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Automatic incoming telephone call originating number and party display system

 Romek Figa et al
An automatic incoming telephone call number display system for detecting an incoming call and identifying the party associated with the incoming call number. The system includes a directory of telephone numbers and parties associated with those numbers. Circuitry detects the origin telephone...
Inventors: Romek Figa, Jonathan H. Cohen, Samuel G. Cohen
Assignee: Romek Figa d/b/a Abraham & Sons

U.S. Classification
379/142; 379/355; 379/131; 379/199

International Classification
H04M 127

View patent at USPTO

Citations

Patent NumberTitleIssue date
4304968Telephone electronic answering deviceDec 8, 1981
4443664Telephone station incorporating exchange message systemApr 17, 1984
4582956Method and apparatus for displaying at a selected station special service information during a silent interval between ringingApr 15, 1986
4656657Telephone monitoring deviceApr 7, 1987
4776005Computer based information system for character display phone networkOct 4, 1988

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic incoming telephone call number display device comprising:

a directory of telephone numbers and parties associated with those numbers;
means for detecting the origin telephone number of an incoming telephone call;
means for comparing the detected incoming telephone number with said directory of telephone numbers to identify the party associated with the incoming call number;
display means for displaying the incoming call number or the incoming call number and the identified associated party before the incoming call is answered;
means for logging the detected incoming telephone number;
means for retrieving telephone numbers of incoming calls logged by said means for logging; and
means for automatically entering telephone numbers retrieved by said means for retrieving into said directory.

2. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for storing the detected number of the incoming telephone call.

3. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 2 further including means for recording the date and time of the incoming call.

4. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for providing to said means for displaying the date, time, and duration of the incoming call.

5. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 2 further including means for switching the system to an off-hook condition when a number is dialed and means for timing the duration of the outgoing call.

6. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 5 further including means for storing the date, time and duration of the outgoing call.

7. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 5 further including means for providing to said means for displaying the date, time, and duration of the outgoing call.

8. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for searching the directory.

9. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 8 in which said means for searching includes means for searching the directory includes means for searching for a preselected party.

10. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 8 in which said means for searching the directory includes means for searching for a preselected number.

11. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for adding a party and an associated number to said directory.

12. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for deleting a party and an associated number from said directory.

13. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for editing said directory.

14. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for automatically dialing a number in said directory.

15. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including means for displaying the current time and date on said display means when said system is not being used during detection of incoming or placing outgoing calls.

16. An automatic incoming telephone call number display system comprising:

a directory of telephone numbers and parties associated with those numbers;
means for detecting the origin telephone number of an incoming telephone call;
means for comparing the detected incoming telephone number with said directory of telephone numbers to identify the party associated with the incoming call number;
display means for displaying the incoming call number and the identified associated party before the incoming call is answered;
means for logging all incoming calls chronologically;
means for retrieving telephone numbers of incoming calls logged by said means for logging; and
means for automatically entering into said directory telephone numbers retrieved by said means for retrieving.

17. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 16 further including means for recording the date and time of the incoming call.

18. The device of claim 16 further including means for dialing outgoing calls.

19. An automatic incoming telephone call number display system comprising:

a directory of telephone numbers and parties associated with those numbers;
means for detecting the origin telephone number of an incoming telephone call;
means for comparing the detected incoming telephone number with said directory of telephone numbers to identify the party associated with the incoming call number;
display means for displaying the incoming call number and the identified associated party before the incoming call is answered;
means for logging outgoing calls chronologically;
means for retrieving telephone numbers of outgoing calls logged by said means for logging; and
means for automatically entering into said directory telephone numbers retrieved by said means for retrieving.

20. The device of claim 19 further including means for storing the date and time of the incoming call.

21. The device of claim 18 further including means for storing the date, the time, and the duration of the outgoing calls.

22. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 19 further including means for storing the duration of the incoming call.

23. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 22 further including means for sensing when a telephone has gone off-hook in response to an incoming call, and means for timing the duration of the incoming call.

24. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 19 further including means for logging all incoming calls chronologically.

25. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 24 further including means for retrieving telephone numbers of incoming calls logged by said means for logging.

26. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 25 further including means for automatically dialing the telephone number retrieved by said means for retrieving.

27. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 16 further including means for logging the outgoing calls chronologically.

28. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 27 further including means for retrieving telephone numbers of outgoing calls logged by said means for logging.

29. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 28 further including means for automatically dialing the telephone number retrieved by said means for retrieving.

30. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 19 further including means for preventing a user from dialing a telephone number if an incoming telephone call is detected by said means for detecting.

31. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 1 further including telephone handset means for communicating over a telephone line.

32. The automatic incoming telephone call number display system of claim 16 further including means for manually dialing a telephone number.

Drawings