Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6721059
-
Patent Number
6,721,059
-
Date Filed
Friday, July 30, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, April 13, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 358 115
- 358 116
- 358 440
- 358 434
- 358 442
- 358 444
- 358 468
- 379 10001
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A fax device having a memory for storing a list of blocked callers and the capability to receive caller identification information. As calls are received the fax device compares the caller identification information of the incoming call to the list of blocked callers. If the telephone number of the incoming call is contained in the list of blocked callers, a connection is denied. If the number is not contained in the list, the call is connected. The list of blocked callers may be automatically maintained by monitoring incoming calls for frequency, date, time and number of pages. The factors may be combined to determine a usage value. If the usage value exceeds a predetermined threshold, the incoming telephone number may be added to the list of blocked callers. A list of trusted callers prevents trusted phone numbers from accidentally being added to the blocked list. A list of urgent callers includes actions such as forwarding and messaging to determine how to handle a received fax from a certain number.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for handling faxes with a stand-alone facsimile machine or personal computer (PC) having facsimile capabilities, and more particularly to blocking inbound faxes using caller identification and forwarding or messaging in response to an inbound fax using caller identification.
2. Description of Related Art
Facsimile (fax) machines are a widely used communications device for most businesses and even many families. Most fax machines are stand-alone devices while others may be part of a multi-function peripheral or personal computer.
Typically, once these devices are setup and powered on they remain powered-up until service, repair or relocation takes them off-line. This is particularly true with stand-alone fax machines.
In any case, fax machines are expected to receive faxes at any time of the day or night. While this is extremely useful, it does leave a communications medium open for unsolicited faxes. When these unwanted faxes contain many pages or are sent frequently, the fax machine is unavailable for more important tasks. Additionally, the unsolicited faxes prematurely exhaust paper and toner or ink supplies. It is therefore desirable to reduce or eliminate the unsolicited faxes so that the fax machine is available for useful work.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A fax device for receiving and sending faxes includes a memory (e.g. non-volatile memory) and a fax controller coupled to the memory. The memory may contain a list of caller identification information. The fax controller may be configured to receive call identification information from a network (e.g. telecommunications network) corresponding to an incoming call and determine how to handle the incoming call based on the list of caller identification information.
The list of caller identification information may include a list of blocked callers and the fax controller may not answer the call if the caller identification information from the network matches information in the list of blocked callers. Alternatively, the fax controller may answer and quickly disconnect the call if the caller identification information from the network matches in the list of blocked callers. If the caller identification information corresponding to the incoming call matches information in the list of blocked callers, the fax controller will answer and process the call.
The memory also may include a list of trusted callers and a list of frequent callers. The fax controller is further configured to add the incoming call to the list of frequent callers if the number corresponding to the incoming call is not present in the list of trusted callers. The fax controller is further configured to add the incoming call to the list of blocked callers if the number corresponding to the incoming call is not present in the list of trusted callers and a usage value is exceeded.
Usage values distinguish unsolicited faxes from routine faxes based on caller frequency, date, time and number of fax pages. The list of frequent callers includes the frequency, date, time and number of fax pages for each call received.
The memory also may include a list of urgent callers. The urgent caller list includes at least one action to be taken when a call to the incoming caller identification information is received. The fax controller is further configured to process the call according to the list of urgent callers if the caller identification information from the network matches information in the list of urgent callers. The actions may include forwarding the call, calling a pager, calling a voice mailbox, calling a mobile phone and sending an email.
A method of handling incoming calls to a fax device is also disclosed. The method may include developing a list of caller identification information; receiving caller identification information from a network during an incoming call; and determining how to handle the incoming call based on the list of caller identification information.
The list of caller identification information may include a list of blocked callers and the determining step may include comparing the caller identification information receiving during the incoming call to the list of blocked callers; and refusing to answer the incoming call if the caller identification information matches information in the list of blocked callers. Alternatively, the determining step may include comparing the caller identification information receiving during the incoming call to the list of blocked callers; and answering and quickly disconnecting the incoming call if the caller identification information matches information in the list of blocked callers. If the caller identification information does not match a number in the list of blocked callers, the call is answered.
