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 Title: |
US6480598:
Methods and apparatus for automating the telephone operator services
[ Derwent Title ]
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| Country: |
US United States of America
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| Inventor: |
Reding, Craig; Midland Park, NJ
Aartsen, Menno; Arlington, VA
Amberger, Lisa M.; Ossining, NY
Carlson, Constance; Clinton Corners, NY
Levas, Suzi; Nanuet, NY
Metaxas, Mike; Bayside, NY
Stein, Jan; Danbury, CT
Tanuku, Rao; Nanuet, NY
Turner, Thea; Evanston, IL
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| Assignee: |
Verizon Services Corp., Arlington, VA
other patents from VERIZON SERVICES CORP. (796417) (approx. 20)
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| Published / Filed: |
2002-11-12
/ 1998-09-17
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| Application Number: |
US1998000156188
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| IPC Code: |
Advanced:
H04M 3/51;
H04M 3/527;
H04M 3/60;
Core:
H04M 3/50;
more...
IPC-7:
H04M 5/00;
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| ECLA Code: |
H04M3/51; H04M3/527; H04M3/60;
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| U.S. Class: |
379/265.01;
379/265.04;
379/266.07;
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| Field of Search: |
379/265,266,267,268,269,273,67.1,265.01,265.02,265.04,265.11,266.01,88.01,266.07,264,308,309
704/270
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| Priority Number: |
| 1998-09-17 |
US1998000156188 |
| 1998-09-16 |
US1998000154014 |
| 1997-09-16 |
US1997000059081P |
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| Abstract: |
Methods and apparatus for providing operator services to callers in a fully or partially automated manner are disclosed. In addition, the present invention is directed to methods and apparatus for providing new telephone services, e.g., the forwarding of messages to non-published telephone number customers. It is also directed to methods and apparatus that can be used to detect, report and correct operator input errors. Automated, e.g., unmanned, apparatus of the present invention are capable of interfacing with conventional telephone switches using known operator protocols. This allows automated devices of the present invention to appear to existing telephone switches as manned operator positions capable of servicing telephone calls. In accordance with the present invention, the unmanned apparatus of the present invention is assigned one or more operator position identifiers conventionally used to identify manned operator positions. The interaction of the automated apparatus of the present invention and a telephone switch involves the use of the assigned operator position identifiers to identify the apparatus of the present invention to the switch as one or more operational operator positions. Once logged in with the telephone switch, the apparatus of the present invention can service calls normally handled by human operators, without the need for a human operator's involvement.
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| Attorney, Agent or Firm: |
Suchyta, Leonard C. ;
Swingle, Loren C. ;
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| Primary / Asst. Examiners: |
Tsang, Fan; Escalante, Ovidio
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| INPADOC Legal Status: |
Show legal status actions
Family Legal Status Report
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| Parent Case: |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/154,014, which was filed on Sep. 16, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,410 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/059,081, filed Sep. 16, 1997.
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| Family: |
Show 5 known family members
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First Claim:
Show all 25 claims |
What is claimed is:
1. A method of servicing telephone calls, comprising the steps of:
- providing each of a plurality of operator positions with an audio channel for receiving speech from a caller and a data channel connected to a local area network for receiving data from the local area network, the audio channel and data channel provided to each operator position forming an audio/data channel set, each of the plurality of operator positions being provided with a different audio/data channel set;
- using at least one of the audio/data channel sets used to provide audio and data to an unmanned automated operator position during a first part of a day; and
- reusing said at least one of the audio/data channel sets used to provide audio and data to the unmanned automated operator position to provide audio and data to a manned operator position during a second portion of the day.
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| Background / Summary: |
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| Drawing Descriptions: |
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| Description: |
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| Forward References: |
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| U.S. References: |
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| Forward references (4)
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Backward references (16)
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PDF |
Patent |
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Inventor |
Assignee |
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