US6324276B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Point-of-presence call center management system
Assignee: Genesys Cloud Services Inc
•
Filing: 1999-11-03
•
Granted: 2001-11-27
•
Expires: 2019-11-03
Abstract
Abstract A point-of-presence (POP) call center system capable of answering, servicing, queuing and routing of calls at local points of presence to reduce communications costs and enhance operational efficiency for toll-free inbound call centers. The POP call center system includes a set of point-of-presence call center gateways distributed at points of presence close to the point of call origination that are connected by a virtual private network to premises call center gateways at business locations where the call centers reside.
Inventors
- 👤 Prem Uppaluru
- 👤 Mukesh Sundaram
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-10 01:41
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/523; H04M3/5237; H04M3/5183; H04M3/5191; H04M2207/00; H04M2207/35; H04M3/4228; H04M3/42306; H04M3/5166; H04M7/00; H04M7/0024; H04M7/0033; H04M7/12; H04M7/1205; H04M7/1245; H04M7/125
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 46
Claim 1
Independent Claim
71 words
A method of handling an inbound toll free call that is directed to a remote call center, the method comprising: redirecting the inbound toll free call from the remote call center to a local call center that is coupled to the remote call center via a data network; responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center by determining whether connection to the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
71 words
A method of handling an inbound toll free call that is directed to a remote call center, the method comprising: redirecting the inbound toll free call from the remote call center to a local call center that is coupled to the remote call center via a data network; responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center by determining whether connection to the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising: signaling the remote call center via the data network to request a telephone connection to be established in the remote call center; and bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a long distance network when the telephone connection is established in the remote call center.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 2 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers comprises: establishing a connection between the telephone connection in the remote call center and the long distance network; and establishing a connection between the redirected toll free call in the local call center and the long distance network.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 2 wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center includes servicing the redirected toll free call in the local call center before bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 4 wherein servicing the redirected toll free call in the local call center comprises placing the redirected toll free call on hold in the local call center while awaiting the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 2 wherein signaling the remote call center via the data network to request a telephone connection to be established in the remote call center comprises signaling the remote call center via the data network to request an automated call distributor to establish a telephone connection to a call servicing agent.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the call servicing agent is a human call servicing agent.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 2 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a long distance network comprises placing a toll free long distance call from the local call center to the remote call center via the long distance network.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 2 further comprising: determining when the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent; and forwarding the redirected toll free call to the remote call center via the long distance network to be bridged with the telephone connection in the remote call center in response to determining that the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 9 wherein determining when the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent comprises the local call center receiving a signal from the remote call center via the data network, the signal indicating that the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method of claim 9 further comprising storing an entry in a queue in the remote call center to indicate the request for the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center, and wherein determining when the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent comprises determining when the entry in the queue in the remote call center has advanced to the head of the queue.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 2 wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center comprises servicing the redirected toll free call in the local call center with an automated call answering system that signals the remote call center via the data network to request that the telephone connection be established in the remote call center.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 2 wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center comprises: automatically answering the redirected toll free call using an automated call answering system; and executing an interactive application in the automated call answering system to interact with a caller.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of claim 13 wherein redirecting the inbound toll free call from the remote call center to the local call center includes translating a toll free number associated with the inbound toll free call to a translated number that terminates at the local call center and wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center further comprises identifying the interactive application based on the translated number.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 14 further comprising downloading at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center to the local call center via the data network after identifying the interactive application.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 13 wherein executing an interactive application to interact with the caller comprises executing an interactive voice response application that has been customized according to needs of the remote call center.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 13 wherein executing an interactive application to interact with the caller comprises executing an interactive application that prompts the caller to input information useful for servicing the inbound toll free call.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 17 wherein executing an interactive application that prompts the caller to input information comprises issuing a voice prompt to the caller prompting the caller to input the information.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 17 wherein executing an interactive application that prompts the caller to input information comprises communicating a menu of choices to the caller and prompting the caller to select a choice from the menu.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 13 further comprising downloading at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center to the local call center via the data network.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 13 wherein executing the interactive application in the automated call answering system comprises accessing an application server in the business call center via the data network to obtain information useful for servicing the redirected toll free call.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 21 wherein the information useful for servicing the redirected toll free call includes at least one of a voice prompt, a menu, a message, a form, a script and data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method of claim 21 wherein executing the interactive application in the automated call answering system to interact with the caller includes receiving user-input from the caller and wherein accessing the application server in the business call center comprises supplying the user-input to the application server in the business call center via the data network to select the information useful for servicing the redirected toll free call.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 21 wherein accessing the application server in the business call center to obtain information useful for servicing the redirected toll free call includes accessing the application server in the business call center multiple times to access the information in response to input from the caller.