System and method for providing called party awareness information
A system and phone for providing called party awareness information to a calling party. As disclosed, a communication service provider can receive identification information associated with a called device from the keypad of the phone. The communication service provider can determine whether the called device is associated with the communication service provider or not. The communication service provider can use the identification information to determine the local time when the called device is not associated with the phone system. Alternatively, the communication service provider can use offsets to determine the local time generated by the called device when the called device is associated with the communication service provider. The offsets can be provided by fixed phone locations or non-fixed phone locations. Thereafter, the communication service provider can return the local time to the phone where it can be displayed.
1. A system that displays a local time of a party to be called, said system comprising:
a phone for displaying a local time where a communication device is located;
wherein said phone connects to a communication service provider that provides said local time where said communication device is located to said phone, said local time calculated and provided by said communication service provider before connecting said phone to said communication device, said communication device being one of either external to said communication service provider or associated with said communication service provider, and in the event said communication device is external to said communication service provider said communication service provider determines said local time by using a country code, an area code, or combination thereof, or in the event said communication device is associated with said communication service provider said communication service provider determines said local time using an offset, said offset calculated using information provided by said communication device and a time of said communication service provider.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said phone for displaying said local time is an IP phone.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is selected from the group consisting of a cellular phone, a smart phone, a softphone, an IP desk phone, a teleworker IP phone, and a residential phone.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said phone displays time for a plurality of communication devices associated with a called party.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is a fixed device, said information corresponding to a time zone entered in by an administrator or operator for said fixed device.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein said fixed device is associated with a unique identifier.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is a cellphone, said provided information corresponding to a time on said cellphone when said time on said cellphone is within a predetermined margin of a network time otherwise said provided information corresponds to said network time.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is a softphone, said provided information corresponding to an adjusted time on said softphone when said softphone is connected to an outside network.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is a softphone, said provided information corresponding to a network time when said softphone is connected to a corporate network.
10. In a phone having a display and an entry means, a method for retrieving local time information of a called device and displaying said local time information of said called device on said display of said phone, said method comprising:
receiving identification information associated with said called device from said entry means of said phone;
providing said identification information to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system, wherein said VoIP system determines whether said called device is external to said VoIP system or associated with said VoIP phone system, said VoIP phone system using said identification information to determine said local time information when said called device is not associated with said VoIP phone system otherwise said VoIP phone system using offsets to determine said local time information generated by said called device when said called device is associated with said VoIP phone system, said VoIP phone system returning said local time information to said phone; and
displaying said local time information on said display.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said identification information is a phone number of said called device.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein using offsets generated by said called device when said called device is associated with said VoIP system comprises determining whether said called device is at a fixed phone location or a non-fixed phone location.
13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising displaying a time zone of said called device.
14. A phone system for facilitating communication among devices, said phone system comprising:
a database for storing information about known devices;
at least one processor; and
a memory operatively coupled to said processor, said memory storing program instructions that when executed by said processor, causes said processor to:
receive routing data from a calling device identifying a called party;
identify at least one device associated with said called party;
determine whether said at least one device is external to said phone system or is associated with said phone system using said information about known devices stored on said database; and
in the event said at least one device is associated with said phone system calculate a local time for said at least one device using offsets provided by said at least one device when said called party is associated with said phone system and provide said local time of said at least one device to said calling device; or
in the event said at least one device is external to said phone system determine said local time by using a country code, an area code, or combination thereof.
15. The phone system of claim 14 , wherein said memory storing program instructions, when executed by the processor, causes said processor to calculate said local time for said at least one device using said routing data provided by said calling device when said called party is not associated with said phone system.
16. The phone system of claim 14 , wherein identifying said at least one device associated with said called party comprises locating a device where said called party is found using previous activity of said called party.