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:
Dec. 11, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 19, 1998
Peter Kapsales, Holmdel, NJ (US);
Barry Shawn Seip, New Providence, NJ (US);
AT&T Corp., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a blocked call routing apparatus and method that allows a caller to access a blocked number, such as a 1-8YY paging service, from a restricted device. The blocked call routing apparatus includes a controller, a database interface and a network interface. The blocked call routing apparatus receives call signals through the network interface and retrieves information from a database, through the database interface, corresponding to the source type and call destination address. Based on the information obtained from the database, the blocked call routing apparatus determines whether the call is blocked or unblocked. If the call is blocked, the blocked call routing apparatus queries the called party to determine if they wish to accept the additional charges necessary to complete the call. If they do, the block is overridden and the call is completed. Otherwise, the blocked call routing apparatus queries the calling party to determine if they wish to accept the additional charges necessary to complete the call. If the calling party accepts the charges, the blocked call routing apparatus then queries the calling party for billing information. The blocked call routing apparatus then verifies the billing information entered and, if the information is valid, overrides the block and completes the call.