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of claim 13 wherein redirecting the inbound toll free call from the remote call center to the local call center includes translating a toll free number associated with the inbound toll free call to a translated number that terminates at the local call center and wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the call center further comprises identifying the interactive application based on the translated number and downloading at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center after identifying the interactive application.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 2 wherein signaling the remote call center via the data network to request a telephone connection to be established comprises signaling the remote call center to request a telephone connection to a human operator at the remote call center.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method of claim 26 further comprising: queuing the request for the telephone connection to a human operator in a queue within the remote call center; advancing the request for the telephone connection toward the head of the queue as previously queued requests for telephone connections are serviced; and establishing the telephone connection to the human operator in response to the request for the telephone connection reaching the head of the queue.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
70 words
The method of claim 27 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center comprises determining when the telephone connection in the remote call center has reached the head of the queue and, in response, forwarding the redirected toll free call to the remote call center via the long distance network to be bridged with the telephone connection in the remote call center.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 2 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a long distance network comprises bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a voice communication channel established over the data network.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
155 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the remote call center includes a plurality of call center gateways that are interconnected with the local call center via the data network, at least one of the plurality of call center gateways being a master call center gateway, and wherein signaling the remote call center via the data network comprises: signaling the master call center gateway via the data network to request telephone call service; the master call center gateway responding to the request for telephone call service by selecting one of the plurality of call center gateways appropriate to provide the telephone call service; the master call center gateway communicating a value identifying the selected one of the plurality of call center gateways to the local call center; and signaling the selected one of the plurality of call center gateways via the data network to request the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 1 wherein redirecting the inbound toll free call from the remote call center to the local call center comprises translating a toll free number associated with the inbound toll free call to a translated number that terminates at the local call center.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
83 words
A method of servicing a long distance toll free call that is directed to a master remote call center of a plurality of remote call centers, the method comprising: redirecting the long distance toll free call from the master remote call center to a local call center that is coupled to the master remote call center via a data network; responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center by determining whether connection to the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
83 words
A method of servicing a long distance toll free call that is directed to a master remote call center of a plurality of remote call centers, the method comprising: redirecting the long distance toll free call from the master remote call center to a local call center that is coupled to the master remote call center via a data network; responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center by determining whether connection to the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
80 words
The method of claim 32 further comprising: signaling the master remote call center via the data network to request telephone call service; responding to the request for telephone call service in the master remote call center by selecting one of the plurality of remote call centers appropriate to provide the telephone call service; and bridging the redirected toll free call with a telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers via a long distance network.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
98 words
The method of claim 33 further comprising: the master remote call center communicating a value identifying the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers to the local call center; and wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers via the long distance network comprises bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the identified one of the plurality of remote call centers when the telephone connection is established in the identified one of the plurality of remote call centers.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of claim 33 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers comprises establishing a connection between the telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers and the long distance network and establishing a connection between the redirected toll free call in the local call center and the long distance network.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 35 wherein responding to the redirected toll free call in the local call center includes servicing the redirected toll free call in the local call center before bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the selected one of the plurality of remote call centers.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 32 wherein the one of the plurality of remote call centers appropriate to provide the telephone call service is the master remote call center.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 32 further comprising: the local call center signaling the identified one of the plurality of remote call centers via the data network to request a telephone connection to be established in the identified one of the plurality of remote call centers.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
65 words
A method comprising: redirecting a toll free call from a remote call center to a local call center; signaling the remote call center via a data network between the local call center and the remote call center to request connection to a human operator at the remote call center; and determining whether a connection to a human operator in the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
65 words
A method comprising: redirecting a toll free call from a remote call center to a local call center; signaling the remote call center via a data network between the local call center and the remote call center to request connection to a human operator at the remote call center; and determining whether a connection to a human operator in the remote call center is necessary.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 39 wherein redirecting the toll free call from the remote call center to the local call center comprises translating a toll free number associated with the toll free call to a translated number that terminates at the local call center.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 39 further comprising: bridging the redirected toll free call to the connection to a human operator at the remote call center via a long distance network between the local call center and the remote call center.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 41 further comprising queuing the request for connection to a human operator in a queue and wherein determining when the connection to a human operator is imminent includes monitoring progress of the request for connection to a human operator in the queue to determine when the request for connection to a human operator reaches the head of the queue.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 41 wherein bridging the redirected toll free call to the telephone connection in the remote call center via a long distance network comprises bridging the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a voice communication channel established over the data network.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-11-26 | 2005-05-28 | 2005-11-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-11-26 | 2009-05-28 | 2009-11-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-11-26 | 2013-05-28 | 2013-11-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |