TELEPHONE NUMBER GROUPING SERVICE FOR TELEPHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS

摘要

An existing telephone service provider network may be adapted to associate a single telephone number with multiple telephone service user devices. The multiple provisioned telephone numbers may be grouped such that service activity originating from a device associated with one of the grouped telephone numbers appears to originate from a selected (and possibly different) one of the grouped telephone numbers, and such that service activity destined for a device associated with one of the grouped telephone numbers may be forwarded to one or more and/or each of the devices associated with the grouped telephone numbers. Any suitable set of provisioned telephone numbers may be grouped including, but not limited to, a set of two provisioned telephone numbers.

主权项

1. A method for telephone number grouping, comprising:
provisioning, by a telephone service provider, a plurality of telephone numbers including associating each of the plurality of telephone numbers with a distinct physical telephone service user device of a plurality of physical telephone service user devices; registering, with a telephone number grouping service, at least two telephone numbers of the plurality of telephone numbers as grouped telephone numbers with respect to incoming and outgoing telephone calls; providing, by the telephone service provider to the telephone number grouping service, at least partial call control for incoming and outgoing telephone calls with respect to the grouped telephone numbers; with respect to incoming telephone calls to the grouped telephone numbers, activating one or more of the plurality of physical telephone service user devices associated with the grouped telephone numbers in accordance with a grouped telephone number incoming call policy; and with respect to an outgoing telephone call from a physical telephone service user device associated with the grouped telephone numbers, causing the outgoing telephone call to appear to originate from a selected telephone number of the grouped telephone numbers in accordance with a grouped telephone number outgoing call policy.