The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 19, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 01, 1995
Thomas P Sosnowski, Wayland, MA (US);
Unifi Communications, Inc., Lowell, MA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for qualifying telephone numbers for a telephone network according to whether the telephone network services the particular area associated with a dialed telephone number, and whether the dialed telephone number is associated with a particular type of terminal equipment. The method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: monitoring a telephone line for outgoing calls; intercepting an outgoing destination telephone number on the telephone line; comparing the outgoing destination telephone number to at least one destination telephone number stored in a database; making a connection between the telephone line and a selective telephone network if the outgoing destination telephone number matches the at least one stored destination telephone number; and making a connection between the telephone line and a standard telephone network if the outgoing destination telephone number does not match the at least one stored destination telephone number. In the event that a connection is made with a standard telephone network, the telephone line is monitored for activity and if activity is detected, the outgoing destination telephone number becomes qualified and is then stored in the database.