Telephone line communications control system with dynamic call streaming

Claim 2

A telecommunications control system for accepting a plurality of multi-purpose stations on the public switched network for use as remote attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations, the system comprising: a first plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the first plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path, and each such station connection controller having controllable switching means for opening the call connection path and releasing the respective multi-purpose station; a second plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the second plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of originating stations in defining opposite ends of call connection path; controllable inter-connection means arranged between the first and second plurality of station connection controllers; means for controlling the inter-connection means such that incoming calls from originating stations are extended to multi-purpose stations that have been accepted as attendant stations; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the second plurality of station connection controllers, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 3

A system according to claim 1, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for determining when the interval of time between incoming calls has met or exceeded a preset value.

Claim 4

A system according to claim 2, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for producing a logic signal for controlling the switching means and releasing the multi-purpose station, whereby the remote attendant is disconnected.

Claim 5

A telecommunications control system for networking a plurality of multi-purpose telephone stations on the public switched network for use as remote attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations, the system comprising: a first plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the first plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; a second plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the second plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of originating stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; controllable inter-connection means arranged between the first and second plurality of station connection controllers; means for controlling the inter-connection means such that incoming calls from originating stations are extended to multi-purpose stations that have been networked for use as attendant stations, and wherein the means for controlling the inter-connection means includes means for causing a plurality of incoming calls to be extended to the same multi-purpose station during an interval throughout which the multi-purpose station remains networked as an attendant station; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the second plurality of station connection controllers, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 6

A telecommunications control system for networking a plurality of multi-purpose telephone stations on the public switched network for use as remote attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations, the system comprising: a first plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the first plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; a second plurality of station connection controllers, each station connection controller in the second plurality for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of originating stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; controllable inter-connection means arranged between the first and second plurality of station connection controllers; means for controlling the inter-connection means such that incoming calls from originating stations are extended to multi-purpose stations that have been networked for use as attendant stations, and wherein the means for controlling the inter-connection means includes means for causing a plurality of incoming calls to be extended to the same multi-purpose station during an interval throughout which the multi-purpose station remains networked as an attendant station; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the second plurality of station connection controllers, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 7

A system according to claim 4, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for determining when the interval of time between incoming calls has met or exceeded a preset value.

Claim 8

A system according to claim 5, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for producing a logic signal for controlling the switching means and releasing the multi-purpose station, whereby the remote attendant is disconnected.

Claim 9

A telecommunications control system for selectively networking a plurality of multi-purpose telephone stations on the public switched network for use as remote attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations, the system comprising: first controllable means comprising a plurality of outgoing line connection controllers, each outgoing line connection controller for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; second controllable means comprising a plurality of incoming line connection controllers, each incoming line station connection controller for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of originating stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path, and each including means for detecting a ringing signal indicating a request to establish a call connection path for an incoming call; third controllable means comprising a plurality of controllable inter-connection means, each arranged between an incoming line station connection controller and an outgoing line station connection controller; fourth controllable means for originating calls from the system to the multi-purpose stations via the outgoing line station connection controllers; and means for controlling the first, second, third, and fourth controllable means in a predetermined sequence of operations initiated by the detection of a ringing signal, in which sequence of operations a call is originated to a multi-purpose station while the ringing signal is present so as to be unnoticeable to a person using the originating station, and after completion of the call to the multi-purpose station, the incoming call is answered and extended to the multi-purpose station by completing the incoming call at the incoming line station connection controller and extending the call to the outgoing line station connection controller via the inter-connection means; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the plurality of incoming line connection controllers, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 10

