Patent Grant
7796746
A computer program listing appendix is submitted on a compact disc containing computer program code listings pursuant to 37 C.F.R. 1.52(e) and is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. The total number of compact discs is 1 including 46,074 bytes. The compact disc includes one file created Oct. 14, 2003 entitled “8285-917 Source Code Appendix.”
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for call tracing, and, more particularly, to an automated method and system for quickly and simply establishing and removing a trace on a telephone line.
2. Background Information
Known methods and systems for establishing a trace on an identified telephone number have, in general, been cumbersome and time-consuming thereby, often wasting valuable time in a situation where time is of the essence. More particularly, some known methods and systems for establishing a trace require manually programming central office switches in a geographic area. For example, if a trace is to be established for calls originating in the Chicago area, such a task typically requires three persons about three hours each to manually perform the task. This wastes precious time in a situation, such as a kidnapping, where time can not be wasted. In addition, as with any system that requires manual programming, errors may be made which would compromise the trace and lead to valuable information being lost.
Other known call tracing methods and systems require that an incoming call actually be answered and that the answering party initiate the trace. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,665 (Foster et al.) disclose a method of providing customer originated call tracing. If a customer receives an obscene or nuisance call, for example, the customer enters a code indicating that such a call has been received. The identity of the calling party is identified to authorities in response to the action by the customer. Such a system has obvious drawbacks including the potential for abuse by a called party. Such abuse would waste valuable time on the part of the authorities and detract authorities from where their resources are most needed. Other systems use a caller identification type of tracing commonly referred to as caller ID. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,475 (Pintos et al.) discloses a calling line tracing system and identification detector which identifies of a calling party without the called party ever lifting the telephone receiver. Other systems forward an incoming call to a called party's pager including caller ID-type information. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,626 (Carlsen, et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,038 (Kraus, et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,453 (Fuller, et al.). A drawback with such caller ID. type devices is that the calling party may block the identification of the calling number typically by entering a code using the keypad of a phone before a call is made.
It is thus desirable to provide a call tracing method and system that is simple to implement, significantly reduces the time for its implementation, and provides accurate information in less time than known call tracing methods and systems. It is also desirable to provide a call tracing method and system that can cancel an implemented call trace quickly. It is also desirable to provide an automated call tracing method and system that can be automatically implemented and canceled at a site remote from the switches of central offices thereby eliminating direct manual programming of the switches at the central offices. It is also desirable to provide a call tracing method and system that does not require any action by the called party.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method for tracing a call. The method includes the steps of:
(a) displaying a log-on screen on a display device, the log-on screen having a plurality of fields requiring input data including a telephone number field;
(b) inputting a telephone number in the telephone number field wherein the telephone number represents the number to be traced;
(c) establishing a call trace in a plurality of central offices;
(d) displaying a confirmation screen on the display device, the confirmation screen indicating whether the trace was successfully established or not in each of the plurality of central offices; and
(e) indicating that a call has been made to the telephone number input in step (b).
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for tracing a call. The method includes the steps of:
(a) simultaneously designating at least one telephone number to be traced in a plurality of central offices;
(b) monitoring incoming calls at said plurality of central offices;
(c) determining when an incoming call at one of said plurality of central offices matches the at least one telephone number designated in step (a); and
(d) if it is determined in step (c) that an incoming call at one of said plurality of central offices matches the at least one telephone number designated in step (a), then indicating that a match has occurred.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a system for tracing calls. The system includes:
a processor;
a plurality of central offices coupled to the processor for sending messages to the processor and receiving messages from the processor;
wherein the processor is programmed to run the following call tracing routine;
receiving a message identifying a telephone number to be traced;
transmitting a command to the plurality of central offices to establish a trace on the identified telephone number;
transmitting a trace found message to a display device when any one of the plurality of central offices detects that the identified telephone number has been called.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a call trace process performed by a computer network. The process includes the steps of:
a first party identifying a telephone number to be traced;
the first party sending a call trace activation message to the computer network authorizing the activation of a call trace, the message also including the telephone number to be traced;
the computer network sending a call trace activator message to a central office coupled to the computer network;
the central office sending a call trace found message to the computer network whenever an incoming call is matched to the telephone number to be traced;
the computer network sending a call trace information message to the first party wherein the call trace information message includes an identification of the telephone number of the incoming call.
