Patent ID: 8548153

Claim:
A method for implementing customized rules for controlling incoming customer communications, comprising: providing an initial menu for customizing rules for controlling incoming customer communications, the initial menu including a selectable option to modify an existing customized rule for controlling incoming customer communications and a selectable option to create a new customized rule for controlling incoming customer communications; processing a request to create a new customized rule for controlling incoming customer communications, wherein the new customized rule is configured to challenge a source of inbound communications for information configured to authorize the inbound communications; providing an initial selection criteria menu to create the new customized rule for controlling incoming customer communications, the initial selection criteria menu indicating whether the new customized rule will be built using a preexisting template or starting from initial blank rule criteria; processing a response indicating whether the new customized rule will be built using a preexisting template or starting from initial blank rule criteria; when the new customized rule will be built using a preexisting template, providing a list of preexisting templates for creating new customized rules for controlling incoming customer communications, processing a received selection of a preexisting template from the list of preexisting templates, accepting input to populate the selected preexisting template, and storing a new customized rule based on the selected preexisting template and including accepted input, wherein the stored new customized rule is specified to apply to inbound communications; and when the new customized rule will be built starting from initial blank rule criteria, providing initial blank rule criteria for creating a new customized rule for controlling incoming customer communications, processing a received selection of initial criteria from the initial blank rule criteria, providing a list of rule conditions for the selected initial criteria for the new customized rule, processing a received selection of rule conditions for the selected initial criteria for the new customized rule, and creating and storing a new customized rule based on the selected initial criteria and the selected rule conditions; and wherein the stored new customized rule is implemented at an internal network node of a communications service provider to process communications in accordance with requests and selections received from customers using customer equipment, and wherein the stored new customized rule further includes a selected disposition for when the selected initial criteria and selected rule conditions are met.