Telephone system and method for selectively ringing one or more land phones ...

US006999757B2

(12) United States Patent

Bates et al.

(io) Patent No.: US 6,999,757 B2 (45) Date of Patent: Feb. 14,2006

(54) TELEPHONE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY RINGING ONE OR MORE LAND PHONES OR PORTABLE PHONES BASED ON THE SELF-DETECTED GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF A PORTABLE PHONE

(75) Inventors: Cary Lee Bates, Rochester, MN (US);

Jeffrey Michael Ryan, Byron, MN
(US); John Matthew Santosuosso,

Rochester, MN (US)

(73) Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 702 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 09/759,784

(22) Filed: Jan. 12, 2001

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2001/0055974 Al Dec. 27, 2001

Related U.S. Application Data

(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 09/591,331, filed on Jun. 9, 2000.

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5,502,762 A * 3/1996 Andrew et al 379/202.01

5,745,850 A * 4/1998 Aldermeshian et al 455/417

5,757,902 A * 5/1998 Mitsuo 379/212.01

5,778,304 A 7/1998 Grabe et al 455/33.1

5,845,207 A * 12/1998 Amin et al 455/414.1

5,903,833 A * 5/1999 Jonsson et al 455/417

(Continued)
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

EP 0 865 188 A2 9/1998

(Continued)

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Anonymous: "Mobile Telephone with Position Reporting System" Research Disclosure, Kenneth Mason Publications, Hampshire, GB, vol. 41, No. 410, Jun. 1, 1998, XP002170406.

Primary Examiner—Stephen D'Agosta

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Martin & Associates, LLC;

Derek P. Martin

A portable phone is equipped with a position detector that detects the geographical position of the portable phone, and a telephone system may ring one or more land-based phones or portable phones according to the geographical position of the portable phone. One or more geographical regions are defined, with corresponding telephone parameters defined for each region. When a portable phone enters a defined region, exits a defined region, or changes between two defined regions, the function of one or more land-based phones or portable phones may change. The preferred embodiments thus allow changing the function of one or more other phones based on the self-detected geographical position of a portable phone. In this manner the convenience of using portable phones is greatly enhanced.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets