Lucent Technologies Inc.

Joseph Michael Fallon

Gary N Weber

Ryan S Wallach

Aileen Y Chang

Rama Gabbita

A telephone system with a caller ID logging feature includes a plurality of telephone stations which share a plurality of telephone lines connected to the telephone system. Each one of the plural telephone lines is associated with one or more of the telephone stations. A control processor (CPU) monitors the incoming calls on the telephone lines connected to the telephone system, and also receives caller ID information from the Central Office of the telephone service provider. For unanswered incoming calls and answered calls which are to be stored, the CPU stores the associated caller ID information in a memory as a caller ID record including data indicating the telephone lines on which the incoming call was received. The stored caller ID records for each telephone line are accessible from telephone stations that are associated with that telephone line. Therefore, only one record is required which all users may access, thereby increasing the efficiency of the memory over prior art systems. The memory includes a minimum capacity per line so that a minimum number of records are allocated for each telephone line.

Caller ID logging: entry storage on a per line basis

An information processing system adapted for use in conjunction with a telephone communication system. The information processing system includes a caller identification signal receiver, a timed switching device, and a call forwarding device. When no incoming call is being received, the timed switching device is in a first, open state, such that a circuit between the telephone line and the call forwarding device is interrupted. Upon receipt of an incoming call on the telephone line, the timed switching device and the caller identification signal receiver are activated. The timed switching device enters a second, closed state after a finite amount of time has elapsed such as, for example, several seconds, thereby allowing sufficient time for the caller identification signal to arrive on the incoming telephone line. The caller identification signal receiver responds to the receipt of incoming caller identification information by immediately activating the timed switching device, placing the timed switching device into the second state. The call forwarding device, responsive to the caller identification signal receiver, connects the incoming telephone call to a selected telephone set.

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South Amboy, NJ, United States of America

Joseph Michael Fallon