IP Library Granted Patent US 10,375,127
Granted Patent B2
US 10,375,127 · App. 15/690,023 · Granted Aug 6, 2019

System and method for preventing robocall voicemail deposit

Inventor: Homer Nicolas B. Filart (Renton, WA)
Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc.
H04L65/1079H04L65/1006H04W8/02H04M2203/2027
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,375,127
App. No.
15/690,023
Granted
Aug 6, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods for preventing a robocall from leaving a voicemail are described. When an incoming call without a history information header (HIH) destined for a subscriber is detected, the incoming call is prevented from leaving a voicemail if the subscriber does not answer the incoming call. If the incoming call has the HIH, additional determination process based on a visited network address of the subscriber is performed to determine whether the incoming call is to be prevented from leaving a voicemail.

Claims (54)

1. A method for preventing an unanswered call from depositing a voicemail, the method comprising:

determining whether call redirection history information is present in an attribute of the unanswered call to a user equipment (UE); and

upon determining that the call redirection history is present in the attribute;

determining whether a visited network address of the UE is a home global title address of the UE;

determining that the UE is in a home network of the UE based on the visited network address of the UE; and

preventing the unanswered call from depositing a voicemail.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the attribute is a SIP INVITE; and

the call redirection history information is a history-info header (HIH) included in the SIP INVITE, the HIH generated by a network node comprising at least one of a mobile switching center (MSC), a MSC server (MSS), or a telephony application server (TAS).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the UE is in a home network comprises:

initiating an inquiry to one of:

a home location register (HLR);

a home subscriber server (HSS); or

a unified subscriber database (USD).

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the inquiry includes at least one of a send routing information (SRI) or an SRI for short message (SRI-SM).

5. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-readable instructions executable by a computer, that when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

determining whether call redirection history information is present in an attribute of an unanswered call to a user equipment (UE);

upon determining that the call redirection history is present, determining that the UE is not in a home network of the UE based on a visited network address of the UE;

announcing a set of numbers to a caller of the unanswered call;

requesting the caller to enter a sequence of numbers from the announced set of numbers; and

upon determining that the caller failed to enter the sequence of numbers correctly, preventing the unanswered call from depositing a voicemail.

6. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 5 , wherein:

the attribute is a SIP INVITE; and

the call redirection history information is a history-info header (HIH) included in the SIP INVITE, the HIH generated by a network node comprising at least one of a mobile switching center (MSC), a MSC server (MSS), or a telephony application server (TAS).

7. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise:

upon determining that the HIH is present in the SIP INVITE;

determining whether the visited network address of the UE is a home global title address of the UE.

8. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 7 , wherein determining that the visited network address of the UE is not the home global title address of the UE comprises:

initiating an inquiry to one of:

a home location register (HLR);

a home subscriber server (HSS); and

a unified subscriber database (USD).

9. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the inquiry includes at least one of a send routing information (SRI) or an SRI for short message (SRI-SM).

10. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the set of numbers is randomly generated.

11. A system configured to prevent an unanswered call to a user equipment (UE) from depositing a voicemail, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory comprising a plurality of modules communicatively coupled to each other, the plurality of modules comprising:

a determination module configured to determine whether call redirection history information is present in an attribute of the unanswered call, wherein the determination module is further configured to, upon determining that the call redirection history information is present in the attribute:

determine whether a visited network address of the UE is a home global title address of the UE; and

determining that the UE is in a home network of the UE based on the visited network address of the UE; and

a prevention module configured to prevent the unanswered call from depositing a voicemail upon determining, by the determination module, that the call redirection history information is not present or upon determining that the UE is in the home network.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the attribute is a SIP INVITE; and

the call redirection history information is a history-info header (HIH) included in the SIP INVITE, the HIH generated by a network node comprising at least one of a mobile switching center (MSC), a MSC server (MSS), or a telephony application server (TAS).

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the determination module is further configured to determine whether the visited network address of the UE is the home global title address of the UE by initiating an inquiry to one of:

a home location register (HLR);

a home subscriber server (HSS); or

a unified subscriber database (USD).

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the inquiry includes at least one of a send routing information (SRI) or an SRI for short message (SRI-SM).

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of modules further comprises a randomizer module, the randomizer module configured to:

announce a set of numbers to a caller of the unanswered call;

request the caller to enter a sequence of numbers from the announced set of numbers;

determine whether the caller has correctly entered the sequence of numbers; and

prevent the unanswered call from depositing a voicemail upon determining that the caller failed to enter the sequence of numbers correctly.

Assignments (3)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 23, 2022
From: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS
To: IBSV LLC; LAYER3 TV, LLC; PUSHSPRING, LLC; T-MOBILE CENTRAL LLC; T-MOBILE USA, INC.; ASSURANCE WIRELESS USA, L.P.; BOOST WORLDWIDE, LLC; CLEARWIRE COMMUNICATIONS LLC; CLEARWIRE IP HOLDINGS LLC; SPRINTCOM LLC; SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P.; SPRINT INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED; SPRINT SPECTRUM LLC
Reel/Frame 062595/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 2, 2020
From: T-MOBILE USA, INC.; ISBV LLC; T-MOBILE CENTRAL LLC; LAYER3 TV, INC.; PUSHSPRING, INC.; BOOST WORLDWIDE, LLC; CLEARWIRE COMMUNICATIONS LLC; CLEARWIRE IP HOLDINGS LLC; CLEARWIRE LEGACY LLC; SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P.; SPRINT INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED; SPRINT SPECTRUM L.P.; ASSURANCE WIRELESS USA, L.P.
To: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS
Reel/Frame 053182/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 29, 2017
From: FILART, HOMER NICOLAS B.
To: T-MOBILE USA, INC.
Reel/Frame 043440/0070 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190068657A1 · Feb 28, 2019