Patent ID: 8175247

Claim:
A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform acts for providing priority call waiting services for a subscriber of a telephone line, the acts comprising: associating a telephone number of the telephone line with a plurality of priority codes, wherein each of the plurality of priority codes associated with the telephone number represents a different priority level that is representative of a degree of urgency of a call; assigning a priority alert signal to each of the plurality of priority codes associated with the telephone number such that the priority alert signal of each of the plurality of priority codes identifies the degree of urgency for the subscriber; providing multiple priority codes to each one of a plurality of calling parties prior to a call being placed by the plurality of calling parties to enable the plurality of calling parities to choose a level of urgency for a call to the subscriber, wherein the priority codes provided to a first calling party of the plurality of calling parties are unique to the first calling party.