Telephone with ringer silencer screening feature
DCFirst Claim
1. A telephone with a call screening feature comprising:
- an indicator circuit that is responsive to detection of an incoming call for indicating receipt of said incoming call when said telephone is in a continuous on-hook state;
a control unit having an indicator-disabling mode in which said control unit temporarily deactivates said indicator circuit while maintaining said telephone in said continuous on-hook state during said incoming call, said control unit being responsive to detection of a conclusion of said incoming call to automatically terminate said indicator-disabling mode upon sensing said conclusion;
a user-manipulable control unit interface connected to said control unit to selectively trigger said indicator-disabling mode subsequent to activation of said indicator circuit by said detection of said incoming call;
a display connected to said control unit for displaying caller identification information indicative of an origin of said incoming call;
a remote control device with a second control unit interface for wireless communication with said control unit to enable deactivation of said indicator circuit from a location remote from said telephone, said remote control device having a second display enabled for wireless communication with said control unit for display of said caller identification information.
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Abstract
A telephone with a ringer silencer call screening feature includes a ringer for indicating the receipt of an incoming call. A ringer control unit deactivates the ringer while the telephone is in a continuous on-hook state and reactivates the ringer upon termination of the incoming call. A call control unit for transmitting and receiving call signaling messages is connected to the ringer control unit for communication with the ringer control unit. Multiple keypads provide an interface between a user of the telephone and both the call control unit and the ringer control unit. A display connected to the ringer control unit and the call control unit displays caller identification information and a call status detector communicates with the ringer control unit upon termination of the incoming call. One method for screening calls includes utilizing one of the keypads to cause the ringer control unit to locally deactivate the ringer. Another method includes utilizing one of the keypads to cause the call control unit to transmit a transfer-to-voicemail message to a central office.
72 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A telephone with a call screening feature comprising:
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an indicator circuit that is responsive to detection of an incoming call for indicating receipt of said incoming call when said telephone is in a continuous on-hook state;
a control unit having an indicator-disabling mode in which said control unit temporarily deactivates said indicator circuit while maintaining said telephone in said continuous on-hook state during said incoming call, said control unit being responsive to detection of a conclusion of said incoming call to automatically terminate said indicator-disabling mode upon sensing said conclusion;
a user-manipulable control unit interface connected to said control unit to selectively trigger said indicator-disabling mode subsequent to activation of said indicator circuit by said detection of said incoming call;
a display connected to said control unit for displaying caller identification information indicative of an origin of said incoming call;
a remote control device with a second control unit interface for wireless communication with said control unit to enable deactivation of said indicator circuit from a location remote from said telephone, said remote control device having a second display enabled for wireless communication with said control unit for display of said caller identification information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for screening incoming calls to a telephone comprising the steps of:
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receiving an incoming call to said telephone via a telephone network, said reception of said incoming call activating a ringer on said telephone to signal current availability of said incoming call;
displaying caller identification information indicative of an origin of said incoming call;
during said current availability of said incoming call, enabling a user to temporarily disable said ringer on said telephone while said telephone is in an uninterrupted on-hook state; and
if said ringer is temporarily disabled and said telephone remains in said uninterrupted on-hook state, automatically and immediately re-enabling said ringer in response to detection that said incoming call has been terminated, said step of automatically and immediately re-enabling said ringer being independent of any intermediate step. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A telephone with a call screening feature comprising:
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a ringer that is responsive to detection of an incoming call;
a ringer control unit having a temporary ringer-disabling mode during said incoming call while said telephone is in an uninterrupted on-hook state after said activation of said ringer by said incoming call and having ringer re-enabling capability while said telephone is in said uninterrupted on-hook state upon termination of said incoming call;
a call control unit having a call signaling message transmission mode and a call signaling message reception mode, wherein said call control unit is configured to transmit a transfer-to-voicemail message to a central office, said transfer-to-voicemail message causing termination of said incoming call;
first and second telephone keypads connected to selectively trigger said ringer-disabling mode of said ringer control unit and to trigger said call signaling message transmission mode of said call control unit, said first telephone keypad being assigned a mute ringer function, said second telephone keypad being associated with a transfer-to-voicemail function;
a display connected to said ringer control unit and said call control unit for displaying caller identification information indicative of an origin of said incoming call received from said call control unit;
a status detector having an input and an output, said input connected to said call control unit and said output connected to said ringer control unit to enable transmission of call termination data to said ringer control unit upon termination of said incoming call;
a remote control device with a second control unit interface for wireless communication with said ringer control unit to enable deactivation of said ringer from a location remote from said telephone; and
a second display connected to said remote control device and enabled for wireless communication with said call control unit for display of said caller identification information. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for screening incoming calls to a telephone comprising the steps of:
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(1) receiving an incoming call to said telephone via a telephone network, said reception of said incoming call activating a ringer on said telephone to signal current availability of said incoming call;
(2) displaying caller identification indicative of an origin of said incoming call;
(3) during said current availability of said incoming call, enabling a user to temporarily disable said ringer on said telephone while said telephone is in an uninterrupted on-hook state;
(4) if said ringer is temporarily disabled and said telephone remains in said uninterrupted on-hook state, automatically and immediately re-enabling said ringer in response to detection that said incoming call has been terminated, said step of automatically and immediately re-enabling said ringer being independent of any intermediate step; and
(5) repeating said steps (1) through (4) for each subsequent incoming call to said telephone.
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Specification