Computer-based method and apparatus for controlling, monitoring, recording and reporting telephone access
View Patent ↗A telephone station interface is provided with apparatus for detecting when a called party has or is attempting to patch or bridge one telephone call with another telephone call. The detecting of such bridging or conferencing is accomplished through the detection of tones which are commonly associated with such activities, such as a ring signal, a busy signal, special information tones (SIT tones), dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones or so-called Touch Tones, call progress tones, or other tones that occur when calls are placed. The present invention does not have the capability of sensing clicks, pops, or other audio signals associated with the conferencing of multiple communications circuits. The method and apparatus herein are for managing institutional telephone activity, and utilize a computer control unit to control a trunk management unit, which connects institutional telephones to outside telephone lines.
1. A method for controlling institutional communications, comprising:
recording a conversation on telephone connection between a regulated calling party and a called party, the regulated calling party residing in an institution;
detecting tones arising during the telephone connection;
comparing the tones to a predetermined call-bridging tone set to identify an attempt to bridge the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party to include a third party, wherein the call-bridging tone set includes at least one of dial tones, busy signal tones, ring signal tones, dual tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) tones, and special instruction tones (“SIT”); and
executing call-bridging prevention instructions in response to an identified call-bridging attempt based upon comparing the tones to the predetermined call bridging tone set.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
terminating the telephone connection.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
inserting a warning message into the telephone connection.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
recording a telephone number of the third party.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
blocking further calls between the regulated calling party and the called party.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
comparing a telephone number of the third party against a list of authorized called parties; and
terminating the telephone connection unless the telephone number of the third party appears on the list of authorized called parties.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein executing the call-bridging prevention instructions comprises:
receiving a voice sample from the regulated calling party before establishing the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party;
comparing the voice sample to a digitized representation of the regulating calling party's voice to verify that the voice sample matches the digitized representation; and
establishing the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party if the voice sample matches the digitized representation.
8. A call management system, comprising:
a management unit arranged to record a conversation on a telephone connection between a regulated calling party residing in an institution and a called party, wherein the management unit is further arranged to detect tones arising during the telephone connection; and
a computer control unit arranged to compare the tones to a predetermined call-bridging tone set to identify an attempt to bridge the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party to include a third party, wherein the call-bridging tone set includes at least one of dial tones, busy signal tones, ring signal tones, dual tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) tones, and special instruction tones (“SIT”), and wherein the computer control unit is arranged to execute call-bridging prevention instructions in response to an identified call-bridging attempt based upon the comparison.
9. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the call-bridging prevention instructions comprise instructions configured to:
terminate the telephone connection.
10. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the call-bridging prevention instructions comprise instructions configured to:
insert a warning message into the telephone connection.
11. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the call-bridging prevention instructions comprise instructions configured to:
record a telephone number of the third party.
12. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the call-bridging prevention instructions comprise instructions configured to:
block further calls between the regulated calling party and the called party.
13. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the call-bridging prevention instructions comprise instructions configured to:
compare a telephone number of the third party against a list of authorized called parties; and
terminate the telephone connection unless the telephone number of the third party appears on the list of authorized called parties.
14. The call management system of claim 8 , wherein the computer control unit is further arranged to:
receive from the management unit a voice sample from the regulated calling party before allowing the management unit to establish the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party;
compare the voice sample to a digitized representation of the regulating calling party's voice to verify that the voice sample matches the digitized representation; and
instruct the management unit to establish the telephone connection between the regulated calling party and the called party if the voice sample matches the digitized representation.