EP0753956A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Telephone switching system, automatic call distributor and method using a computer network to connect to remote agent computer terminals
Assignee: Boeing North American Inc
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Filing: 1996-07-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-07-04
Abstract
Abstract A telephone switching system (100) including an automatic call distributor (102) for routing incoming telephone calls over a telephone network (116) to agent telephonic units (112, 114) is provided. Data relating to each of the incoming telephone calls is collected by the automatic call distributor (102), in particular a central processing unit (110). As each incoming telephone call is being routed to an agent telephonic unit (112, 114) over a telephone network (116), its associated data is substantially simultaneously transmitted over a computer network (126) to an agent computer terminal (122, 124). The agent located at the agent telephonic unit (112 or 114) which receives an incoming telephone call has first party call control via the associated agent computer terminal (122 or 124). <IMAGE>
Inventors
- 👤 Paul E. Van Berkum
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 21:43
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/5125; H04M3/523; H04M3/5183; H04Q; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13072; H04Q2213/13091; H04Q2213/13103; H04Q2213/13141; H04Q2213/1336; H04Q2213/13389
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
A telephone switching system for establishing voice communications between a caller and one of a plurality of agents, the telephone switching system comprising an automatic call distributor for receiving an incoming telephone call from the caller and for selectively transmitting the incoming telephone call to the one of the agents; an agent telephonic unit associated with the one of the agents for receiving the incoming telephone call and for providing voice communications between the caller and the one of the agents; a telephone network connecting the agent telephonic unit to the automatic call distributor; an agent computer terminal for receiving instructions from the one of the agents, for generating control signals representative of the instructions and for providing the control signals to the automatic call distributor to subsequently control the incoming telephone call; and a computer network for transmitting the control signals from the agent computer terminal to the automatic call distributor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
53 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 wherein the automatic call distributor comprises data collection means for collecting data relating to the incoming telephone call, and wherein the central processing unit transmits the collected data to the agent computer terminal associated with the one of the agents over the computer network.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
64 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 2 comprising a voice response unit connected to the central processing unit for audibly prompting the caller for additional data when the automatic call distributor receives the incoming telephone call, and wherein the central processing unit transmits the additional data to the agent computer terminal associated with the one of the agents over the computer network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 2 wherein the incoming telephone call includes automatic number identification information, and wherein the data collection means collects the automatic number identification information and the central processing unit transmits the automatic number identification information to the agent computer terminal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 2 wherein the incoming telephone call includes dialed number identification service information, and wherein the data collection means collects the dialed number service identification information and the central processing unit transmits the dialed number service identification information to the agent computer terminal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 wherein the computer network comprises a local area network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
18 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 wherein the computer network comprises a wide area network.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 wherein the control signals are formatted in telephony server application programming interface format.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 wherein the telephone network comprises an integrated services digital network.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
The telephone switching system as recited in claim 1 comprising a host computer for storing archived data regarding the caller and for transmitting the archived data to the agent computer terminal over the computer network.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
161 words
An automatic call distributor for establishing voice communications between an incoming telephone call from a caller and one of a plurality of agents, each of the agents being associated with an agent computer terminal for generating control signals representative of desired subsequent control of the incoming telephone call which are transmitted over a computer network and an agent telephonic unit for providing voice communications between the caller and the one of the agents, the automatic call distributor comprising: a multiport switch for connecting the incoming telephone call to the agent telephonic unit associated with the one of the agents; and a central processing unit for controlling the multiport switch to connect the incoming telephone call to the agent telephonic unit associated with the one of the agents, for receiving the control signals from the agent computer terminal associated with the one of the agents over the computer network and for subsequently controlling the incoming telephone call based on the control signals.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The automatic call distributor as recited in claim 11 wherein the control signals are formatted in telephony server application programming interface format.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
58 words
The automatic call distributor as recited in claim 11 wherein the central processing unit comprises data collection means for collecting data relating to the incoming telephone call; and wherein the central processing unit transmits the collected data to the agent computer terminal of the one of the agents connected to the incoming telephone call over the computer network.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
The automatic call distributor as recited in claim 13 wherein the collected data is transmitted to the agent computer terminal in telephony server application programming interface format.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for controlling operation of an automatic call distributor comprising the steps of: receiving an incoming telephone call from a caller at the automatic call distributor; selectively routing the incoming telephone call to one of a plurality of agents; generating control signals by an agent computer terminal associated with the one of the agents, the control signals being representative of desired subsequent control of the incoming telephone call; transmitting the control signals over a computer network to the automatic call distributor; and subsequently controlling the incoming telephone call based on the control signals.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method as recited in claim 15 comprising the steps of: collecting data regarding the incoming telephone call; and transmitting at least a first portion of the collected data to the agent computer terminal associated with the one of the agents.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method as recited in claim 16 comprising the steps of: transmitting at least a second portion of the collected data from the agent computer terminal over the computer network to a host computer; searching memory in the host computer for archived data based on the at least a second portion of the collected data; and transmitting the archived data to the agent computer terminal over the computer network.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 16 comprising the step of formatting the collected data into telephony server application programming interface format prior to transmitting the collected data over the computer network.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method as recited in claim 15 comprising the steps of audibly prompting the caller for additional data by means of a voice response unit connected to the automatic call distributor; and transmitting the additional data to the agent computer terminal over the computer network.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 15 comprising the step of formatting the control signals in telephony server application programming interface format prior to transmitting the control signals over the computer network.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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