Systems and methods for terminating telephony communications to mobile telephony devices
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for terminating telephony communications to a mobile telephony device that is roaming outside of its native service area make use of a forwarding termination service. The forwarding termination service causes the native mobile telephony service provider that provides service to the mobile telephony device to forward incoming telephony communications directed the native telephone number of the mobile telephony device to a forwarding access number. The forwarding termination service receives telephony communications directed to the forwarding access number, and then terminates the telephony communication to the mobile telephony device via any one of multiple different methods. The mobile telephony service provider can be instructed to implement and cancel call forwarding instructions by dialing a special character string on the mobile telephony device.
1. A method, performed by one or more computer processors, of performing forwarding termination procedures for a telephony device that has been assigned a native identifier by a mobile telephony service provider, the method comprising:
determining a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with the mobile telephony service provider and a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with an Internet protocol (IP) telephony service provider;
causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented when the telephony device has no connection with the mobile telephony service provider or when a quality of a connection the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is below a first threshold value, and when the quality of a connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider is above a second threshold value, wherein causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented comprises:
causing the mobile telephony service provider to implement call forwarding instructions for the telephony device such that when the mobile telephony service provider receives an incoming telephony communication directed to the native identifier assigned to the telephony device, the mobile telephony service provider causes the incoming telephony communication to be forwarded to a forwarding identifier associated with the IP telephony service provider;
receiving a forwarded telephony communication directed to the forwarding identifier that has been forwarded from the mobile telephony service provider; and
connecting the forwarded telephony communication to the telephony device via a data network;
checking, periodically, after forwarding termination procedures have been implemented, to determine a quality of a connection that the telephony device has established with the mobile telephony service provider, if any, and/or determine whether a quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider, if any, is still above the second threshold value; and
causing the forwarding termination procedures to be canceled when it is determined either that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is at or above the first threshold value or that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider has fallen below the second threshold value, wherein causing forwarding termination procedures to be canceled comprises:
causing a query to be sent to a user of the telephony device, the query asking whether the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be canceled; and
receiving a response to the query, wherein the step of causing the forwarding termination procedures to be canceled is only performed if the received response to the query indicates that the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be canceled.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented comprises automatically causing the implementation of call forwarding procedures without seeking or obtaining user input.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented further comprises:
causing a query to be sent to a user of the telephony device, the query asking whether the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be implemented; and
receiving a response to the query, wherein the step of causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented is only performed if the received response to the query indicates that the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be implemented.
4. A system for performing forwarding termination procedures for a telephony device that has been assigned a native identifier by a mobile telephony service provider, comprising:
means for determining a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with the mobile telephony service provider and a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with an Internet protocol (IP) telephony service provider; and
means for causing forwarding termination procedures to be implemented when the telephony device has no connection with the mobile telephony service provider or when a quality of the connection the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is below a first threshold value, and when the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider is above a second threshold value, wherein the causing means comprises:
means for causing the mobile telephony service provider to implement call forwarding instructions for the telephony device such that when the mobile telephony service provider receives an incoming telephony communication directed to the native identifier assigned to the telephony device, the mobile telephony service provider causes the incoming telephony communication to be forwarded to a forwarding identifier associated with the IP telephony service provider;
means for receiving a forwarded telephony communication directed to the forwarding identifier that has been forwarded from the mobile telephony service provider;
means for connecting the forwarded telephony communication to the telephony device via a data network;
means for checking, periodically, after forwarding termination procedures have been implemented, to determine a quality of a connection that the telephony device has established with the mobile telephony service provider, if any, and/or determine whether a quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider, if any, is still above the second threshold value; and
means for causing the forwarding termination procedures to be canceled when it is determined either that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is at or above the first threshold value or that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider has fallen below the second threshold value, wherein the means for causing forwarding termination procedures to be canceled comprises:
means for causing a query to be sent to a user of the telephony device, the query asking whether the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be canceled; and
means for receiving a response to the query, wherein the means for causing the forwarding termination procedures to be canceled cancels the forwarding termination procedures only if the received response to the query indicates that the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be canceled.
5. A system for performing forwarding termination procedures for a telephony device that has been assigned a native identifier by a mobile telephony service provider, comprising:
a triggering unit comprising at least one processor that determines a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with the mobile telephony service provider, and a quality of a connection that the telephony device has, if any, with an Internet Protocol (IP) telephony service provider;
a forwarding instruction unit comprising at least one processor that:
causes forwarding termination procedures to be implemented when the telephony device has no connection with the mobile telephony service provider or when a quality of a connection the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is below a first threshold value, and when the quality of a connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider is above a second threshold value, wherein the forwarding instruction unit causes the mobile telephony service provider to implement call forwarding instructions for the telephony device such that when the mobile telephony service provider receives an incoming telephony communication directed to the native identifier assigned to the telephony device, the mobile telephony service provider causes the incoming telephony communication to be forwarded to a forwarding identifier associated with the IP telephony service provider;
wherein after forwarding termination procedures have been implemented, the triggering unit periodically checks to determine either whether a quality of a connection that the telephony device has established with the mobile telephony service provider, if any, has risen above the first threshold value, or to determine whether a quality of a connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider, if any, is still above the second threshold value and wherein the forwarding instruction unit causes the forwarding termination procedures to be canceled when the triggering unit determines either that that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the mobile telephony service provider is above the second threshold value, or that the quality of the connection that the telephony device has with the IP telephony service provider has fallen below the second threshold value, and
wherein when the triggering unit determines that forwarding termination procedures should be cancelled, the forwarding instruction unit causes a query to be sent to a user of the telephony device, the query asking whether the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be cancelled, wherein the forwarding instruction unit receives a response to the query from the user, and wherein the forwarding instruction unit causes the forwarding termination procedures to be cancelled only when the received response to the query indicates that the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be cancelled; and
a call termination unit comprising at least one processor that receives a forwarded telephony communication directed to the forwarding identifier that has been forwarded from the mobile telephony service provider, and that connects the forwarded telephony communication to the telephony device via a data network.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the forwarding instruction unit causes forwarding termination procedures to be automatically implemented without seeking or obtaining user input.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein when the triggering unit determines that forwarding termination procedures should be implemented, the forwarding instruction unit causes a query to be sent to a user of the telephony device, the query asking whether the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be implemented, wherein the forwarding instruction unit receives a response to the query from the user, and wherein the forwarding instruction unit causes the forwarding termination procedures to be implemented only if the received response to the query indicates that the user wishes for forwarding termination procedures to be implemented.