CA1294346C - Telephone system for connecting a customer to a supplier of goods - Google Patents
Telephone system for connecting a customer to a supplier of goodsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1294346C CA1294346C CA000569675A CA569675A CA1294346C CA 1294346 C CA1294346 C CA 1294346C CA 000569675 A CA000569675 A CA 000569675A CA 569675 A CA569675 A CA 569675A CA 1294346 C CA1294346 C CA 1294346C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- party
- telephone
- telephone number
- routing
- dealer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/4228—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers in networks
- H04M3/42306—Number translation services, e.g. premium-rate, freephone or vanity number services
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/4228—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers in networks
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/487—Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements
- H04M3/493—Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
- H04Q3/0029—Provisions for intelligent networking
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
- H04M2201/40—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems using speech recognition
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M2203/10—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to the purpose or context of the telephonic communication
- H04M2203/1058—Shopping and product ordering
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
- H04M2242/14—Special services or facilities with services dependent on location
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
- H04M2242/22—Automatic class or number identification arrangements
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
- H04M2242/30—Determination of the location of a subscriber
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
- H04M3/42034—Calling party identification service
- H04M3/42059—Making use of the calling party identifier
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
- H04M3/42085—Called party identification service
- H04M3/42102—Making use of the called party identifier
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/56—Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q1/00—Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements
- H04Q1/18—Electrical details
- H04Q1/30—Signalling arrangements; Manipulation of signalling currents
- H04Q1/44—Signalling arrangements; Manipulation of signalling currents using alternate current
- H04Q1/444—Signalling arrangements; Manipulation of signalling currents using alternate current with voice-band signalling frequencies
- H04Q1/45—Signalling arrangements; Manipulation of signalling currents using alternate current with voice-band signalling frequencies using multi-frequency signalling
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/1313—Metering, billing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13282—Call forward, follow-me, call diversion
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13504—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems client/server architectures
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13512—800 - freefone
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
- H04Q2213/13541—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems routing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/72—Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber
Abstract
TELEPHONE SYSTEM FOR CONNECTING A CUSTOMER TO A SUPPLIER OF GOODS
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A telephone system automatically connects a potential customer with a nearby dealer who can provide the goods or services desired by the potential customer. The potential customer first dials an "800"-type number which preferably includes digits uniquely characteristic of the product or service desired. The system identifies the originating telephone number of the potential customer and a computer initially routes the call to a specific customer dealer service company (CDSC) office in the general vicinity of the potential customer. The specially equipped CDSC HQ office includes a vertical-horizontal (V-H) file listing each dealer by product/service and equivalent of longitude/latitude. A comparison is performed between the telephone number of the potential customer and the data in the v-H file to find 1-3 selected dealers nearby to the potential customer. The system then automatically dials the telephone number of the closest dealer thereby routing the potential customer directly to a nearby dealer who can provide the products or services of interest to that customer. If the dealer's telephone number is busy or does not answer, the system can attempt to call another nearby dealer if one exists. The system also provides for billing the telephone call and for reporting each call in detail to the advertiser.
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A telephone system automatically connects a potential customer with a nearby dealer who can provide the goods or services desired by the potential customer. The potential customer first dials an "800"-type number which preferably includes digits uniquely characteristic of the product or service desired. The system identifies the originating telephone number of the potential customer and a computer initially routes the call to a specific customer dealer service company (CDSC) office in the general vicinity of the potential customer. The specially equipped CDSC HQ office includes a vertical-horizontal (V-H) file listing each dealer by product/service and equivalent of longitude/latitude. A comparison is performed between the telephone number of the potential customer and the data in the v-H file to find 1-3 selected dealers nearby to the potential customer. The system then automatically dials the telephone number of the closest dealer thereby routing the potential customer directly to a nearby dealer who can provide the products or services of interest to that customer. If the dealer's telephone number is busy or does not answer, the system can attempt to call another nearby dealer if one exists. The system also provides for billing the telephone call and for reporting each call in detail to the advertiser.
Description
~Z~ 6 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a sys~em for automatically connecting a potential customer to a dealer who can provide the goods or services desired by the customer.
1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a sys~em for automatically connecting a potential customer to a dealer who can provide the goods or services desired by the customer.
2. Description of Related Art A need is recognized by the prior art for a system that will connect a telephone subscriber to a specific provider of the desired goods or services. For example, u.s. Patent No.
3,614,32~ describes an Automatic Subscriber Answering Service in which the subscriber, after making a telephonic connection with a data center can dial additional digits which cause the subscriber to be provided With information concerning the desired goods or services. An additional feature of that system is the ability of the file selector to only select files within a predetermined range of the subscriber's calling station, However, the foregoing SyStem iS relatively inefficient, time consuming and does not appear to have the ability to directly connect a subscriber to the nearest dealer in the desired goods or services based solely upon the telephone number originally dialed by the subscriber.
U.S. Patent No. 4,577,062 entitled Method for Dispensing Information describes a system in which stock information can be provided concerning a specific stock based upon a sequence o~ digits dialed by the subscriber, The system also has the ability to invite the caller to dial a pre-arranged sequence thereby forwarding the subscriber to a broker in that -2~ ~
12943 ~6 stock. The following additional patents may also be relevant to the present invention: 3,556,530; 3,928,728; 4,139,739;
U.S. Patent No. 4,577,062 entitled Method for Dispensing Information describes a system in which stock information can be provided concerning a specific stock based upon a sequence o~ digits dialed by the subscriber, The system also has the ability to invite the caller to dial a pre-arranged sequence thereby forwarding the subscriber to a broker in that -2~ ~
12943 ~6 stock. The following additional patents may also be relevant to the present invention: 3,556,530; 3,928,728; 4,139,739;
4,164,025; 4,178,476; 4,310,727; 4,313,035; 4,341,929; and 4,608,460.
"Remote Call Forwarding (RCF)" is also a concept that has become fairly well known in the last few years. That technique allows a caller to be directly connected with a desired party even if the desired party changes his or her physical location. The system normally requires that the desired party advise the system so that the new location of the desired party can be stored in a data bank. While RCF is relatively well known, it cannot provide for the forwarding of a telephone call to a dealer in desired goods or services based upon solely upon the telephone digits dialed by the potential customer.
Lastly, there does exist a system for determining the distance between a subscriber and a contacted party. Such a system is described in the New England publication "Background for Management" No. 33, December 1959 in an article entitled "What is This New V-H System?" The purpose of the V-H systems is to determine the airline distance between subscribers and all parties in order to bill the subscriber based upon the geographical distance between the subscriber and the called party. The use of V-H systems for other than billing purposes is believed to be novel.
~ 3~
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described the object of this invention is to provlde an advanced dealer referral service to national and regional advertisers in varioUs media Such as magaZines, radio, yellow pages, and television.
Advertisers of products with "limited distribution"
have a problem in that they must provide the prospective customer responding to an advertisement with the identification of a dealer of the product/service located conveniently to the prospective customer. The major objective of placing the advertisement will be accomplished if the prospect goes to the dealer's location and purchases the advertised product/service.
~Limited distribution" refer~ to products which are not ubiquitously available sUch as are, e.g., cigarettes at supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations, etc. An example of a limited distribution product is a particular brand of an article of clothing which is carried by perhaps 1000 retailers throughout the country. When the man~facturer of this article of clothing places an advertisement, he must then find some manner of directing respondents to his advertisement to one of his (e.g.) 1000 dealers. some referral methods commonly in Use today are to pUblish a list of dealers in the advertisement (sometimes "regionalizing" the ad by publishing certain sublists of dealers in certain regional editions of a magazine), taking advertising space in the Yellow Pages of telephone books in every locality 1~43 ~6 ~here there might be interest in his product/service, or the latest method which is to publish an 800 number inviting respondents to his advertisement to call the number for the name of the nearest dealer. An 800 number refers to a service provided by the long distance CommUniCationS Carriers (LDC) WhiCh allows callers to make a long distance call which is paid for by the recipient of the call rather than the caller. 800 service is commonly termed ~'In-WATS" where WATS i6 an acronym for "Wide Area Telephone service. The "In" means that the call is directed from the caller to the oWner of the telephone number in contrast to IlOut-WA~S'' where the owner of the telephone places the telephone call.
The 800 calls are usually answered by the advertisers themselves or by telephone service bureaus who maintain dealer lists of the advertised products. When a call arrives at the service bureau, an operator will query the caller as to the product/service of inqUiry and as to the caller~s location.
Determination of the product will define the dealer list to be consulted by the operator. Determination Of the caller's location will define the particular subsection of the selected dealer list to be searched.
The lists are maintained in various formats and sequences. Some examples of formats are computer printouts, microfilm, and in the newer services, the lists are maintained in a computer which is accessible to the operator by a console at l'~S~3-~6 his or her workstation. The sequence is by state and within state by city, and in some cases by the postal zip code. The operator maintains a three way communication between the caller, herself, and the dealer list attempting to decode the geography such that it is possible to select a dealer nearby to the caller and to deliver this information to him oVer the telephone.
This invention improves upon all present methods of dealer referral by embodying the following features:
1. The telephone is answered automatically by a computer using digitally recorded voice instead of by a human telephone operator. The CompUter interaCtS With the caller to acquire the required information of the product/service of interest and the callers TELEPHONE NUMBER. Given the first six digits (termed the NPA-NNX) of the caller~s telephone number, the system can determine the caller's location by reference to a telephone company computerized document called the "V-H" file.
V-H stands for "Vertical-Horizontal". It is a file which associates a vertical and horizontal coordinate pair to every Central Office Code (CoC) ln the telephone system. NPA referred to above means "Number Plan Area" and iS commonly termed the "Area Code~. NNX within NPA ls the COC.
The V-H is a complex transformation of latitude and longitude Which is used by long distance telephone companies to compute the distance between a caller and a called party and thereby to assess the charge for the call. The invention uses ~ 4 3-~6 the V-H coordinate system to refer a caller to a dealer.
The acquisition of the caller's data depends upon the calle~ using a Touchtone telephone and upon the ability of the computer to reCogniZe these tones and interpret them to decode the required input data. If the caller is using a rotary dial telephone rather than a Touchtone telephone, the computer will recognize this fact by the expiration of a timer set when the computer~s telephone connection first goes off-hook. The computer will then set up a call to the Headquarters Call Routing centers (~QRC) where human operators are in attendance. The call is a three-way conference call includlng the caller, the operator, and the computer. The human operator will per~orm the ~unction of querying the caller as to product/service and NPA-NNX. As the human operator hears the responses from the caller, she enters them using a Touchtone pad. The computer is on-line and "listening" to the conversation between the caller and the human operator, thus "hears" the DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) tones emitted by the operator's keypad. After completion of the data acquisition phase of the three way call, the human operator goes on-hook having completed his or her function of substituting the operator's DTMF keypad for the caller's rotary telephone. At this point, the call proceeds as if the caller had called using a Touchtone telephone. Note that only one RC, i.e. the HQ RC is staffed by human operators. ~ is calculated that it is more cost effective to pay for the ~Z~ 4 3 ~
short call from an outlying RC to the headquarters RC ~han it would be to staff all the RCs with human operators. The human operators at the headquarters RC are employed as data entry operators when not occupied with answering calls generated by s outlying RC recognition of callers with rotary rather than DTMF
service.
~he system also contemplates using speaker independent voice recognition which operates over the telephone network for processing rotary calls. ~his equipment can recognize a llmited o vocabulary of spoken disconnected words comprised of at least the digits 0-9, the letter O Which is a substitute for the number zero, the words YES and NO and perhaps two or three other words.
The voice recognition function is implemented by circuit boards which can be mounted into the telephone management computers in the same manner as the digital voice-Touchtone recognition boards.
2. After the digital voice subsystem interacts with the caller to acquire product/service identlflcation and NPA-NNX, the computer proceeds to search the product/services - dealers database based upon the V-H coordinates. It calculates the distance between several potential dealers and the caller and chooses the closest one to the caller. If there are several dealers approximately equi-distant from the caller, the computer may instruct the digital voice subsystem to interact with the caller to query him as to his choice. The computer may also 1;29~3 ~
employ one of several algorithms to determine for itself which one of several approximately equi-distant dealers to refer to the short caller.
3. Having selected a particular one of several nearby dealers, chosen in turn from the total list of hundreds or thousands, the computer will dial up the 6eleoted dealer and cross-connect the caller with the dealer rather than merely delivering the dealer identification to the caller. The caller will then be in telephone interaction With the dealer. If the selected dealer does not answer, the computer may call another nearby dealer.
4. The system employs two advanced call routing methods. The ~irst call routing method is provided by the long distance carrier. As 800 telephone calls come in to the telephone company network, it is necessary for the long distance carrier to translate the dialed 800 number into a conventional l0 digit telephone number. This is called translating from WATS
(Wide Area Telephone Service) to POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). This translation is performed by a computer which is stationed at a node in a call set-up network which is separate and distinct from the voice network. The call set-up network processes packet switched call set-up data in order to set up the switched voice call. The data transmitted over the call set-up network and the processing of this data is called "Common Channel Interoffice Signaling". An optional part of this process is _g_ lZ9~3 ~6 provided as a service called ~custom Call Routing~ (CCR). The CCR chooses a destination POTS number as a table-lookup function of the caller~s NPA. There are some 200 NPA's in the system so that there can be some 200 different POTS numbers chosen by the telephone company call set-up processing as a function of the caller's NPA. The present invention contemplates using CCR so as to minimize the cost of both the in-WATS call and the outbound call to the selected dealer. There will be several RC to which the CCR Will direct the incoming 800 calls. ~he number and location of the centers is chosen by the CDSC as a function of telephone company tariffs for interstate, inter-LATA (Local Area Transport Arrangement), intra-LATA, and local calls; and of the costs of setting up and maintaining a center.
An RC is a computer connected to the telephone networ~
by several access lines. The access lines may be controlled by telephone company Central Office equipment such as Centrex or by customer Premises Fquipment such as a PBX. The functions of the equipment in either case are to demultiplex calls on multiplexed lines, accomplish call distribution, accomplish cross connection, and accomplish remultiplexing.
A Centrex system allows for Direct Inward Dialing (DID) of telephone numbers in a local telephone company's customer's office. Each extension number for a customer is connected to the telephone company by an individual local loop. This is in contrast to a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) wherein the customer 3~t;
company is connected to the telephone company central office by perhaps one fourth as many trunks as there are extensions in the company, thereby economizing the cost of the telèphone service.
When a Psx is used, the caller usually dials a single telephone number for the entire company and then is switched to a particular party within the company by a receptionist operating the PBX. The P~X also allows for DID.
One of the available features of Centrex or Psx is called "Uniform Call Distribution" (UCD). Arriving calls are distributed to stations which are available (not busy) to receive them. The selection of the particular station is usually accomplished in a rotary process. The process attempts to connect to each successive line in its turn if it is free until it reaches the last line in the system at which time it begins again With the first line. If no station is available, the system can emit a busy signal to the caller.
When a call arrives, the UCD function can begin at the first line in the system or it can resume hunting for a free line beginning with the line chosen for the previously received call.
According to the present ~nvent~on, there is a computer connected to each station of the PBX or to each line of the Centrex. These computers perform the telephone management function. The telephone management computers are all connected to a larger computer which performs the database management (file server) function.
12~
The system of the telephone management computers in concert with the database management computer will solicit and receive the required identification from the caller (product/service and NPA-NNX as represented by the dialed 800 number or the dialed number in concert with an extension number and NPA-NNX)~ perform the selection of one or several dealers, select and dial up one or more dealers until one answers, and connect the inbound and outbound call6.
The transmission of the selected dealer~s telephone number to the PsX or other CPE switching machine or to the Centrex is the second of the tWo routing functions performed as part of the invention.
The compUter voice subsystem interacts with the caller to ac~uire the two data elements of an extension number specifying a product/service and the caller~s NPA-NNX. If the originally dialled 800 number is sufficient to identify uniquely the product/service, then it is not required to acquire an extension number. The system searches its database of dealers for the product~service and computes the distance between the caller and several dealers selected as being approximately the nearest to the caller. If only one is clearly to be preferred, the computer optionally notifies the caller using the digital voice system of the dealer's identification (primarily city and telephone number), then dials the dealer. When the dealer answers the telephone, it optionally notifies the dealer using 12~3 ~6 the digital voice subsystem that it has a prospective customer waiting on the line for the specified product/service.
If there are several dealers approximatèly equidistant from the caller, the system will choose which ones to call and in what sequence to attempt the calls in the event that the first call or call~ are unsuccessful (busy or no answer). The choice may be based on the goal of distributing calls equally within a given area or according to some criteria which can be introduced to the dealer database such as sales for a previous period.
In essence, the invention provides an improvement over present systems for dealer referral. It answers telephone calls automatically by computer, it employs telephone company Custom Call Routing to distribute the calls to Routing Centers in an economical manner, it provides further routing according to the V-H coordinate system based on NPA-NXX, and actually connects the caller to his nearest dealer instead of merely giving the dealer's identification to the caller.
There are two additional routing features which the invention can perform - these are "Gift Routing" and "Territorial Routingl~.
Gift routing relates to the dealer selection performed by the invention in the case of a gift, e.g., flowers or candy, to be sent to the reclpient by the caller. A special 800 number is published such as 1-800-CANDIES. When the computer answers the telephone, it will ask the caller the telephone number of the ~2~3 ~6 recipient (in contrast to the telephone number of the caller) of the gift. The system locates a retailer represented in the database and routes the call to him as a function ~of the NPA-NNX
of the recipient. The caller will then be connected by telephone to the retailer nParby to the recipient.
Territorial routing is used for industrial products which are sold by dealers to whom exclusive territories have been assigned by the manufacturer. An example of this category of routing is a distributor of garage doors to whom the states of New York and New Jersey have been assigned as his exclusive territory. Other states have been assigned exclusively to other distributors. Therefore, if a call arrives from New Jersey, it will be routed to the New Jersey distributor even though the caller may be geographically nearer to a Pennsylvania distributor, The invention performs the routing by reference to a territorial database containing a file for each product. A
territorial file is constructed by entering the geographical area assigned to each distributor/dealer in the geographical area encompassed by the system. After completing the assignment of the totality of the geographical area to the totality Gf the distributors, the system checks its internal map ~o ensure that no territory has been left unassigned, (unless it was omitted because the manufacturer has no representation there) and that no territory has been assigned to more than one distributor.
lZ~3~6 The data entry staff enters the territsries into the computer in formats as supplied by the manufacturer using the system. The database function then converts the `territories to its own format and validates the territorial map as above. users can enter state nameS and the State nameS Will be converted to NPA-NNXs. For example, when the data entry clerk enters the state 'INJ'l f~r a given distributor, ~his distributor will be assigned the NPA-NNX's of 201-PPP and 609-PPP which are the New Jersey NPAIS. The PPP's are pseudo NNX ' s which will be taken by the system to mean "any NNX" when performing the telephone referral. It is possible to enter state abbreviations and automatically produce NPA-NNX's because the boundaries of states and NPA-NNX's are co-linear.
The manufacturer can achieve a finer granularity of assignment than state by using the NPA's directly. He can achieve an even finer granularity by using the NPA-NNX ' s directly. In any event, the territorial file iS composed of a series of NPA-NNX~s each associated wlth a particular distributor's telephone number. Some of the NNX's may mean "any NNX". The file se~uence is NPA-NNX. ~he system enters the file with the caller's NPA-NNX as the argument and retrieves the distributor's telephone number as the function.
The territorial assignment may also be entered according to zip codes. The input may be state abbreviation as 2~ above but in the case of zip code entry, the sys~em will generate and store all the three digit zip codes for the entered state.
Finer granularity Can be achieved by directly entering three digit zip codes or five digit zip codes. At the completion of data entry, the system will check as a~ove for duplicate and missing assignments. If the files are zip based, then the telephone management sub-system Will solicit and aCquire the caller's zip code instead of his NPA-NNX.
If the manufacture has allocated his territories according to countries or according to any plan other than state, telephone number, or zip code, then the system will not accommodate him because county boundaries, for example, are not co-linear with telephone numbers or with zip codes.
The invention can be further understood by reference to the following drawing and description of the preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an example of a Customer/Dealer Service Company (CDSC) Routing Center Configuration.
Figure 3 is a chart of the relationships between the several files in the database.
Figures 4A and 4B comprise a flow chart of the Database Update Procedure.
Figures 5A - 5F comprise a flow chart of the Call Processing procedure in a Routing Center (RC).
Figures 6A - 6I comprise a flow chart of the Call Processing procedure which is executed in the File Server.
., ~P43 ~6 D~TAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
During the course of this description the same numbers are used to identify the same elements in the different figures that illustrate the lnvention. Also a Glossary of Abbreviations S used in the disclosure is found a~ter the end of this description.
Referring to Figure 1, a caller at lO places a telephone call to an 800 Inward WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service) number in response to an advertisement. The call is recognized at the caller's LEC 12 as being an 800 call and so requiring special processing.
The call is routed to an LDC database computer 16 via an LDC toll office 42, The LDC database computer performs the function of translating the WATS number into a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) number (see United States Patent 4,191,860, March 4, 1980, Data Base Communication Call Processing Method, Inventor: Roy Weber) and also performs the function optionally of Custom Call Routing (CCR). In the diagram, the boxes labeled 20, 28, 30, -~2, 34 and 40 are six private customer/dealer service companies (CDSC) Routing Centers (RC). The CCR function at 16 examines the Number Plan Area (NPA 44 - the first three digits of a ten digit telephone number 48) of the caller's telephone number and routes the call to a designated one of the six CDSC RCS.
If the CCR function has not been contracted for a particular 800 telephone number, all of the calls to this number :~L;2943 -~6 will be received by the CDSC HQ RC 34. The CCR function operates so as to answer incoming 800 calls as close to their origin as is economically feasible and likewise to place outgoing calls to dealers. The combination of the CCR function and the multiplicity of CDSC RCs iS intended to minimiZe the total cost of incoming calls, outgoing calls, and of RCs.
The number of routing centers and the rationale ~or their locatlon is described later. There are two types of RCs, a CDSC Headquarters RC 34 and Remote CDSC RCs 20~ 28, 30, 32 and In Figure 1 the LDC data base computer sends the telephone number 46 of the CCR designated CDSC ba~k to the LDC
toll office 42. The call is routed from the toll office 42 to the LEC C0 18 which serves the private CDSC Remote RC 20. The CDSC Remote RC 20 acquires two data items from the telephone network by one of 6everal meanq to be describe~ later. The two data items are the caller's telephone number 48 consisting of either lO digits (NPA-NNX-XXXX) or six digits (NPA-NNX) and the 800 number originally dialed by the caller 50. In Figure l the originally dialed number is labeled "DN". Following the DN is the designation "EXT" which refers to an optional extension to the dialed number.
The DN and its associated EXT 50 are processed by the system as follows. ~he system searches a table which when entered with DN-EXT as the argument yields Advertiser, Product, 1 2~ ~ 3~6 and Advertisement as the function. Given the Advertiser and Product, (e.g., ACME CORPORATION, ELECTRIC Toothbrushes the system selects a file to be searched consisting of dealers of e.g., Acme Electric Toothbrushes. ~his file is part of the ~DSC
data base consisting of many advertisers, products, and advertisements (~ee Database Description below and Figs. 3 and 4A
and 4B). Each record in the selected dealer file contains geographic coordinates which were previously inserted when the database was created or updated. The geographic coordinates are o based on the V-H (Vertical-Horizontal) system recorded on computer readable media by the Bell Communications Research Company ~Bellcore). The V-H system and its application to this system are described in detail later. The v-H file from sellcore provides a coordinate pair for every telephone company Central Office (co~. The COs are designated by their NPA-NNX so that given NPA-NNX as the argument the V-H file will yield a V-H
coordinate pair as the function.
The caller's NPA-NNX iS s~arched in the V-H file and the search yields the caller's V-X coordinate. Then, using a "Nearest Neighbor" algorithm to be described later, the system chooses a dealer nearby or nearest to the caller. The system retrieves the dealer's telephone number and places a call to him.
When the system senses that the dealer has answered the call, the originally placed call from lO is bridged to the call to the dealer at 24. The caller has now been automatically connected to 12~3 ~6 the nearest or nearby dealer of the advertised product which was the subject of the call from lO.
The system listens to the telephone management signals from the network to determine if the dealer call returns a busy, no answer, or ansWer. If the call is busy or does not answer, the system places another call to a different dealer if one exists reasonably nearby to the caller. This iS why reference is made to "nearest" and to "nearby~' - in case the nearest is busy or does not answer, another dealer who is nearby will be called.
The system senses when the call is completed. A record called a "Call Record Journal" (CRJ) is created and stored in the data base. The CRJ is used to generate bills and is available to the advertisers who use them for advertising effectiveness analysis. The diagram shows CRJs being sent from a CDSC RC at 30 to the Company Headquarters RC at 34 where they are stored in the data base 36. The method of transmission of CRJs is shown as via an X.25 Packet Transport Network although it is possible to use other means of transmission such as mailing a diskette. The CRJs are collected at 34 where they are used for billing. The advertisers such as one at 38 can call for their CRJs periodically. The transfer of CRJs from the Company HQ at 34 is shown as an X.25 data call but this also may be accomplished by other means such as mailing diskettes. If the file transfer of CRJs is accomplished by a computer to computer data call, the Company HQ will obser~e password procedures to ensure that each 12!;~L?/~3~6 advertiser will only receive his own CRJs.
Method of Acquiring Caller's Number and Dialed Number There are several methods possible for acquiring the two data items needed to perform the automatic routing function.
The first of these two items is the caller's telephone number, either the complete lO digit number or, optionally the first six digits termed the NPA-NNX. The second of the data items is the originally dialed 800 number, optionally including an extension number.
The most effective method of acquiring these two data items is described with respect to the alternative embodiment at the end of this disclosure. That embodiment is not available to be implemented as the LDC company presently declines to al~low connection of foreign Computers to its roUting and data base 15 computer.
The second most effective method uses features provided by a combination of LDC 800 call processing services and by the new technology of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
Using ISDN, the local C0 which originates the call will pass 20 along the caller's lO digit telephone into the network. This lO
digit number will be available for distribution to interested parties such as the CDSC. This feature is frequently referred to as Automatic Number Identification (ANI).
A feature of 800 call processing called "Dialed Number 25 Identification Service" (DNIS) will pass along to the CDSC
computer the identification of the originally dialed 800 number 12~i~3 ~6 as received at the LDC data base center. Thus, both data items are captured without interacting with the caller. This is true irrespective of whether the caller is using a Touch tone or a rotary telephone.
In order to receive the ANI automatically, several technologies must all be in place and interacting properly. The LDC does not plan to offer the ANI feature until equal access has been substantially completed at the COs of the LECs which comprised the original Bell system. To interface with the ISDN
technology exhibited by the telephone network, the CDSC must connect to the network with a Tl line. A Tl line is a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) line composed of 24 Full Duplex (FDX) channels. As employed with ISDN, these 24 channels are comprised of 23 voice channels operating at 64 Kbs and a data channel which is used to transmit signalling data which controls the operation of the other 23 channels. Using various methods of compression, the 23 voice channels can be used as upwards of 40 channels.
The arrangement of 23 voice channels and one data channel onto a single line is referred to as "23B + D". In order to be usable by the Touchtone~ receivers on the CDSC telephone management interface boards, the 24 (or more) channels must be demultiplexed into separate bit streams and the voice channels must be converted to analog. When a call is received, the data channel will carry a message containing (at least) the ANI and the designation of the channel carrying the corresponding voice lZ943~
call. The appearance of signallincl data in a different channel than the voice signal is called "out-of-hand" signalling in contrast to "in-band" signalling wherein the signalling data is contained in the same channel as the voice. Using in-band signalling, some special arrangement is necessary so that the terminating equipment can sort out the signalling data (in this case, the caller's number) from the voice data. Prior to the deployment of ISDN, the Tl line will carry 24 voice channels rather than the 23B + D.
Several methods are available for demultiplexing the channels of the Tl line. Referring to Figure l, the LEC local C0 is shown as performing the demultiplexing function so that the lines 52 are separated when they arrive at the Company Remote RC
at 20. The demultiplexing by the cO implies that the CO will provide Centrex service which will demultiplex and will convert the demultiplexed signals from digital to analog except for the D
channel which carries the signalling data (including the ANI).
A CDSC remote routing center such as at 28 ~ay be connected by a Tl llne to a switching machine in an LDC toll office such as at 26. In this example, demultiplexing the Tl signals and converting them to analog is the responsibility of the CDCS office. This requires that the CDCS provide a switch with this capability. Such a switch could be a PBX such as an AT~T System 75 or 85. Figure l shows the transmission of the caller's NPA-NNX-XXXX 48 and the DN 50 from an LDC toll office 42 to the LDC toll office 26.
1 29 ~ ~ ~6 Another means of demultiplexing is to use a machine such as that designated as a "DACS" (Digital Access and Cross-connect system) by the telephone industry. In addition to a DACS ~ a "Channel Bank" would be re~lired. This machine converts several digital channels to their analog formats. The process of converting digital to analog must be concerned with allowing the D channel to remain in di~ital format while Converting the other channels to analog. Outgoing calls can be sent into the network in digital format. Once an incoming call has been associated with the two data items of caller's number and called (800) number, it can be employed in its digital format and cross connected to an outgoing digital call to the selected dealer.
The function of cross-connecting incoming calls (from respondents to advertisements) to outgoing calls (to dealers) must also be considered. This function can be executed by a centrex machine receiving its directions from a CDSC computer.
It can also be executed by a PBX or by a DACS. Once the cross-connection has been made, the CDSC computer equipment is free to process other calls until the cross-connected call is completed and the parties hang up. At this time, the CDSC switching machine must record the call completion time for billing and reporting purposes and pass it to the computer. It must also recognize that two lines have been freed up and are available to process further calls.
The system depends on the caller using a Touchtone~
~ 2~ 3 ~6 telephone (DTMF~ in the event that one or two of the two data items required to switch the call are not received automatically.
The computer equipment recognizes which one or both of the two items is missin~ and queries the caller using digital voice to enter one or both items. The two data items are entered by the caller lO using his Touchtone~ telephone and are recognized by the CDCS computer equipment and converted to digital format for further processing as previously described. The computer equipment which recognizes the Touchtone~ input and converts it to a format suitable for computer processing is, for example, a Natural Micro Systems of Natick, MA circuit board known as a ~Watson" board. The Watsontm board also provides the ability to speak digitized voice in requesting the entry of data items. If the caller is using a rotary telephone, it is necessary to switch the incoming call to a CDSC operator who will ask the caller for his number and for the called number if necessary. The human operator is equipped with a Touchton ~ pad and enters the data received from the caller. The CDSC equipment, and in particular, a Watsontm board, is "listening" as the human operator enters Touchtone~ digits. Ak the completion of data entry by the human operator using his or her Touchtone~ pad, the system has acquired the data and is in the same state that it would have been in if the caller had made the call on a Touchton ~ instead of a rotary telephone.
