WO2010060013A2

WO2010060013A2 - Systems and methods for handling telephone conference calls

Info

Publication number: WO2010060013A2
Application number: PCT/US2009/065470
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth Muir Brickley; Miles Jefcoate Valentine
Original assignee: Zeacom Inc
Current assignee: Zeacom Inc
Priority date: 2008-11-24
Filing date: 2009-11-23
Publication date: 2010-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2011-05-24
Also published as: WO2010060013A3

Abstract

Disclosed herein are various exemplary embodiments of methods and systems for handling telephone conference calls, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system. Exemplary methods and systems may include matching a caller ID of an inbound call against a list of people who've been invited to attend a conference call. If there is a match, the caller may then be provided with the option to receive dial-in instructions and/or be directly connected to the conference call. Exemplary embodiments of methods and systems are disclosed in which participants may be automatically logged into a conference call, e.g., without needing a dial-in number or PIN, by calling a mobile phone of any of the other conference participants of the same conference call. In exemplary methods and systems, the caller's telephone number (CLID) may be recognized as being a nominated conference participant such that when the caller calls any of the other conference participants from a phone number which is associated with the caller in the host's mobile phone, the caller may then be provided with instant and automatic access to the Conference Info. In some cases {e.g., where the caller is calling either the host's mobile number or another participant's mobile number who is on the same wireless network as the host), the caller may be able to connect directly to the conference call without having to make a second phone call.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING TELEPHONE CONFERENCE CALLS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Application No. 61/1 17,256 filed November 24, 2008. The entire disclosure of the above application Is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for handling telephone conference calls, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system.

BACKGROUND

[0003] This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

[0004] Many telephone conferencing products provide a general telephone number for calling into the appropriate conference at the desired meeting time. Typically, a dial-in telephone number, access number, and personal identification number or PIN (hereinafter also generally referred to as "Conference Info") are provided to the participants for security reasons and to ensure the callers are joining the correct conference call. The Conference Info must be written down or placed to memory for later recollection when joining the conference call.

[0005] Frequently, participants may forget or incorrectly transcribe the Conference Info and must find the original instructions for confirmation. In today's increasingly mobile work environment, this problem is compounded when the original Conference Info are not immediately available, and a participant must make one or more telephone calls to other colleagues who may know the Conference Info (typically other participants of the same conference call). This problem is further compounded if/when the Conference Info changes, often when rescheduling meeting times.

[0006] Because participants are oftentimes not at their desks or workstations at the time of the conference call, the best way to reach another conference participant is usually via their cellular phone. In this scenario and in many other similar situations, several phone calls must usually be made to various participants before finding the correct Conference Info. After receiving the correct Conference Info, the participant then usually hangs up to place a subsequent call into the conference bridge. While the conference dial-in telephone number, access number, and PIN advantageously provide security purposes, the disadvantage to this process is its inflexibility for legitimate participants attempting to join a conference call with a PIN and/or telephone number that oftentimes is transcribed or written down incorrectly. This scenario is very common and widespread globally, resulting in tardy meetings, frustration on behalf of everyone involved in the conference call, and substantial productivity losses.

SUMMARY

[0007] This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

[0008] Disclosed herein are various exemplary embodiments of methods and systems for handling telephone conference calls, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system. Exemplary methods and systems may include matching a caller ID of an inbound call against a list of people who've been invited to attend a conference call. If there is a match, the caller may then be provided with the option to receive dial-in instructions and/or be directly connected to the conference call. Exemplary embodiments of methods and systems are disclosed in which participants may be automatically logged into a conference call, e.g., without needing to having a dial-in number or PIN, by calling a mobile phone of any of the other conference participants of the same conference call. In exemplary methods and systems, the caller's telephone number (calling line identification or CLID) may be recognized as being a nominated conference participant such that when the caller calls any of the other conference participants from a phone number which is associated with the caller in the host's mobile phone, the caller may then be provided with instant and automatic access to the Conference Info. In some cases {e.g., where the caller is calling either the host's mobile number or another participant's mobile number who is on the same wireless network as the host), the caller may be able to connect directly to the conference call without having to make a second phone call.

