Asif Deborah Naseem

US Patent:

20020118800, Aug 29, 2002

Filed:

Jul 12, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/904746

Inventors:

Maria Martinez - Winfield IL, US
Asif Naseem - Naperville IL, US
Richard Piepho - Naperville IL, US
Gregory Johnson - Carol Stream IL, US
May Pao - Glen Ellyn IL, US
Lawrence Keeley - Chicago IL, US

International Classification:

H04M001/64

US Classification:

379/067100, 379/088220

Abstract:

The present invention relates to a telephone system including a telephone switch () having at least one incoming line and at least one outgoing line. The telephone switch () is responsive to control signals to switch a call received from a caller to an outgoing line directed to one of a plurality of numbers stored in a database for a first party. An audio processing unit () is connected to the telephone switch () to receive incoming audio communications from the caller and to provide outgoing audio communications to the caller. A control unit () controls the telephone switch to transfer the call to the at least one outgoing line. A method of providing telephone communication service to a user is also provided. The method included the steps of receiving an incoming call from a user, connecting the incoming call to an audio processing unit, and obtaining a first audio request from the user. The method also includes the steps of determining whether the first audio request corresponds to one of a plurality of parties stored in a database, and placing an outgoing call directed to the one of the plurality of parties.