Apparatus and method for finding a called party over a telecommunication network
The present disclosure provides a system and method for establishing telephone communication between a calling party and called party wherein the calling party may store a plurality of numbers or identifiers of a called party and initiating a number or identifier of the called party enables the system and method to call multiple numbers of the called party from the stored plurality of numbers.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer program instructions, executable by a processor, the instructions comprising:
a set of instructions to receive a plurality of numbers from a calling party relating to a called party, the plurality of numbers including a session initiation protocol (SIP) compliant, uniform resource indicator (URI); and
a set of instructions to place non-simultaneous calls to at least some of the plurality of numbers according to a pre-selected order of calling, including:
a set of instructions to place a call to a first number in the plurality of numbers; and
a set of instructions to place a call to a second number in the plurality of numbers when the call to the first number goes unanswered according to a predetermined criteria.
2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined criteria are selected from a group consisting of a selected number of ring tones and a time period.
3. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising a set of instructions to establish a communication between the calling party and the called party at one of the plurality of numbers.
4. A method of providing a telephone service, comprising:
receiving a plurality of numbers associated with a called party;
receiving a uniform resource identifier (URI) associated with the called party;
placing non-simultaneous calls to at least some of the plurality of numbers, including:
placing a call to a first number in the plurality of numbers in response to receiving the identifier;
placing a call to a second number in the plurality of numbers when the first call is unanswered according to a criteria.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising placing a call to each number in the plurality of numbers non-simultaneously, according to a predetermined order until the call is answered.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising allowing a call to ring through to a voice mail.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the criteria is based on at least one of a number of rings and a time period.
8. A system comprising:
a processor having access to a database that stores a plurality of numbers associated with a called party; and
a computer readable medium accessible to the processor containing instructions, executable by the processor, the instructions comprising:
instructions to receive the plurality of numbers from a calling party;
instructions to receive a uniform resource identifier (URI) uniquely indicative of the called party;
instructions to place calls in response to receiving the URI, comprising:
instructions to place a call to a first number in the plurality of numbers; and
instructions to place a call to a second number in the plurality of numbers when the call to the first number is not answered.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of numbers have an order and wherein the computer program further comprises instructions to place a call to a successive number in the plurality of numbers according to the order, when a call to a preceding number goes unanswered based on a criteria including at least one of a selected number of ring tones and the elapse of a selected time period.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to establish communications between the calling party and the called party at one of the plurality of numbers.
11. A device for placing a telephone call, comprising:
a memory for storing a plurality of numbers associated with a called party;
an interface configured to enable a user to input a uniform resource identifier (URI) for the called party; and
a processor that initiates a call to a first number in the plurality of numbers upon receiving the URI and automatically initiates a call to a second number in the plurality of numbers after a specified number of ring tones have occurred in the call to the first number.
12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the processor initiates a call to each number in the plurality of numbers according to a predetermined ordering of the plurality of numbers until an answer is detected.