Patent ID: 7555110

Claim:
A method of providing a called party the ability to screen calls, the method comprising: receiving, at a call processing system, a call from a calling party intended for a called party; playing a greeting to the calling party; placing an outbound call from the call processing system to a first phone address associated with the called party; transmitting, in substantially real-time, at least a first portion of the voice communication from the calling party to a first communication device associated with the first phone address so that the called party can screen the call; providing at least the following call handling options to the called party: accept the call on the first communication device; transfer the call to a first alternate destination, with screening, wherein at least one portion of the voice communication from the calling party will be transmitted to the first alternate destination and the calling party will be prevented from hearing the called party for at least a first amount of time; transfer the call to a second alternate destination with screening; receiving a call handling instruction from the called party via the first communication device; and processing the call from the caller in accordance with called party's instruction.