The method may also include developing a list of trusted callers and a list of frequent callers; and adding the caller identification information of the incoming call to the list of frequent callers if the caller identification information received from the network is not present in the list of trusted callers. The method may also include adding the caller identification of the incoming call to the list of blocked callers if the number is not present in the list of trusted callers and a usage value is exceeded.
The method may also include developing a list of urgent callers and processing the call according to the list of urgent callers if the caller identification information from the network matches information in the list of urgent callers. The list of urgent callers includes at least one action to be taken when a call corresponding to the caller identification information is received.
A computer system for connecting to a telephone line to receive faxes is also disclosed. The computer system may include a processor; a memory coupled to the processor and containing a list of caller identification information; and a fax device coupled to the memory and the processor. The fax device may receive caller identification information from the network corresponding to an incoming call and determine how to handle the incoming call based on the list of caller identification information.
The list of caller identification information may include a list of blocked callers and the fax device may not answer the call if the caller identification information from the network matches information in the list of blocked callers. Alternatively, the fax device may answer and quickly disconnect the call if the caller identification information from the network matches in the list of blocked callers. If the caller identification information corresponding to the incoming call matches information in the list of blocked callers, the fax device will answer and process the call.
The memory also may include a list of trusted callers and a list of frequent callers. The fax device is further configured to add the incoming call to the list of frequent callers if the number corresponding to the incoming call is not present in the list of trusted callers. The fax device is further configured to add the incoming call to the list of blocked callers if the number corresponding to the incoming call is not present in the list of trusted callers and a usage value is exceeded.
The memory also may include a list of urgent callers. The urgent caller list includes at least one action to be taken when a call to the incoming caller identification information is received. The fax device is further configured to process the call according to the list of urgent callers if the caller identification information from the network matches information in the list of urgent callers.
A fax device for coupling to a telephone line is also disclosed. The fax device may include a means for storing a list of caller identification information; means for receiving caller identification information from the telecommunications line during a call; and means for determining how to handle the incoming call based on the list of caller identification information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following drawings form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.
FIG. 1A
is a diagrammatical representation of a stand-alone fax machine according to the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 1B
is a diagrammatical representation of a fax machine or multi-function peripheral attached to a computer system according to a first alternative embodiment;
FIG. 1C
is a diagrammatical representation of a computer system having fax capabilities according to a second alternative embodiment;
FIG. 2
is a block diagram of the fax machine of
FIGS. 1A and 1B
;
FIG. 3A
is a block diagram of the computer system of
FIG. 1C
;
FIG. 3B
is a block diagram of the fax circuit of
FIG. 3A
;
FIG. 3C
is a software architecture diagram of the fax modem depicted in
FIG. 2
;
FIGS. 4A-B
are flowcharts illustrating a method of selectively blocking incoming faxes.
DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS.
Referring first to
FIG. 1A
, there is illustrated a stand-alone fax machine
10
(i.e. a fax device) connected to a telecommunications network
12
(e.g. the public switched telephone network or Internet Protocol network) by a communications line
14
according to a preferred embodiment. The communications line
14
is preferably a standard telephone line. The fax machine
10
includes scanning, printing and transmission functions necessary for faxing.
Referring next to
FIG. 1B
, there is illustrated a multi-function fax machine
20
(i.e. a fax device) connected to the telecommunications network
12
by a communications line
14
and to a computer system Cl by a communications cable
22
according to a first alternative embodiment. The communications cable
22
is preferably an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) IEEE-1284 compatible parallel interface. Alternatively, the communications cable
22
could be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable or other serial or parallel interface. The multi-function fax machine
20
is capable of separately printing, copying and scanning as well as faxing. The computer system Cl may communicate with the multi-function fax machine
20
to electronically provide documents for faxing or to electronically receive fax images received by the multi-function fax machine
20
.
