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 for causing a mobile telephony service provider to implement a forwarding feature for a telephony device which receives its native telephony service from the mobile telephony service provider, wherein implementing the forwarding feature results in the mobile telephony service provider forwarding telephony communications directed to a native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier, the method comprising:
receiving a communication from the telephony device that indicates that forwarding termination procedures should be implemented for the telephony device; and
attempting to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature by directly communicating with the mobile telephony service provider and instructing the mobile telephony service provider to forward telephony communications directed to the native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising testing whether the forwarding feature has been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider after performing the attempting step.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising notifying the telephony device that the forwarding feature has been implemented if the result of the testing indicates that the mobile telephony service provider has implemented the forwarding feature.
4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing information to the telephony device that enables the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature if the result of the testing step indicates that the forwarding feature has not been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting a forwarding identifier for the telephony device, and wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes the forwarding identifier.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes a string of characters that can be dialed from the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes a string of characters that can be dialed from the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising conducting a second test to determine whether the forwarding feature has been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider after providing information to the telephony device.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising sending a communication to the telephony device to cause the telephony device to make a second attempt to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature if the result of the second testing step indicates that the mobile telephony service provider has not implemented the forwarding feature.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a communication from the telephony device comprises a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephony service provider receiving the communication from the telephony device, and wherein attempting to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature comprises the VOIP telephony service provider attempting to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
11. A system for causing a mobile telephony service provider to implement a forwarding feature for a telephony device which receives its native telephony service from the mobile telephony service provider, wherein implementing the forwarding feature results in the mobile telephony service provider forwarding telephony communications directed to a native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier, the system comprising:
means for receiving a communication from the telephony device that indicates that forwarding termination procedures should be implemented for the telephony device; and
means for attempting to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature by directly communicating with the mobile telephony service provider and instructing the mobile telephony service provider to forward telephony communications directed to the native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier.
12. A system for causing a mobile telephony service provider to implement a forwarding feature for a telephony device which receives its native telephony service from the mobile telephony service provider, wherein implementing the forwarding feature results in the mobile telephony service provider forwarding telephony communications directed to a native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier, the system comprising:
a receiving unit that receives a communication from the telephony device that indicates that forwarding termination procedures should be implemented for the telephony device; and
a forwarding instruction unit that attempts to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature by directly communicating with the mobile telephony service provider and instructing the mobile telephony service provider to forward telephony communications directed to the native identifier of the telephony device to a forwarding identifier.
13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a testing unit that tests whether the forwarding feature has been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider after the forwarding instruction unit attempts to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the forwarding instruction unit notifies the telephony device that the forwarding feature has been implemented if the testing unit determines that the mobile telephony service provider has implemented the forwarding feature.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the forwarding instruction unit provides information to the telephony device that enables the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature if the testing unit determines that the forwarding feature has not been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the forwarding instruction unit selects a forwarding identifier for the telephony device, and wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes the forwarding identifier.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes a string of characters that can be dialed from the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the information provided to the telephony device includes a string of characters that can be dialed from the telephony device to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the testing unit conducts a second test to determine whether the forwarding feature has been implemented by the mobile telephony service provider after providing information to the telephony device.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the forwarding instruction unit sends a communication to the telephony device to cause the telephony device to make a second attempt to cause the mobile telephony service provider to implement the forwarding feature if the second test performed by the testing unit indicates that the mobile telephony service provider has not implemented the forwarding feature.
21. The system of claim 12 , wherein the receiving unit and the forwarding instruction unit are part of a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephony service provider.