Patents Assigned to Effectrol Patent Trust
  • Patent number: 6198812
    Abstract: A telephone line incoming call filtering device. A ring-through of an incoming call to a subscriber's controlled telephone is reserved to a second call attempt quickly following a succession of a first call and a hang-up. As a result, nuisance calls such as trash calls from telemarketeers and other unwanted calls may be simply diverted to an answering machine. This nuisance call filtering is transparently obtained without even bothering the subscriber when the first call attempt rings more often than one or two times. On the other hand, repeating a rapid-fire succession of incoming calls where the first call attempt is allowed to ring only once or twice followed by a second call attempt are allowed to ring-through directly to the subscriber's telephone set. Filtering of unwanted calls is achieved by permitting the ring-through to occur only when the first call attempt is allowed to ring only a few times and distinctly a less number of times than ordinarily attempted by casual or nuisance callers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: Effectrol Patent Trust
    Inventor: Harold J. Weber