Referring next to
FIG. 1C
, there is illustrated a computer system C
2
having internal circuitry for receiving and sending faxes. The computer system C
2
is comprised of a central processing unit (“CPU”)
10
housing processing, memory, communications, interface, and other circuitry as described more fully below. CPU
10
is connectable to a monitor
12
for displaying graphical information to a user of the system. A keyboard
14
is also connectable to the CPU
10
with a standard PS/2 style connector for inputting data. Additional input devices, such as a pointing device (e.g.,.mouse)
36
are coupled to CPU
10
, providing additional input capabilities. With the computer system C
2
, received faxes may be sent to an external printer (not shown) or stored on a disk drive.
While the computer systems C
1
and C
2
shown are of an International Business Machines (“IBM”) PC variety, the principles of the present invention are equally applicable to other computer platforms or architectures. Preferably the computer system operates with a Microsoft Windows operating system, such as Windows 95, 98 or NT. Other operating systems could also be used with the present invention.
A fax application such as WinFax by Symantec Corporation may also be used to provide a fax user interface and additional management capabilities. Such an application is not required for the present invention, although the features of the present invention may be integrated and supported by such an application. It is understood that WinFax is compatible with caller ID to present the user with information about the source of the call.
Turning now to
FIG. 2
, there is illustrated an exemplary block diagram of the circuitry of the fax machines of
FIG. 1A and 1B
. Although the fax machines of
FIGS. 1A and 1B
are slightly different in their features, the circuitry is essentially the same for purposes of the present invention. The core logic or “fax engine” for the fax machines
10
and
20
includes a fax controller
40
and a fax modem
42
, such as a Rockwell FE
100
.
The fax controller
40
acts as the “brain” managing and directing the appropriate processing for fax, copy, print and scan activities. An integrated microcontroller
52
provides a bus
54
for communicating with the fax modem
42
and external memory, such as read only memory (ROM)
56
, static random access memory (SRAM)
58
and non-volatile memory
60
. The ROM
56
is used to store boot code and other programs not subject to change. The SRAM
58
is used for temporary program and data storage. The non-volatile memory
60
is used to store lists of caller information helpful for blocking incoming calls, including a “black list”
70
, “trusted list”
72
, “frequent list”
74
, and an “urgent list”
76
. The non-volatile memory
60
may include Flash ROMs, electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) and disk drives.
Other memory arrangements are possible. For example, the ROM
56
could be replaced entirely by Flash ROM, and the SRAM
58
could be replaced with dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Memory
60
is preferably non-volatile memory, such as Flash ROM or EEPROM. Alternatively, the memory
60
could be implemented with battery backed DRAM or SRAM. Other variations including hard disk drives or writable CD-ROMs are also possible.
The fax controller
40
also connects to a keyboard and liquid crystal display (LCD)
44
, scanner device
46
, stepper motor
48
and printer device
50
.
The black list
70
is a list of phone numbers that will be blocked from completing faxes. The trusted list
72
is a list of phone numbers that will always be able to complete faxes. The frequent list
74
is a list of frequent callers. These frequent caller phone numbers are not trusted and not yet black listed. Frequent callers may be moved to the black list when certain thresholds are reached, as described below. Finally, the urgent list is a list phone numbers with corresponding actions, such as a forwarding number, pager number, voice number, mobile number or email address. When a fax is received from a phone number on the urgent list, one or more of the actions may be taken. At least one action is present for each urgent number. It is noted that while the above lists preferably include phone numbers, alternatively the lists could include names corresponding to the phone numbers instead of phone numbers. For simplicity, hereinafter the description with refer to just phone numbers.
The fax modem
42
preferably supports the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) V.17 and V.29 standards for fax transmission and reception. The modem can operate over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) through a line terminator provided by a data access arrangement (DAA)
62
. The fax modem
42
also connects to a microphone
64
and speaker
66
.
Turning now to
FIG. 3A
, there is illustrated an exemplary block diagram of the computer system C
2
of FIG.