The data items of caller's telephone number, dialed 3 ~6 number and extension number may possibly be acquired by sp~aker independent voice recognition equipment~ This eqUlpment which is implemented in the form of circuit cards which can be mounted in the CDSC telephone management computers is capable of recognizing a limited (about 16) number of disconnected words spoken by any speaker. It is not necessary to prepare (i.e. train) the equipment to any particular person or persons.
DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY ROUTING CENTERS
There are two types of CDSC RCs. The first is termed the Headquarters (HQ) RC and the remaining RC are termed remote RCs. The HQ RC is shown as slement 34 on Figure 1 and the remote RCs are shown as 20, 28, 30, 32 and 40. In addition to the complement of computer equipment, the HQ RC is staffed with human personnel who process the rotary (non Touchton ~) calls as described in the previous paragraph and who perform other functions such as database update.
The HQ RC 34 has a large disk drive on which it maintains the Company database 36. The database has two major divisions. The first is the data which enables the response to callers seeking to be connected by telephone to their nearest dealers. The second is the CRJ which are generated and collected after every call. The CRJ provide input to the billing function and provide input to the advertising effectiveness studies performed by the advertisers who are the company customers.
The remote RCs do not maintain databases and do not 3 ~6 have human staffs. They are intended to be unattended sites and so have the minimum of hardware and do not have people to be supervised. When a remote RC needs to service a call, it sends a data base query via an X.25 Packet Transport Network to the HQ RC
such as is illustrated by the remote RC at 32. When a remote RC
needs human assistance in acquiring data from a caller with a rotary telephone, it places a voice call to the HQ RC as is illustrated by the remote RC at 40. After completing a caller-to-dealer ConVersation, the CRJ for this conversation is sent to the HQ RC ~4 for archiving via an x.25 Packet Transport Network as is illustrated by the remote RC at location 30.
ROUTING CENTER CONFIGURATION
Referring to Figure 2, several small Front End Computers (FEC) 5~ each with one or more Telephone Interface Cards (TIC) 56 interface to the telephone network either via a PBX or via Centrex.
~ Each FEC is interfaced to a Local Area Network (LAN) 67 by a LAN Interface Card 60. The Telephone Interface Cards and the LAN Interface Cards are mounted internally in the FEC's.
The LAN is also interfaced to a large computer which performs the File Server (FS) function. The FECs may also be connected as terminals to the file server 64.
The FS computer is equipped with multiple CRT terminals 68 for database update. The terminals are connected to the FS
either via the LAN or directly via terminal ports.
12~3~6 The FS computer is also equipped with a magnetic tape drive 66, one or more disk drives 70 on which the database is written, and a modem 76.
There is a printer 74 which is used for program 5development, correspondence, and miscellaneous uses.
The FEC receive Touchtone~ signals from callers via the telephone network. The Touchtone~ signals are collected by the FEC and when the FEC senses that the transaction represented by the input Touchton ~ string is complete, it relays it to the file 10server via the hAN or the FS communications port. A transaction is composed of the advertiser/pxoduct/advertisement code (dialed number and optional extension) and the caller's telephone number.
The Touchton ~ signals are recognized by the TIC 56 and converted to ASClI data usable by the computer. The TIC 56 also 15provide audible speech outputted to the telco network. The speech is used to request lnput and to dellver output.
After receiving the transaction data from the FEC 58, the FS searches its database and retrieves records representing dealers of the specified product which are convenient to the 20caller. One or ~ore of these records ls passed back to the FEC
from which the transaction arrived. The FEC extracts the telephone number from the dealer record selected as most convenient to the caller and dials up the dealer through the PBX
or Centrex. Optionally, a greeting and/or dealer name is -~8-delivered by the speech function to the caller.
There are two computer and auxiliary equipment configurations. The first is the Headquarters comp~ter (HQ e.g.
34), the second is a remote Routing Center computer (RC) (e.g.
20, 28, 30. 32 and 40). There is one HQ and several (perhaps ten) RC. The ~Q performs routing in the same manner as an RC and also functions as the database update machine. It is also equipped with voice telephone conneCtions 72 to provide for callers who are not equipped with Touchtone~ telephones. ~he HQ
34 is e~uipped with CR~ terminals to perform database updates and With a magnetiC tape system to back up the database. The RC are unmanned and do not have telephones, CRT terminals, or magnetic tape eqUipment. The HQ 34 is manned with personnel who perform database updates and answer telephones. The telephone calls are placed when the system senses that the caller does not have a Touchtone telephone. The human operators converse with the callers and enter the required Touchtone input representing product and caller's telephone number.
The modem 76 is used to transmit Call Record Journals (CRJ) from remote RC to the HQ central computer 13 and 14, which functions as the "Data Warehouse" and as the billing machine.
This machine provides a central repository for CRJ from all the RC. The CRJ data is available to the advertisers for downloading to their PC's. The modem is also used to receive database queries from all the RC and to transmit responses to the RC.
lZ~3 ~6 The F~C are PC's such as are manufactured by IBM, Leading Edge, Digital Equipment, Sperry (IT), BIOS AT, Wells American, Victor Technologies~ Tandon, Wyse, Multitech Electronics, Beltron, and Pc~s Limited. They are equipped with 5large RAM (640K), TIC, and LAN cards but do not need CRTs~
keyboards, or disk drives.
The TIC are ~anufactured by Natural Micro systems of Natick, MA. They are known as "Watson Boards". Cards that perform similar functlons are also available from votan.
10LANs are manufactured by Novell~ 3COM~ Gateway Systems~
and Western Digital.
There is a bundled file server/hAN and LAN software product available from Cordata Technologies Inc. It incorporates Gateway ~ommunlcations Inc. network-interface boards. Digital Equipment Corp can also provide a MicroVAX computer together with networking hardware and software.
The FS is a high power microcomputer such as the Multitech 80386 based machines, Digital Equipment MicroVAX, PC
Designs 12MHz GV-286, AST Premium/286, Compaq Deskpro 386, Access 386 manufactured by Advanced Logic Research, Inc., Fortune Systems 68020 based machines, Zenith Data Systems Z-386, a~d Counterpoint 68020 based machines.
CRTS are available from Amdek, Princeton Graphics, Wyse Technologies, NEC, and others.
12~43.~;
Magnetic tape backup units are available from Kennedy DEI, Priam, Western Digital and others.
Large disk drives (40-650 megabytes) are available from Western Digital, Seagate, Priam, Maynard Electronics, Fujitsu, and others.
High speed (1200 to 19600 baud) modems are available from Everex, Hayes, Multitech Systems, U.S. Robotics and others.
The printer is available from companies such as Epson, Microline, and Toshiba.
!DATABASE DESCRIPTION
The Co~pany database 36 iS a collection Of interrelated files. The database format is relational, that is, a series of flat files (two dimensional tables). Although the format is relational, there are hierarchical relationships between the se~eral files which will be described. The files are described below in terms of field name, field size, format and sequence criteria.
1. Product-Dealer (PD) Records Field Size Format Name V-H(l) 8 Decimal Telephone no 10 Decimal Rating/State 1 Binary, Rating-2, State-6 Sequence is V-H and Telephone no. V-H are not individually UniqUe but V-H combined with Telephone no. is 1~9~3 ~
unique. PD records are maintained on disk using maintenance and sequencing provided by the database package (e.g., ORACLE, UNIFY, INFORMIX, etc.) For proCeSsing inqUirieS, the c`o~ilplete PD file is loaded into the File Server RAM. When in RAM, the records are S sequenced and searched by a proprietary file searching process.
The decimal format assumes representing the V-H as decimal digits interlea~ing a V digit, and an H digit from left to right for all eight V-H digits. This is described in detail under the section entitled "Application of the V-H Coordinate SystPm".
The telephone number is the ten digit NPA-NNX-XXXX of the dealer. It is copied from the dealer record at database creation and update time.
The rating field is two bits. It can assume a value from 0-3 with 0 chosen as the default to be automatically entered by the system if no value is chosen by the client. It is an approximate measure of the dealer's sales which can be used to affect the choice of a dealer to whom to refer a call in case there are several equally likely dealers in the same geographical area.
The state field is 6 bits. It can assume a value from 0-63 Which is sufficient to code the States of the United States and the Territories of Canada. The state field is expected to be available from the V-H file.
The PD recor~ does not contain a field f~r advertiser or product. That is because ALL the records in a given PD file 12~'~3~6 are for the same advertiser/product. The file name is the letter "F" followed by a four digit code for Advertiser and a four digit code for product within advertiser. For examplè, a file name could be F-1234-5678. This could mean, for example, "Panasonic", "Television". These field sizes allow for 10,000 advertisers each advertising lo,OoO different products.
2. Dealer Records Field Size Format Name Telephone no. 10 Decimal V-H 8 Decimal Name 20 ASCII
Address 20 ASCII
City 15 ASCII
State 2 ASCII
Zip 9 Decimal Speak name 20 ASCII
Speak city 20 ASCII
Hours 7 Decimal Sequence is on telephone number which is assumed to be unique.
Telephone number and V-H are exactly the same size and format as used in the PD Records. In fact, the process of creating a PD Record is to copy the Telephone no. and V-H from a Dealer Record into a file of PD Records for a particular Advertiser/Product, e.g., "Panasonic Television".
The field sizes for Name, Address, and City are approximate. The database system may allow for variable length fields in which case these fields will be variable length.
3 ~6 The dealer records will be created originally by purchasing lists of names for selected categories of SIC codes such as "Retail Trade-Appliances". Therefore, the field sizes if the CDSC does not use a variable field length database package will depend on the sizes provided by the list vendor.
Zip code is shown as a 9 byte Decimal field. This allows for nine digit zip codes.
"Speak name" and "Speak city" refer to the technology of Text-to-Speech conversion. The CDSC technology allows speakin~ the dealer's name and city to the caller if required by a client advertiser. The telephone number will be spoken by digital speech technology. The reason for the two different speech technologies is that speaking the telephone number only requires the storage of the digital recording of the digits from zero to nlne. Digital storage representation of the dealer names and addresses would require a huge amount of storage in RAM and on disk. Digital storage of speech consumes about 3000 bytes per second of speech, If and when required during the on-llne processing, the dealer name and city will be converted from text-to-speech using the standard name and City fields as the source data for the text-to-speech algorithm. The quality of the synthetic speech is tested at database update time. If the output of the algorithm is unsatisfactory, the record provides the two speak fields where the data can be entered in a manner so as to produce better results when spoXen using the text-to-speech algorithm. The data entry clerk will enter so-called "morphemes" such as are used in dictionaries to interpret pronunciation. When this special pronunciation field has data in it, the computer will use it to produce audible output instead of the regular field.
The hours field has seven bytes, one for each day of the week. Each one byte day field is composed of two nibbles, the "open" nibble and the "close" nibble. A nibble is a 4 bit character which is half of a byte. A nibble can represent 16 values which will be chosen to represent opening and closing ; times in intervals of one half hour. For example, the value o in the "open" nibble means 8:00 A.M. The value 15 in the "close"
nibble means midnight. The value oo for the byte means "closed all day". The value 151S means "open 24 hours". The hours fields together with the time zones of the dealers are used to decide whether to call a particular dealer. If the hours fields when compared against the internal computer clock mean that the dealer is closed, a different dealer will be called if one is available. If another dealer is not available in approximately the same geographical area as the caller, the computer will take some alternate action chosen by the advertiser for the case of no open dealer available to answer a call. The same action applies if the dealer or dealers telephones are busy. An example of an alternate action is to ask the caller to call back at some other time. Another example is to read the dealer's name and ~ 3 ~6 telephone to the caller and ask him to call the dealer himself.
3. Advertisement_Records Field Size Format Name Dialed No. 6 Decimal Extension 4 Decimal Advertiser 4 Decimal Product 4 Decimal Advertisement 4 Decimal The Advertisement Records are sequenced on Dialed Number (excluding the 800) and Extension. The Advertisement 1~ Records are loaded into a lookup table. The argUment into the table is the dialled number and extension. The function yielded is the Advertiser, the Product featured in the advertisement, and the description of the advertisement. An example of Advertiser is "Panasonic", an example of Prod~ct is ~Television set", an~ an example of AdvertiSement is "Time Magazine, March 15, 1987, model #1234~ his set of data uniquely identifies the advertisement and thus the product and advertiser to which the caller is responding.
In many cases, the Dialed No. will be the CDSC number e.g. 1-800-USA-DIAL and the extension number is the only unique designator which can differentiate calls relating to many different advertisers, products, and adver~isements. In these cases, it is imperative to correctly acquire the extension number.
12~
When soliciting the extension number, the computer will compare the received Touchtone~ digits against the Advertisement Records lookup table and verify that the number is valid. The computer may also speak the table entry to the caller and ask him to confirm that it is correct. The confirmation is performed by the caller entering a Y(es) or N(o) on his Touchtone~ pad. If the caller is using a rotary telephone, the procedure is described elsewhere under ~Rotary Telephone Procedures~. This confirmation procedure guarantees that the caller will be switched to a dealer Of the correCt product.
If the called number is provided by the advertiser (the advertisement does not ~eature 800-USA-DIAL) and is sufficient in the view of the advertiser to identify the advertiser, product, and ~dvertisement, then it is not necessary to solicit the extension number. The called number which can be received automatically using the "Dialled Number Identification Service", ~DNIS~ feature of the Advanced 800 Services will be all that is required to identify the advertiser, product and possibly advertisement. The system looks up the DNIS number (or otherwise acquired dialled number) in the Advertisements Records look up table and will recognize that it is not neCessary to solicit the extension. The indication that no extension is required is a blank entry in the extension field in the Advertisement Record in the lookup table. In this case, the processing resulting in a connection between the caller and dealer can proceed with no ~29~3~6 interaCtion at all between the computer and the caller when the feature of Automatic Number Identification is made available.
The situation also exists where the number is not 800-USA-DIAL but an extension is required in order to differentiate between several products and advertisements of a given advertiser, In addition to being used in the on-line processing, the Advertisement records are used for billing and reporting.
4. Product Records Field s i z e Format Name Advert'r Code 4 Decimal Product Code 4 Decimal Product Name 20 ASCII
Product Speak Name 20 ASCII
The Product Records are sequenced on Advertiser Code and Product Code which, in combination, are unique.
The Product Record refers to a product of a particular advertiser. For example, a Product Record might refer to a Panasonic Television, not merely to any Television, The Advertiser Code (size 4) refers to e.g., Panasonic and the Product Code (size 4) refers to e.g., a Panasonic Television.
The Advertiser and Product Codes correspond to the fields with the same names in the Advertisement Records. The different 12~43 ~;
records With corresponding fields are said in relational database technology to "join on the fields. Given the ~dvertiser and Product codes fxom an Advertisement Record, one càn re~rieve the corresponding Product record. In database terminology, the records join on the advertiser and product fields.
The Product Records are used for bill~ng and reporting.
"Remote Call Forwarding (RCF)" is also a concept that has become fairly well known in the last few years. That technique allows a caller to be directly connected with a desired party even if the desired party changes his or her physical location. The system normally requires that the desired party advise the system so that the new location of the desired party can be stored in a data bank. While RCF is relatively well known, it cannot provide for the forwarding of a telephone call to a dealer in desired goods or services based upon solely upon the telephone digits dialed by the potential customer.
Lastly, there does exist a system for determining the distance between a subscriber and a contacted party. Such a system is described in the New England publication "Background for Management" No. 33, December 1959 in an article entitled "What is This New V-H System?" The purpose of the V-H systems is to determine the airline distance between subscribers and all parties in order to bill the subscriber based upon the geographical distance between the subscriber and the called party. The use of V-H systems for other than billing purposes is believed to be novel.
~ 3~
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described the object of this invention is to provlde an advanced dealer referral service to national and regional advertisers in varioUs media Such as magaZines, radio, yellow pages, and television.
