METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MULTIPLE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES WITH UNIFIED PARENTAL NOTIFICATION AND/OR CONTROL FEATURES

摘要

Methods and apparatus for supporting real time parental screening of a variety of different types of communications which may be directed to or sent from children are described. The methods and apparatus may be used with voice, text messaging and/or E-mail communications individually or as part of a unified parental control system. Parents can set restrictions preventing text messages, E-mails and/or voice calls being sent to or received from particular individuals, sources or destinations. In addition, parents can configure the system to support real time parental screening of individual communications, e.g., messages or calls, with the parent being provided a real time notification of an incoming or outgoing communication and the parent being provided an opportunity to control in real time the disposition of the individual communication. Disposition options may include blocking an outgoing or incoming call, video communication such as point to point video, text message, or E-mail, or sending the communication to a storage device, e.g., voice mail system.