a selected telephone number; selecting a treatment option to associate with the priority code of each of the selected telephone numbers; assigning a priority code to each of the selected telephone numbers based on the selected time constraint, the selected telephone use status, and the selected treatment option; storing the assigned priority code for each of the selected telephone numbers in a memory medium; determining if a telephone number associated with an incoming telephone call to the telephone user's telephone is one of the selected telephone numbers; and if the telephone number associated with the incoming telephone call is a selected telephone number, accessing the memory medium to determine the priority code assigned to the selected telephone number associated with the incoming telephone call based on the period of time at which the telephone user's telephone receives the incoming telephone call and based on the telephone use status during the time at which the telephone user's telephone receives the incoming telephone call; and managing the incoming telephone call according to the treatment option associated with the priority code assigned to the selected telephone number associated with the incoming telephone call.