Patent ID: 7680259

Claim:
A rule-based intelligent call forwarding system, comprising: an internet call routing system, coupled to a service control point that receives a query from a central office taking a call request and that triggers an internet call routing query, the internet call routing system operable, using a computer processor, to receive the internet call routing query, determine presence of the called party with respect to at least one of a plurality of registered communication devices, parse a plurality of rules associated with the called party, and terminate the call request responsive to the rules parsing and presence determination, and a certificate authority coupled to the internet call routing system, the certificate authority being operable to authenticate the called party by searching a customer database for current subscription and payment information; wherein the message is configured to cause each of the plurality of registered devices to display the options directing how to terminate the call, the options being a dropdown list of numbers from which to choose; wherein the internet call routing system concurrently with routing of the call sends a message to each of the plurality of registered communication devices where the called party is determined to be present, the message notifying the called party of the call being made by a calling party; wherein the internet call routing system is operable to determine presence of the called party based upon whether the called party has retrieved the message from a short message service server and based upon whether the called party has retrieved the message from an email server; wherein the message is configured to allow each of the plurality of registered devices to select from options directing how to terminate the call; and wherein the options at each of the plurality of registered devices for directing how to terminate the call comprise: forward the call to a voicemail system, forward the call to any of the plurality of registered communication devices, forward the call to a default number, forward the call to a number corresponding to a location at which the message is presently being checked, and forward the call to a number that the called party presently designates in response to the message.