1
C. As is conventional in the art, the computer system C
2
includes a processor
100
, such as an Intel® Pentium® II microprocessor or the like. It is understood that alternate processors from Intel, AMD®, Cyrix®, Digital™ (Alpha®) and others may be used. The processor
100
is coupled to a north bridge
102
by a host or processor bus
104
. The north bridge
102
includes a memory controller for coupling to an array of memory (e.g. dynamic random access memory “DRAM”)
106
, an Accelerated Graphics Port (“AGP”) interface for coupling to an AGP graphics controller
108
, and a Peripheral Component Interconnect (“PCI”) interface for providing a PCI bus
110
. The AGP graphics controller is further connectable to the monitor
12
.
In the computer system C
2
, the PCI bus
110
couples the north bridge
102
to a south bridge
112
and one or more PCI slots
114
for receiving expansion cards (not shown). Further attached to the PCI bus
110
is a network access device (“AND”)
116
, such as a network interface card or modem for connecting to a network
142
, and a fax modem
118
(i.e. fax device) for connecting to the telecommunications network
12
.
The south bridge
112
is an integrated multifunctional component, such as the Intel 82371AB, that includes a number of functions, such as, an enhanced direct memory access (“DMA”) controller; interrupt controller; timer; integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) controller for providing an IDE bus
120
; a universal serial bus (“USB”) host controller for providing a universal serial bus
122
; and an industry standard architecture (“ISA”) bus controller for providing an ISA bus
124
. The IDE bus
120
supports up to four IDE devices, such as a hard disk drive
126
and a compact disk read only memory (“CD-ROM”)
128
. The universal serial bus
122
is connected to a pair of USB connectors
130
for communicating with USB devices (not shown).
In the illustrated computer system C
2
, the ISA bus
124
couples the south bridge
112
to a multifunction input/output (I/O) controller
132
and a basic input/output system (BIOS) ROM
134
. The multifunction I/O controller
132
, such as a Standard Microsystems Corporation FDC37C68x, includes a number of functions, such as a floppy disk drive controller for connecting to a floppy disk drive
136
; a keyboard controller for connecting to the keyboard
14
and the pointing device
16
; a serial communications controller for providing at least one serial port
138
; and a parallel port interface for providing at least one parallel port
140
. Alternative multifunction input/output (I/O) controllers are manufactured by National Semiconductor and WinBond. The functions described above may alternatively be implemented in separate integrated circuits or combined differently than described above without departing from the concept of the present invention.
Computer system C
2
is also adapted for connection to a network, such as the internet, designated generally by reference number
142
, through the network access device
116
. Connection with the network may be made with various alternative configurations, including, but not limited to, conventional telephone wire, integrated service digital network (“ISDN”), digital subscriber lines (“DSL”), and wireless communications.
Turning now to
FIG. 3B
, there is illustrated a block diagram of the fax circuit
118
of
FIG. 3A. A
fax/modem data pump
150
, such as a Rockwell R288F, is connected to the PCI bus
110
, a data access arrangement (DAA)
152
and a speaker
154
. A soft fax/modem may also be used, in which much of the processing functionality of the fax/modem data pump
150
would be performed by the processor
100
, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Referring now to
FIG. 3C
, there is illustrated a software architecture diagram of the fax circuit
118
. A software application
160
resides in memory
106
and is executed by the processor
100
for communicating command and control information to the fax/modem
150
via the PCI bus
110
. A library of macros and primitives
162
may be called by the software application to handle certain low-level functions with the fax/modem data pump. The fax/modem data pump
150
signals the processor
20
via an interrupt when its data buffer is full or empty during a data transfer.
