WO2011154221A1

WO2011154221A1 - System, method and computer program product for filtering telephone communications

Info

Publication number: WO2011154221A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/057843
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernard Pucci; Jean-Christophe Mestres; Jean-Louis Veran; Christophe Palaysi
Original assignee: Compagnie IBM France SAS; International Business Machines Corp
Current assignee: Compagnie IBM France SAS; International Business Machines Corp
Priority date: 2010-06-11
Filing date: 2011-05-16
Publication date: 2011-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2012-12-11

Abstract

A method for filtering anonymous telephone communications from a calling device to a called device is disclosed. The called device is communicatively connected to a communications service provider and the method comprises the steps of determining that a request, received from a calling device having a calling number, is for establishing a telephone communication with a called device in a hidden mode; generating an encrypted identifier, the encrypted identifier linking the calling number of a hidden mode request to an encryption key, wherein said encryption key being uniquely assigned to the called device; transmitting over the communication network for receipt by the called device the telephone communication request using said encrypted identifier; and in response to receiving from the called device an authorization for said encrypted identifier, establishing the telephone communication between the calling device and the called device.

Description

SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR FILTERING TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS

Field of the invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of

communication devices and more particularly to a system andmethod for filtering telephone communications from anonymous callers .

Background art

The growing volume of unwanted and unknown telephone

communications, mainly anonymous calls, is widely regarded as a serious problem for society and a serious irritation for

individuals who depend on the telephone. In certain cases, these anonymous calls may come from people or organisms the recipient doesn't want effectively to speak with, but there are cases of anonymous calls the recipient would not want to miss. There exist automated filtering techniques, providing "phone firewall" allowing users to define on their telephone device, blacklist, white list, to reject unknown callers, or to block unsolicited calls.

5 Figure 1 shows two typical phone firewall interfaces.

Some telephone providers offer services to have the

anonymous caller identifies orally himself/herself thereby allowing the recipient to accept or not the incoming call.

In WO 2009/067356 Al from Motorola, a method for adding a lOcaller in a blocked list stored at a communication server is disclosed. The method includes receiving a call from the caller at a communication device and a set of inputs in response to the call. The set of inputs includes a set of instructions to add the caller in the blocked list. A call termination request

15including the set of instructions is transmitted to the

communication server. Transmission of the call termination request initiates addition of the caller in the blocked list at the communication server.

The prior art solutions while easy-to-use can easily be 0defeated by the callers.

So, there is the need for a method and system to selectively filtering incoming calls from anonymous callers and rejecting those unwanted "anonymous calls" while accepting those wanted "anonymous calls". 5 Moreover, as only the recipient of an incoming call can really determine whether the caller is welcome or not, there is also the need to have blacklist or white list built on a

voluntary action of the recipient rather than based on a generic and global action.

30 The present invention offers a solution to this need. Summary of the invention

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a system and a method allowing to filter calls from anonymous

5callers to accept or reject the call.

To achieve the foregoing object, a system and method, as further described in the appended independent claim 1, is provided .

In particular, a method for selectively filtering telephone lOcommunications comprises the steps of:

determining that a request, received from a calling device having a calling number, is for establishing a telephone communication with a called device in a hidden mode; generating an encrypted identifier, the encrypted identifier linking the calling number of a hidden mode request to an encryption key, wherein said encryption key being uniquely assigned to the called device; transmitting over the communication network for receipt by the called device the telephone communication request using said encrypted identifier; and in response to receiving from the called device an

authorization for said encrypted identifier, establishing the telephone communication between the calling device and the called device.

Further embodiments are described in the appended dependent claims .

Further aspects of the invention will now be described, by 30way of preferred implementation and examples, with reference to the accompanying figures. Brief description of the drawings

The above and other items, features and advantages of the invention will be better understood by reading the following more particular description of the invention in conjunction with 5the figures wherein:

FIG.l illustrates typical phone firewall interfaces;

FIG.2 depicts a general environment to operate the present invention ;

FIG.3 shows a call flow diagram according to an embodiment of lOthe present invention;

FIG.4 is a flowchart illustrating the main steps operated at a provider edge according to an embodiment of the present

invention ;

FIG.5a and 5b are flowcharts illustrating the main steps

15operated at a called party edge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Embodiments of the invention are described herein after by 0way of examples with reference to the accompanying figures and drawings .