A telecommunications control system for selectively networking a plurality of multi-purpose telephone stations on the public switched network for use as remote attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations, the system comprising: first controllable means comprising a plurality of outgoing line connection controllers, each outgoing line connection controller for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path; second controllable means comprising a plurality of incoming line connection controllers, each incoming line station connection controller for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of originating stations in defining opposite ends of a call connection path, and each including means for detecting a ringing signal indicating a request to establish a call connection path for an incoming call; third controllable means comprising a plurality of controllable inter-connection means, each arranged between an incoming line station connection controller and an outgoing line station connection controller; fourth controllable means for originating calls from the system to the multi-purpose stations via the outgoing line station connection controllers; and means for controlling the first, second, third, and fourth controllable means in a predetermined sequence of operations initiated by the detection of a ringing signal, in which sequence of operations a call is originated to a multi-purpose station while the ringing signal is present so as to be unnoticeable to a person using the originating station, and after completion of the call to the multi-purpose station, the incoming call is answered and extended to the multi-purpose station by completing the incoming call at the incoming line station connection controller and extending the call to the outgoing line station connection controller via the inter-connection means; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the plurality of incoming line connection controllers, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 11

A system according to claim 7, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for determining when the interval of time between incoming calls has met or exceeded a preset value.

Claim 12

A system according to claim 8, wherein the means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls includes means for producing a logic signal for controlling the switching means and releasing the multi-purpose station, whereby the remote attendant is disconnected.

Claim 13

A computer-controlled system connectable between a set of incoming lines and a set of outgoing lines for using the outgoing lines to establish a network of multi-purpose stations on the public switched network for use by remote service attendants in servicing incoming calls directed to the system from originating stations via the incoming lines, the system comprising: controllable call extending means for connection between the incoming lines and the outgoing lines; computer processing means for controlling the controllable call extending means; the computer processing means including means providing digitally coded commands to control the call extending means and the call extending means including means providing status data to the computer processing means so the call extending means provides for extending incoming calls for answer and service by the service attendants; and the computer processing means including means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the set of incoming lines, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 14

A computer-controlled system connectable between a set of incoming lines and a set of outgoing lines for using the outgoing lines to establish a network of multi-purpose stations on the public switched network for use by remote service attendants in servicing incoming calls directed to the system from originating stations via the incoming lines, the system comprising: controllable call extending means for connection between the incoming lines and the outgoing lines; computer processing means for controlling the controllable call extending means; the computer processing means including means providing digitally coded commands to control the call extending means and the call extending means including means providing status data to the computer processing means so the call extending means provides for extending incoming calls for answer and service by the service attendants; and the computer processing means including means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each of the set of incoming lines, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 15

A system according to claim 10, wherein the computer processing means includes means for determining when the interval of time between incoming calls has met or exceeded a preset value.

Claim 16

A system according to claim 11, wherein the computer processing means includes means for controlling the call extending means to release a multi-purpose station, whereby the remote attendant is disconnected.

Claim 17

An interactively-supervised, computer-controlled system for allocating tasks in a network for servicing incoming calls, the system comprising: computer processing means; call extending means; the computer processing means including means providing digitally coded commands to the call extending means and the call extending means including means providing status data to the computer processing means so the call extending means provides for extending incoming calls for answer and service by a group of remote service attendants on the public switched network in accord with an allocation of tasks determined by the digital coded commands; display means and manual input means for use by a supervisor in interactively controlling the computer processing means; the computer processing means being continually responsive to status data provided by the call extending means to generate on the display means a human-readable, continually-updated status report by which the supervisor may be prompted to use the manual input means to enter supervisory commands; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each incoming line, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 18

An interactively-supervised, computer-controlled system for allocating tasks in a network for servicing incoming calls, the system comprising: computer processing means; call extending means; the computer processing means including means providing digitally coded commands to the call extending means and the call extending means including means providing status data to the computer processing means so the call extending means provides for extending incoming calls for answer and service by a group of remote service attendants on the public switched network in accord with an allocation of tasks determined by the digital coded commands; display means and manual input means for use by a supervisor in interactively controlling the computer processing means; the computer processing means being continually responsive to status data provided by the call extending means to generate on the display means a human-readable, continually-updated status report by which the supervisor may be prompted to use the manual input means to enter supervisory commands; and means for measuring the interval of time between incoming calls for each incoming line, during which interval of time the remote attendant is online.

Claim 19

A system according to claim 13, wherein the computer processing means includes means for determining when the interval of time between incoming calls has met or exceeded a preset value.

Claim 20

A system according to claim 14, wherein the computer processing means includes means for controlling the call extending means to release a multi-purpose station, whereby the remote attendant is disconnected.