US6445784B2 — Point-of-presence call management center

Claim 1

Independent Claim 84 words

A method, comprising: redirecting a telephone call that is directed to a remote call center to a local call center; automatically answering the redirected telephone call in the local call center to determine whether connection to the remote call center is necessary; and bridging the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a telecommunication network adaptable to be coupled between the local call center and the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 84 words

A method, comprising: redirecting a telephone call that is directed to a remote call center to a local call center; automatically answering the redirected telephone call in the local call center to determine whether connection to the remote call center is necessary; and bridging the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a telecommunication network adaptable to be coupled between the local call center and the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 48 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising signaling the remote call center via a data network between the local call center and the remote call center to request the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 1 wherein redirecting the telephone call from the remote call center to the local call center comprises translating a telephone number associated with the inbound telephone call to a translated number that terminates at the local call center.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 75 words

The method of claim 1 wherein bridging the redirected telephone call with the telephone connection in the remote call center comprises: determining when the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent; and forwarding the redirected telephone call to the remote call center via the communication 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 6

Dependent Claim 60 words

The method of claim 4 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 a data network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center, the signal indicating that the telephone connection in the remote call center is imminent.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 69 words

The method of claim 4 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 8

Dependent Claim 55 words

The method of claim 1 wherein automatically answering the redirected telephone call in the local call center to determine whether connection to the remote call center is necessary comprises: automatically answering the call using an automated call answering system; and executing an interactive application in the automated call answering system to interact with a caller.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method of claim 7 further comprising downloading at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center to the local call center via a data network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 60 words

The method of claim 1 wherein bridging the redirected telephone call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network comprises bridging the redirected telephone call with the telephone connection in the remote call center via a voice communication channel established over a data network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 104 words

A distributed telephone call servicing system comprising: a remote call center configured to service telephone calls; and a local call center configured to automatically answer telephone calls that have been redirected from the remote call center to the local call center, the local call center being further configured to determine, for each redirected telephone call, whether connection to the remote call center is necessary and, if connection to the remote call center is necessary, to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 104 words

A distributed telephone call servicing system comprising: a remote call center configured to service telephone calls; and a local call center configured to automatically answer telephone calls that have been redirected from the remote call center to the local call center, the local call center being further configured to determine, for each redirected telephone call, whether connection to the remote call center is necessary and, if connection to the remote call center is necessary, to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 60 words

The system of claim 10 further comprising a data network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center, the local call center being further configured to signal the remote call center via the data network to request the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 22 words

The system of claim 11 wherein the data network is a virtual private network that provides industry standard connection and transport protocols.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system of claim 11 wherein the data network between the local call center and the remote call center forms the communication network used to bridge the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 66 words

The system of claim 11 further comprising a database of network addresses coupled to the local call center via the data network, the local call center being configured to access the database of network addresses to determine a network address of the remote call center in response to answering a telephone call that has been redirected from the remote call center to the local call center.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 33 words

The system of claim 14 wherein the local call center indexes the database of network addresses based on a phone number generated by translating a telephone number assigned to the remote call center.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 15 wherein the phone number generated by translating the telephone number assigned to the remote call center is a telephone number assigned to the local call center.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 10 wherein the local call center includes an automated call answering system that executes an interactive application to interact with respective callers of the redirected telephone calls.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 47 words

The system of claim 17 further comprising a data network coupled between the local call center and the remote call center, the local call center being further configured to download at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center via the data network.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 148 words

A distributed telephone call servicing system comprising: a remote call center configured to service telephone calls; and a plurality of local call centers that are distributed within respective service regions, each configured to automatically answer telephone calls that originate within the local call center's respective service region, each of the telephone calls being redirected from the remote call center to one of the plurality of local call centers selected according to the service region from which the telephone call originated, the selected one of the plurality of local call centers being configured to determine, for each redirected telephone call received, whether connection to the remote call center is necessary and, if connection to the remote call center is necessary, to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 148 words

A distributed telephone call servicing system comprising: a remote call center configured to service telephone calls; and a plurality of local call centers that are distributed within respective service regions, each configured to automatically answer telephone calls that originate within the local call center's respective service region, each of the telephone calls being redirected from the remote call center to one of the plurality of local call centers selected according to the service region from which the telephone call originated, the selected one of the plurality of local call centers being configured to determine, for each redirected telephone call received, whether connection to the remote call center is necessary and, if connection to the remote call center is necessary, to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network between the local call center and the remote call center.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 69 words

The system of claim 19 further comprising a data network interconnecting each of the plurality of local call centers with the remote call center, the selected one of the plurality of local call centers being further configured to signal the remote call center via the data network to request the telephone connection to be established in the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 22 words

The system of claim 20 wherein the data network is a virtual private network that provides industry standard connection and transport protocols.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 42 words

The system of claim 20 wherein the data network interconnecting the plurality of local call centers with the remote call center forms the communication network used to bridge the redirected toll free call with the telephone connection in the remote call center.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system of claim 19 wherein each of the plurality of local call centers includes an automated call answering system that executes an interactive application to interact with respective callers of the redirected telephone calls.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 55 words

The system of claim 23 further comprising a data network interconnecting each of the plurality of local call centers with the remote call center, at least one of the plurality of local call centers being configured to download at least a portion of the interactive application from the remote call center via the data network.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 13 words

The system of claim 19 wherein the service regions correspond to geographic regions.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 15 words

The system of claim 19 wherein the service regions are local access network service regions.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 23 words

The system of claim 26 wherein at least one of the local access network service regions is served by a wireless access network.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 23 words

The system of claim 26 wherein at least one of the local access network service regions is served by a data access network.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 25 words

The system of claim 26 wherein at least one of the local access network service regions is served by a digital subscriber line access network.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 21 words

The system of claim 19 wherein at least one of the service regions is served by a long distance access network.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 116 words

A telephone call handling system comprising: a telephony switch to receive telephone calls that have been redirected to the call handling system by a local access network; a computer telephony server coupled to the telephony switch to detect when a redirected telephone call is received in the telephony switch and to automatically answer the redirected telephone call to determine whether connection to a remote call center is necessary, the computer telephony server being configured to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network adaptable to be coupled between the local call center and the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 116 words

A telephone call handling system comprising: a telephony switch to receive telephone calls that have been redirected to the call handling system by a local access network; a computer telephony server coupled to the telephony switch to detect when a redirected telephone call is received in the telephony switch and to automatically answer the redirected telephone call to determine whether connection to a remote call center is necessary, the computer telephony server being configured to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center via a communication network adaptable to be coupled between the local call center and the remote call center if connection to the remote call center is necessary.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 15 words

The call handling system of claim 31 wherein the communication network is a data network.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 15 words

The call handling system of claim 31 wherein the communication network is a wireless network.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 71 words

The call handling system of claim 31 wherein the computer telephony server is configured to issue a request to the remote call center to initiate a proxy call in the remote call center, the proxy call being a request for connection to a human operator that is managed within the remote call center without a long distance voice connection being established between the remote call center and the call handling system.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 84 words

The call handling system of claim 34 wherein the computer telephony server is further configured to receive communications via a data network indicating progress of the proxy call in the remote call center and wherein the computer telephony server is further configured to bridge the redirected telephone call with a telephone connection in the remote call center by bridging the redirected telephone call with the proxy call in response to detecting that the proxy call is about to be answered by a human operator.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2005-09-02	2006-03-04	2006-09-03	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2009-09-02	2010-03-04	2010-09-03	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2013-09-02	2014-03-04	2014-09-03	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Point-of-presence call management center

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