Charles Michael Conway

US Patent:

54757371, Dec 12, 1995

Filed:

Sep 17, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/121855

Inventors:

Robert N. Garner - Turnersville NJ
Robert D. Farris - Sterling VA
Charles J. Conway - Arlington VA

Assignee:

Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. - Arlington VA

International Classification:

H04M 164

US Classification:

379 67

Abstract:

A call forwarding parameter, which a communication network uses to control forwarding of a subscriber's incoming calls to a centralized messaging system, is varied as a function of the status of a subscriber's services within the centralized messaging system. This forwarding control may apply to a variety of different types of communication network and/or to a variety of centralized messaging systems. For example, if the messaging system provides voice mail type services, and the communication network is a public switched telephone network, the voice mail system might instruct the network to change the threshold ringing interval or the threshold number of rings before forwarding unanswered calls directed to a subscriber to the voice mail system, as a function of the status of that subscriber's mailbox. In this example, if the mailbox stores new messages, the voice mail system instructs the telephone network to forward or direct calls to the voice mail system after a relatively short interval (zero to three rings). If all stored messages have been replayed to the subscriber or the subscriber's mailbox is empty, the telephone network would forward the subscriber's incoming calls to the voice mail system after a longer ringing interval or ring count (e. g.