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An audio caller identification system and method are provided. A caller identification device of a called party's telephone, whether integrated with the telephone or stand-alone, includes a speaker for audibly alerting the called party to the nature of an incoming call. A speech synthesizer in conc

An audio caller identification system and method are provided. A caller identification device of a called party's telephone, whether integrated with the telephone or stand-alone, includes a speaker for audibly alerting the called party to the nature of an incoming call. A speech synthesizer in concert with an audio caller ID program may audibly identify a name and/or number of the calling party displayed on the called party's caller ID device, including descriptive terms for calling parties such as "private," "unlisted," or "out of the area." When the called party's telephone begins to ring, the called party may listen to the audio identification of the calling party for a quick screening without having to go to the telephone to read the caller ID.

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I claim: 1. A method of providing audio caller identification in a network including a switch, a query module, an intelligent routing module and a database of caller identification information, wherein the method comprises: receiving a call from a calling party at a calling party switch directed to

I claim: 1. A method of providing audio caller identification in a network including a switch, a query module, an intelligent routing module and a database of caller identification information, wherein the method comprises: receiving a call from a calling party at a calling party switch directed to a called party at a called party switch; sending call information associated with the call to the query module, the call information including the directory number of the calling party; at the query module, querying the database of caller identification information for caller identification information associated with the call, wherein the caller identification information comprises at least one of the directory number and a name associated with the calling party; determining, at the intelligent routing module, if a recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party; if a recorded audio message is received, then sending the recorded audio message from the calling party to a called party identification device via the called party switch; and causing the called party caller identification device to play the recorded audio message from the calling party and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; and if no recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party, then determining if the directory number associated with the call matches the directory number associated with a pre-recorded audio message and if so, then sending the pre-recorded audio message to the called party identification device via the called party switch; causing the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; if the directory number associated with the call does not match the directory number associated with the pre-recorded audio message, then causing the intelligent routing module to synthesize and send an audio message related to the caller identification information associated with the call to the called party identification device via the called party switch; and causing the called party caller identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the recorded audio message. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded audio message, the pre-recorded audio message, and the audio message are played over a speaker functionally connected to the called party identification device. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the query module is a service control point in the advanced intelligent network. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the intelligent routing module is a service node in the advanced intelligent network. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message. 8. A system for providing audio caller identification, comprising: a switch operative to receive a call from a calling party directed to a called party; a query module operative to receive call information associated with the call from the switch, the call information including the directory number of the calling party, and to query a database of caller identification information for caller identification information associated with the call, wherein the caller identification information comprises at least one of the directory number and a name associated with the calling party; and an intelligent routing module operative: to determine if a recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party; if a recorded audio message is received, then send the recorded audio message from the calling party to a called party identification device via the switch; cause the called party caller identification device to play the recorded audio message from the calling party and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; if no recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party, then determine if the directory number associated with the call matches the directory number associated with a pre-recorded audio message and if so, then send the pre-recorded audio message to the called party identification device via the switch; cause the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; if the directory number associated with the call does not match the directory number associated with the pre-recorded audio message, then cause the intelligent routing module to synthesize and send an audio message related to the caller identification information associated with the call to the called party identification device via the called party switch; and cause the called party caller identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the recorded audio message. 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the recorded audio message, the pre-recorded audio message, and the audio message are played over a speaker functionally connected to the called party identification device. 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the query module is a service control point in an advanced intelligent network. 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the intelligent routing module is a service node in the advanced intelligent network. 13. The system of claim 8, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message. 14. The system of claim 8, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message. 15. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method of providing audio caller identification in a network including a switch, a query module, an intelligent routing module and a database of caller identification information, wherein the method comprises: receiving a call from a calling party at a calling party switch directed to a called party at a called party switch; sending call information associated with the call to the query module, the call information including the directory number of the calling party; querying the database of caller identification information for caller identification information associated with the call, wherein the caller identification information comprises at least one of the directory number and a name associated with the calling party; determining if a recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party; if a recorded audio message is received, then sending the recorded audio message from the calling party to a called party identification device via the called party switch; and causing the called party caller identification device to play the recorded audio message from the calling party and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; and if no recorded audio message is received from the calling party directed to the called party, then determining if the directory number associated with the call matches the directory number associated with a pre-recorded audio message and if so, then sending the pre-recorded audio message to the called party identification device via the called party switch; causing the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call; if the directory number associated with the call does not match the directory number associated with the pre-recorded audio message, then causing the intelligent routing module to synthesize and send an audio message related to the caller identification information associated with the call to the called party identification device via the called party switch; and causing the called party caller identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call. 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the recorded audio message. 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the recorded audio message, the pre-recorded audio message, and the audio message are played over a speaker functionally connected to the called party identification device. 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the intelligent routing module is a service node in the advanced intelligent network. 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the pre-recorded audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message. 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein causing the called party identification device to play the audio message and contemporaneously display the caller identification information associated with the call comprises causing the called party identification device to suspend ringing a telephone functionally connected to the called party identification device while playing the pre-recorded audio message.