The above-described embodiments will now be described with respect to the call blocking features of the present invention. Turning now to
FIGS. 4A-B
, there is illustrated flow diagrams representing a method of blocking calls according to the preferred embodiment. The diagrams are explained with reference to the architecture of
FIG. 2
which includes a microcontroller
40
that is capable of reading and writing information to the non-volatile memory
60
. It is understood that the same method is applicable to the alternative embodiments. For example, with the second alternative embodiment the microcontroller
40
is replaced by the host processor
100
and non-volatile memory
60
is replaced by disk drive
126
so that in the computer system C
2
the fax controller
118
is operated by the processor
100
in conjunction with an application
160
. If a soft fax/modem is used in one of the alternatives, it is understood that the processing will be handled by a main processor (e.g. processor
100
) instead of the fax controller (e.g. fax controller
40
). One of ordinary skill in the art can easily adapt the methods disclosed herein to any of the above embodiments and other fax configurations desired.
After power is applied to the fax
10
the fax controller
40
performs power-on diagnostics to verify that the machine is operable. At a step
202
, the fax controller
40
reads configuration information from the memory
60
, such as button pre-sets and default settings.
At a step
204
, the fax controller
40
reads information from the non-volatile memory
60
for blocking calls, including the black list
70
, the trusted list
72
, and the frequent list
74
. The black list
70
is a list of phone numbers that are prevented from completing a fax. Optionally, the black list
70
may include the name corresponding to the phone number. The trusted list
72
is a list of phone numbers that are allowed to complete faxes and prevented from being added to the black list
70
. The frequent list
72
is a list of frequently received calls. The frequent list includes phone number, date, time, and number of pages of each call received by the fax machine
10
. The frequent list may be developed by storing the last
100
or so calls or storing only the most frequent calls. At step
206
, the fax machine
10
waits for an incoming call. Alternatively, the reading of the black list
70
, the trusted list
72
, and the frequent list
74
may be deferred until actually needed.
Referring now to
FIG. 4B
, there is illustrated a series of steps corresponding to the actions taken upon receipt of an incoming call. At step
210
, the fax machine
10
responds to the incoming call based on whether the Caller ID has been blocked by the caller. A caller may configure his phone line to block caller ID information, which will prohibit the receipt of the caller's phone number, and possibly, his name. The caller ID information is sent in the 4-second silent period between the first and second rings. The caller ID information is provided by the local phone company and includes the date, time, number and optional name of the calling party to the called party (fax machine
10
).
If the caller ID information is not blocked, the fax controller
40
receives the caller ID information. If the caller ID information is blocked, a second blocking system may be enabled using a calling station identifier (CSID) (i.e. alternative caller identification information). According to telecommunications standards, the beginning of a telephone call includes a packet of information that includes the calling parties name and phone number. The phone number may include both a voice and fax number. Either number could be used, but it is preferable to use the fax number. Alternatively, as described below, the name field could be used. If the CID information is blocked, at step
214
the fax controller
40
answers the call to receive the CSID information at step
216
. It is noted here that provided caller ID information is not blocked, caller ID has the advantage of not requiring the call to be answered to receive the calling party's information.
At step
218
, the fax controller
40
compares the incoming phone number with the phone numbers in the black list
70
. If there is a match, the call may be terminated or quietly stored in memory without printing. If there is not a match, the call will be received.
It is preferable to terminate the unwanted calls to avoid tying up the phone line with unwanted calls. Alternatively, a more conservative option is provided for the user in which incoming faxes are stored in memory. The user is then able to manually view a list of unwanted calls to determine whether the fax should be printed or discarded.
At step
220
, fax controller checks to see which option is selected. If calls should be saved, the fax controller
40
at step
222
receives the call and stores the fax in memory
58
. Other alternative memory sources are possible. Only the most recent faxes are saved according to the amount of available memory.
If unwanted calls are not to be saved, then at step
224
the fax controller
40
terminates the call. Calls may be terminated in a number of ways. If the incoming call includes the caller ID information, then preferably the call is terminated by quickly answering and disconnecting the call so that the telephone line is quickly available. As an alternative, the fax controller
40
could refuse to answer the incoming call. If the caller ID information was not present and the call was answered in step
214
then the call is simply disconnected in step
224
. As a further variation to step
224
, the fax device can automatically generate a return fax message to the refused caller with a suitable message to indicate that faxes from this number are being refused.