[0009] Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

[0010] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for handling a telephone conference call, and illustrating various steps or process undertaken when completing a call to the Conference Originator's cellular phone or to any conference Participant on the same mobile network as the Originator, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a topography diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow process that may occur with the method shown in FIG. 1 , where the arrow from the Interceptor to the Conference Originator represents a call in to the Conference Originator's cellular phone;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a topography diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow process that may occur with the method shown in FIG. 1 , where the arrow from the Interceptor to the Conference Participant represents a call from one Participant to another Participant for the Conference Info and where the Participant receiving the call is on the same mobile network as the Originator;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method for handling a telephone conference, and illustrating various steps, operations, or processes undertaken when one Participant calls another Participant for the Conference Info and the Participant receiving the call is not on the same mobile network as the Originator, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; [0015] FIG. 5 is a topography diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow process that may occur with the method shown in FIG. 4, where the Participant receiving the call is not on the same mobile network as the Participant making the call and the Participant is placing the call from a landline telephone; and

[0016] FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method for handling a telephone conference call, and illustrating various steps, operations, or processes undertaken when the "Interceptor" is not available and a Participant calls the cellular phone of the Conference Originator, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Disclosed herein are various exemplary embodiments of methods and systems for handling telephone conference calls, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system. Exemplary methods and systems may include matching a caller ID of an inbound call against a list of people {e.g., real-time list, etc.) who've been invited to attend a conference call. If there is a match, the caller may then be provided with the option to receive dial-in instructions and/or be directly connected to the conference call. Exemplary embodiments of methods and systems are disclosed in which participants may be automatically logged into a conference call, e.g., without needing a dial-in number or PIN, by calling a mobile phone of any of the other conference participants of the same conference call. In exemplary methods and systems, the caller's telephone number (CLID) may be recognized as being a nominated conference participant such that when the caller calls any of the other conference participants from a phone number which is associated with the caller in the host's mobile phone, the caller may then be provided with instant and automatic access to the Conference Info. In some cases {e.g., where the caller is calling either the host's mobile number or another participant's mobile number who is on the same wireless network as the host), the caller may be able to connect directly to the conference call without having to make a second phone call.

[0019] In exemplary embodiments, participants may be prompted to announce themselves the first time they enter the service, but on the second and subsequent use of the system their name will be retrieved from the Conference Service database and their phone number will be displayed on the host's Conference Dashboard for notification and security measures. For further security measures, the host may be able to mute, drop, hold, and/or have private conversations with the new participant through the mobile dashboard application. Depending on advanced settings, some embodiments may include the interceptor being configured to also prompt the conference host so that the conference host may view on his/her cellular phone the inbound call and have the option to either push the conference details to that caller while either answering or ignoring the call, or join the incoming call to the conference bridge.

[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates a process flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for handling a telephone conference call, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system. Generally, FIG. 1 illustrates various steps, operations, or processes for carrying out the illustrated method when completing a call to the Conference Originator's cell phone or to any conference Participant on the same mobile network as the Originator. As described below, FIG. 4 illustrates various steps, operations, or processes of a method that may be implemented in those situations in which one Participant calls another Participant for the Conference Info and the Participant receiving the call is not on the same mobile network as the Originator.

[0021] With continued reference to FIG. 1 , the following is a description of the steps, operations, or processes indicated by reference numbers 1 through 8.

1. The Participant (that wants/needs to join the conference call) places a call to the cellular phone of the conference host (also referred to herein as "Originator");

2. The call information is intercepted by the system; 3. A "look up" is performed against the Conference System to see if the participant caller's CLID (calling line identification) is anywhere to be found in an upcoming scheduled conference call. This listing {e.g., real time list, etc.) is kept up to date through communication through the data connection on the cellular phone with the central conferencing server. If there is no match found for the caller's CLID, then the call is completed like any another call;

4. If a match is found for the participant caller's CLID in an upcoming scheduled conference call, then the Participants (and/or the Conference Originator, depending on preference settings of the Originator) are prompted with the following options represented by reference numbers 5, 6 and 7;

5. to complete the call to the Conference Originator;

6. to join the conference call;

7. to receive a reminder with Conference Info {e.g., a dial-in telephone number, access number, PIN, etc.); a. When a Participant selects to receive the Conference Info reminder, two possible methods for providing the Conference Info reminder include: i. If the Participant is calling from a mobile phone, the Conference Info reminder may be automatically sent, such as via Short Messages Service (SMS - which is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices) or via another suitable method. ii. If the Participant is calling from a landline telephone, the Conference Info reminder may be provided orally to the Participant via the speaker or ear piece of the landline telephone, such as by using means for converting text to speech {e.g., via software, etc.).

8. Or the Participant (and/or the Conference Originator, depending on preference settings of the Originator) can elect to carry out both option 5 (to complete the call to the Conference Originator) and option 7 (to receive a reminder with the Conference Info). When the Participant selects to have the call completed through to the Conference Originator (option 5) (whether or not they have selected to receive the Conference Info), the Participant's call may be completed like any normal call. Likewise, if the Participant has selected to receive the Conference Info (option 7), the call may be terminated without disturbing or without connecting through to the Conference Originator's phone.

