Establishing telephone communications with secondary devices

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus, including a program encoded on computer-readable medium, for providing ring notifications in parallel to a primary incoming call are disclosed. An example method can include receiving, at a server system, a notification of a primary incoming call directed to a subscriber telephone number associated with a user device, notifying, by the server system, one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call based on the notification, sending, from the server system, an instruction to perform one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call to a telephone number associated with the server system, wherein the instruction is only sent after notifying the one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call, receiving the forwarded incoming call at the server system, and connecting, by the server system, the forwarded incoming call to a particular secondary destination.

1 .- 62 . (canceled) 
     
     
         63 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a server system, a notification of a primary incoming call directed to a subscriber telephone number associated with a user device, where the notification received at the server system is sent by the user device after the primary incoming call is detected at the user device;   receiving, at the server system, the primary incoming call forwarded responsive of one or more operations performed at the user device to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call to a telephone number associated with the server system; and   connecting, by the server system, the forwarded incoming call to a particular secondary destination, where the particular secondary destination is selected from one or more secondary destinations.   
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein the one or more operations performed at the user device include a rejection of the primary incoming call, wherein rejecting the primary incoming call triggers the forwarding of the primary incoming call to the server system. 
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 63 , the method further comprising:
 in response to receiving the notification of the primary incoming call at the server system and prior to the receiving the primary incoming call at the server system, notifying, by the server system, one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call based on the received notification, where the notification is made by the server system while the primary incoming call is concurrently detected at the user device; and   sending, from the server system, an instruction to the user device to perform the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call to a telephone number associated with the server system, wherein the instruction is sent after notifying the one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call.   
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations is sent to an application on the user device, and wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations includes instructions for the application to reject the primary incoming call in response to receiving the instruction to perform one or more operations, wherein rejecting the primary incoming call triggers the conditional call forwarding on busy. 
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein the user device is a mobile device and an application on the mobile device communicates with the server system to update a list of devices to be notified of incoming calls. 
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein a calling party identifier is associated with the primary incoming call and the notification of the primary incoming call includes the calling party identifier, wherein the server system associates the forwarded incoming call with the particular secondary destination based on a match between the calling party identifier included in the notification of the primary incoming call and a calling party identifier associated with the received forwarded incoming call. 
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein a calling party identifier is associated with the primary incoming call, wherein the server system generates a voice message associated with the calling party identifier, and wherein the server system plays the generated voice message at the particular secondary destination in response to a request to answer the forwarded incoming call from the particular secondary destination. 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein a calling party identifier is associated with the primary incoming call, wherein the notification of the primary incoming call includes the calling party identifier, and wherein notifying the one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call includes providing the one or more secondary destinations with a calling party identifier consistent with the calling party identifier associated with the primary incoming call. 
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein notifying the one or more secondary destinations is based on whether the user device is one of a silent, vibrate, or ringing ringer state. 
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 63  further comprising requesting registration of conditional call forwarding on busy on a subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number, the destination of the forwarding being set to a telephone number associated with the server system, wherein the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call include rejecting the primary incoming call at the user device, and wherein the registration of the conditional call forwarding on busy is performed prior to the rejection of the primary incoming call. 
     
     
         73 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein the registration of conditional call forwarding on busy is requested by the server system to a server managing the subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number. 
     
     
         74 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein the request to register the conditional call forwarding on busy is requested from an application on the user device, and wherein an instruction is sent from the server system to the application on the user device requesting the application to trigger conditional call forwarding. 
     
     
         75 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein the one or more secondary destinations include at least one of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) destination, a circuit-switched destination, or a VoIP application on the user device. 
     
     
         76 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on one or more parameters for the user device or the one or more secondary destinations, where the parameters are selected from the group consisting of location of the user device or other device, time of day, date, proximity of the user device to another device, relative proximity of devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations to the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations, data communication speed, data communication latency, cellular connection status, recentness of activity on device, rate of movement, a ringing state of the user device, a cellular ID to which the user device is connected, and a list of Wi-Fi networks in proximity of the user device. 
     
     
         77 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations. 
     
     
         78 . The method of  claim 77 , wherein selecting further includes comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations, wherein comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations comprises:
 determining a physical location of the user device and a physical location of each of the one or more secondary destinations; and   selecting one of the one or more secondary destinations within a pre-determined distance from the user device as the particular secondary destination.   
     
     
         79 . The method of  claim 63  wherein the server system is associated with a mobile service provider, and wherein the one or more secondary destinations are determined based on a location of the user device. 
     
     
         80 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein the server system connects the forwarded incoming call with the particular secondary destination based on at least one of an identifier corresponding to the subscriber telephone number associated with the received forwarded incoming call or on the telephone number associated with the server system at which the forwarded incoming call is received. 
     
     
         81 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein the user device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         82 . A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by at least one processor perform operations including:
 receiving, at a server system, a notification of a primary incoming call directed to a subscriber telephone number associated with a user device, where the notification received at the server system is sent by the user device after the primary incoming call is detected at the user device;   receiving, at the server system, the primary incoming call forwarded responsive of one or more operations performed at the user device to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call to a telephone number associated with the server system; and   connecting, by the server system, the forwarded incoming call to a particular secondary destination, where the particular secondary destination is selected from one or more secondary destinations.   
     
     
         83 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein the one or more operations performed at the user device include a rejection of the primary incoming call, wherein rejecting the primary incoming call triggers the forwarding of the primary incoming call to the server system. 
     
     
         84 . The medium of  claim 82 , the operations further including:
 in response to receiving the notification of the primary incoming call at the server system and prior to the receiving the primary incoming call at the server system, notifying, by the server system, one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call based on the received notification, where the notification is made by the server system while the primary incoming call is concurrently detected at the user device; and   sending, from the server system, an instruction to the user device to perform the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call to a telephone number associated with the server system, wherein the instruction is sent after notifying the one or more secondary destinations of the primary incoming call.   
     
     
         85 . The medium of  claim 84 , wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations is sent to an application on the user device, and wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations includes instructions for the application to reject the primary incoming call in response to receiving the instruction to perform one or more operations, wherein rejecting the primary incoming call triggers the conditional call forwarding on busy. 
     
     
         86 . The medium of  claim 85 , wherein the user device is a mobile device and an application on the mobile device communicates with the server system to update a list of devices to be notified of incoming calls. 
     
     
         87 . The medium of  claim 84 , wherein notifying the one or more secondary destinations is based on whether the user device is one of a silent, vibrate, or ringing ringer state. 
     
     
         88 . The medium of  claim 82 , the operations further including requesting registration of conditional call forwarding on busy on a subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number, the destination of the forwarding being set to a telephone number associated with the server system, wherein the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the primary incoming call include rejecting the primary incoming call at the user device, and wherein the registration of the conditional call forwarding on busy is performed prior to the rejection of the primary incoming call. 
     
     
         89 . The medium of  claim 88 , wherein the registration of conditional call forwarding on busy is requested by the server system to a server managing the subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number. 
     
     
         90 . The medium of  claim 88 , wherein the request to register the conditional call forwarding on busy is requested from an application on the user device, and wherein an instruction is sent from the server system to the application on the user device requesting the application to trigger conditional call forwarding. 
     
     
         91 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein the one or more secondary destinations include at least one of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) destination, a circuit-switched destination, or a VoIP application on the user device. 
     
     
         92 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on one or more parameters for the user device or the one or more secondary destinations, where the parameters are selected from the group consisting of location of the user device or other device, time of day, date, proximity of the user device to another device, relative proximity of devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations to the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations, data communication speed, data communication latency, cellular connection status, recentness of activity on device, rate of movement, a ringing state of the user device, a cellular ID to which the user device is connected, and a list of Wi-Fi networks in proximity of the user device. 
     
     
         93 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations. 
     
     
         94 . The medium of  claim 93 , wherein selecting further includes comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations, wherein comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations comprises:
 determining a physical location of the user device and a physical location of each of the one or more secondary destinations; and   selecting one of the one or more secondary destinations within a pre-determined distance from the user device as the particular secondary destination.   
     