Returning back to step
218
, there is an alternative method of comparing the incoming phone number with the phone numbers in the black list
70
. Alternatively, the fax controller
40
can compare the name of the calling party with names in the black list. The same actions described above would occur depending on whether or not a match is found.
If at step
218
there is not a match found, the fax controller
40
at step
226
will receive the fax transmission, disconnect the call and send the output to the printer
50
according to conventional techniques.
Once the fax transmission is completed, at step
227
the fax controller
40
compares the incoming phone number with numbers in the alert list
76
. If there is a match, the action described in the alert list is taken at step
229
. For example, the alert list may instruct the fax controller
40
to forward to fax to another number or send an email indicating that a fax has been received.
If there is not a match at step
227
, the process continues to step
228
where the fax controller
40
compares the incoming phone number with numbers in the trusted list
72
. If there is not a match at step
228
, then the incoming phone number may be added to the frequent list
74
. If there is a match at step
228
, then the incoming phone number will not be added and the fax controller
40
returns to loop and waits for another call. If there is not a match, the process continues from step
228
to step
230
where the date, time and number of the incoming phone call is stored in the frequent list
74
.
The fax machine
10
may be configured to automatically add incoming phone numbers to the black list
70
. This setting would preferably be stored with the other configuration settings retrieved at step
202
. At step
232
, the fax controller
40
determines if this feature is desired. If not so, then the fax controller
40
returns to wait for another call. If the black list
70
is to be automatically generated, the process continues to step
234
where the fax controller
40
calculates usage values. Usage values may be determined based on any one factor or any combination of the factors. Preferably, usage values are determined based on the frequency of the call, time of the call and number of pages transmitted. An example for calculating usage values is set forth below. At step
236
, the fax controller
40
determines whether a threshold has been exceeded. If so, the incoming phone number is added to the black list
70
at step
238
. If the threshold has not been reached, then the fax controller
40
waits for the next call.
One example for generating a usage value is to assign a multiplier to each factor based on its significance as shown in Table I.
TABLE I
|
|
Multipliers
|
|
|
Reoccurring - business daily
8
|
Reoccurring - once a week
4
|
Reoccurring - once a month
2
|
Time - office hours
2
|
Time - off-hours
1
|
Pages - 2 or less
1
|
Pages - 5 or less
2
|
Pages - more than 5
3
|
|
Occurrence or frequency, is determined based on the date and time of the call. If the call is made within a certain window, such as 2-4 hours, then the call is designated as a reoccurring call. Then, each occurrence in the frequent list
74
is given a usage number based on the multipliers, as shown in Table II.
TABLE II
|
|
Phone #
Date
Time
Pages
Usage
|
|
123-456-7890
1/4/99
12:05 am
1
8*1*1 = 8
|
123-456-7890
1/5/99
1:06 am
1
8*1*1 = 8
|
123-456-7890
1/6/99
12:88 am
1
8*1*1 = 8
|
123-456-7890
1/7/99
1:20 am
1
8*1*1 = 8
|
123-456-7890
1/8/99
11:06 pm
1
8*1*1 = 8
|
|
Total Usage for 123-456-7890
40
|
|
If the total usage value for the phone number exceeds a threshold, such as 100, the call is placed onto the black list
70
according to the automatic configuration setting. It should be apparent to anyone of ordinary skill in the art that there are many different ways to calculate usage number. Different multipliers may be used or absolute numbers may be used instead. The determination of a reoccurring phone number can be calculated with different windows and across a wider or narrower number of days. A more sophisticated calculation could be used to recognize that a weekly transmission may not occur on the same date and time.
Furthermore, if the calls are not automatically placed onto the black list
70
, the fax controller
40
could be instructed to print out the black list for an operator to determine manually which numbers should be added to the black list
70
. The numbers could then be keyed into the fax machine
10
manually for entry onto the black list
70
.
