Systems and methods of assigning and using virtual telephone numbers
View Patent ↗A single virtual telephone number that is used to route telephony communications is assigned to first and second users if the first and second users rarely, if ever, communicate with the same party. When an incoming call is received on the virtual telephone number, telephony information for the first and second users is reviewed to determine if the calling party is one that has communicated with either of the first and second users in the past. If so, the telephony communication is routed to the user who has communicated with the calling party in the past.
1. A method of determining how to assign virtual telephone numbers to users of a telephony service, comprising:
obtaining telephony related information for first and second users of the telephony service, wherein the obtaining step comprises obtaining information from address books or contact lists for the first and second users;
analyzing the obtained information to determine a degree of affinity between the first and second users, wherein the analyzing step comprises determining how many, if any, entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the first user match entries appearing in the address books and contact lists of the second user, and wherein the greater the number of matching entries, the greater the determined degree of affinity; and
determining whether to assign the same virtual telephone number to the first and second users based on the determined degree of affinity.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assigning the same virtual telephone number to the first and second users if the determined degree of affinity is lower than a threshold value; and
assigning different virtual telephone numbers to the first and second users if the determined degree of affinity is greater than or equal to the threshold value.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining how many, if any entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the first user match entries appearing in the address books and contact lists of the second user comprises determining if the same name or same telephone number that appears in the address books or contact lists of the first user also appears in the address books or contact lists of the second user.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining step further comprises obtaining telephony communication histories for the first and second users, and wherein the analyzing step also comprises determining if at least one telephone number appears in the obtained telephony communication histories of both the first and second users.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining personal information for the first and second users, and wherein the analyzing step comprises also analyzing the obtained personal information to determine a degree of affinity between the first and second users.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining step further comprises obtaining telephony communication histories for the first and second users, and wherein the analyzing step further comprises determining how many, if any, telephone numbers appearing in the obtained telephony communication history of the first user also appear in the obtained telephony communication history of the second user.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein obtaining personal information comprising obtaining information about at least one of the employers and residential locations of the first and second users.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the analyzing step further comprises determining a degree of affinity between the first and second users based on the number of telephone numbers that appear in the obtained telephony communication histories of both the first and second users.
9. A system for determining how to assign virtual telephone numbers to users of a telephony service, comprising:
means for obtaining telephony related information for first and second users of the telephony service, wherein the obtaining means obtains information from address books or contact lists for the first and second users;
means for analyzing the obtained information to determine a degree of affinity between the first and second users by determining how many, if any, entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the first user match entries appearing in the address books and contact lists of the second user, wherein the greater the number of matching entries, the greater the determined degree of affinity; and
means for determining whether to assign the same virtual telephone number to the first and second users based on the determined degree of affinity.
10. A system for determining how to assign virtual telephone numbers to users of a telephony service, comprising:
a user information obtaining unit comprising at least one processor that obtains telephony related information for first and second users of the telephony service, wherein the user information obtaining unit obtains information from address books or contact lists for the first and second users; and
an information analyzing unit comprising at least one processor that analyzes the obtained information to determine a degree of affinity between the first and second users by determining how many, if any, entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the first user match entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the second user, wherein the greater the number of matching entries, the greater the determined degree of affinity and wherein the information analyzing unit also determines whether to assign the same virtual telephone number to the first and second users based on the determined degree of affinity.
11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a virtual number assignment unit comprising at least one processor that assigns the same virtual telephone number to the first and second users if the determined degree of affinity is lower than a threshold value and that assigns different virtual telephone numbers to the first and second users if the determined degree of affinity is greater than or equal to the threshold value.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the information analyzing unit determines how many, if any, entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the first user match entries appearing in the address books or contact lists of the second user by determining if the same name or same telephone number that appears in the address books or contact lists of the first user also appears in the address books or contact lists of the second user.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user information obtaining unit also obtains telephony communication histories for the first and second users, and wherein the information analyzing unit also determines if at least one telephone number appears in the obtained telephony communication histories of both the first and second users.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user information obtaining unit also obtains personal information for the first and second users, and wherein the information analyzing unit also analyzes the obtained personal information to determine a degree of affinity between the first and second users.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user information obtaining unit obtains telephony communication histories for the first and second users, and wherein the information analyzing unit also determines how many, if any, telephone numbers appearing in the obtained telephony communication history of the first user also appear in the obtained telephony communication history of the second user.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the user information obtaining unit also obtains information about at least one of the employers and residential locations of the first and second users.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the information analyzing unit also determines a degree of affinity between the first and second users based on the number of telephone numbers that appear in the obtained telephony communication histories of both the first and second users.