Going to figure 2, a preferred environment to operate the present invention is shown. A telecommunication system 200 including calling telecommunication devices 210 used for

5communication with called telecommunication devices 212 through a telecommunication network 204. A calling/called device may be any type of analog or digital telephone equipment compliant with the telecommunication network 204, such as a cordless telephone, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a VoIP

30 (Voice over Internet Protocol) hardphone or softphone, or the like . A calling/called device comprises input and output means. The input and output means may include a handset with a loudspeaker and a microphone, and a keypad with buttons for input to the telephone sets. The keypad may be used for entering 5a call number, validating commands, initiating and terminating calls, and performing control operations. The calling/called device could also include speech recognition capabilities in order to allow the calling/called party to enter information vocally. The calling/called device may also include a display to lOprovide visual message to the user, as well as processing units for encoding and decoding control signals, performing call processing procedures and control operations. The calling/called device is connected with wire-line or wireless connections to the network 204.

15

The telecommunication network 204 may be any type of telecommunication network enabling a synchronous or asynchronous communication between calling devices 210, and one or more called devices 212. For example, the telecommunication network

20204 may be a fixed wire-line network, a PSTN network (Public

Switched Telephone Network) or an ISDN network (Integrated

Services Digital Network) . Alternatively, the telecommunication network may be a mobile telecommunication or cellular phone network, for example according to GSM standard (Global System

25for Mobile Communications) or UMTS standard (Universal Mobile

Telecommunications System) , thereby allowing a mobile telephone handset having 3G capability for calling over a cellular 3G network. The telecommunication network 204 may also be an IP- based network implementing the Voice over Internet Protocol,

30also called VoIP, for routing of voice conversations.

The telecommunication network 204 comprises a switching subsystem 206 for establishing connection and relaying speech information between the calling party 210 and one or more called 35parties 212. The switching subsystem may be coupled to a service provider hub 208 providing services applicable to various communication scenario, such as preserving anonymity of the calling party by masking the calling device number for the receiving party or maintaining blacklists and white lists.

5 Referring to figure 3 a call flow diagram illustrating a sequence of events in accepting or rejecting a call from a calling party in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is now described. The calling party initiates on event 310 a call request from a calling device (210) to lOestablish a communication with a called party in a hidden

calling number mode. The hidden calling number mode is requested either with the call emitted directly as an anonymous call with the caller dialing a prefix code hiding its number or the caller has a specific subscription with a communication service

15provider to have its number being further hidden in the flow transmitted to the called device (212) of the called party.

On event 312 the communication provider checks if the called party has subscribed to the filtering service covered by the present invention. If the called party has not subscribed to the 0service, the number of the calling party is hidden for the called party as regularly done by any known solution. In case, the called party has subscribed to the filtering service, the calling number is encrypted at the communications provider network. The call request is then transmitted to the called 5device (212) with the encrypted identifier in the transmitted flow. When received, the encrypted identifier number is

temporarily recorded at event 330 on a local memory (230) coupled to the receiving device.

The first time, a called party subscribing to the filtering 30service, receives a new anonymous call, the caller needs to accept the call to allow the activation of the accept/rej ect function on a further call.

At the end of the call, the called party is offered at event 340 the choice to blacklist the calling party for any further call and the choice is confirmed by storing or not on event 350 the encrypted identifier into the local memory 230.

On a further call of the same calling party (360) to the same called party, the encrypted identifier is again generatedand transmitted to the called party (370) . The encrypted

identifier is locally checked against the content of the black list or white list information available at the local database (203) on event 380. Then, the incoming call is accepted on event 390 or rejected on event 392. Figure 4 illustrates the main steps operated at a

communications provider edge according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Process 400 begins at step 402 when a call is initiated by a calling party with a calling device that requests a call to be established with a called party. Theprocess then proceeds with step 404 where it is determined if the calling party is willing to hide its calling number or not. If not, the process goes to step 410 to establish the connection between the parties with clear identification of the caller. If it is determined that the calling number is to be hidden, theprocess proceeds with step 406 where a determination is made if the called party is a subscriber to the blacklist service

covered by the present invention or not. The determination is made by checking the user's profile information available for the called party either in the Home Location Register (HLR) ofthe communication provider or in the Visitor Location Register (VLR) if the called party is a roaming user outside of the area covered by his/her home system.

