Image Number 5 for United States Patent #5559860.
An apparatus for selectively answering an incoming call transmitted from a cellular base station to a mobile station based upon the telephone number of a calling party. An ID processor is programmed by a user of the mobile station to store selected telephone numbers corresponding to calling party telephone numbers, which serve to uniquely identify the calling parties. The processor is also programmed by the user to select predetermined response categories and to assign desired ones of those response categories to each of the stored calling parties' telephone numbers. When an incoming call is received at the mobile station, the calling party's telephone number is compared with the stored telephone numbers, previously programmed by the user, to detect an incoming call from a particular calling party. Depending upon the response category assigned to incoming calls from that particular calling party, the selected response is initiated. Responses to the incoming calls include distinctive ringing (to indicate high or low priority or long distance calls), the activation of a voice message recorder, communication scrambling device, facsimile device, data modem, or a cartographic display.
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