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.

A user equipment and method for call filtering is provided. On receipt of an incoming call, the incoming call's telephone number or other caller identifier is determined and then used as a search query in a search engine search. Using natural language processing or text string comparison, text from the search hits is processed by comparing with the stored permitted caller description(s). If a match is found, then a call alert is generated, whereas if not, then the call is blocked.

Example apparatus and methods concern establishing context for a phone call. A computing device is controlled to display content and applications that are relevant for the call during the call. A party on the call is identified using data received from a phone used by the party. The relevant content and the relevant application are identified using actions (e.g., purchase to make, call to make) and intentions (e.g., family matter, business matter) identified in text provided in a text-based transcript of the call. The text-based transcript is provided in real time by a natural language processing (NLP) service during the call. The devices are controlled to selectively present the relevant content and the relevant application to make the call more automated and more productive. A to-do list is automatically generated based on the intentions, the actions, and on subject matter or content discussed or accessed during the call.

Example apparatus and methods concern establishing context for a phone call. A computing device is controlled to display content and applications that are relevant for the call during the call. A party on the call is identified using data received from a phone used by the party. The relevant content and the relevant application are identified using actions (e.g., purchase to make, call to make) and intentions (e.g., family matter, business matter) identified in text provided in a text-based transcript of the call. The text-based transcript is provided in real time by a natural language processing (NLP) service during the call. The devices are controlled to selectively present the relevant content and the relevant application to make the call more automated and more productive. A to-do list is automatically generated based on the intentions, the actions, and on subject matter or content discussed or accessed during the call.

A method, apparatus and computer program product is provided for processing the status of phone devices having a phone number. A synthetic communication server receives updated status of a target phone device referencing a normalized phone number that specifically identifies the target phone device on a synthetic communication network. Accordingly, the server stores the updated status of the target phone device in a status area referenced by the normalized phone number. The server identifies a subset of phone devices from phone devices on the synthetic communication network interested in the status of the target phone device. For each of the phone devices in the subset, the server pushes the updated status of the target phone device to each phone device in the subset. Yet another aspect of the invention concerns monitoring status of the phone devices in a status list of normalized phone numbers on a phone device. The phone device monitors other phone devices and also provides individual status. Accordingly, the method and system sends the status list and updated status of the phone device that includes a normalized phone number identifying the phone device on the synthetic communication network. Subsequently, the method and system receives the status updates of the one or more other phone devices in the status list. The status updates received are also referenced using the corresponding normalized phone numbers for each of the other phone devices. These status updates of the one or more other phone devices are processed by the method and system and then displayed in a display area of the phone device.

A method, system, and computer program product, include determining whether a service receiver has authorized a request for registration and upon the service receiver having authorized the request for registration, registering characteristic information of the service call for the service receiver.

An in-vehicle navigation apparatus with a handsfree function establishes a Bluetooth communication link with a cellular phone. When receiving from the cellular phone outgoing call history data and incoming call history data, which were stored in the cellular phone before establishing the Bluetooth communication link, the in-vehicle navigation apparatus stores, in a work memory, the received outgoing call history data and the received incoming call history data, equally to, of the navigation apparatus itself, outgoing call history data and incoming call history data. An outgoing call operation then becomes possible using outgoing call history data and incoming call history data, which are stored in the work memory.

An in-vehicle navigation apparatus with a handsfree function establishes a Bluetooth communication link with a cellular phone. When receiving from the cellular phone outgoing call history data and incoming call history data, which were stored in the cellular phone before establishing the Bluetooth communication link, the in-vehicle navigation apparatus stores, in a work memory, the received outgoing call history data and the received incoming call history data, equally to, of the navigation apparatus itself, outgoing call history data and incoming call history data. An outgoing call operation then becomes possible using outgoing call history data and incoming call history data, which are stored in the work memory.

Examples are disclosed for screening an inbound telephony call to a called party. At a communications server, an inbound telephony call intended for a called party's telephone number is received and checked against a whitelist database and a blacklist database. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the blacklist database, the communications server automatically routes the call to a voicemail system or spam folder associated with the called party's telephone number. When the caller ID of the inbound call matches a telephone number contained in the whitelist database, the communications server determines whether the called party is available to receive the call. Otherwise, when the caller ID of the inbound call does not match a telephone number contained in either the whitelist database or the blacklist database, the communications server prompts the caller for additional information.

A system for authenticating the identity of a caller (i) receives a phone call from a caller, where the phone call is initiated through an application on a remote computer device associated with the caller, and where the phone call includes one or more phone authentication credentials; (ii) determines a preliminary identity of the caller based upon the one or more phone authentication credentials; (iii) receives online authentication credentials from the application on the remote computer device; (iv) determines a confirmed identity of the caller based, at least in part, upon the one or more online credentials and the preliminary identity of the caller; and (v) displays the confirmed identity of the caller to a user answering the phone call. As a result, the user and/or the system do not need to perform additional authentication before providing service to the caller.