Advertisers of products with "limited distribution"
have a problem in that they must provide the prospective customer responding to an advertisement with the identification of a dealer of the product/service located conveniently to the prospective customer. The major objective of placing the advertisement will be accomplished if the prospect goes to the dealer's location and purchases the advertised product/service.
~Limited distribution" refer~ to products which are not ubiquitously available sUch as are, e.g., cigarettes at supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations, etc. An example of a limited distribution product is a particular brand of an article of clothing which is carried by perhaps 1000 retailers throughout the country. When the man~facturer of this article of clothing places an advertisement, he must then find some manner of directing respondents to his advertisement to one of his (e.g.) 1000 dealers. some referral methods commonly in Use today are to pUblish a list of dealers in the advertisement (sometimes "regionalizing" the ad by publishing certain sublists of dealers in certain regional editions of a magazine), taking advertising space in the Yellow Pages of telephone books in every locality 1~43 ~6 ~here there might be interest in his product/service, or the latest method which is to publish an 800 number inviting respondents to his advertisement to call the number for the name of the nearest dealer. An 800 number refers to a service provided by the long distance CommUniCationS Carriers (LDC) WhiCh allows callers to make a long distance call which is paid for by the recipient of the call rather than the caller. 800 service is commonly termed ~'In-WATS" where WATS i6 an acronym for "Wide Area Telephone service. The "In" means that the call is directed from the caller to the oWner of the telephone number in contrast to IlOut-WA~S'' where the owner of the telephone places the telephone call.
The 800 calls are usually answered by the advertisers themselves or by telephone service bureaus who maintain dealer lists of the advertised products. When a call arrives at the service bureau, an operator will query the caller as to the product/service of inqUiry and as to the caller~s location.
Determination of the product will define the dealer list to be consulted by the operator. Determination Of the caller's location will define the particular subsection of the selected dealer list to be searched.
The lists are maintained in various formats and sequences. Some examples of formats are computer printouts, microfilm, and in the newer services, the lists are maintained in a computer which is accessible to the operator by a console at l'~S~3-~6 his or her workstation. The sequence is by state and within state by city, and in some cases by the postal zip code. The operator maintains a three way communication between the caller, herself, and the dealer list attempting to decode the geography such that it is possible to select a dealer nearby to the caller and to deliver this information to him oVer the telephone.
This invention improves upon all present methods of dealer referral by embodying the following features:
1. The telephone is answered automatically by a computer using digitally recorded voice instead of by a human telephone operator. The CompUter interaCtS With the caller to acquire the required information of the product/service of interest and the callers TELEPHONE NUMBER. Given the first six digits (termed the NPA-NNX) of the caller~s telephone number, the system can determine the caller's location by reference to a telephone company computerized document called the "V-H" file.
V-H stands for "Vertical-Horizontal". It is a file which associates a vertical and horizontal coordinate pair to every Central Office Code (CoC) ln the telephone system. NPA referred to above means "Number Plan Area" and iS commonly termed the "Area Code~. NNX within NPA ls the COC.
The V-H is a complex transformation of latitude and longitude Which is used by long distance telephone companies to compute the distance between a caller and a called party and thereby to assess the charge for the call. The invention uses ~ 4 3-~6 the V-H coordinate system to refer a caller to a dealer.
The acquisition of the caller's data depends upon the calle~ using a Touchtone telephone and upon the ability of the computer to reCogniZe these tones and interpret them to decode the required input data. If the caller is using a rotary dial telephone rather than a Touchtone telephone, the computer will recognize this fact by the expiration of a timer set when the computer~s telephone connection first goes off-hook. The computer will then set up a call to the Headquarters Call Routing centers (~QRC) where human operators are in attendance. The call is a three-way conference call includlng the caller, the operator, and the computer. The human operator will per~orm the ~unction of querying the caller as to product/service and NPA-NNX. As the human operator hears the responses from the caller, she enters them using a Touchtone pad. The computer is on-line and "listening" to the conversation between the caller and the human operator, thus "hears" the DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) tones emitted by the operator's keypad. After completion of the data acquisition phase of the three way call, the human operator goes on-hook having completed his or her function of substituting the operator's DTMF keypad for the caller's rotary telephone. At this point, the call proceeds as if the caller had called using a Touchtone telephone. Note that only one RC, i.e. the HQ RC is staffed by human operators. ~ is calculated that it is more cost effective to pay for the ~Z~ 4 3 ~
short call from an outlying RC to the headquarters RC ~han it would be to staff all the RCs with human operators. The human operators at the headquarters RC are employed as data entry operators when not occupied with answering calls generated by s outlying RC recognition of callers with rotary rather than DTMF
service.
~he system also contemplates using speaker independent voice recognition which operates over the telephone network for processing rotary calls. ~his equipment can recognize a llmited o vocabulary of spoken disconnected words comprised of at least the digits 0-9, the letter O Which is a substitute for the number zero, the words YES and NO and perhaps two or three other words.
The voice recognition function is implemented by circuit boards which can be mounted into the telephone management computers in the same manner as the digital voice-Touchtone recognition boards.
2. After the digital voice subsystem interacts with the caller to acquire product/service identlflcation and NPA-NNX, the computer proceeds to search the product/services - dealers database based upon the V-H coordinates. It calculates the distance between several potential dealers and the caller and chooses the closest one to the caller. If there are several dealers approximately equi-distant from the caller, the computer may instruct the digital voice subsystem to interact with the caller to query him as to his choice. The computer may also 1;29~3 ~
employ one of several algorithms to determine for itself which one of several approximately equi-distant dealers to refer to the short caller.
3. Having selected a particular one of several nearby dealers, chosen in turn from the total list of hundreds or thousands, the computer will dial up the 6eleoted dealer and cross-connect the caller with the dealer rather than merely delivering the dealer identification to the caller. The caller will then be in telephone interaction With the dealer. If the selected dealer does not answer, the computer may call another nearby dealer.
4. The system employs two advanced call routing methods. The ~irst call routing method is provided by the long distance carrier. As 800 telephone calls come in to the telephone company network, it is necessary for the long distance carrier to translate the dialed 800 number into a conventional l0 digit telephone number. This is called translating from WATS
(Wide Area Telephone Service) to POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). This translation is performed by a computer which is stationed at a node in a call set-up network which is separate and distinct from the voice network. The call set-up network processes packet switched call set-up data in order to set up the switched voice call. The data transmitted over the call set-up network and the processing of this data is called "Common Channel Interoffice Signaling". An optional part of this process is _g_ lZ9~3 ~6 provided as a service called ~custom Call Routing~ (CCR). The CCR chooses a destination POTS number as a table-lookup function of the caller~s NPA. There are some 200 NPA's in the system so that there can be some 200 different POTS numbers chosen by the telephone company call set-up processing as a function of the caller's NPA. The present invention contemplates using CCR so as to minimize the cost of both the in-WATS call and the outbound call to the selected dealer. There will be several RC to which the CCR Will direct the incoming 800 calls. ~he number and location of the centers is chosen by the CDSC as a function of telephone company tariffs for interstate, inter-LATA (Local Area Transport Arrangement), intra-LATA, and local calls; and of the costs of setting up and maintaining a center.
An RC is a computer connected to the telephone networ~
by several access lines. The access lines may be controlled by telephone company Central Office equipment such as Centrex or by customer Premises Fquipment such as a PBX. The functions of the equipment in either case are to demultiplex calls on multiplexed lines, accomplish call distribution, accomplish cross connection, and accomplish remultiplexing.
A Centrex system allows for Direct Inward Dialing (DID) of telephone numbers in a local telephone company's customer's office. Each extension number for a customer is connected to the telephone company by an individual local loop. This is in contrast to a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) wherein the customer 3~t;
company is connected to the telephone company central office by perhaps one fourth as many trunks as there are extensions in the company, thereby economizing the cost of the telèphone service.
When a Psx is used, the caller usually dials a single telephone number for the entire company and then is switched to a particular party within the company by a receptionist operating the PBX. The P~X also allows for DID.
One of the available features of Centrex or Psx is called "Uniform Call Distribution" (UCD). Arriving calls are distributed to stations which are available (not busy) to receive them. The selection of the particular station is usually accomplished in a rotary process. The process attempts to connect to each successive line in its turn if it is free until it reaches the last line in the system at which time it begins again With the first line. If no station is available, the system can emit a busy signal to the caller.
When a call arrives, the UCD function can begin at the first line in the system or it can resume hunting for a free line beginning with the line chosen for the previously received call.
According to the present ~nvent~on, there is a computer connected to each station of the PBX or to each line of the Centrex. These computers perform the telephone management function. The telephone management computers are all connected to a larger computer which performs the database management (file server) function.
12~
The system of the telephone management computers in concert with the database management computer will solicit and receive the required identification from the caller (product/service and NPA-NNX as represented by the dialed 800 number or the dialed number in concert with an extension number and NPA-NNX)~ perform the selection of one or several dealers, select and dial up one or more dealers until one answers, and connect the inbound and outbound call6.
The transmission of the selected dealer~s telephone number to the PsX or other CPE switching machine or to the Centrex is the second of the tWo routing functions performed as part of the invention.
The compUter voice subsystem interacts with the caller to ac~uire the two data elements of an extension number specifying a product/service and the caller~s NPA-NNX. If the originally dialled 800 number is sufficient to identify uniquely the product/service, then it is not required to acquire an extension number. The system searches its database of dealers for the product~service and computes the distance between the caller and several dealers selected as being approximately the nearest to the caller. If only one is clearly to be preferred, the computer optionally notifies the caller using the digital voice system of the dealer's identification (primarily city and telephone number), then dials the dealer. When the dealer answers the telephone, it optionally notifies the dealer using 12~3 ~6 the digital voice subsystem that it has a prospective customer waiting on the line for the specified product/service.
If there are several dealers approximatèly equidistant from the caller, the system will choose which ones to call and in what sequence to attempt the calls in the event that the first call or call~ are unsuccessful (busy or no answer). The choice may be based on the goal of distributing calls equally within a given area or according to some criteria which can be introduced to the dealer database such as sales for a previous period.
In essence, the invention provides an improvement over present systems for dealer referral. It answers telephone calls automatically by computer, it employs telephone company Custom Call Routing to distribute the calls to Routing Centers in an economical manner, it provides further routing according to the V-H coordinate system based on NPA-NXX, and actually connects the caller to his nearest dealer instead of merely giving the dealer's identification to the caller.
There are two additional routing features which the invention can perform - these are "Gift Routing" and "Territorial Routingl~.
Gift routing relates to the dealer selection performed by the invention in the case of a gift, e.g., flowers or candy, to be sent to the reclpient by the caller. A special 800 number is published such as 1-800-CANDIES. When the computer answers the telephone, it will ask the caller the telephone number of the ~2~3 ~6 recipient (in contrast to the telephone number of the caller) of the gift. The system locates a retailer represented in the database and routes the call to him as a function ~of the NPA-NNX
of the recipient. The caller will then be connected by telephone to the retailer nParby to the recipient.
Territorial routing is used for industrial products which are sold by dealers to whom exclusive territories have been assigned by the manufacturer. An example of this category of routing is a distributor of garage doors to whom the states of New York and New Jersey have been assigned as his exclusive territory. Other states have been assigned exclusively to other distributors. Therefore, if a call arrives from New Jersey, it will be routed to the New Jersey distributor even though the caller may be geographically nearer to a Pennsylvania distributor, The invention performs the routing by reference to a territorial database containing a file for each product. A
territorial file is constructed by entering the geographical area assigned to each distributor/dealer in the geographical area encompassed by the system. After completing the assignment of the totality of the geographical area to the totality Gf the distributors, the system checks its internal map ~o ensure that no territory has been left unassigned, (unless it was omitted because the manufacturer has no representation there) and that no territory has been assigned to more than one distributor.
lZ~3~6 The data entry staff enters the territsries into the computer in formats as supplied by the manufacturer using the system. The database function then converts the `territories to its own format and validates the territorial map as above. users can enter state nameS and the State nameS Will be converted to NPA-NNXs. For example, when the data entry clerk enters the state 'INJ'l f~r a given distributor, ~his distributor will be assigned the NPA-NNX's of 201-PPP and 609-PPP which are the New Jersey NPAIS. The PPP's are pseudo NNX ' s which will be taken by the system to mean "any NNX" when performing the telephone referral. It is possible to enter state abbreviations and automatically produce NPA-NNX's because the boundaries of states and NPA-NNX's are co-linear.
The manufacturer can achieve a finer granularity of assignment than state by using the NPA's directly. He can achieve an even finer granularity by using the NPA-NNX ' s directly. In any event, the territorial file iS composed of a series of NPA-NNX~s each associated wlth a particular distributor's telephone number. Some of the NNX's may mean "any NNX". The file se~uence is NPA-NNX. ~he system enters the file with the caller's NPA-NNX as the argument and retrieves the distributor's telephone number as the function.
The territorial assignment may also be entered according to zip codes. The input may be state abbreviation as 2~ above but in the case of zip code entry, the sys~em will generate and store all the three digit zip codes for the entered state.
Finer granularity Can be achieved by directly entering three digit zip codes or five digit zip codes. At the completion of data entry, the system will check as a~ove for duplicate and missing assignments. If the files are zip based, then the telephone management sub-system Will solicit and aCquire the caller's zip code instead of his NPA-NNX.
If the manufacture has allocated his territories according to countries or according to any plan other than state, telephone number, or zip code, then the system will not accommodate him because county boundaries, for example, are not co-linear with telephone numbers or with zip codes.
The invention can be further understood by reference to the following drawing and description of the preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an example of a Customer/Dealer Service Company (CDSC) Routing Center Configuration.
Figure 3 is a chart of the relationships between the several files in the database.
Figures 4A and 4B comprise a flow chart of the Database Update Procedure.
Figures 5A - 5F comprise a flow chart of the Call Processing procedure in a Routing Center (RC).
Figures 6A - 6I comprise a flow chart of the Call Processing procedure which is executed in the File Server.
., ~P43 ~6 D~TAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
During the course of this description the same numbers are used to identify the same elements in the different figures that illustrate the lnvention. Also a Glossary of Abbreviations S used in the disclosure is found a~ter the end of this description.
Referring to Figure 1, a caller at lO places a telephone call to an 800 Inward WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service) number in response to an advertisement. The call is recognized at the caller's LEC 12 as being an 800 call and so requiring special processing.
The call is routed to an LDC database computer 16 via an LDC toll office 42, The LDC database computer performs the function of translating the WATS number into a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) number (see United States Patent 4,191,860, March 4, 1980, Data Base Communication Call Processing Method, Inventor: Roy Weber) and also performs the function optionally of Custom Call Routing (CCR). In the diagram, the boxes labeled 20, 28, 30, -~2, 34 and 40 are six private customer/dealer service companies (CDSC) Routing Centers (RC). The CCR function at 16 examines the Number Plan Area (NPA 44 - the first three digits of a ten digit telephone number 48) of the caller's telephone number and routes the call to a designated one of the six CDSC RCS.
If the CCR function has not been contracted for a particular 800 telephone number, all of the calls to this number :~L;2943 -~6 will be received by the CDSC HQ RC 34. The CCR function operates so as to answer incoming 800 calls as close to their origin as is economically feasible and likewise to place outgoing calls to dealers. The combination of the CCR function and the multiplicity of CDSC RCs iS intended to minimiZe the total cost of incoming calls, outgoing calls, and of RCs.
