Intelligent telephone set

Abstract

An intelligent telephone set is disclosed that includes a caller-ID circuit that extracts a call identifier from an incoming call. A call processing circuit in communication with the caller-ID circuit assigns the incoming call to a caller category associated with the call identifier. Subsequently, it selects a call processing action corresponding to the caller category and processes the incoming call using the selected call processing action. The intelligent telephone set allows users to set criteria for receiving and processing calls based on CID data One such call processing action is to use CID data to forward an incoming call to a predetermined location.

1 . In a telephone set having a database, an instruction set, and a graphical user interface including a display and a data entry device, a method of providing and selecting from a menu on the display, the method comprising: 
 retrieving a set of menu entries from the menu;    displaying the menu entries on the display, each menu entry representing a programmable operation;    selecting one menu entry from the set of menu entries on the display using the data entry device;    performing the programmable operation represented by the selected menu entry; and    transmitting a signal from the telephone set, the signal being indicative of the selected menu entry.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of performing includes searching the database.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of performing includes adding to the database, modifying the database, or deleting at least a portion of the database.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the database further comprises: 
 a first portion having stored therein a plurality of caller identifiers, each caller identifier being associated with one calling category of a plurality of calling categories;    a second portion including a library of ringing tones, each ringing tone being associated with one calling category of the plurality of calling categories; and    a third portion including a record log for storing at least one call characteristic of at least one telephone call established between the telephone set and a remote destination telephone set.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting includes emitting an audible signal.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting includes displaying the signal on the display.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of retrieving and selecting are performed by voice command, keyboard entry, mouse, touch screen, or via personal computer.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of performing includes adding to the instruction set, modifying the instruction set, or deleting at least a portion of the instruction set.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a telephone number, a date of the incoming call, a time of the incoming call, and the category of the incoming call.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of performing includes adding, modifying or deleting at least one of the plurality of caller identifiers.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of calling categories includes an important call category, a regular call category, and an undesirable call category.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of performing includes storing the at least one call characteristic for each outgoing call in the record log.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the telephone set is operative to store the at least one call characteristic for each incoming call in the record log for at least thirty days.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a called party identifier, a date of the outgoing call, a time of the outgoing call, and a duration of the outgoing call.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of caller identifiers includes a telephone number, a party name, a party affiliation, or an address.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the menu entries include an option for searching the instructions set.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the menu entries include an option for searching the database.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the menu entries include an option for modifying the instruction set.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the menu entries include an option for modifying the database.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the database includes a plurality of records, each record of each call identifier, caller category, and at least one call statistic for every incoming and outgoing call.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the menu entries include an option for retrieving any record in the database.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the menu entries include an option for searching the records in the database.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the menu entries include an option for sorting the records in the database.  
   
   
       24 . A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising: 
 extracting a call identifier from an incoming call;    assigning the incoming call to a caller category based on the call identifier, the caller category being one of a plurality of caller categories;    processing the incoming call in accordance with one of a plurality of call processing routines, the processor selecting a call processing routine corresponding to the assigned caller category; and    record the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic in the database.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising: 
 emitting a ring having a predetermined ringing tone associated with the caller category;    forwarding the incoming call to a predetermined destination based on the caller category if the ring is not answered within a predetermined number of ringing cycles; and    forwarding the incoming call to the voice mail component if the step of forwarding the incoming call to a predetermined destination is unsuccessful.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of transmitting a paging message by way of the computer interface, the paging message including the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one call statistic includes the time and date of the incoming call.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of transmitting a wireless message by way of the computer interface, the wireless message including the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the at least one call statistic includes the time and date of the incoming call.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of transmitting an e-mail message by way of the computer interface, the e-mail message including the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic.  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the at least one call statistic includes the time and date of the incoming call.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the caller category is assigned a priority caller category status.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of performing includes retrieving the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic from the database.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising: 
 emitting a ring having a predetermined ringing tone associated with the caller category;    forwarding the incoming call to the voice mail component if the ring is not answered within a predetermined number of ringing Cycles; and    recording at least one call statistic in the database, wherein the at least one call statistic includes the time and date of the incoming call.    
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the caller category is assigned a default caller category status.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the step of performing includes retrieving the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic from the database.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising: 
 emitting a ring having a predetermined ringing tone associated with the caller category;    playing a recorded message to the caller;    disconnecting the incoming call after playing the recorded message; and    recording the at least one call statistic in the database, wherein the at least one call statistic includes the time and date of the incoming call.    
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the at least one call characteristic includes a telephone number, a date of the incoming call, a time of the incoming call, and the category of the incoming call.  
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the step of performing includes retrieving the call identifier, the caller category, and at least one call statistic from the database.  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising the step of transmitting an electronic message by way of the computer interface, the electronic message selected from a group comprising a paging message, a wireless message, or an e-mail message.