Telephone caller location data retrieval

Abstract

A system for obtaining location data of calling parties for telephone calls provides location data for display by a called device. Through reception of the name, telephone number, or other calling party identifier as is done through the conventional caller ID service, the called device formulates a query to a database containing location data for calling parties. Existing advanced intelligent network infrastructure may be used to provide caller ID data to the called device, and the called device uses this caller ID data to formulate the query to the database. Additionally, the called device may have access to multiple databases containing location data and may detect an appropriate database to query based upon analysis of the caller ID data that has been received.

1. A method for acquiring location data about a calling party at a called device, comprising:
 receiving, at the called device, an identifier of the calling party through signals from a connection to a signal switching point;  
 detecting, at the called device, a particular database to query based on the received identifier from amongst a plurality of databases containing location data about calling parties that are indexed by identifiers; and  
 querying, from the called device, the particular database that is detected to obtain the location data by looking-up the identifier received from the signal switching point to find the associated location data of the calling party.  
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the calling party identifier is a telephone number of the calling party. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a call trigger into an originating signal switching point, the call trigger containing the telephone number;  
 transferring the telephone number from the originating signal switching point to the signal switching point; and  
 forwarding the telephone number from the signal switching point to the called device.  
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the call trigger includes the telephone number of the called device. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein querying the particular database comprises sending from the called device a query across the Internet to a server in communication with the particular database. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting a particular database to query comprises determining, by the called party device, a category representing the calling party from the identifier wherein the particular database that is detected contains information for the determined category. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a name of the calling party, the method further comprising:
 sending a query to a signal transfer point from the signal switching point, the query containing a telephone number of the calling party;  
 transferring the query from the signal transfer point to an appropriate signal control point;  
 looking-up the telephone number in a database accessible by the signal control point to find the name of the calling party;  
 transferring the name of the calling party to the signal transfer point from the signal control point;  
 sending the name of the calling party to the signal switching point from the signal transfer point; and  
 forwarding the name of the calling party from the signal switching point.  
 
     
     
       8. A system for acquiring location data of a calling party, comprising:
 a called device that displays the location data;  
 a signal switching point configured to forward an identifier of a calling party to the called device;  
 a category list maintained by the called device and referenced when detecting an appropriate electronic database to query for location data, wherein the calling party identifier forwarded to the called device falls into a particular category within the list that identifies the particular database to query; and  
 a plurality of electronic databases in communication with the called device, each containing location data indexed by identifiers of calling parties, wherein the called device sends a query to the particular electronic database upon receiving the identifier, the query containing the identifier, and wherein the electronic database looks up the identifier to access the location data provided to the called device.  
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein prior to querying the electronic database, the called device detects a particular electronic database to query based on the received identifier and wherein the called device queries the particular electronic database that is detected. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the calling party identifier is a telephone number of the calling party. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , further comprising an original signal switching point that receives a call trigger from the calling device and forwards the telephone number to the signal switching point. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the originating signal switching point forwards a telephone number of the called party to the signal switching point. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the called device sends the query to the particular electronic database across the Internet to a server in communication with the particular electronic database. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the called device detects the particular electronic database by determining a category representing the calling party from the identifier and wherein the particular electronic database that is detected contains location data for the determined category. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the identifier is a name of the calling party, the system further comprising:
 a signal transfer point in communication with the signal switching point, wherein the signal switching point sends an identifier query to the signal transfer point that contains a telephone number of the calling party, and wherein the signal transfer point receives the name of the calling party and forwards it to the signal switching point; and  
 a signal control point in communication with the signal transfer point, wherein the signal transfer point forwards the identifier query to the signal control point and the signal control point looks up the telephone number to find the name of the calling party, and sends the name of the calling party to the signal transfer point.  
 
     
     
       16. A system for acquiring location data of a calling party, comprising:
 a telephone network;  
 a computing device interfaced with the telephone network, the computing device being configured to receive an identifier of the calling party, detect an electronic database containing location data associated with the identifier, send a query containing the identifier to the detected database in response to receiving the identifier, and display the location data; and  
 a plurality of electronic databases in communication with the computing device, the plurality of electronic databases containing location data for calling parties, the plurality of electronic databases being configured so that the detected electronic database from the plurality of electronic databases receives the query and looks up the identifier to obtain the location data.  
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the identifier is the telephone number of the calling party. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the computing device detects an electronic database by determining a category representing the calling party and selecting an electronic database that contains location data for the category. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 16 , wherein one or more of the electronic databases of the plurality are in communication with the computing device through the Internet. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the call trigger includes the telephone number of the called device, the method further comprising:
 prior to forwarding the identifier contained within the call trigger to the called device, detecting whether the call trigger includes a privacy indicator, and if a privacy indicator is detected, the signal switching point connects to the called device without sending the identifier;  
 subsequent to detecting the absence of a privacy indicator within the call trigger, detecting whether the called device subscribes to a caller identification service providing a number as the identifier, and if such caller identification service subscription is not detected, the signal switching point connects to the called device without sending the identifier; and  
 subsequent to detecting that the called device subscribes to a caller identification service providing a number as the identifier, further detecting whether the called device also subscribes to a calling name caller identification service providing a name as the identifier, and if such calling name caller identification subscription is detected, the signal switching point connects to the called device and sends both the number and the name.  
 
     
     
       21. A method for acquiring location data about a calling party at a called device, comprising:
   receiving, at the called device, an identifier of the calling party through signals from a connection to a telephone network;        detecting, at the called device, a particular database to query based on the received identifier from amongst one or more databases containing location data about calling parties that are indexed by identifiers; and        querying, from the called device, the particular database that is detected to obtain the location data by looking - up the received identifier to find associated location data of the calling party.     
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21 , wherein said identifier is selected from the group consisting of a telephone number of the calling party and a name of the calling party. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 21 , wherein said querying the particular database comprises:
   sending from the called device a query across a communication network to a server communicatively coupled to the particular database.     
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the communication network includes the Internet. 
     
     
       25. An apparatus to obtain location information about a calling party, comprising:
   a call - receiving device to be coupled to a telephone network to receive a call from a calling party, the call - receiving device further to be coupled to one or more databases containing location information indexed based on at least one identifier, the call - receiving device to obtain information relating to said calling party, the information including said at least one identifier, from said telephone network when receiving a call from said telephone network, wherein said call - receiving device is further to select a particular database from said one or more databases, based at least in part on said at least one identifier, and to query the particular database, using said at least one identifier, to obtain location information corresponding to said calling party.     
     
     
       26. The apparatus according to  claim 25 , wherein said call-receiving device is to be coupled to said one or more databases via one or more communication networks. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus according to  claim 26 , wherein said one or more communication networks include the Internet. 
     
     
       28. The apparatus according to  claim 25 , further comprising:
   a category list to be coupled to the call - receiving device, wherein the call - receiving is to use said at least one identifier to associate a calling party with a category from said category list.     
     
     
       29. The apparatus according to  claim 28 , wherein said call- receiving device is further to use a category associated with the calling party to select the particular database.   
     
     
       30. The apparatus of  claim 25 , wherein said at least one identifier is selected from the group consisting of a telephone number of the calling party and a name of the calling party.