A control office 20 is also coupled to the PSTN 10. The control office 20 includes a processor 30 and a display unit 32 coupled thereto. As will be described in detail hereinafter, in this preferred embodiment it is in the control office 20 that a method for automated call tracing is implemented. The processor 30 sends messages to and receives messages from the central offices 22, 24, 26, 28 as will be described in detail hereinafter. In general, the processor 30 runs a call trace program which programs switches (not shown) in the central offices to monitor calls made to an identified number. Each central office returns a message to the processor 30 indicating whether the trace was successfully placed. When a call is made to the traced number, the central office which handles the call sends a message to the processor 30 indicating that a trace was made which includes preferably the number from which the call was placed and the central office which detected the call as well as the traced number.
A call trace is preferably initiated through a Web browser page.
Returning to
With the trace now in place, the central offices monitor for incoming calls made to the number placed on trace. Messages are automatically collected at the central offices, and when the traced number is called, an output message 63, 65, 67 or 69 depending on which central office detected the incoming call is passed to a trace found program. The trace found program reformats the message and sends the information to a Sfax program which generates an alphanumeric page to a security pager 71 in the following format:
“Trace found ### ### #### number called ### ### #### from XXXXXXXXXX central office.”
The pager 71 displays the message on a display screen 73 of the pager 71. The message 63, 65, 67 or 69 generated by the central office is also sent back to the Web server at block 62. The initial logon screen 40 is displayed on the display unit 32 once the call trace is activated. At line 54 it is indicated how many incoming calls have been linked to the traced number. The user clicks on line 56 to display the actual message generated by a central office. This process is repeated every time the traced number is called and a file containing the trace information is augmented with the additional messages regarding calls made to the traced number. It was found through testing that it took approximately 1 minute to complete the page from the time the traced phone began to ring. This time will vary and depends mostly on the paging company used. It was found that it takes about 5 minutes to successfully implement a trace, i.e., program the central offices. If the particularities of some of the central offices were eliminated, such as the need for entering a number twice for 1 AESS switches the time to implement a trace could possibly be shortened to about 1.5 minutes.
In a preferred embodiment all the calls to the traced number are also logged with time stamps as well as sent downstream to a MACS system and may be obtained through normal tracing channels.
To cancel a call trace the user simply enters the number on which the trace was placed in line 42 of screen 40 with a “can” prefix attached to the traced number. A confirmation page similar to that shown in
It is to be understood that the forms of the invention described herein are to be taken as preferred examples and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the claims.
It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/144,477, filed Jun. 2, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,221,751, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/685,356, filed Oct. 14, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,164, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/167,282, filed Jun. 11, 2002 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,031 on Apr. 6, 2004, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/873,613, filed on Jun. 4, 2001 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,882 on Jun. 11, 2002, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/429,576, filed on Oct. 28, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,458 on Jun. 5, 2001, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/061,926, filed on Apr. 17, 1998 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,616 on Dec. 7, 1999, all of which applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090147927 A1 | Jun 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11144477 | Jun 2005 | US |
| Child | 11786677 | US | |
| Parent | 10685356 | Oct 2003 | US |
| Child | 11144477 | US | |
| Parent | 10167282 | Jun 2002 | US |
| Child | 10685356 | US | |
| Parent | 09873613 | Jun 2001 | US |
| Child | 10167282 | US | |
| Parent | 09429576 | Oct 1999 | US |
| Child | 09873613 | US | |
| Parent | 09061926 | Apr 1998 | US |
| Child | 09429576 | US |
