US6493447B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Contact server for call center for syncronizing simultaneous telephone calls and TCP/IP communications
Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
•
Filing: 1997-11-21
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Granted: 2002-12-10
•
Expires: 2017-11-21
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is a Contact Server that enables customers to submit call-back requests to a call center via the Internet, or virtually any other communications technology available. A call-back to the customer can be placed via any communications technology available. In its preferred embodiment, the Contact Server enables a call-back request to be submitted by a customer directly from an HTML page on a Web site, and have that same HTML page be presented to the agent that receives the call-back request. The agent can then place a telephone call to the number provided by the customer who submitted the call-back request, and at the same time, establish a TCP/IP communications session with the customer. This TCP/IP session can proceed between the agent's Web browser and the customer's Web browser, and the visible actions performed by the agent are transferred to the customer and displayed on the customer's browser. The TCP/IP session proceeds simultaneous with the telephone call between the agent and the customer.
Inventors
- 👤 Raymond G. Goss
- 👤 Donald Ravenscroft
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 07:33
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M7/00; H04M7/0024; H04M7/0027; H04L; H04L65/00; H04L65/1066; H04L65/1101; H04L65/1106; H04L65/40; H04L65/401; H04L67/00; H04L67/14; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/5183; H04M3/5191; H04M3/523; H04M3/5237; H04M7/003; H04L67/01; H04L69/00; H04L69/30; H04L69/32; H04L69/322; H04L69/329; H04M3/5231; H04M3/5232; H04M3/5233
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
228 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, said system comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server deployed on a computer other than a computer deploying the company web server and configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, said call back request specifying a call back to occur at a specified time, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; wherein the contact server is further configured for managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
228 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, said system comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server deployed on a computer other than a computer deploying the company web server and configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, said call back request specifying a call back to occur at a specified time, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; wherein the contact server is further configured for managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein the contact server is further configured to track the state of each of the agents by directly monitoring agent activities at the agent workstations in the call center.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein: the computer/telephony interface server is further configured for monitoring agent activities at the agent workstations in the call center; and the contact server is further configured to track the state of each of the agents via the computer/telephony interface server.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein the second communications link employs a protocol selected from the group of broadband telephony, TCP/IP, SMTP, chat, internet telephony, and internet video.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a database server coupled to the contact server for authenticating the customer to use the call center.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a database server coupled to the contact server for providing access to data relating to services furnished by the company to the customer.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
229 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request, and managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link; and an intranet web server separated from the company web server by a firewall, said intranet web server communicating with the available agent and the company web server providing at least one Java applet to the customer over the IP communications link.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
229 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request, and managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link; and an intranet web server separated from the company web server by a firewall, said intranet web server communicating with the available agent and the company web server providing at least one Java applet to the customer over the IP communications link.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
197 words
A contact server for managing communications between a customer and a company, said customer having access to a company web server and said company having a customer call center employing a telecommunications telephony server, said contact server comprising: an event processor configured for monitoring activities of agents at the customer call center and updating the state of each of the agents in tables managed by a database server; at least one thread configured for listening for a call back request received from a customer via the company web server, said call back request specifying a call back to occur at a specified time; and a main process configured for processing the call back request by identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; wherein the main process is further configured for managing communications among the company web server, the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over a communications link established by the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
197 words
A contact server for managing communications between a customer and a company, said customer having access to a company web server and said company having a customer call center employing a telecommunications telephony server, said contact server comprising: an event processor configured for monitoring activities of agents at the customer call center and updating the state of each of the agents in tables managed by a database server; at least one thread configured for listening for a call back request received from a customer via the company web server, said call back request specifying a call back to occur at a specified time; and a main process configured for processing the call back request by identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; wherein the main process is further configured for managing communications among the company web server, the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over a communications link established by the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
37 words
The contact server according to claim 8 , wherein the event processor is further configured to track the state of each of the agents by directly monitoring agent activities at the agent workstations in the call center.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
29 words
The contact server according to claim 8 , wherein the contact server is further configured to track the state of each of the agents via the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The contact server according to claim 8 , wherein the main process is further configured for notifying the telecommunications telephony server if an agent is available.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
33 words
The contact server according to claim 11 , wherein the main process is further configured for matching a set of qualifications with a customer's requirements prior to said notifying the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
43 words
The contact server according to claim 11 , wherein the main process is further configured for matching a set of customer entitlements with a set of entitlements maintained for an IP address of the customer prior to said notifying the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
The contact server according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one thread is further configured for synchronizing an additional IP communications link to a call center manager.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
The contact server according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one thread is further configured for synchronizing an additional IP communications link with the customer employing a protocol selected from the group of broadband telephony, TCP/IP, SMTP, chat, internet telephony, and internet video.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
172 words
A method for operating a contact server to manage communications between a customer and a company, said customer having access to a company web server transmitting a web page to the customer and said company having a customer call center employing a telecommunications telephony server, said method comprising: monitoring activities of agents at the customer call center via the telecommunications telephony server to track the state of each of the agents; listening for a call back request received from a customer via the company web server, said call back request indicating a specified time to call back; identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; and managing communications among the company web server, the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over a communications link established by the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
172 words
A method for operating a contact server to manage communications between a customer and a company, said customer having access to a company web server transmitting a web page to the customer and said company having a customer call center employing a telecommunications telephony server, said method comprising: monitoring activities of agents at the customer call center via the telecommunications telephony server to track the state of each of the agents; listening for a call back request received from a customer via the company web server, said call back request indicating a specified time to call back; identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request; and managing communications among the company web server, the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over a communications link established by the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method according to claim 16 , further comprising notifying the telecommunications telephony server if an agent is available.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 17 , further comprising matching a set of qualifications with a customer's requirements prior to said notifying the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method according to claim 17 , further comprising matching a set of customer entitlements with a set of entitlements maintained for an IP address of the customer prior to said notifying the telecommunications telephony server.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method according to claim 17 , further comprising synchronizing an additional IP communications link to a call center manager.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method according to claim 17 , further comprising synchronizing an additional IP communications link with the customer employing a protocol selected from the group of broadband telephony, TCP/IP, SMTP, chat, internet telephony, and internet video.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
197 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, said system comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back at a specified time; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request, and managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
197 words
A system for managing communications between a customer and a business having a call center with a plurality of agent workstations, said system comprising: a company web server configured for transmitting a web page to the customer via an IP communications link, said web page permitting the customer to request a call back at a specified time; an automatic call distributor configured for establishing a second communications link between one of the agent workstations in the call center and the customer; a computer/telephony interface server configured for monitoring events at the automatic call distributor; and a contact server configured for: tracking the state of each of the agents, listening for a call back request received from the customer via the company web server, identifying and reserving an available agent for future communications at the specified time with the customer based on the state of each of the agents in response to the call back request, and managing communications among the company web server, the agent workstation of the available agent, and the customer so that the available agent and the customer may each view the web page while communicating with each other over the second communications link.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system according to claim 22 , wherein the specified time is one of a specific call time and a duration from a present time.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein the specified time is one of a specific call time and a duration from a present time.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system according to claim 8 , wherein the contact server is deployed on a computer other than a computer deploying the company web server.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system according to claim 8 , wherein the specified time is one of a specific call time and a duration from a present time.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method according to claim 16 , wherein the contact server is deployed on a computer other than a computer deploying the company web server.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method according to claim 16 , wherein the specified time is one of a specific call time and a duration from a present time.
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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) | 2005-12-09 | 2006-06-10 | 2006-12-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-12-09 | 2010-06-10 | 2010-12-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-12-09 | 2014-06-10 | 2014-12-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |