Patent ID: 7860230

Claim:
A method for screening and routing an incoming call from a caller, comprising: receiving at a remote screening and routing system an incoming telephone signal including identification information; identifying at the remote screening and routing system an entry in a data set that matches the identification information, wherein the data set includes: (1) an entry for a name or telephone number contained in the data set, (2) a caller-unavailable entry where a name or telephone number is blocked prior to the incoming call being received at the remote screening and routing system, and (3) an entry for a name or telephone number not blocked and not contained in the data set; extracting at the remote screening and routing system an identifier from the matched entry in the data set; based on the identifier and at the time when the call is received, selecting one signal to transmit from the remote screening and routing system to a communication device from a set including (1) a primary ring signal, (2) a secondary ring signal, (3) a voicemail signal, (4) a block signal, and (5) a forward signal; wherein a signal selected for transmission to the communication device when the matched entry is the caller-unavailable entry is different than a signal selected for transmission to the communication device when the matched entry is an entry for a name or telephone number not blocked and not contained in the data set; disconnecting the incoming telephone signal from the remote screening and routing system when the selected signal to transmit is the block signal; and transmitting to a display screen of the communication device a message including a name and a number associated with the disconnected incoming telephone signal when the incoming telephone signal is disconnected from the remote screening and routing system.