The number of routing centers and the rationale ~or their locatlon is described later. There are two types of RCs, a CDSC Headquarters RC 34 and Remote CDSC RCs 20~ 28, 30, 32 and In Figure 1 the LDC data base computer sends the telephone number 46 of the CCR designated CDSC ba~k to the LDC
toll office 42. The call is routed from the toll office 42 to the LEC C0 18 which serves the private CDSC Remote RC 20. The CDSC Remote RC 20 acquires two data items from the telephone network by one of 6everal meanq to be describe~ later. The two data items are the caller's telephone number 48 consisting of either lO digits (NPA-NNX-XXXX) or six digits (NPA-NNX) and the 800 number originally dialed by the caller 50. In Figure l the originally dialed number is labeled "DN". Following the DN is the designation "EXT" which refers to an optional extension to the dialed number.
The DN and its associated EXT 50 are processed by the system as follows. ~he system searches a table which when entered with DN-EXT as the argument yields Advertiser, Product, 1 2~ ~ 3~6 and Advertisement as the function. Given the Advertiser and Product, (e.g., ACME CORPORATION, ELECTRIC Toothbrushes the system selects a file to be searched consisting of dealers of e.g., Acme Electric Toothbrushes. ~his file is part of the ~DSC
data base consisting of many advertisers, products, and advertisements (~ee Database Description below and Figs. 3 and 4A
and 4B). Each record in the selected dealer file contains geographic coordinates which were previously inserted when the database was created or updated. The geographic coordinates are o based on the V-H (Vertical-Horizontal) system recorded on computer readable media by the Bell Communications Research Company ~Bellcore). The V-H system and its application to this system are described in detail later. The v-H file from sellcore provides a coordinate pair for every telephone company Central Office (co~. The COs are designated by their NPA-NNX so that given NPA-NNX as the argument the V-H file will yield a V-H
coordinate pair as the function.
The caller's NPA-NNX iS s~arched in the V-H file and the search yields the caller's V-X coordinate. Then, using a "Nearest Neighbor" algorithm to be described later, the system chooses a dealer nearby or nearest to the caller. The system retrieves the dealer's telephone number and places a call to him.
When the system senses that the dealer has answered the call, the originally placed call from lO is bridged to the call to the dealer at 24. The caller has now been automatically connected to 12~3 ~6 the nearest or nearby dealer of the advertised product which was the subject of the call from lO.
The system listens to the telephone management signals from the network to determine if the dealer call returns a busy, no answer, or ansWer. If the call is busy or does not answer, the system places another call to a different dealer if one exists reasonably nearby to the caller. This iS why reference is made to "nearest" and to "nearby~' - in case the nearest is busy or does not answer, another dealer who is nearby will be called.
The system senses when the call is completed. A record called a "Call Record Journal" (CRJ) is created and stored in the data base. The CRJ is used to generate bills and is available to the advertisers who use them for advertising effectiveness analysis. The diagram shows CRJs being sent from a CDSC RC at 30 to the Company Headquarters RC at 34 where they are stored in the data base 36. The method of transmission of CRJs is shown as via an X.25 Packet Transport Network although it is possible to use other means of transmission such as mailing a diskette. The CRJs are collected at 34 where they are used for billing. The advertisers such as one at 38 can call for their CRJs periodically. The transfer of CRJs from the Company HQ at 34 is shown as an X.25 data call but this also may be accomplished by other means such as mailing diskettes. If the file transfer of CRJs is accomplished by a computer to computer data call, the Company HQ will obser~e password procedures to ensure that each 12!;~L?/~3~6 advertiser will only receive his own CRJs.
Method of Acquiring Caller's Number and Dialed Number There are several methods possible for acquiring the two data items needed to perform the automatic routing function.
The first of these two items is the caller's telephone number, either the complete lO digit number or, optionally the first six digits termed the NPA-NNX. The second of the data items is the originally dialed 800 number, optionally including an extension number.
The most effective method of acquiring these two data items is described with respect to the alternative embodiment at the end of this disclosure. That embodiment is not available to be implemented as the LDC company presently declines to al~low connection of foreign Computers to its roUting and data base 15 computer.
The second most effective method uses features provided by a combination of LDC 800 call processing services and by the new technology of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
Using ISDN, the local C0 which originates the call will pass 20 along the caller's lO digit telephone into the network. This lO
digit number will be available for distribution to interested parties such as the CDSC. This feature is frequently referred to as Automatic Number Identification (ANI).
A feature of 800 call processing called "Dialed Number 25 Identification Service" (DNIS) will pass along to the CDSC
computer the identification of the originally dialed 800 number 12~i~3 ~6 as received at the LDC data base center. Thus, both data items are captured without interacting with the caller. This is true irrespective of whether the caller is using a Touch tone or a rotary telephone.
In order to receive the ANI automatically, several technologies must all be in place and interacting properly. The LDC does not plan to offer the ANI feature until equal access has been substantially completed at the COs of the LECs which comprised the original Bell system. To interface with the ISDN
technology exhibited by the telephone network, the CDSC must connect to the network with a Tl line. A Tl line is a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) line composed of 24 Full Duplex (FDX) channels. As employed with ISDN, these 24 channels are comprised of 23 voice channels operating at 64 Kbs and a data channel which is used to transmit signalling data which controls the operation of the other 23 channels. Using various methods of compression, the 23 voice channels can be used as upwards of 40 channels.
The arrangement of 23 voice channels and one data channel onto a single line is referred to as "23B + D". In order to be usable by the Touchtone~ receivers on the CDSC telephone management interface boards, the 24 (or more) channels must be demultiplexed into separate bit streams and the voice channels must be converted to analog. When a call is received, the data channel will carry a message containing (at least) the ANI and the designation of the channel carrying the corresponding voice lZ943~
call. The appearance of signallincl data in a different channel than the voice signal is called "out-of-hand" signalling in contrast to "in-band" signalling wherein the signalling data is contained in the same channel as the voice. Using in-band signalling, some special arrangement is necessary so that the terminating equipment can sort out the signalling data (in this case, the caller's number) from the voice data. Prior to the deployment of ISDN, the Tl line will carry 24 voice channels rather than the 23B + D.
Several methods are available for demultiplexing the channels of the Tl line. Referring to Figure l, the LEC local C0 is shown as performing the demultiplexing function so that the lines 52 are separated when they arrive at the Company Remote RC
at 20. The demultiplexing by the cO implies that the CO will provide Centrex service which will demultiplex and will convert the demultiplexed signals from digital to analog except for the D
channel which carries the signalling data (including the ANI).
A CDSC remote routing center such as at 28 ~ay be connected by a Tl llne to a switching machine in an LDC toll office such as at 26. In this example, demultiplexing the Tl signals and converting them to analog is the responsibility of the CDCS office. This requires that the CDCS provide a switch with this capability. Such a switch could be a PBX such as an AT~T System 75 or 85. Figure l shows the transmission of the caller's NPA-NNX-XXXX 48 and the DN 50 from an LDC toll office 42 to the LDC toll office 26.
1 29 ~ ~ ~6 Another means of demultiplexing is to use a machine such as that designated as a "DACS" (Digital Access and Cross-connect system) by the telephone industry. In addition to a DACS ~ a "Channel Bank" would be re~lired. This machine converts several digital channels to their analog formats. The process of converting digital to analog must be concerned with allowing the D channel to remain in di~ital format while Converting the other channels to analog. Outgoing calls can be sent into the network in digital format. Once an incoming call has been associated with the two data items of caller's number and called (800) number, it can be employed in its digital format and cross connected to an outgoing digital call to the selected dealer.
The function of cross-connecting incoming calls (from respondents to advertisements) to outgoing calls (to dealers) must also be considered. This function can be executed by a centrex machine receiving its directions from a CDSC computer.
It can also be executed by a PBX or by a DACS. Once the cross-connection has been made, the CDSC computer equipment is free to process other calls until the cross-connected call is completed and the parties hang up. At this time, the CDSC switching machine must record the call completion time for billing and reporting purposes and pass it to the computer. It must also recognize that two lines have been freed up and are available to process further calls.
The system depends on the caller using a Touchtone~
~ 2~ 3 ~6 telephone (DTMF~ in the event that one or two of the two data items required to switch the call are not received automatically.
The computer equipment recognizes which one or both of the two items is missin~ and queries the caller using digital voice to enter one or both items. The two data items are entered by the caller lO using his Touchtone~ telephone and are recognized by the CDCS computer equipment and converted to digital format for further processing as previously described. The computer equipment which recognizes the Touchtone~ input and converts it to a format suitable for computer processing is, for example, a Natural Micro Systems of Natick, MA circuit board known as a ~Watson" board. The Watsontm board also provides the ability to speak digitized voice in requesting the entry of data items. If the caller is using a rotary telephone, it is necessary to switch the incoming call to a CDSC operator who will ask the caller for his number and for the called number if necessary. The human operator is equipped with a Touchton ~ pad and enters the data received from the caller. The CDSC equipment, and in particular, a Watsontm board, is "listening" as the human operator enters Touchtone~ digits. Ak the completion of data entry by the human operator using his or her Touchtone~ pad, the system has acquired the data and is in the same state that it would have been in if the caller had made the call on a Touchton ~ instead of a rotary telephone.
The data items of caller's telephone number, dialed 3 ~6 number and extension number may possibly be acquired by sp~aker independent voice recognition equipment~ This eqUlpment which is implemented in the form of circuit cards which can be mounted in the CDSC telephone management computers is capable of recognizing a limited (about 16) number of disconnected words spoken by any speaker. It is not necessary to prepare (i.e. train) the equipment to any particular person or persons.
DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY ROUTING CENTERS
There are two types of CDSC RCs. The first is termed the Headquarters (HQ) RC and the remaining RC are termed remote RCs. The HQ RC is shown as slement 34 on Figure 1 and the remote RCs are shown as 20, 28, 30, 32 and 40. In addition to the complement of computer equipment, the HQ RC is staffed with human personnel who process the rotary (non Touchton ~) calls as described in the previous paragraph and who perform other functions such as database update.
The HQ RC 34 has a large disk drive on which it maintains the Company database 36. The database has two major divisions. The first is the data which enables the response to callers seeking to be connected by telephone to their nearest dealers. The second is the CRJ which are generated and collected after every call. The CRJ provide input to the billing function and provide input to the advertising effectiveness studies performed by the advertisers who are the company customers.
The remote RCs do not maintain databases and do not 3 ~6 have human staffs. They are intended to be unattended sites and so have the minimum of hardware and do not have people to be supervised. When a remote RC needs to service a call, it sends a data base query via an X.25 Packet Transport Network to the HQ RC
such as is illustrated by the remote RC at 32. When a remote RC
needs human assistance in acquiring data from a caller with a rotary telephone, it places a voice call to the HQ RC as is illustrated by the remote RC at 40. After completing a caller-to-dealer ConVersation, the CRJ for this conversation is sent to the HQ RC ~4 for archiving via an x.25 Packet Transport Network as is illustrated by the remote RC at location 30.
ROUTING CENTER CONFIGURATION
Referring to Figure 2, several small Front End Computers (FEC) 5~ each with one or more Telephone Interface Cards (TIC) 56 interface to the telephone network either via a PBX or via Centrex.
~ Each FEC is interfaced to a Local Area Network (LAN) 67 by a LAN Interface Card 60. The Telephone Interface Cards and the LAN Interface Cards are mounted internally in the FEC's.
The LAN is also interfaced to a large computer which performs the File Server (FS) function. The FECs may also be connected as terminals to the file server 64.
The FS computer is equipped with multiple CRT terminals 68 for database update. The terminals are connected to the FS
either via the LAN or directly via terminal ports.
12~3~6 The FS computer is also equipped with a magnetic tape drive 66, one or more disk drives 70 on which the database is written, and a modem 76.
There is a printer 74 which is used for program 5development, correspondence, and miscellaneous uses.
The FEC receive Touchtone~ signals from callers via the telephone network. The Touchtone~ signals are collected by the FEC and when the FEC senses that the transaction represented by the input Touchton ~ string is complete, it relays it to the file 10server via the hAN or the FS communications port. A transaction is composed of the advertiser/pxoduct/advertisement code (dialed number and optional extension) and the caller's telephone number.
The Touchton ~ signals are recognized by the TIC 56 and converted to ASClI data usable by the computer. The TIC 56 also 15provide audible speech outputted to the telco network. The speech is used to request lnput and to dellver output.
After receiving the transaction data from the FEC 58, the FS searches its database and retrieves records representing dealers of the specified product which are convenient to the 20caller. One or ~ore of these records ls passed back to the FEC
from which the transaction arrived. The FEC extracts the telephone number from the dealer record selected as most convenient to the caller and dials up the dealer through the PBX
or Centrex. Optionally, a greeting and/or dealer name is -~8-delivered by the speech function to the caller.
There are two computer and auxiliary equipment configurations. The first is the Headquarters comp~ter (HQ e.g.
34), the second is a remote Routing Center computer (RC) (e.g.
20, 28, 30. 32 and 40). There is one HQ and several (perhaps ten) RC. The ~Q performs routing in the same manner as an RC and also functions as the database update machine. It is also equipped with voice telephone conneCtions 72 to provide for callers who are not equipped with Touchtone~ telephones. ~he HQ
34 is e~uipped with CR~ terminals to perform database updates and With a magnetiC tape system to back up the database. The RC are unmanned and do not have telephones, CRT terminals, or magnetic tape eqUipment. The HQ 34 is manned with personnel who perform database updates and answer telephones. The telephone calls are placed when the system senses that the caller does not have a Touchtone telephone. The human operators converse with the callers and enter the required Touchtone input representing product and caller's telephone number.
The modem 76 is used to transmit Call Record Journals (CRJ) from remote RC to the HQ central computer 13 and 14, which functions as the "Data Warehouse" and as the billing machine.
This machine provides a central repository for CRJ from all the RC. The CRJ data is available to the advertisers for downloading to their PC's. The modem is also used to receive database queries from all the RC and to transmit responses to the RC.
lZ~3 ~6 The F~C are PC's such as are manufactured by IBM, Leading Edge, Digital Equipment, Sperry (IT), BIOS AT, Wells American, Victor Technologies~ Tandon, Wyse, Multitech Electronics, Beltron, and Pc~s Limited. They are equipped with 5large RAM (640K), TIC, and LAN cards but do not need CRTs~
keyboards, or disk drives.
The TIC are ~anufactured by Natural Micro systems of Natick, MA. They are known as "Watson Boards". Cards that perform similar functlons are also available from votan.
10LANs are manufactured by Novell~ 3COM~ Gateway Systems~
and Western Digital.
There is a bundled file server/hAN and LAN software product available from Cordata Technologies Inc. It incorporates Gateway ~ommunlcations Inc. network-interface boards. Digital Equipment Corp can also provide a MicroVAX computer together with networking hardware and software.
The FS is a high power microcomputer such as the Multitech 80386 based machines, Digital Equipment MicroVAX, PC
Designs 12MHz GV-286, AST Premium/286, Compaq Deskpro 386, Access 386 manufactured by Advanced Logic Research, Inc., Fortune Systems 68020 based machines, Zenith Data Systems Z-386, a~d Counterpoint 68020 based machines.
CRTS are available from Amdek, Princeton Graphics, Wyse Technologies, NEC, and others.
12~43.~;
Magnetic tape backup units are available from Kennedy DEI, Priam, Western Digital and others.
Large disk drives (40-650 megabytes) are available from Western Digital, Seagate, Priam, Maynard Electronics, Fujitsu, and others.
High speed (1200 to 19600 baud) modems are available from Everex, Hayes, Multitech Systems, U.S. Robotics and others.
The printer is available from companies such as Epson, Microline, and Toshiba.
!DATABASE DESCRIPTION
The Co~pany database 36 iS a collection Of interrelated files. The database format is relational, that is, a series of flat files (two dimensional tables). Although the format is relational, there are hierarchical relationships between the se~eral files which will be described. The files are described below in terms of field name, field size, format and sequence criteria.
1. Product-Dealer (PD) Records Field Size Format Name V-H(l) 8 Decimal Telephone no 10 Decimal Rating/State 1 Binary, Rating-2, State-6 Sequence is V-H and Telephone no. V-H are not individually UniqUe but V-H combined with Telephone no. is 1~9~3 ~
unique. PD records are maintained on disk using maintenance and sequencing provided by the database package (e.g., ORACLE, UNIFY, INFORMIX, etc.) For proCeSsing inqUirieS, the c`o~ilplete PD file is loaded into the File Server RAM. When in RAM, the records are S sequenced and searched by a proprietary file searching process.
The decimal format assumes representing the V-H as decimal digits interlea~ing a V digit, and an H digit from left to right for all eight V-H digits. This is described in detail under the section entitled "Application of the V-H Coordinate SystPm".
The telephone number is the ten digit NPA-NNX-XXXX of the dealer. It is copied from the dealer record at database creation and update time.
The rating field is two bits. It can assume a value from 0-3 with 0 chosen as the default to be automatically entered by the system if no value is chosen by the client. It is an approximate measure of the dealer's sales which can be used to affect the choice of a dealer to whom to refer a call in case there are several equally likely dealers in the same geographical area.
The state field is 6 bits. It can assume a value from 0-63 Which is sufficient to code the States of the United States and the Territories of Canada. The state field is expected to be available from the V-H file.
The PD recor~ does not contain a field f~r advertiser or product. That is because ALL the records in a given PD file 12~'~3~6 are for the same advertiser/product. The file name is the letter "F" followed by a four digit code for Advertiser and a four digit code for product within advertiser. For examplè, a file name could be F-1234-5678. This could mean, for example, "Panasonic", "Television". These field sizes allow for 10,000 advertisers each advertising lo,OoO different products.
2. Dealer Records Field Size Format Name Telephone no. 10 Decimal V-H 8 Decimal Name 20 ASCII
Address 20 ASCII
City 15 ASCII
State 2 ASCII
Zip 9 Decimal Speak name 20 ASCII
Speak city 20 ASCII
Hours 7 Decimal Sequence is on telephone number which is assumed to be unique.
Telephone number and V-H are exactly the same size and format as used in the PD Records. In fact, the process of creating a PD Record is to copy the Telephone no. and V-H from a Dealer Record into a file of PD Records for a particular Advertiser/Product, e.g., "Panasonic Television".
The field sizes for Name, Address, and City are approximate. The database system may allow for variable length fields in which case these fields will be variable length.
3 ~6 The dealer records will be created originally by purchasing lists of names for selected categories of SIC codes such as "Retail Trade-Appliances". Therefore, the field sizes if the CDSC does not use a variable field length database package will depend on the sizes provided by the list vendor.
Zip code is shown as a 9 byte Decimal field. This allows for nine digit zip codes.
"Speak name" and "Speak city" refer to the technology of Text-to-Speech conversion. The CDSC technology allows speakin~ the dealer's name and city to the caller if required by a client advertiser. The telephone number will be spoken by digital speech technology. The reason for the two different speech technologies is that speaking the telephone number only requires the storage of the digital recording of the digits from zero to nlne. Digital storage representation of the dealer names and addresses would require a huge amount of storage in RAM and on disk. Digital storage of speech consumes about 3000 bytes per second of speech, If and when required during the on-llne processing, the dealer name and city will be converted from text-to-speech using the standard name and City fields as the source data for the text-to-speech algorithm. The quality of the synthetic speech is tested at database update time. If the output of the algorithm is unsatisfactory, the record provides the two speak fields where the data can be entered in a manner so as to produce better results when spoXen using the text-to-speech algorithm. The data entry clerk will enter so-called "morphemes" such as are used in dictionaries to interpret pronunciation. When this special pronunciation field has data in it, the computer will use it to produce audible output instead of the regular field.
The hours field has seven bytes, one for each day of the week. Each one byte day field is composed of two nibbles, the "open" nibble and the "close" nibble. A nibble is a 4 bit character which is half of a byte. A nibble can represent 16 values which will be chosen to represent opening and closing ; times in intervals of one half hour. For example, the value o in the "open" nibble means 8:00 A.M. The value 15 in the "close"
nibble means midnight. The value oo for the byte means "closed all day". The value 151S means "open 24 hours". The hours fields together with the time zones of the dealers are used to decide whether to call a particular dealer. If the hours fields when compared against the internal computer clock mean that the dealer is closed, a different dealer will be called if one is available. If another dealer is not available in approximately the same geographical area as the caller, the computer will take some alternate action chosen by the advertiser for the case of no open dealer available to answer a call. The same action applies if the dealer or dealers telephones are busy. An example of an alternate action is to ask the caller to call back at some other time. Another example is to read the dealer's name and ~ 3 ~6 telephone to the caller and ask him to call the dealer himself.
3. Advertisement_Records Field Size Format Name Dialed No. 6 Decimal Extension 4 Decimal Advertiser 4 Decimal Product 4 Decimal Advertisement 4 Decimal The Advertisement Records are sequenced on Dialed Number (excluding the 800) and Extension. The Advertisement 1~ Records are loaded into a lookup table. The argUment into the table is the dialled number and extension. The function yielded is the Advertiser, the Product featured in the advertisement, and the description of the advertisement. An example of Advertiser is "Panasonic", an example of Prod~ct is ~Television set", an~ an example of AdvertiSement is "Time Magazine, March 15, 1987, model #1234~ his set of data uniquely identifies the advertisement and thus the product and advertiser to which the caller is responding.
In many cases, the Dialed No. will be the CDSC number e.g. 1-800-USA-DIAL and the extension number is the only unique designator which can differentiate calls relating to many different advertisers, products, and adver~isements. In these cases, it is imperative to correctly acquire the extension number.
12~
When soliciting the extension number, the computer will compare the received Touchtone~ digits against the Advertisement Records lookup table and verify that the number is valid. The computer may also speak the table entry to the caller and ask him to confirm that it is correct. The confirmation is performed by the caller entering a Y(es) or N(o) on his Touchtone~ pad. If the caller is using a rotary telephone, the procedure is described elsewhere under ~Rotary Telephone Procedures~. This confirmation procedure guarantees that the caller will be switched to a dealer Of the correCt product.
If the called number is provided by the advertiser (the advertisement does not ~eature 800-USA-DIAL) and is sufficient in the view of the advertiser to identify the advertiser, product, and ~dvertisement, then it is not necessary to solicit the extension number. The called number which can be received automatically using the "Dialled Number Identification Service", ~DNIS~ feature of the Advanced 800 Services will be all that is required to identify the advertiser, product and possibly advertisement. The system looks up the DNIS number (or otherwise acquired dialled number) in the Advertisements Records look up table and will recognize that it is not neCessary to solicit the extension. The indication that no extension is required is a blank entry in the extension field in the Advertisement Record in the lookup table. In this case, the processing resulting in a connection between the caller and dealer can proceed with no ~29~3~6 interaCtion at all between the computer and the caller when the feature of Automatic Number Identification is made available.
The situation also exists where the number is not 800-USA-DIAL but an extension is required in order to differentiate between several products and advertisements of a given advertiser, In addition to being used in the on-line processing, the Advertisement records are used for billing and reporting.
4. Product Records Field s i z e Format Name Advert'r Code 4 Decimal Product Code 4 Decimal Product Name 20 ASCII
Product Speak Name 20 ASCII
The Product Records are sequenced on Advertiser Code and Product Code which, in combination, are unique.
The Product Record refers to a product of a particular advertiser. For example, a Product Record might refer to a Panasonic Television, not merely to any Television, The Advertiser Code (size 4) refers to e.g., Panasonic and the Product Code (size 4) refers to e.g., a Panasonic Television.
The Advertiser and Product Codes correspond to the fields with the same names in the Advertisement Records. The different 12~43 ~;
records With corresponding fields are said in relational database technology to "join on the fields. Given the ~dvertiser and Product codes fxom an Advertisement Record, one càn re~rieve the corresponding Product record. In database terminology, the records join on the advertiser and product fields.
The Product Records are used for bill~ng and reporting.
5. Advertiser Records Field Size Format Name 1 o Advrt ' r Code 4 Decimal Name 20 ASCII
" Speak Name 20 ASCII
" Adrs 20 A~CII
" City 20 ASCII
" state 2 ASCII
" ~ontact Name 20 ASCII
Contact Telephone no 10 Decimal " Password 12 ASCII
The Advertiser Records are sequenced on advertiser code Which is unique.
~ he Advertiser ~ecord describes a particular advertiser such as "Panasonlc". ~he Product Record joins the Advertiser Record on Advertiser code.
The Advertiser Records are used for bill~ng, reporting and correspondence. The record contains the password which is consulted when the advertiser makes a data call requesting his Call Record Journals (see following paragraph~ to be transmitted to him by computer file transfer.
12943 ~6 6. Çall Record Journals (CRJs~
The CRJs are sequenced according to advertiser, product, advertisement and a special control number and the chronology of their generation.
The CRJs are generated after each call. They are used for billing and for reporting and are available to the advertisers to perform their own advertising analyses. The CRJs are transportable to the advertisers either via a Packet Transport Network or can be mailed periodically on a diskette.
lo The CRJs are also expected to be useful to the CDSC internal reporting.
A sequential control number is assigned to each inbound call, one per each new caller. This control number can be used to associate one inbound caller with several outbound calls.
Several outbound calls might ~e made per one inbound call in the case of busy or no answer dealers.
The CRJ are maintained on disk until space requirements causes them to be written to magnetic tape. They are archived on magnetic tape indefinitely.
The CRJ format is:
Field Size Format Name Advrt'r 4 Decimal Product 4 Decimal Advrt'mnt 4 Decimal Dealer telno (3 each) 10 Decimal Caller telno 10 Decimal Date rec'd 6 Decimal Time rec'd 6 Decimal Dlr call time (3 each) 6 Decimal Dlr call result:(3 each) no answer 1 Decimal 3 ~
busy 1 Decimal time connected 6 Decimal time hung up 6 Decimal ATI RC 1 Decimal ATI equipt 2 Decimal Estimated miles, caller to dealer: 4 Decimal Rotary or DTMF 1 Decimal DNIS rec'd 1 Decimal ANI rec'd 1 Decimal Sequential no. 3 Decimal 7. V-H File This file is supplied by the Bell Communications Research Company. Given a Central Office Code (Coc which is o given as NPA-NNX) as the argument, it yields the v and H
Coordinates. The V and H are each four digit nUmer~c codes which taken together, are equivalent to the latitude and longitude of the CoC. The codes are based on a projeCtion Which allows for distance computations without consideration of the earth's curvature. The worst case error is less than one per cent when computing very large distances such as Bangor, Maine to San Diego, California. Because the CDSC system is oriented to "the nearest dealer", the expected error is close to zero. The distances are in airline (as the crow flies) miles.
The file is used to look up NPA-NNX and obtain V-H both for the Dealer Records and for the Caller Records. The database update procedure which occurs in the File Server computer uses the complete V-H record to contribute to the building of the Dealer Records. The division of labor between the Pcs and the File Server is such that the PCs collect the data from the caller including the caller's NPA-NNX, dialed number, and possibly 12~;L3~6 extension. This set of data is transmitted to the File server which is responsible for the execution of the nearest neighbor algorithm. The File Server chooses one to three dealers nearby to the caller and sends them to the PC processing the call. The PC then outdials a dealer and orders the switching machine to cross-connect the incoming call to the out-going call. At the termination of the call, the switching machine notifies the File Server which generates and archives a CRJ.
" Speak Name 20 ASCII
" Adrs 20 A~CII
" City 20 ASCII
" state 2 ASCII
" ~ontact Name 20 ASCII
Contact Telephone no 10 Decimal " Password 12 ASCII
The Advertiser Records are sequenced on advertiser code Which is unique.
~ he Advertiser ~ecord describes a particular advertiser such as "Panasonlc". ~he Product Record joins the Advertiser Record on Advertiser code.
The Advertiser Records are used for bill~ng, reporting and correspondence. The record contains the password which is consulted when the advertiser makes a data call requesting his Call Record Journals (see following paragraph~ to be transmitted to him by computer file transfer.
12943 ~6 6. Çall Record Journals (CRJs~
The CRJs are sequenced according to advertiser, product, advertisement and a special control number and the chronology of their generation.
The CRJs are generated after each call. They are used for billing and for reporting and are available to the advertisers to perform their own advertising analyses. The CRJs are transportable to the advertisers either via a Packet Transport Network or can be mailed periodically on a diskette.
lo The CRJs are also expected to be useful to the CDSC internal reporting.
A sequential control number is assigned to each inbound call, one per each new caller. This control number can be used to associate one inbound caller with several outbound calls.
Several outbound calls might ~e made per one inbound call in the case of busy or no answer dealers.
The CRJ are maintained on disk until space requirements causes them to be written to magnetic tape. They are archived on magnetic tape indefinitely.
The CRJ format is:
Field Size Format Name Advrt'r 4 Decimal Product 4 Decimal Advrt'mnt 4 Decimal Dealer telno (3 each) 10 Decimal Caller telno 10 Decimal Date rec'd 6 Decimal Time rec'd 6 Decimal Dlr call time (3 each) 6 Decimal Dlr call result:(3 each) no answer 1 Decimal 3 ~
busy 1 Decimal time connected 6 Decimal time hung up 6 Decimal ATI RC 1 Decimal ATI equipt 2 Decimal Estimated miles, caller to dealer: 4 Decimal Rotary or DTMF 1 Decimal DNIS rec'd 1 Decimal ANI rec'd 1 Decimal Sequential no. 3 Decimal 7. V-H File This file is supplied by the Bell Communications Research Company. Given a Central Office Code (Coc which is o given as NPA-NNX) as the argument, it yields the v and H
Coordinates. The V and H are each four digit nUmer~c codes which taken together, are equivalent to the latitude and longitude of the CoC. The codes are based on a projeCtion Which allows for distance computations without consideration of the earth's curvature. The worst case error is less than one per cent when computing very large distances such as Bangor, Maine to San Diego, California. Because the CDSC system is oriented to "the nearest dealer", the expected error is close to zero. The distances are in airline (as the crow flies) miles.
The file is used to look up NPA-NNX and obtain V-H both for the Dealer Records and for the Caller Records. The database update procedure which occurs in the File Server computer uses the complete V-H record to contribute to the building of the Dealer Records. The division of labor between the Pcs and the File Server is such that the PCs collect the data from the caller including the caller's NPA-NNX, dialed number, and possibly 12~;L3~6 extension. This set of data is transmitted to the File server which is responsible for the execution of the nearest neighbor algorithm. The File Server chooses one to three dealers nearby to the caller and sends them to the PC processing the call. The PC then outdials a dealer and orders the switching machine to cross-connect the incoming call to the out-going call. At the termination of the call, the switching machine notifies the File Server which generates and archives a CRJ.
8. AUdio Name_and Address Records The capture of the caller's name and address is an optional feature of the CDSC service. This is done Using digital recording techniques and storing the results on a large disk drive. The names and addresses must then be periodically transcribed by data entry clerks who play back the digital recordings and enter the corresponding name and address records in normal ASCII computer format.
9. ASCII Name and Address_Records These records are the results of transcribing the Audio records described in the previous paragraph.
