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Method and apparatus for presenting caller identification information with geographical and/or source language information

Method and apparatus for presenting caller identification information with geographical and/or source language information description/claims

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for transmitting data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for transmitting geographical and/or source language information.

2. Description of Related Art

Caller identification (CID), also referred to as caller number delivery (CND), is an extension of automatic number identification (ANI), which is used by telephone companies to identify a billing account for a toll call. Caller ID information is transmitted using frequency shift keyed (FSK) modem tones. The caller ID information displayed to a user typically includes a telephone number and/or the name of the calling party. In this manner, a telephone user is able to identify a party prior to answering a call.

This type of information is particularly useful with some businesses in which multilingual voice calls are common. In some cases, the person answering a phone speaks more than one language, but does not know the language of the caller. Through caller identification information, a user may be able to approximately identify the geographic location of a calling party based on the telephone number presented in the caller ID information. This information is useful to a limited extent. A user may be able to use the telephone number from the calling party to identify a location from which the call originates if the user can translate the number into the geographic region. This system, however, is inefficient because it requires the user to identify the geographic location of the caller based on the phone number. Moreover, in some cases, particularly some international calls, the caller ID information that is transmitted to the receiving party may be insufficient to identify the geographic location of the caller. When a call is received, the user has only a short period of time to answer the call. As a result, identifying the geographic location of the caller from the telephone number is often impractical.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for identifying a location of a calling party when a call is received. It would be additionally advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for identifying the language(s) spoken by a calling party when a call is received.

The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for processing calls. Initiation of a call by a user is detected in the communications device. In response to detecting the call, a geographic identification based on a number assigned to the communications device and/or a language identification based on a user of the communications device is identified. The geographic identification and the language identification are transmitted with caller identification information for use by a called party.

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a communications system in which the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communications unit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data processing system that may be implemented as a server in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the sending of caller ID information in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for initiating a call in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for receiving a call in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for managing incoming calls in a call center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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