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a topography diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow process that may occur with the method illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the arrow from the Interceptor to the Conference Originator represents the call in to the Conference Originator's cellular phone. [0023] FIG. 3 is a topography diagram also illustrating a call flow process that may occur with the method illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the arrow from the Interceptor to the Conference Participant represents the call from one Participant to another Participant for the Conference Info. In this example, the Participant receiving the call is on the same mobile network as the Conference Originator.

[0024] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method for handling a telephone conference, such as a telephone conference call where the conference bridge is hosted in and has been initiated from a wireless phone system. Generally, FIG. 4 illustrates various steps, operations, or processes for carrying out the illustrated method when one Participant calls another Participant for the Conference Info and the Participant receiving the call is not on the same mobile network as the Originator.

[0025] The following is a description of the steps, operations, or processes indicated by reference numbers 1 through 11 in FIG. 4.

1. The Participant (that wants/needs to join the conference call) places a call to the cellular phone of another conference participant (also referred to herein as "Participant B") where Participant B is not on the same mobile network as the Conference Originator.

2. Participant B's mobile phone will either be in a state of Available or Unavailable. 3. If Participant B's mobile phone is Unavailable, then the call will be diverted to Voicemail as per normal operation and no additional functionality will be enabled.

4. If Participant B's mobile phone is Available, then the incoming caller information {e.g., CLID) will be caught or acquired, for example, by a mobile phone application {e.g., software, firmware, etc.) that may be residing or located on Participant B's mobile phone. This mobile application will take the incoming call information and perform:

5. a "look up" against the Conference System to see if the CLID is anywhere to be found in an upcoming scheduled conference call. This listing is kept up to date through communication through the data connection on the cell phone with the central conferencing server.

6. If there is no match found for the caller's CLID, then the call is completed like any another call, e.g., phone rings and is either answered or the call is diverted to voice mail.

7. If a match is found for the participant caller's CLID in the list of upcoming conference calls, then the Participant caller and/or Participant B depending on preference settings of Participant B are prompted with the options #8, #9, #10, or #1 1. In this scenario, Participant B may be provided with a notification on Participant B's phone with the option to answer the call or push the caller into option #8, #9, #10, or #1 1 listed below. The calling Participant may be able to respond to the options #8, #9, #10, or #1 1 with Dual- Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones.

8. The caller may be provided with an option to complete the call to the Participant B.

9. The caller may be provided with an option to join the conference call.

10. The caller may be provided with an option to receive a reminder with Conference Info {e.g., a dial-in telephone number, access number, PIN, etc.): a. When a Participant selects to receive the Conference Info reminder, two possible methods for providing the Conference Info reminder include: i. If the Participant is calling from a mobile phone, the Conference Info reminder may be automatically sent, such as via Short Messages Service (SMS) or other suitable method. ii. If the Participant is calling from a landline telephone, the Conference Info reminder may be provided orally to the Participant via the speaker or ear piece of the landline telephone, such as by using means for converting text to speech {e.g., via software, etc.).

1 1. Or the Participant (and/or the Participant B, depending on preference settings of the Participant B) can elect to carry out both option 8 (to complete the call to the Participant B) and option 10 (to receive a reminder with the Conference Info). When the Participant selects to have the call completed through to the Participant B (option 8) (whether or not they have selected to receive the Conference Info), the Participant's call may be completed like any normal call. Likewise, if the Participant has selected to receive the Conference Info (option 10), the call may be terminated without disturbing or without connecting through to the Participant B's phone.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a topography diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow process that may occur with the method shown in FIG. 4. In this illustrated example, the Participant receiving the call (as represented by the dashed arrow pointing downward) is not on the same mobile network as the Participant making the call (as represented by the image of a landline phone from which originates the dashed arrow pointing upward). As shown in FIG. 5, this example includes a Participant placing the call from a landline telephone {e.g., PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network), and another Participant that receives the call on a Verizon wireless handset.

[0027] With reference now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a process flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method for handling a telephone conference call. FIG. 6 illustrates various steps, operations, or processes that may be undertaken when an "Interceptor" is not available and a Participant calls the cellular phone of the Conference Originator.

[0028] The following is a description of the steps, operations, or processes indicated by reference numbers 1 through 12 in FIG. 6.

1. When the Participant (that wants/needs to join the conference call) places a phone call to the cell phone of the conference host ("Originator").