10. Audio City Names These records contain the digital recordings of the names of the cities taken from the V-H file. There is one audio name per city although there may be many records with the same name, e.g., NEWARK. These records must be created by speaking the city name into a microphone or telephone interfaced to a 12S'~
telephone management board and then uploading the digitized name from a PC to the File Server. If the processing requires that the city name be spoken to a caller, the audio file for the specific city is downloaded in real time from the File Server to a PC. The city name in ASCII is used as the file name for the digital recording of the name.
telephone management board and then uploading the digitized name from a PC to the File Server. If the processing requires that the city name be spoken to a caller, the audio file for the specific city is downloaded in real time from the File Server to a PC. The city name in ASCII is used as the file name for the digital recording of the name.
11. Processing Instructions:
The processing instructions are a set of constants per each Advertlser-Product-Advertisement combination. ~he 1 o processing instructions tell the computer how to proces~
telephone calls for this Advertiser-Product-Advertisement combination.
These constants are:
a. Maximum distance for call connection. tI.e., dc not connect a caller with a dealer more than 50 miles away.) b. Number of dealers in the continental USA.
c. Distance difference which is to be processe~ as equality. (For example, if there is a dealer eight miles from a caller and another dealer 11 miles from the caller, then the~-will be considered equidistant for the purpose of ma~in~ a telephone connection or for delivering names and addresses an~
telephone numbers.) The system has a built in error of three miles due to the assumption that callers and dealers are located exactly at their ~-H coordinates so that the minimum distance difference is at least three miles. The distance difference is -~3-12943 ~6 expressed as a percentage and a minimum. For example, 15% or eight miles, whichever iS smaller.
d. Options if all dealers are busy or don't answer:
i. Speak a canned message asking them to call back at another time.
ii. Speak the name, address, and telephone number of one or two or three approximately equidistant dealers.
e. Solicitation instruction re acquiring caller's telephone number if it is not automatically delivered:
i. Ask for the first six digits ii. Ask for all ten digits f. Instructions re solicitation of other information, particulary numeric information which can be collected from Touchtone~ callers.
g. Special announcements to be delivered to callers such as "This is National Buy a Television Set week".
h. The digitally recorded names of the advertiser and the product.
i. 0ptional welcome message to be spoken to the caller.
j. Optional announcement to be spoken to caller when he is put on hold while the computer is dialling up a dealer.
k. Optional announcement to be spoken to the dealer informing him that a caller is waiting.
26 1. optional solicitation from the caller as to whether he is inquiring re a product or service and identification 12943 1~
thereof. This is required to differentiate between a call for service on a given product or a call to purchase the product.
m. Optional request to the caller to enter his name and address in audio for later transcription to a mailing list for follow up.
n. Procedure while caller is on hold - music on hold or silence with occasional message.
o. Optional monitoring by recording of occasional calls.
p. Procedures to follow if the caller does not have a Touchtone~ telephone. (He calls on a rotary telephone).
i. Ask him to call back on a Touchtone~
telephone.
ii. Give the caller a special number for rotary calls.
iii. Connect the caller to a live operator.
iv. Switch in the voice recognition equipment.
The processing instructions are a set of constants per each Advertlser-Product-Advertisement combination. ~he 1 o processing instructions tell the computer how to proces~
telephone calls for this Advertiser-Product-Advertisement combination.
These constants are:
a. Maximum distance for call connection. tI.e., dc not connect a caller with a dealer more than 50 miles away.) b. Number of dealers in the continental USA.
c. Distance difference which is to be processe~ as equality. (For example, if there is a dealer eight miles from a caller and another dealer 11 miles from the caller, then the~-will be considered equidistant for the purpose of ma~in~ a telephone connection or for delivering names and addresses an~
telephone numbers.) The system has a built in error of three miles due to the assumption that callers and dealers are located exactly at their ~-H coordinates so that the minimum distance difference is at least three miles. The distance difference is -~3-12943 ~6 expressed as a percentage and a minimum. For example, 15% or eight miles, whichever iS smaller.
d. Options if all dealers are busy or don't answer:
i. Speak a canned message asking them to call back at another time.
ii. Speak the name, address, and telephone number of one or two or three approximately equidistant dealers.
e. Solicitation instruction re acquiring caller's telephone number if it is not automatically delivered:
i. Ask for the first six digits ii. Ask for all ten digits f. Instructions re solicitation of other information, particulary numeric information which can be collected from Touchtone~ callers.
g. Special announcements to be delivered to callers such as "This is National Buy a Television Set week".
h. The digitally recorded names of the advertiser and the product.
i. 0ptional welcome message to be spoken to the caller.
j. Optional announcement to be spoken to caller when he is put on hold while the computer is dialling up a dealer.
k. Optional announcement to be spoken to the dealer informing him that a caller is waiting.
26 1. optional solicitation from the caller as to whether he is inquiring re a product or service and identification 12943 1~
thereof. This is required to differentiate between a call for service on a given product or a call to purchase the product.
m. Optional request to the caller to enter his name and address in audio for later transcription to a mailing list for follow up.
n. Procedure while caller is on hold - music on hold or silence with occasional message.
o. Optional monitoring by recording of occasional calls.
p. Procedures to follow if the caller does not have a Touchtone~ telephone. (He calls on a rotary telephone).
i. Ask him to call back on a Touchtone~
telephone.
ii. Give the caller a special number for rotary calls.
iii. Connect the caller to a live operator.
iv. Switch in the voice recognition equipment.
12. DN/EXT Table:
The records in this table have the Dialled Number (DN~
and Extension (EXT) as the argument. The function is the address of a Processing Instructions Record as described above in 11.
The DN is a required field. It may contain the CDSC's own number, 800-USA-DIAL or some other "foreign" 800 number supplied by the client. If the DN is 800-USA-DIAL, then the EXT
is a required field whi~h is needed in order to select ~Z9~3 ~;
uniquely the proper Processing Instructions Record.
If the DN is other than 800~USA-DIAL, then the EXT
field is optional. If the ~XT field is not present, then the DN
alone identifies the Advertiser-Product and possibly the 5Advertisement and so to select a Processing Instructions Records.
If the EXT field is present, it represents a subdivision of the foreign other than 800-USA-Dial 800 number.
This would be the case, for example, if the customer supplied the foreign 800 number and he Was running multiple ads for several 10different products or several ads for the same product in different media or in different formats or any combination of the above.
Summarizing the DN/EXT, the DN/EXT is used to identify the advertisement or product to which the caller is responding 15and then to choose a set of instructions describing the method of processing the call. The DN may be the CDSC number in which case the EXT is required. If the DN is a foreign number, then the EXT
is an optional field.
The first three digits of the DN are always 800 so are 20not represented in the table.
\~
lZ943 ~
HIERARCHIcAL RE~ATIONSHIPS OF THE SEVERAL FILES IN THE DATABASE
Although the database employs a relational model, there is a natural hierarchical connection between the various types of ~iles which is useful to understand. ThiS iS illustrated in Figure 3.
The Advertiser File is at the top of the hierarchy.
The diagram shows three advertisers, Advertiser #l, Advertiser #2, and Advertiser #3 (which are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other advertisers up to adYertiser #;). An example of an Advertiser is l~Panasonic".
In the diagram, Advertiser #2 is shown to manufa~ture several products which are described in the Product File.
Products #l, #2, and #3 are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other products Up to product #k Of advertiser #2.
~he Product File is at the next level below the Advertiser File~ (Note that the particular Product File does not describe any arbitrarily selected product, only products manufactured by the parent Advertiser - in this case, Advertiser #2). The Product Records ~oin the Advertiser Records the on Advertiser Code.
The diagram shows that several advertisements for Advertiser #2, Product #2 are concurrently in publication.
Advertisements #1,#2, and #3 are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other advertisements up to advertisement #m.
lZ9~3 ~6 The Advertisement File is at the next level below the Product Files. The Advertisement Records joln the Product Records on Advertiser-Product Code.
The Ci~y Name voice file and the V-H file records are at the top of another hierarchy. The V-H file supplies records in the Dealer File with their V-H fields after matching on the first six digits of the Dealer's telephone number.
The Product-Dealer (PD) Files are diagrammed as subordinate to the V-H File and the Dealer Files. The Product records supply the NAME (File Identifier) of the PD files. The only identification of the product in a Product file is the file name.
In~ormation about the product does not appear in individual PD records. For example, a Product-Dealer file would exist for Panasonic - Television. The PD records in the Product-Dealer file would consist (primarily) of the telephone numbers and V-H coordinates of the dealers in Panasonic Televisions.
They also include state code and sales rating. No individual PD
record has any reference to Panasonic - Television.
The diagram shows three Product-Dealer Files, one for each of thxee products - #1, #2, and #3 of Advertiser #2's . In the illustration, Dealer #2 is a dealer in all three of the products. Therefore, each of the three files would contain a record with the telephone number and V-~ of Dealer #2.
Describing the hierarchy from the bottom up, the PD
~ 6 records are the primary data used to conduct the nearest neighbor algorithm. A PD record represents one product of one advertiser retailed by one dealer. ~aving used the PD records to locate a nearest neighbor, the PD record i~ joined to the corresponding dealer record on telephone number ln order to check for hours of operation or to deliver the dealer name, and address, to a caller. The PD record has the selected dealer's telephone number so it is not necessary to join a PD record to a dealer record except that the dealer records contain the hours of operation.
Otherwise, the PD records alone would be sufficient to make the caller-dealer telephone connection.
Note that the PD records point to the dealer records but that the dealer records don' t point back to the PD records.
In other words, it is not possible, without special processing, to tabulate all the products or advertisers represented by a given dealer. This can be done but it would require special processing.
The PD records do not have a field which explicitly joins them to the Advertiser-Product Records. Rather, it is the NAME (File Identifier) of the file in which the PD Records reside that identifies them as ~eing related to a particular Advertiser-Product.
The Advertiser-Product Records can be joined to their parent records in the hierarchy Which are the Advertiser Records.
The AdVertiser Records are at the top of the hierarchy.
:129~3~-6 DATABASE UPDATE PROCESSING
Figures 4A and 4B outline the menus and screens of the system, their sequence of presentation, and their interdependencies.
The database system exhlbits "referential lntegrity~.
For each subordinate record entered, the system guarantees that its suparior record, (if there is an existing subordinate-superior relatlonship) exists. Likewise, for each superior record proposed for deletion, the system checks to ensure that there are no subordinate records depending on it.
If the data entry action would violate the referential int~grity, the system invites the data entry clerk to elther sklp the record in question or to enter the record required to maintain the re~erential integrity.
For example, for screen 2, the dealer entry screen, there must be a V-H record available BO that the V-H fields of the V-H record can be copied into the dealer record. If the system learns by an unsuccessful search of the V-H file on the dealer's NPA-NNX that there is no V-H record corresponding to this dealer record, it will invite the data entry clerk to update the V-H file before proceeding with this particular dealer record.
The assumption is made that the files will be introduced into the database in a "top-down" hierarchical fashion so that the referential searches will probably be successful.
~Z~3 ~
TRANSACTION PROCESSING
Figures 5A-5F and 6A-6I diagram the transaction processing which occurs in the front end computers and the file server respectively.
HQ ~ REMOT~ C~NT~R CALL PROCESSING
Figures 5A-5F diagram the transaction processing that occurs in the telephone management front end computers when a telephone call arrives for service. The primary tasks of the front end computers are to acquire the necessary data items and send them to the file server and then to process the Product-Dealer records sent back by the file server. The necessary data items required to process a call are the caller's six or ten digit telephone number, the originally dialed 800 number, and, optionally, the extension.
These data items are sent to the file server which processes them against the database in order to select one or several product-dealer records which include the dealer's telephone number. The file server sends the selected dealer record or records to the front end computer from which the caller's query was received. The front end computer then extracts the telephone numbers from the product-dealer records, out-dials the dealer, repeats the proCess for another dealer if necessary, (in case of a busy or no answer) and then cross-connects the caller with the dealer.
The front end computer uses the dialed number and optionally the extension to locate the Processing Instructions 12~43~
record to be used for this call. It consults the Processing Instructions record for the procedures to be followed in all eventualities which might be encountered in the processing. For example, the Processing Instructions record will state the procedure to be followed in the event that there is no dealer within a reasonable distance from the caller. It also contains the procedure to be followed in case the caller is calling on a rotary (not Touchtone~ telephone.
The front end processing is on-line in real time. The telephones will be answered and the processing initiated almost immediately. However, once the data has been acquired and sent to the file server, the front end must wait until the file server responds with the selected dealer records before proceeding with the call.
The front end computer is aware of whether it is in the Headquarters configuration or a remote configuration. It uses this knowledge to communicate with the file server either locally or remotely via a data link.
FILE SERVER TRANSACTION PROCESSING
Figures 6A-6I diagrams the processing that occurs in the file server. The file server has a copy of the same Processing Instructions as the front end computer. Therefore lts actions are coordinated with the front end in functions such as the maximum distance from caller to dealer and the number of dealers to be selected.
12~43~6 The file server is serving several front end computers.
Its response to the queries from them is less real-time oriented than the front ends must be.
It queues up transactions and operates on them in an asynchronous manner. It will sacrifice some response time to an individual transaction in order to maximi~e overall throughput.
The phrase "demon wakes up" in the figures refers to the periodic scheduling of the processing programs by the operating syste~. The operating system is a UNIX multi-tasking, multi-user, multi-processor system whereas the front end computers are DOS single user machines.
Whereas the front end compUters are concerned ~Jith interfacing with callers and exchanging information with them, the file server is executing the application function which is chiefly locating dealers nearby to callers. It also is programmed to select dealers based on assigned territories as well as geographical distance.
The file server is responsible for generating and archiving the Call Record Journals and for connecting the caller portion of the record to the called dealer portion of the record.
It will also relate the caller name and address record to the Call Record Journal.
12~43 ~6 APPLICATION OF THE_V-H COORDINATE SYSTEM TO THE DEALER LOCATOR
PROGRAM
The V-H (Vertical-Horizontal) Coordinate system was originated by the Bell System in 1960 to determine rate mileage on toll messages. It employs the Donald Elliptic Pro~ection which enables distance between points identified by their V-H
coordinates to be calculated accurately without consideration of the earth's curvature. The CDSC system uses this coordinate system as delivered by the Bell Communications Research Company of Piscataway, New Jersey.
The origin of the coordinate System is northeast of Nova Scotia at V-H coordinates 0000,0000 and runs to southwest of California at coordinates 9999,9999. Thus, there are loo,000,000 distinct coordinate points covering most of Canada, the contlnental United states, and Mexico.
The area O~ a SqUare With dimensions Of one coordinate unit by one coordinate unit is one tenth of a square mile. The dimensions in feet of the square unit are then the square root of one tenth of a square mile on a side which is approximately 1670 feet.
The coordinate system provides the NPA-NNX (Central Office Code) and the associated V-H coordinates of every telephone central office in the USA and Canada and parts of Mexico. Given the argument of COC, the system can search the V-H
file and retrieve the coordinates of a caller or dealer and ~2943 ~6 can compute the distance between them easily and accurately. The formula is d = square root (delta v squared plus delta h squared). Delta v squared is the caller's v minus the dealer's v, the difference squared. Delta h squared is the caller's h minus the dealer's h, the difference squared. The distance in miles between ~ny two points in the coordinate system is the d (above) times the square root of one tenth which is approximately .~162277. This procedure yields distances with worst case errors of less than one per cent.
The assumption lnherent in this procedure is that both the caller and the dealer are located at their respective telephon~ central offices whlch, of course, ls not true. It is approximately true because telephones are linXed to their central offices ~y copper wire loop~ which Can extend only about three miles wlthout requiring amplification equipment. Therefore~ the average caller or dealer is approximately 1.5 miles from the central off ice serving his telephone.
The dealer locator system employs a novel variation on the V-H system. The coordinates, V and H are each four digit numbers. Considering V as V3, V2, Vl, V and H as H3, H2, Hl, Ho.
