Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus, method and system are illustrated which provide for personal telecommunication incoming call screening and alerting. In the various embodiments, the incoming call screening and alerting utilizes a personalized affinity database, based upon individual calling behaviors and patterns. In the preferred embodiment, the affinity database includes telephone numbers and names for outgoing calls (dialed numbers), and for those incoming calls that have a predetermined minimum duration following answering (minimum off hook time period). As a consequence, erroneous or unwanted incoming calls are not included within the affinity database. The preferred system includes a line unit couplable to customer premise equipment (such as a telephone), a network signaling interface, a network trunk interface, a memory, and a processor. The processor includes instructions for determining whether received network signaling information includes caller identification information, which matches an affinity number, such as a number from which a consumer would like to receive a telephone call. For automatic call screening and alerting, the processor has further instructions for assigning a first priority to a corresponding network communication when the caller identification information matches an affinity number, such as providing a distinctive ring or allowing the communication during certain periods of time, and for assigning a second priority to the corresponding network communication when the caller identification information does not match an affinity number, such as routing the incoming call to an automatic messaging or voice mail system.

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First Claim