     
         95 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein the server system connects the forwarded incoming call with the particular secondary destination based on at least one of an identifier corresponding to the subscriber telephone number associated with the received forwarded incoming call or on the telephone number associated with the server system at which the forwarded incoming call is received. 
     
     
         96 . The medium of  claim 82 , wherein the user device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         97 . A system comprising:
 a user device associated with a subscriber telephone number, the user device having an application adapted to send a notification of an incoming call directed to the subscriber telephone number, after the incoming call is detected at the user device; and one or more servers, wherein the one or more servers are adapted to:
 receive the notification of the incoming call from the user device; 
 receive the incoming call forwarded responsive of one or more operations performed at the user device to trigger forwarding of the incoming call to a telephone number associated with the one or more servers; and 
 connect the forwarded incoming call to a particular secondary destination, where the particular secondary destination is selected from one or more secondary destinations. 
   
     
     
         98 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein the one or more operations performed at the user device include a rejection of the incoming call, wherein rejecting the incoming call triggers the forwarding of the incoming call to the one or more servers. 
     
     
         99 . The system of  claim 97 , the one or more servers further adapted to:
 in response to receiving the notification of the incoming call and prior to the receiving the incoming call, notify one or more secondary destinations of the incoming call based on the received notification, where the notification is made by the one or more servers while the incoming call is concurrently detected at the user device; and   sending an instruction to the user device to perform the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the incoming call to a telephone number associated with the one or more servers, wherein the instruction is sent after notifying the one or more secondary destinations of the incoming call.   
     
     
         100 . The system of  claim 99 , wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations is sent to the application on the user device, and wherein the instruction to perform one or more operations includes instructions for the application to reject the incoming call in response to receiving the instruction to perform one or more operations, wherein rejecting the incoming call triggers the conditional call forwarding on busy. 
     
     
         101 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein notifying the one or more secondary destinations is based on whether the user device is one of a silent, vibrate, or ringing ringer state. 
     
     
         102 . The system of  claim 97 , the one or more servers further adapted to request registration of conditional call forwarding on busy on a subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number, the destination of the forwarding being set to a telephone number associated with the one or more servers, wherein the one or more operations to trigger forwarding of the incoming call include rejecting the incoming call at the user device, and wherein the registration of the conditional call forwarding on busy is performed prior to the rejection of the incoming call. 
     
     
         103 . The system of  claim 102 , wherein the registration of conditional call forwarding on busy is requested by the one or more servers to a server managing the subscription associated with the subscriber telephone number. 
     
     
         104 . The system of  claim 102 , wherein the request to register the conditional call forwarding on busy is requested from the application on the user device, and wherein an instruction is sent from the one or more servers to the application on the user device requesting the application to trigger conditional call forwarding. 
     
     
         105 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein the one or more secondary destinations include at least one of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) destination, a circuit-switched destination, or a VoIP application on the user device. 
     
     
         106 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on one or more parameters for the user device or the one or more secondary destinations, where the parameters are selected from the group consisting of location of the user device or other device, time of day, date, proximity of the user device to another device, relative proximity of devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations to the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the user device, availability of a wired or wireless data connection for the devices associated with the one or more secondary destinations, data communication speed, data communication latency, cellular connection status, recentness of activity on device, rate of movement, a ringing state of the user device, a cellular ID to which the user device is connected, and a list of Wi-Fi networks in proximity of the user device. 
     
     
         107 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein selecting the particular secondary destination from the one or more secondary destinations is based on locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations. 
     
     
         108 . The system of  claim 107 , wherein selecting further includes comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations, wherein comparing the locations of the user device and the one or more secondary destinations comprises:
 determining a physical location of the user device and a physical location of each of the one or more secondary destinations; and   selecting one of the one or more secondary destinations within a pre-determined distance from the user device as the particular secondary destination.   
     
     
         109 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein the one or more servers connect the forwarded incoming call with the particular secondary destination based on at least one of an identifier corresponding to the subscriber telephone number associated with the received forwarded incoming call or on the telephone number associated with the one or more servers at which the forwarded incoming call is received. 
     
     
         110 . The system of  claim 97 , wherein the user device is a mobile device.