Enforcement of privacy in a VoIP system
Systems and methods for providing privacy in a VoIP system are provided. In exemplary embodiments, an incoming call is received. A caller ID associated with the incoming call is determined. A category based on the caller ID is associated with the incoming call. Based on the category, a call treatment database is accessed to determine at least one call treatment associated with the category. The at least one call treatment is then applied to the incoming call.
1 . A method for providing privacy in a VoIP system, comprising:
receiving an incoming call;
identifying a category associated with the incoming call;
accessing a call treatment database to determine at least one call treatment associated with the category; and
applying the at least one call treatment to the incoming call.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the category comprises determining a caller identifier associated with the incoming call.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the category comprises determining that the incoming call has a blocked caller identifier.
4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a graphical user interface to a user, the graphical user interface configured to allow the user to access at least a call log.
5 . The method of claim 4 further comprising receiving a command to recategorize a caller identify via the graphical user interface.
6 . The method of claim 4 further comprising receiving user preferences for call treatments via the graphical user interface.
7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising maintaining a white list of caller identifiers.
8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising maintaining a black list of caller identifiers.
9 . The method of claim 8 wherein maintaining the black list of caller identifiers comprises adding caller identifiers from a community list to the black list.
10 . The method of claim 8 wherein maintaining the black list of caller identifiers comprises adding a caller identifier to the black list in response to an input from a graphical user interface.
11 . The method of claim 1 wherein applying the at least one call treatment comprises sending the incoming call to a voicemail server.
12 . The method of claim 1 wherein applying the at least one call treatment comprises sending an announcement to a caller.
13 . The method of claim 1 wherein applying the at least one call treatment comprises verifying a caller.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein verifying the caller comprises providing at least one personal challenge to the caller.
15 . The method of claim 13 wherein verifying the caller comprises requesting a password from the caller.
16 . The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the incoming call comprises receiving the incoming call via a redirect from a gateway associated with a call recipient.
17 . A system for providing privacy in a VoIP system, comprising:
a call treatment database configured to store predetermined call treatments associated with one or more categories of incoming calls; and
a call treatment module configured to receive an incoming call, categorize the incoming call based on a caller ID associated with the incoming call, and determine and apply a call treatment from the call treatment database associated with the category.
18 . The system of claim 17 further comprising a voicemail server configured to receive the incoming call routed by the call treatment module and to store a voicemail for the incoming call routed by the call treatment module.
19 . The system of claim 17 further comprising an announcement server configured to send an announcement to the incoming call based on instructions received from the call treatment module.
20 . The system of claim 17 further comprising an interactive voice recognition system configured to verify a caller associated with the incoming call.
21 . The system of claim 17 further comprising a graphical user interface module configured to provide a graphical user interface to a user, the graphical user interface configured to provide call logs and receive call treatment preferences from the user.
22 . A machine readable medium having embodied thereon a program, the program providing instructions for a method for providing privacy in a VoIP system, the method comprising:
receiving an incoming call;
identifying a category associated with the incoming call;
accessing a call treatment database to determine at least one call treatment associated with the category; and
applying the at least one call treatment to the incoming call.