Systems and methods for restricting the use and movement of telephony devices
US7200424B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 30, 2004 |
| Grant date | Apr 3, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 10, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W92/18
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Systems and methods for restricting the use and movement of plain old telephone system (POTS) devices and cellular telephones are presented. In a broad sense, the system includes an interface configured to only allow telephone calls to a limited set of telephone numbers or area codes. The interface may be configured to detect a telephone number during a call attempt and compare the number to a stored sequence list of allowed telephone numbers or area codes. If the detected number matches one of the allowed telephone numbers or area codes, the call attempt is allowed to continue. However, if the detected number does not match a number in the stored sequence list, the call attempt is blocked by the interface. The interface may also be configured to restrict the movement of a cellular telephone based on received location data indicating a current position of the cellular telephone. An alert, such as an audible alarm, is automatically generated when the location of the cellular telephone is greater than a predetermined distance from the interface to deter unauthorized movement. The interface may also be configured with a physical lock to prevent the cellular telephone from being remove…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.