System and method for customized telephone greeting announcements

Abstract

A system and method for providing customized announcements to callers based on the called party telephone number and the calling party telephone number. The system comprises a server system and a messaging system. The server system detects that a customized announcement is to be delivered and the messaging system delivers the announcement to the caller. The customized announcements may be provided in conjunction with voicemail systems or other services for processing calls when a called party is not available. In a preferred embodiment the customized announcements are provided via a service node in an advanced intelligent network.

1. A method for allowing a subscriber to provide customized announcements to callers, said method comprising:
 populating a database with a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements;  
 determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number;  
 providing an announcement associated with the calling party number when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, and (iii) the calling party number appears only once in the list of designated caller numbers; and  
 providing the announcement associated with the calling party number and a caller name when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, (iii) the calling party number appears more than once in the list of designated caller numbers, and (iv) a caller has entered the caller name after being prompted.  
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising provisioning a trigger on the subscriber telephone number at a service switching point; suspending a call to the subscriber telephone number; and routing the call to a server system hosting the database. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the trigger is a termination attempt trigger (TAT). 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a default announcement when the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number and the calling party number is not in the list of designated caller numbers. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the populating a database comprises:
 receiving a call from the subscriber;  
 authenticating the subscriber; and  
 prompting the subscriber to enter a caller number, a caller name, and an announcement.  
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising updating the database according to an instruction received from the subscriber. 
     
     
       7. A method for allowing a subscriber to provide customized announcements to callers, said method comprising:
 populating a database with a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements;  
 storing a plurality of announcements on a messaging system, wherein each announcement is associated with at least one caller number from the list of designated caller numbers;  
 determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number;  
 providing one of the  a plurality of announcements associated with the  a calling party number associated with a call when (i) the  a called party number of the call matches the  a subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the  a previously stored list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number, the previously- stored list also including associated caller names, the previously - stored list being contained in a database , (iii) and the calling party number appears only once in the list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number; and  
 providing the one of the plurality of announcements associated with the calling party number and a caller name when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number, (iii) the calling party number appears more than once in the list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number, and (iv) a caller has entered the caller name after being prompted.  
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the step of providing a default announcement when the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number and the calling party number is not in the list of designated caller numbers. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of  further including populating a  the database comprises  with a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements, and further including receiving a call from the subscriber, authenticating the subscriber; and prompting the subscriber to enter a caller number, a caller name, and an announcement. 
     
     
       10. A system for allowing a subscriber to provide customized announcements to callers, said system comprising:
 a database comprising a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements; 
 a messaging system in communication  to communicate with the  a database, comprising a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements, said messaging system comprising a plurality of announcements, wherein each announcement is associated with at least one caller number from the list of designated caller numbers; and  
 means for determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number,  
 wherein when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, and (iii) the calling party number appears only once in the list of designated caller numbers, the messaging system provides a caller with an announcement associated with the calling party number; and  
 wherein when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, (iii) the calling party number appears more than once in the list of designated caller numbers and (iv) the caller has entered a caller name after being prompted, the messaging system provides the caller with the announcement associated with the calling party number and the caller name.  
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number and the calling party number is not in the list of designated caller numbers the messaging system provides the caller with a default announcement. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 10 , further comprising a voice mail system, wherein the subscriber telephone number is a voice mail number for the subscriber. 
     
     
       13. A system for allowing a subscriber to provide customized announcements to callers, said system comprising:
 a database, said database comprising a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements; 
 a messaging system in communication  to communicate with the  a database comprising a subscriber telephone number, a list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements, said messaging system comprising a plurality of announcements, wherein each announcement is associated with at least one caller number from the list of designated caller numbers; and  
 means for determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number,  
 wherein when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, and (iii) the calling party number appears only once in the list of designated caller numbers, the messaging system provides a caller with an announcement associated with the calling party number,  
 wherein when (i) the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number, (ii) the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers, (iii) the calling party number appears more than once in the list of designated caller numbers and (iv) the caller has entered a caller name after being prompted, the messaging system provides the caller with the announcement associated with the calling party number and the caller name.  
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the database and the means for determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number reside on a service control point of a telephone network and wherein the messaging system resides on a service node of the telephone network. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 13 , further comprising a voice mail system, wherein the subscriber telephone number is a voice mail number for the subscriber. 
     
     
       16. A method for allowing a subscriber to provide customized announcements to callers, said method comprising:
   determining a caller's called party number and a caller's calling party number;        providing an announcement associated with the calling party number when  ( i )  the called party number matches a subscriber telephone number,  ( ii )  the calling party number is in a previously - stored list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number, the previously - stored list also including associated caller names, the previously - stored list being contained in a database and  ( iii )  the calling party number appears only once in the list of designated caller numbers; and        providing an announcement associated with the calling party number and a caller name when  ( i )  the called party number matches a subscriber telephone number,  ( ii )  the calling party number is in the list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number,  ( iii )  the calling party number appears more than once in the list of designated caller numbers associated with the subscriber telephone number, and  ( iv )  a caller has entered the caller name after being prompted.      
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
   provisioning a trigger on the subscriber telephone number at a service switching point;        suspending a call to the subscriber telephone number; and        routing the call to a server system hosting the database, the database including the subscriber telephone number, the list of designated caller numbers, associated caller names, and associated announcements.      
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the trigger is a termination attempt trigger ( TAT ).  
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising providing a default announcement when the called party number matches the subscriber telephone number and the calling party number is not in the list of designated caller numbers.  
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising updating the database according to an instruction received from the subscriber.