Thus, there has been described and illustrated herein, a method and apparatus for blocking unsolicited faxes to a fax machine. However, those skilled in the art should recognize that many modifications and variations in the size, shape, materials, components, circuit elements, wiring connections and contacts besides those specifically mentioned may be made in the techniques described herein without departing substantially from the concept of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be clearly understood that the form of the invention described herein is exemplary only and is not intended as a limitation on the scope of the invention.
Claims
- 1. A fax device, comprising:a memory for storing caller identification information including a list of trusted caller identification information and a list of frequent caller identification information; and a controller coupled to the memory, the controller operable to respond to caller identification information associated with an incoming call received from a network and based on a comparison with caller identification information stored in said memory, to determine to accept or to reject the incoming call, said controller further operable to add incoming caller information automatically to a list of frequent caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information, and automatically to add incoming caller identification information to a list of blocked caller identification if that incoming caller information is not present in the list of trusted caller identification information and if a usage value associated with that incoming caller identification information derived from said list of frequent caller identification information exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
- 2. The fax device of claim 1,wherein the controller is operable to terminate the incoming call if the incoming caller identification information from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 3. The fax device of claim 1,wherein the controller is operable to answer and then promptly disconnect the call if the incoming caller identification from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 4. The fax device of claim 1,wherein the controller is operable to answer the call and process an incoming fax transmission if the incoming caller identification information from the network does not match blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 5. The fax device of claim 1,wherein the list of frequent caller identification information includes information about each incoming call, including telephone number, date of call, time of call and number of pages of fax transmission received, and wherein the usage value is determined at least on the number of incoming calls during a predetermined period associated with that incoming caller identification information.
- 6. The fax device of claim 1,wherein the stored caller identification information further includes a list of urgent caller identification information and at least one action to be taken in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information, and wherein the controller is operable to initiate said at least one action in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information.
- 7. The fax device of claim 6,wherein said at least one action includes forwarding the call, calling a pager, calling a voice mailbox, calling :a mobile phone and sending an email.
- 8. A method of handling faxes, comprising:developing and storing caller identification information including a list of trusted caller identification information and a list of frequent caller identification information; receiving caller identification information associated with an incoming call from a network; and determining to accept or to reject the incoming call based on comparison of said received caller identification information with the stored list of caller identification information; adding the received caller identification information of the incoming call to the stored list of frequent caller identification information If the, incoming caller identification information received from the network is not present in the stored list of trusted caller identification information; and adding the caller identification information of the incoming call to the list of blocked caller identification information if the incoming caller identification information received from the network is not present in the stored list of trusted caller identification information and a usage value associated with that incoming caller Identification exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
- 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the determining step comprises: refusing to answer the call if the received caller identification information from the network matches information in the stored list of blocked caller identification information.
- 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the determining step comprises: answering and promptly disconnecting the call if the received caller identification from the network matches information in the stored list of blocked caller identification information.
- 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the determining step comprises: answering and processing the call if the received caller identification from the network does not match information in the stored list of blocked caller Identification information.
- 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the usage value is determined based on the caller identification contained in the stored list of frequent caller identification information, including caller telephone number, date of call, time of call and number of pages of fax transmission received.
- 13. The method of claim 8,wherein the stored list of caller identification information further includes a list of urgent caller identification information and at least one action to be taken in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller Identification information, and wherein the determining step comprises: processing an incoming call including caller identification information that matches information in the stored list of urgent caller identification information callers, according to the at least one action associated with the matched urgent caller Identification information.
