Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc.

Verizon Services Corporation

William A Kay

Von K McConnell

Dorsey P Brown

David A Dague

Barry Paul Pershan

Michael P Straub

Alita M Parker

George Hasenauer

Lisa M Phillips

A cake shield with a top cover and side wall dimensioned to enclose a cake to prevent contamination during celebration is disclosed. Recesses in the top cover may include a recessed track dimensioned to hold multiple candles, a deeper cylindrical or conical recess, or a recess dimensioned for a candle with a rectangular footprint. Use of transparent material allows the cake to be viewed under the shield. The cake shield may comprise a base wall that supports the side wall of the top cover, and two or more pieces may interlock to form the base wall. A kit may also include a base plate for supporting both the cake and the side wall, as well as decorations for the top cover that may include candles and other materials.

Cake shield

Rectangular cake cover

Cake slice cover

Improved call forwarding methods and apparatus are described. Dialing of multiple call forwarding locations in parallel is supported. Distinguishing between fax and voice calls and using different forwarding numbers for each type of call is also supported. Forwarding of facsimiles by E-mail as an alternative or in addition to forwarding by phone is also supported. Call forwarding security features such as requiring an answering party to enter a PIN before being connected to the calling party are also described. The call forwarding services can be implemented in the PSTN using AIN techniques avoiding the need to purchase or upgrade customer premise equipment to receive the call forwarding service. Alternatively, the call forwarding methods may be implemented using customer premise equipment such as a PBX.

Methods and apparatus for forwarding facsimiles by phone and/or E-mail

A method and system is disclosed for tracking call transaction data from incoming telephone calls, including attempted calls that have not been completed, made to individual predetermined subscribers during a defined time period. Information, including demographic breakdowns of calls, such as time of day, day of week, location of origin, etc. is reported automatically by the system. Through the use of the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) and Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) platform, call transaction data for incoming calls are captured in response to terminating triggers at Service Switching Points (SSPs). The call originating phone number for each call may be used to access an existing telephone system billing database, called Customer Record Information System (CRIS), to obtain caller information, including zip code. The zip code, in turn, can be used to access a commercially available census data base to provide further demographic information. Report statistics can match these demographics with the number of calls received as collected at the ISCP. The arrangement additionally provides for identifying first time callers and the collection of data relevant to each call obtained in an interactive manner from the called subscriber.

Incoming call tracking with interactive data collection

In a virtual implementation, intelligent processing permits use of selectively switched connections and selective billing procedures to emulate a foreign exchange service. On outgoing foreign exchange calls, a local switching system detects a predetermined event, such as dialing of an access code, as a trigger. In response to this trigger, the local switching system queries a central database, and the central database instructs that switching system to route the call through a foreign exchange central office switching system using the customer's own foreign exchange number. The foreign exchange office queries the database in response to all calls using the foreign exchange number, i.e. both for incoming and outgoing calls. For an outgoing call, the database instructs the foreign exchange central office switching system to route the call to the dialed number destination and to record the foreign exchange number as the point of call origin for billing purposes. For incoming calls, the database instructs the foreign exchange to route calls to the customer's communication link, i.e. through the local exchange central office switching system. For both incoming and outgoing calls, the central database instructs at least one of the switching systems not to record billing or charge data for the portion of the communication link running between the switching systems.

Virtual foreign exchange service

A method and system is disclosed for tracking call transaction data from incoming telephone calls, including attempted calls that have not been completed, made to individual predetermined subscribers during a defined time period. Information, including demographic breakdowns of calls, such as time of day, day of week, location of origin, etc. is reported automatically by the system. Through the use of the Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) and Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) platform, call transaction data for incoming calls are captured in response to terminating triggers at Service Switching Points (SSPs). The call originating phone number for each call may be used to access an existing telephone system billing database, called Customer Record Information System (CRIS), to obtain caller information, including zip code. The zip code, in turn, can be used to access a commercially available census data base to provide further demographic information. Report statistics can match these demographics with the number of calls received as collected at the ISCP.

System and method for tracking and reporting incoming calls

A public switched telephone network having an advanced intelligent network and intelligent peripheral is utilized to provide a work-at-home office for one or more employees of one or more companies wherein those work-at-home employees are enabled to place business calls from their residence telephones with automatic billing of such calls to the employer. One residence directory number may be utilized by multiple work-at-home employees who may be employed by multiple employers. The work-at-home employees utilize personal identification numbers in conjunction with residence directory number identification in such a manner that the placement of the call and entry of the PIN identify the employer billing directory number to be charged. System administration is arranged so that the service may be activated or deactivated by a system administrator connecting with the intelligent peripheral from an authorized directory number and providing an activating-deactivating signal.

Telephone network with telecommuting features

A switching office translates a dialed extension number consisting of fewer digits than the minimum number normally required to identify a destination station into a Centrex number of at least the minimum number of digits. At least for those extension numbers identifying lines connected to a different switching office, the Centrex number triggers a query and response procedure to access data stored in a database in a central control. The accessed data is used to translate the Centrex number into an actual destination number uniquely identifying a particular communication line. The central control returns the destination number to the switching office for use in providing a requested communication service. Call processing methods and communication systems using these translations can extend a number of Centrex features, such as extension number dialing and extension number based call transfer, to a business subscriber's various premises served by different end offices.

Extension of centrex services

The Area Wide Centrex service is provided in a telephone communication network having a plurality of interconnected central office switching systems, each at a different location. Each of the central office switching systems connects to a number of local telephone lines, a number of which can be designated as members of a business group for a particular customer. Area Wide Centrex extends a number of service features to the business group over a broad area through multiple central offices by taking the programming intelligence capacity out of the central offices and moving it to a central point. Service features such as call routing are controlled by data stored in a central data base. Establishing or changing services for one or all of a particular customer's lines requires only reprogramming that customer's data in the central data base, without the need to reprogram each central office switch. Also, Centrex services such as extension number type intercom dialing and call transfer can be extended across provided to groups of lines connected to different exchanges.

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Glendora, NJ, United States of America

William A Kay