Phone number verification method and system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9374457-B2
Application number	US-201414531905-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 3, 2014
Priority date	Mar 25, 2010
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

Verifying an association between a phone number provisioned by a voice network and a phone device is useful on a synthetic communication network that reuses the phone number to transmit text and other media over a data network between devices registered on the synthesized network. Upon receiving a request to add a phone device registered with a voice network to the synthesized network, the phone number is presumed to be unconfirmed on the synthesized network. A verification message addressed to the phone device is transmitted through a data channel within the voice network. If the phone number is associated with the device, the message returns to the phone device over the data channel. If the message is received by the phone device, the phone number is confirmed as associated with the phone device, and the synthetic network authorizes communication between the device and other devices registered on the synthetic network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining an unconfirmed phone number for a phone device;
transmitting a verification message including data other than the unconfirmed phone number from the phone device over a data channel of a voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number;
receiving the verification message at the phone device through the data channel of the voice network; and
responsive to receiving the verification message, utilizing the included data other than the unconfirmed phone number to verify that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number; and
responsive to verifying that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number, enabling the phone device to communicate on a network other than the voice network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unconfirmed phone number is obtained via a user interface of the phone device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a software application on the phone device obtains the unconfirmed phone number from firmware on the phone device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data other than the phone number includes a randomly generated number.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the unconfirmed phone number is a phone number provisioned on the voice network and the network other than the voice network is a synthetic data network.

6. A method, comprising:
obtaining an unconfirmed phone number of a phone device, wherein the unconfirmed phone number is provisioned on a voice network and not verified for use on a synthetic network;
transmitting a verification message from the phone device over the voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number and including data other than the unconfirmed phone number;
receiving the verification message by the phone device through the voice network; and
responsive to receiving the verification message, utilizing the included data other than the unconfirmed phone number to verify that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number; and
responsive to verifying that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number, authorizing the phone device to communicate data over a synthetic communication network.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the synthetic communication network is used to transmit text messages combined with at least one other multimedia data type selected from a set of multimedia data types, including: images, video, voice, music and data files.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the phone device is selected from a set of devices having a phone number including: a wireless phone, a wireless tablet computer and a wireless laptop.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the verification message includes a randomly generated value having a predetermined number of digits.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the verification message is transmitted and received through the data channel of the voice network and the data channel of the voice network provides compatibility with at least one protocol selected from a set of protocols including: a Short Messaging Service (SMS) and a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the unconfirmed phone number is obtained from a user of the phone device via a user interface on the phone device.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein a software application on the phone device obtains the unconfirmed phone number by querying the phone device.

13. A method, comprising:
obtaining an unconfirmed phone number of a phone device, wherein the unconfirmed phone number is provisioned on a voice network and not verified for use on a synthetic network;
transmitting a verification message from the phone device over the voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number and including data other than the unconfirmed phone number;
receiving the verification message by the phone device through the voice network;
responsive to receiving the verification message, utilizing the included data other than the unconfirmed phone number to verify that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number, wherein the verification message is transmitted and received through the data channel of the voice network;
responsive to verifying that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number, authorizing the phone device to communicate data over a synthetic communication network;
identifying a plurality of phone numbers in a first directory stored on the phone device, each of the identified phone numbers corresponding to both a provisioned telephone number on the voice network and to a phone device authorized to communicate data over the synthetic communication network; and
synchronizing the identified phone numbers with corresponding entries in a second directory accessible by a synthetic communication client on the phone device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein identifying a plurality of phone numbers includes determining whether a phone number in the first directory is a phone number associated with a phone device which is authorized to communicate on the synthetic network.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein synchronizing includes entering a normalized phone number in the second database accessible by the synthetic communications client, wherein the normalized phone number corresponds to one of the identified plurality of phone numbers in the first directory stored on the phone.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving at the phone device a status message from another phone device which is authorized to communicate on the synthetic communications network; and
indicating on a user interface associated with the phone device the status of the other phone device.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising transmitting a message from the phone device addressed to one of the synchronized phone numbers in the directory accessible by the synthetic communications client.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium operational on a processor for confirming that a phone device is associated with an unconfirmed phone number provisioned on a voice network having instructions, which when executed by the processor, will cause the processor to:
obtain an unconfirmed phone number for the phone device;
transmit a verification message including data other than the unconfirmed phone number from the phone device over a data channel of the voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number;
receive the verification message at the phone device through the data channel of the voice network; and
responsive to receiving the verification message, utilizing the included data other than the unconfirmed phone number to verify that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number; and
responsive to verifying that the phone device is associated with the unconfirmed phone number, enable the phone device to communicate on a network other than the voice network.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium operational on a processor, which when executed by the processor will cause the processor to:
obtain an unconfirmed phone number of a phone device, wherein the unconfirmed phone number is provisioned on a voice network and not verified for use on a synthetic network;
transmit a verification message from the phone device over the voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number and including data other than the unconfi

Assignees

• Whatsapp Inc

Inventors

• Koum Jan
• Acton Brian

Classifications

• H04M3/42365 Primary

  Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity · CPC title

• H04M3/42382

  Text-based messaging services in telephone networks such as PSTN/ISDN, e.g. User-to-User Signalling or Short Message Service for fixed networks · CPC title

• H04M1/2745

  using static electronic memories, e.g. chips · CPC title

• H04W8/183

  Processing at user equipment or user record carrier · CPC title

• H04M3/42306

  Number translation services, e.g. premium-rate, freephone or vanity number services · CPC title