- 14. A computer system for connecting to a network to receive calls, comprising:a processor; a memory for storing caller identification information including a list of trusted caller identification information and a list of frequent caller identification information and a fax device operable to receive caller identification information from the network corresponding to an incoming call and coupled to the memory and the processor to enable a determination to accept or to reject the incoming call based on a comparison with caller identification information stored in the memory, said fax device further operable to add incoming caller identification information to the list of frequent caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information; and said fax device is also operable to add incoming caller identification information to the list of blocked caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information and a usage value associated with that incoming caller identification information exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
- 15. The computer system of claim 14,wherein the fax device is operable to terminate the incoming call if the incoming caller identification information from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 16. The computer system of claim 14,wherein the fax device is operable to answer and then promptly disconnect the call if the incoming caller identification from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 17. The computer system of claim 14,wherein the fax device is operable to answer the call and process an incoming fax transmission if the incoming caller identification information from the network does not match blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 18. The computer system of claim 14,wherein the list of frequent caller identification information includes information about each incoming call, including telephone number, date of call, time of call and number of pages of fax transmission received, and wherein the usage value is determined at least on the number of incoming calls during a predetermined period associated with that incoming caller identification information.
- 19. The computer system of claim 14,wherein the stored caller identification information also includes a list of urgent caller identification information and at least one action to be taken in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information, and wherein the fax device is operable to initiate said at least one action in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information.
- 20. The computer system of claim 19,wherein said at least one action includes forwarding the call, calling a pager, calling a mailbox, calling a mobile phone and sending an email.
- 21. A computer system according to claim 14, wherein the fax device includes a soft fax/modem.
- 22. A fax device, comprising:a memory for storing caller identification information including a list of blocked caller identification information, and further lists including a list of trusted caller identification information, a list of frequent caller identification information, and a list of urgent caller identification information; and a controller coupled to the memory, the controller operable to respond to caller identification information associated with an incoming fax transmission received from a network and based on a comparison with caller identification information stored in said memory, to process said incoming fax transmission if the incoming caller information from the network does not match stored blocked caller information, said processing including determining to accept or to reject the incoming fax transmission, said controller further operable to initiate automatically a transmission to a predetermined destination in response to an accepted incoming fax transmission including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller information; and wherein the controller is operable to add incoming caller identification information to the list of blocked caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information and a usage value associated with that incoming caller identification information is exceeded.
- 23. The computer system of claim 22,wherein the controller is operable to terminate the incoming call if the incoming caller identification information from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 24. The computer system of claim 22,wherein the controller is operable to answer and then promptly disconnect the call if the incoming caller identification from the network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 25. The computer system of claim 22,wherein the controller is operable to add incoming caller identification information to the list of frequent caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information.
- 26. The computer system of claim 22,wherein the list of frequent caller identification information includes information about each incoming call, including telephone number, date of call, time of call and number of pages of fax transmission received, and wherein the usage value is determined at least on the number of incoming calls received during a predetermined period associated with that incoming caller identification information.
- 27. A fax device, comprising:means for storing caller identification information including a list of trusted caller identification information and a list of frequent caller identification information; means for receiving caller identification information from a telecommunications network associated with an incoming call; and means for determining to accept or to reject the incoming call based comparison of the received caller identification information with the stored caller identification information; means for adding incoming caller information automatically to a list of frequent caller identification information if not present in the list of trusted caller identification information, and means for automatically adding incoming caller identification Information to a list of blocked caller identification if that incoming caller information is not present in the list of trusted caller identification information and if a usage value associated with that incoming caller identification information derived from said list of frequent caller identification information exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
- 28. The fax device of claim 27,wherein the means for determining is operable to terminate the incoming call if the incoming caller identification information from the telecommunications network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 29. The fax device of claim 27,wherein the means for determining is operable to answer and then promptly disconnect the call if the incoming caller identification from the telecommunications network matches blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 30. The fax device of claim 27,wherein the means for determining is operable to answer the call and process an incoming fax transmission if the incoming caller identification information from the telecommunications network does not match blocked caller information stored in the memory.
- 31. The fax device of claim 27,wherein the stored caller identification information further includes a list of urgent caller identification information and at least one action to be taken in response to an incoming call. including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information, and wherein the means for determining is operable to initiate said at least one action in response to an incoming call including caller identification information corresponding to stored urgent caller identification information.
US Referenced Citations (14)