2. The Originator's mobile phone will either be in a state of Available {e.g., mobile phone is turned on and the phone rings) or Unavailable {e.g., the Originator's phone is set to Divert All Calls, Divert Busy Calls, or DIVERT if call is unanswered).

3. If the Originator's mobile phone is Unavailable, then the call will be diverted to voicemail where the system will

4. Intercept the incoming call information and perform a look up (skip to process or step 6).

5. If the Originator's mobile phone is Available, then the incoming caller information (e.g., CLID) will be caught or acquired, for example, by a mobile phone application {e.g., software, firmware, etc.) that may be residing or located on the Originator's "smart" mobile phone. This mobile application will take the incoming call information and perform:

6. A "look up" against the Conference System to see if the caller's CLID is anywhere to be found in an upcoming scheduled conference call. This listing (e.g., real-time listing, etc.) is kept up to date through communication through the data connection on the cell phone with the central conferencing server.

7. If there is no match found for the Participant caller's CLID, then the call is completed like any another call, e.g., phone rings and is either answered or the call is diverted to voice mail.

8. If a match is found for the Participant caller's CLID in the list of upcoming conference calls, then the Participants (and/or the Conference Originator depending on preference settings of the Conference Originator) are prompted with the options #9, #10, #1 1 , or #12. The calling Participant may be able to respond to the options #9, #10, #1 1 , or #12, for example, with Dual-Tone Multi- Frequency (DTMF) tones.

9. The caller may be provided with an option to complete the call to the Conference Originator.

10. The caller may be provided with an option to join the conference call.

1 1. The caller may be provided with an option to receive a reminder with Conference Info {e.g., a dial-in telephone number, access number, PIN, etc.). a. When a Participant selects to receive the Conference Info reminder, two possible methods for providing the Conference Info reminder include: i. If the Participant is calling from a mobile phone, the Conference Info reminder may be automatically sent, such as via Short Messages Service (SMS) or via another suitable method. ii. If the Participant is calling from a landline telephone, the Conference Info reminder may be provided orally to the Participant via the speaker or ear piece of the landline telephone, such as by using means for converting text to speech {e.g., via software, etc.).

12. Or the Participant caller (and/or the Conference Originator, depending on preference settings of the Conference Originator) can elect to carry out both option 9 (to complete the call to the Conference

Originator) and option 1 1 (to receive a reminder with the Conference

Info). When the Participant selects to have the call completed through to the Conference Originator (option 9) (whether or not they have selected to receive the Conference Info), the Participant's call may be completed like any normal call. Likewise, if the Participant has selected to receive the Conference Info (option 1 1 ), the call may be terminated without disturbing or without connecting through to the Conference

Originator's phone. [0029] It should be noted generally that the term "process", "operation", or "step" may be used in the disclosure and claims to refer to a single process, operation, step, action or event, or a plurality of processes, operations, steps, actions, or events. It also should be noted that performance of the processes, operations, and steps are not necessarily sequential.

[0030] Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.

[0031] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," and "having," are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0032] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as "first," "second," and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.

[0033] The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: receiving a Calling Line Identification (CLID) associated with an incoming call; comparing the CLID to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call; if there is no match for the CLID, completing the incoming call; if there is a match for the CLID with data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call, then providing the caller having the matched CLID with one or more of the following options: receiving conference information associated with the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found; and/or being automatically, directly connected to the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found, without requiring the caller to make a subsequent call to join that telephone conference call.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving conference information comprises one or more of: if the incoming call is from a mobile phone, sending the conference information via Short Messages Service (SMS); and/or if the incoming call is from a landline telephone, providing the conference information orally via a speaker or ear piece of the landline telephone.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein receiving conference information includes receiving instructions for dialing into a telephone conference call.

4. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein receiving conference information includes receiving a dial-in telephone number for the telephone conference call.

5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein receiving conference information comprises receiving one or more of an access number, a personal identification number, and/or other means for logging into the telephone conference call after dialing the dial-in telephone number.

6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the telephone conference is associated with a conference bridge hosted in and initiated from a wireless phone system.

7. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intended recipient of the incoming call is the originator or host of the telephone conference call.

8. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intended recipient of the incoming call is to another invitee or participant of the telephone conference call.

9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising prompting participants to announce their identities at least the first time they enter the system associated with the telephone conference call.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: participants are only prompted to announce their names the first time they enter the system; and on the second and subsequent use of the system, the participants' names will be retrieved from a Conference Service database and the participants' phone numbers will be displayed to the host for notification and security measures.

1 1. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising providing the conference host with one or more of the following options when the conference host receives an incoming call from a participant for the telephone conference call: muting the incoming call; and/or dropping or terminating the incoming call; and/or placing the incoming call on hold; and/or answering the incoming call to allow the host and caller to have a private conversation outside of the telephone conference call.

12. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising providing the conference host with one or more of the following options when the conference host receives an incoming call from a participant for the telephone conference call: to receive information which allows the host to identify the caller; and/or to provide the caller with conference information for joining the telephone conference call, without requiring the host to answer the incoming call; and/or to answer the incoming call; and/or to join the incoming call to the conference bridge, thereby connecting the caller to the telephone conference call.

13. The method of claim 1 1 or 12, wherein the options are provided to the conference host by an Interceptor.

14. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising intercepting the incoming call to obtain the Calling Line Identification (CLID) for use in the step of comparing.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the incoming call is intercepted before delivery of the incoming call to the intended call recipient.

16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein the incoming call is intercepted without delivering the incoming call to the intended call recipient.

17. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the caller and the intended recipient of the incoming call are on the same mobile network.

18. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the caller and the intended recipient of the incoming call are not on the same mobile network.

19. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the caller, the intended recipient of the incoming call, and the originator or host of the telephone conference call is not on the same mobile network as the others.

20. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intended recipient of the incoming call and the originator or host of the telephone conference call are on the same mobile network.

21. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intended recipient of the incoming call and the originator or host of the telephone conference call are not on the same mobile network.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein: the intended recipient of the incoming call is another invitee or participant of the telephone conference call; if the telephone of the intended recipient of the incoming call is unavailable, then the incoming call will be diverted to voicemail as per normal operation and no additional functionality will be enabled; if the telephone of the intended recipient of the incoming call is available, then an application residing on the telephone of the intended recipient of the incoming call: acquires the CLID of the incoming call; and performs the step of comparing the CLID to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call; and if there is a match for the CLID, then providing the caller having the matched CLID with one or more of the following options: an option to complete the call to the intended call recipient; and/or an option to join the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found; and/or an option to receive conference information associated with the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found.

23. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising allowing the caller to respond to the one or more options with Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones.

24. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein, after providing the caller with the conference information, the incoming call is terminated without disturbing or without connecting through to the telephone of the intended recipient of the incoming call.

25. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the intended recipient of the incoming call and the caller are not on the same mobile network; the caller is an invitee or participant of the telephone conference call; the intended recipient of the incoming call is another invitee or participant of the telephone conference; and the caller makes the call via a landline telephone.

26. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the intended recipient of the incoming call is the originator or host of the telephone conference call; if the telephone of the originator or host is unavailable, then the incoming call will be diverted to voicemail and will be intercepted by the system to obtain the Calling Line Identification (CLID) associated with the incoming call for use in the step of comparing; if the telephone of the originator or host is available, then an application residing on the telephone of the originator or host: acquires the CLID of the incoming call; performs the step of comparing the CLID to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call; and if there is a match for the CLID, then providing the caller having the matched CLID with one or more of the following options: an option to complete the call to the originator or host; and/or an option to join the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found; and/or an option to receive conference information associated with the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found.

27. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein comparing a CLID associated with an incoming call to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call includes accessing information about upcoming scheduled conference calls to determine if the caller's CLID is found in or associated with an upcoming scheduled conference call.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein accessing information about upcoming scheduled conference calls includes accessing a Conference System.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the information about upcoming scheduled conference calls is kept up to date by communication through a data connection on at least one cellular phone with a central conferencing server.

30. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein if there is a match for the CLID with data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call, then the method includes providing the caller having the matched CLID with conference information associated with the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found.

31. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein if there is a match for the CLID with data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call, then the method includes automatically, directly connecting the caller having the matched CLID to the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found, without requiring the caller to make a subsequent call to join that telephone conference call.

32. A method comprising: receiving a Calling Line Identification (CLID) associated with an incoming call; comparing the CLID to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call; if there is no match for the CLID, completing the incoming call; if there is a match for the CLID with data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call, then providing the caller having the matched CLID with conference information associated with the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found.

33. A method comprising: receiving a Calling Line Identification (CLID) associated with an incoming call; comparing the CLID to determine whether the CLID matches data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call; if there is no match for the CLID, completing the incoming call; if there is a match for the CLID with data associated with an invitee to a telephone conference call, then automatically, directly connecting the caller having the matched CLID to the telephone conference call for which the data matching the CLID was found, without requiring the caller to make a subsequent call to join that telephone conference call.

34. A system for implementing the method of any of the preceding method claims.