A method for identifying communicators as wanted or unwanted based on messages from such communicators comprising receiving, by the data processing system, an inbound message from a communicator, comparing, by the data processing system, the inbound message to fingerprints stored in a database accessible to the data processing system, determining, by the data processing system, at least one match to the fingerprints, determining, by the data processing system, an identity of the communicator by determining whether and how likely the communicator is wanted or unwanted based on the at least one match to the fingerprints, and configuring, by the data processing system, handling of calls from the communicator based on the identity.

A system to provide selective call forwarding facility is disclosed. The system includes a contact grouping module, configured to group a set of contacts for forwarding calls in real time. The system includes a call status detection module, configured to detect the real time calling status of the user. The system includes an automated call forwarding message module, configured to pre-purpose a first message for forwarding an incoming call in accordance to selected contact from a set of grouped contacts. The system includes a call forwarding acknowledgement module, configured to provide real time acknowledgement to the user about call forwarding status. Here, a user may manually select a person from a pre-listed group and intimate the network service provider to forward the call to a selected person.

A method for identifying a fraudulent phone number is provided. The method includes receiving a user report dataset indicating fraudulent activity corresponding to a phone number, and responsive to receiving the user report dataset, identifying a record in a database corresponding to the phone number. The method further includes tagging the record to identify the phone number as being associated with fraudulent activity.

A method for predicting fraudulent call activity is provided. The method includes receiving one or more datasets indicating call activity corresponding to a phone number, and analyzing the one or more datasets to identify unusual call activity. The method further includes generating a fraud prediction, based at least in part on the identified unusual call activity, that the phone number will be used for fraud.

A system for managing a conference call, the system comprising a call answering server configured to receive a call from an attendee device that has been forwarded from a host device, identify a conference call associated with the host device for the attendee device to join, receive a request from the attendee device to join the conference call, and connect the attendee device to the conference call.

A method and system for identifying an unwanted caller using a call answering system. The method comprises receiving, by a call records server, information about callers from a plurality of telephony devices and one or more phone number data sources, classifying, by the call records server, one or more of the callers as either wanted or unwanted callers based on the received information, and storing, by the call records server, the received information and the classification of the one or more of the callers into a directory. The method further comprises identifying, by a call answering server, that a call from a given caller from a phone number to a receiving telephony device is from an unwanted caller by searching the directory, and handling, by the call answering server, the call from the given caller according to one or more preferences of the user, the one or more preferences including rejecting the call from the receiving telephony device, playing a recorded message, and disposing of the call.

A communications device is disclosed. The communications device comprises a memory configured to store instructions and a processor configured to execute the instructions to receive data representing a message provided by a caller, determine at least an attribute of the message based on the received data, generate one or more options based on the attribute of the message, and present the one or more options to the caller to prompt the caller to take an additional action related to the message.

A system and method for use with an assisted user's communication device that includes a display. The method includes providing a user communication device including a processor that is programmed to perform the step of, upon disconnection of an emergency call to a hearing user in which a captioning service has provided text transcription of voice messages from the hearing user, maintaining a link to the captioning service for a predetermined period of time. The processor also is programmed to perform the step of recognizing the call as an emergency call upon placement of the call, and the captioning service is automatically initiated upon the processor performing that recognition.

A system for managing a conference call, the system comprising a call answering server configured to receive a call from an attendee device that has been forwarded from a host device, identify a conference call associated with the host device for the attendee device to join, receive a request from the attendee device to join the conference call, and connect the attendee device to the conference call.

A method including: receiving a user report dataset indicating fraudulent activity corresponding to a phone number; responsive to receiving the user report dataset, identifying a record in a database corresponding to the phone number; and tagging the record to identify the phone number as being associated with fraudulent activity.