If the called party has subscribed to the filtering service, the process proceeds with step 408 where the hidden callingnumber is further encrypted by the communication provider. The encryption is done using an encryption key which is uniquely assigned by the communication service provider to the called device at time of subscription. It is to be appreciated that the encryption algorithm may be any kind of cipher algorithm such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) one.

Once the calling number is encrypted, the process follows 5with step 410 to establish the connection between the parties. As previously explained, the calling number is encrypted within the flow transmitted to the called party. Thereafter the process ends at step 412.

Furthermore, one would easily understand that the operator lOencryption key assigned to a user subscribing to the filtering service with a first operator would have to be transferred to the new operator in case of a new subscription with a new operator .

Figures 5a and 5b illustrate the main steps operated at a 15called party edge according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Process 500 begins at step 502 when a call request is received by a called party. On next step 504, the encrypted identifier received is searched in the called party phone book to determine the identification (ID) of the caller. 20lf found, the calling party identification is displayed on step 506. The caller ID is either clearly displayed if it has been previously stored in the phone book or the encrypted identifier is displayed marked with a special prefix (such as a '#' or a '*' for example) indicating that the caller ID has not been 25found not in the called party phone book.

Next test 508 is used to determine if the caller's

identification is already on the blacklist of the called party phone book. If the caller's identification is blacklisted, then the call is rejected on step 510 and the call is ended on step 30512. The process ends with step 530. If the caller's

identification is not on the blacklist, the process after step 508 proceeds with step 514 to accept the call. The call

continues on step 516. After the call is ended (518), the process proceeds with test 520 (figure 5b) where the called party is offered to add the caller's identification to the blacklist. If the answer is NO, test 522 allows to determine if the caller's phone number is already in the called party phone book or not. If already stored in, the process ends on step 530otherwise the process continues with test 526.

Going back to step 520, if the choice is to blacklist the caller's identification, the process continues with step 524 where the caller's number is blacklisted in the called party phone book. After step 524, the process continues with choice 526 to record the caller's name in the phone book. If the answer is NO the process ends on step 530, otherwise the process proceeds with the name recording on step 528. And the process ends on step 530. In another embodiment, the process allows to handle roaming calls received by a called party located outside its SIM card original country. The subscriber assigned key used by the operator to encrypt the phone number of the caller and stored on the Home Location Register, is transmitted to the Visitor

Location Register.

The present invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer- readable medium providing program code for use by, or in

connection with a computer or any instruction execution system.For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any tangible apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by, or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium.

Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk - read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk - read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

The description of the present invention has been presented 5for purposes of illustration and description, and is not

intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles lOof the invention, the practical application, and to enable

others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

It has to be appreciated that while the invention has been 15particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit, and scope of the invention. Specifically, the present invention is well suited and easily applicable by a person skilled in the art to any 0device that allows to transmit a communication under an

anonymous phone number, would it be a phone call, a SMS, a MMS, Faxes, Voice Mail, or any other message.

Claims

1. In a communications network, a method for selectively filtering telephone communications, the method comprising the steps of: determining that a request, received from a calling device having a calling number, is for establishing a telephone communication with a called device in a hidden mode; generating an encrypted identifier, the encrypted identifier linking the calling number of a hidden mode request to an encryption key, wherein said encryption key being uniquely assigned to the called device; transmitting over the communication network for receipt by the called device the telephone communication request using said encrypted identifier; and in response to receiving from the called device an

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the called device is communicatively connected to a communications service provider, and the encrypted identifier is provided by the communications service provider.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the encryption identifier generating step is operated by the operator of the communications network.

4. The method of any preceding claim wherein the communications service provider is a cellular communications service provider .

55 . The method of any preceding claim wherein the telephone communications request is one of a telephone call or a short message service (SMS) or a multimedia message service (MMS) .

6 . The method of any preceding claim further comprising the step 10 of rejecting the telephone communication request in response to receiving from the called device the encrypted identifier is denied.

7 . The method of any preceding claim wherein the encrypted 15 identifier is stored in a Home Location Register.

8 . The method of any preceding claim wherein the encrypted identifier is stored in a Visitor Location Register.

209. A system for selectively filtering telephone communications from a calling device to a called device, the system comprising means for implementing the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 .

2510 . A computer readable medium having a computer program product stored thereon, which when executed by a computing device, automatically operates the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 .

3011 . A computer readable medium having a computer program according to claim 10 encoded thereon.