The system assigns coordinates to callers and dealers which are the result of lnterleaving the V and H so that the assigned coordinates are not the original V and H but instead V3H3, V2H2, VlHl, VoHo -Now consider that the V3H3 coordinate pair defines a 3'~6 system of grid blocks. There are one hundred of these blocks whose coordinates range from 00 identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class A blocks.
Within each Class A block, the V2H2 coordinate pair defines a system of 100 grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from 00 identifylng the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class B blocks.
Within each Class B block, the VlH1 coordinate pair defines a system of lOO grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from 00 identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block number proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class C blocks.
Within each Class C block, the VoHo coordinate pair defines a system of 100 grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from OO identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class D blocks.
The purpose of interleaving the v digits with the H
digits so as to create the system of Class ~, B, C, and D blocks 12~3 ~
is to translate from a linear array such as would be presented by a straight sequencing on v and H into a two dimensional array.
The dealer records are written to disk sequentially according to the interleaved V-H. When the dealer file is written on the disk driYe using the interleaving scheme, the result is that dealers in the same geographical area will tend to be in the same disk file area.
This can be seen by assuming that the dealers are arranged on the disk in straight V-H order and there is one dealer who is in a Class D block exactly beneath another Class D
block. There would be lO,OO0 Class D blocks between the two dealers in a linear array whereas in this described scheme, both dealers would tend to be in the same Class D block. If not in the same Class D block, then they would tend to be in the same Class C block. If not in the same Class C block, they would tend to be in the same Class B block. If not in the same Class B
block, they would tend to be in the same Class A block.
The worst case arises when two entities (i.e., dealers or callers) reside on different sides of a vertical Class A block boundary but this is still preferable to the array that would result from a sequencing on straight V and H. To examine the worst case~ assume that one entity is adjacent to the east of the boundary of Class A block VnHm and another entity adjacent to the west of this boundary in the Class D square adjacent to the first entity. Then, geographically, they would be one unit apart but ~2943~6 in the database, they would be separated by all the entries falling in the v column of the first entry remaining to Class A
blocked VnHg proceeding in a southerly direction and continuing with the entries of vO, Hm+ l to Vn + l, Hm + l. In this case, the system would sense that it is required to make a new database read, thus skipping over whatever dealer records might occupy the ,ooo,ooo units intervening between the two adjacent records.
The goal of the dealer searching method is to find the desired number of dealers nearby to the caller while minimizing the disk searching, minimizing the number of distance calculations, and minimizing the computation per distance calculation.
To perform a search in the continental USA for d (e.g., 3~ dealers nearby to a caller c, the system first constructs a square with c as the center. The dimensions, (sides a and b) of the square are computed as a function of the number of dealers in the file located in the USA and of the number of dealers desired to be yielded by the search.
The USA is covered by approximately half (50,000,000) of the V-H units, ~o that if an advertiser has D dealers, there are D/50,000,000 per unit. Then, a square with c at the center containing 50,000,000/D units would be expected, on the average, to contain one dealer. A square with 50,000,000/D units has dimensions a x b, (a = b) where a and b are equal to the square root of 50,000,000/D. If more than one dealer (e.g., J) is to be lZ~43 ~6 located in the search, then for J dealers, the dimensions of the square are a = b = sqrt (J(50,000,000/d)). Given c as the center, then the northeast corner o, the squarè with c as the center has the coordinates v = CV - a/2, h = ch - a/2. The southwest corner has the coordinates v = Cv + a/2, h = Ch +a/2.
The search begins at the northeast corner and proceeds to the southwest corner. If no dealer recsrds fall between these two corners, a new larger square is computed and the process is repeated. A buffer is assigned to receive the records yielded by the search from the northeast corner to the southwest corner of the sqUare surrounding c. If so many records are ylelded as to overflow the buffer, a new smaller square is computed and the process iS repeated. This process continues until the number of dealer records yielded by the search is greater than or equal to J and less than or equal to the number Of buffer slots allocated to receive them.
The algorithm for adjusting the block size must be guaranteed not to oscillate between searching blocks which are too small and blocks which are too large. The algorithm remembers the adjustment, upward or downward, to the dimensions of the square. The algorithm halves or doubles the adjustment for each new computation of a square. Conceivably, an adjustment of one unit upward may result in buffer overflow followed by an adjustment of one unit downward yielding insufficient records.
In this case, provision is made to randomly discard records so as lZ9~
to finish the search without overflowing the buffer. Another procedure computes approximate distances "on the fly" and discards those records seen ~o be ~arther away from the caller than others which are saved in the buffer. The search will terminate without oscillating when the adjustment is halved so as to be equal to one unit. When computing an adjustment, fractions are rounded up to the next integer.
After saving the desired number of records in the buffer, the system computes the "square distance in units~ of each dealer to the caller. It is not necessary to compute the actual distance as the minimum square units distance will also be the minimum distance in miles.
When the system has found the d dealer record or records with the minimum square units distance to the callers, it will then compute the actual distance takiny into account the square root and the multiplicatlon by . 3166 to conv~rt from units to miles.
When the system finds multiple dealers approximately equidistant to the caller, it must choose between them if only one is specified by the processing instructions for the particular product delivering several dealer names to the caller is a viable choice, then this paraqraph does not apply unless there are so many that choosing several of them is a problem.
The file server will examine the hours of operation of the dealers and only send records for open dealers to the lZ943~6 telephone management computer. This will minimize "no answers".
The system will have several algorithms to choose one dealer from among several which might be yielded by the search.
It can generate a random number to choose from any number of dealers. For example, for five dealers, the computer will generate a random number from o to lØ The first dealer is selected if the random number ranges from 0 to .2, the second by a number from .2 to.4, etc.
The above scheme can be weighted by a constant inserted in the dealer record indicating, e.g., last year's sales of the product being called.
A "computer compass" can be programmed for each product. The compass needle revolves around 360 degrees every x minutes where x is a constant available for choice by the advertiser. The dealer will be selected on the basis of being the closest in terms of the compass heading when the choice algorithm is executed.
If multiple dealers are present and there is a busy when the dealer is called the system will try the next dealer.
This will continUe until all of the multiple dealers have been called.
This describes an approximation method using the V-H
coordinate system for locatin~ a desired number of dealers nearby to a caller. There are several errors to be acknowledged while reiterating that this is an approximation method not a rigorous, 1~43~
provable algorithm. The first error arises from the assumption that the dealers are distributed evenly across the V-H units.
This is, of course, not true as it assumes the same dealer distribution density in deserts as cities. The second error is due to the calculation of the coordinates of the northeast and southwest CornerS. These will always result in blocks slightly larger than desired as the method does not account for the row and the column containing the caller c. Note that the sqUare around c will always have an odd number of units in the a and b dimensions. The distances are always in airline miles, the system does not consider driving a car over available roadways.
The assumption that the caller and dealer are located at the central office serv~ng their telephones also induces error.
\~
\'\~
lZ943 ~6 Alternative Embodiment of the Invention An alternative embodiment of this invention is a computer owned by the custo~er dealer service company connected by a data link to the LDC database computer where the translation 5 of 800 numbers to standard telephone numbers is per~ormed. An acceptable translation process is described by United States Patent 4,191,860, Mar. 4, 1980, issued to Roy P. Weber, sridgewater~ NJ assigned to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ.
The function performed by the database processing is to intercept calls to 800 numbers and to translate the 800 telephone numberq into standard lo digit telephone numbers. In telephone company terminology, thiS is called translating "WATS to POTS".
This function is primarily a table lookup in a one-to-one table.
5 For each 800-xxx-xxXX number, there iS one and only one corresponding NPA-NNX-XXXX with the possible exception of one alternative number. There are also other choices af NPA-NNX-XXXX
Which are based on time-of-day, percentage distribution of calls and other criteria.
The database process receives its input from a Packet Transport Network (PTN) dedicated to processing call-setup data.
This network is called the Common Channel Interoffise Signalling (CCIS) Network. The CCIS PTN is separate and distinct from the voice network but is parallel to it. The concept of a separate lZ~3-~i data call for voice call setup i5 called Out-of-Band Signalling as distinct from In-Band Signalling wherein the network control data for call setup is carried in the same channel as the voice call itself.
In the alternative embodiment, the LDC database processor would be supplled by the CDSC with a listing of the 800 telephone numbers which are owned by the CDSC cUstomers and which are to be processed by the CDSC instead of by the LDC database processor. When the LDC database processor finds these CDSC
numbers in the process of performing its WATS-to-POTS function, it recognizes that the calls representing these numbers are to be switched to the CDSC computer for processing. The LDC database processor would set up a data call to the CDSC computer and transmit the dialled 800 number plus the caller's NPA-NNX-XXXX or at least the caller~s NPA-NNX (the first six digits of the caller's telephone number). Given this input over the data link from the LDC database proCessor, the CDSC CompUter would look up the advertisement (and consequently, the product) represented by the 800 number and also th~ V-~ coordinate of the caller. Using the information as to the product, the CDSC computer would select a file of dealers for that product.
Using the V-H coordinates of the caller, the CDSC
computer would select a record or records from the chosen file representing a dealer nearby or nearest to the caller. The computer would extract the lO digit POTS number for this dealer lZ9~3~6 from the CDSC database record of dealers and send it to the LDC
database processor over the data link. The LDC database processor would then be in possession of a POTS number as if it had obtained it by itself in its standard manner. The LDC
sdatabase processor would transmit the POTS number through the network to the point in the network where the call would be placed to the POTS number. Assuming that the network can sense a busy or no answer condition and relay this information back to the LDC processor, the call would then re-link to the CDSC
10computer. The CDSC computer would choose another POTS number and relay it to the LDC computer which would forward it in turn to the point where the call is placed to the dealer. This process would continue until the call was answered or until the CDSC
computer used up all of its dealer records for dealers nearby to 15the caller.
Another solution to the case of busy or no answer would be to forward all of the nearby dealer telephone numbers to the LDC database processor with a protocol for choosing the sequence in which to place the calls in case of busy or no answer. In 20this embodiment, the caller would place an 800 call in response to an advertisement and would be immediately connected to the nearest dealer of the advertised product without human intervention. This applies to both Touchton ~ and rotary calls.
The concept of allowing the public to access the 25telephone network with the same facility as the telephone company lZ~3 ~6 itself is referred to as "Comparably Efficient Interconnection"
and also as "Open Network Architecture". These tw~ words are not rigorously defined nor are they in a vigorous stage of implementation which would make the preferred embodiment described herein a possibility.
At the present time, the major LDC network declines to allow potential users to communicate directly with its database computers. Until this policy is revised, this preferred embodiment will remain a goal rather than an actuality. Also, the LDC database processor only receives the NPA (first three digits of the telephone num~er) of the caller whereas the present invention depends on the ~irst six digits (NPA-NNX) to perform the advanced routing function of selecting the nearest dealer for a specified product. When advanced network features are installed~ in particular, Automatic Number Identification (A~
then the full lO digit number of the caller will be available to the network and to the company computers.
~
` ~ ~
-~
129~3~6 GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS
~ his disclosure makes use of csrtain abbr~eviations which have the following meanings~
ANI Automatic Number Identification - a feature of the long distance network. It passes the telephone number Of the calling party into the network where it is then available for processing.
ASCII Ameri~an Standard Code for Information Interchange -a seven level code capable of representing 128 different characters.
CO Central Office - the facilities and eguipment owned by the local telephone company.
COC Central Office Code - the 4th to 6th digits of a ten digit telephone number.
CCR Custom Call Routing - a call routing service provided by the long distance communications carrier.
CDSC Customer~Dealer Service Company - this is an organiza-tion that performs certain services described herein.
CRJ Call Record Journal - a record of a telephone call including data such as calling number, called number, date, time, and duration.
CPE CUStomer Premises Equipment - as distinct from equipment located in the offices Of the telephone company.
CRT Cathode Ray Tube - a computer display device.
DACS Digital Access and Cross Connect System - a device which receives multi-channel telecommunications input, demultiplexes the input, and remultiplexes the output to dif ferent channels .
DID Direct Inward Dialling - a feature of a P~X which allows inbound calls to a specific station thereby bypassing the receptionist station.
129~3 ~6 DN Dialled Number - the 800 number originally dialled by a caller to the CDSC.
DNIS Dialled Number Identification Service - a service offerred by the LDC which automatically identifies the DN to the recipient of the call.
DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency - the generic term for "Touchtone ".
EXT An extension to the DN.
FEC Front End Computer.
FDX Full Duplex - a channel which allows simultaneous communications in two directions.
FS File Server - a computer which operates on the database.
HQ Headquarters - the main routing center operated by the CDSC .
ISDN Integrated Servlces Digital Network - an array of new equipment, protocols, facilities, and services which will, when implemented, allow for certain tele-communications features described herein.
Kbs Kilobits per second - a data transfer rate of 1000 binary digits per second.
LAN Local Area Network.
LATA Local Area Transport Arrangement - a local telephone company term referring to service within its own area as distinct from long distance service.
LDC Long Distance Telecommunications Carrier - the long distance telephone company.
-6~-lZ943 ~6 LEC Local ~xchange Telecommunications Carrier - the local telephone company.
LIC LAN Inter~ace Card.
MTD Magnetic Tape Drive.
NNX As in NP~-NNXI where NPA is defined below. The NNX
refer to the coc sO that NPA-NNX are the first six digits of a ten digit telephone number. The NNX are the 4th to 6th digits of a ten digit telephone number.
NPA Number Plan Area - the first three digits of a telephone number, also called the area code.
PC Personal Computer.
P~X Private Branch Exchange.
POTS Plain Old Telephone Service - as distinct from, e.q., WATS.
RC Routing Center - a computer center operated by the CDSC.
SIC Standard Industrial Classification Code TDM Time Division Multiplexing - a technique which divides a single communications line into a series of repeating multiple slots. For example, the Tl technology referred to in this application divides a single line into 24 channels or time slots, each of which occupies about .75 micro-seconds.
TIC Telephone Interface Card.
UCD Uniform Call Distribution - the PBX feature which distributes incoming calls to available stations.
12'3'~3~6 V-H Vertical-Horizontal - a geographic coordinate system derived from latitude and longitude. The V-H system was created by the long distance teleph`one company for the p~rpose of billing telephone calls on a point-to-point airline miles distance basis.
WATS Wide Area Telephone Service - a long distance telephone service provided both on an outbound basis and an inbound basis. The inbound service is commonly referred to as "800 service".
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modications can be made to the parts and steps that comprise the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
The records in this table have the Dialled Number (DN~
and Extension (EXT) as the argument. The function is the address of a Processing Instructions Record as described above in 11.
The DN is a required field. It may contain the CDSC's own number, 800-USA-DIAL or some other "foreign" 800 number supplied by the client. If the DN is 800-USA-DIAL, then the EXT
is a required field whi~h is needed in order to select ~Z9~3 ~;
uniquely the proper Processing Instructions Record.
If the DN is other than 800~USA-DIAL, then the EXT
field is optional. If the ~XT field is not present, then the DN
alone identifies the Advertiser-Product and possibly the 5Advertisement and so to select a Processing Instructions Records.
If the EXT field is present, it represents a subdivision of the foreign other than 800-USA-Dial 800 number.
This would be the case, for example, if the customer supplied the foreign 800 number and he Was running multiple ads for several 10different products or several ads for the same product in different media or in different formats or any combination of the above.
Summarizing the DN/EXT, the DN/EXT is used to identify the advertisement or product to which the caller is responding 15and then to choose a set of instructions describing the method of processing the call. The DN may be the CDSC number in which case the EXT is required. If the DN is a foreign number, then the EXT
is an optional field.
The first three digits of the DN are always 800 so are 20not represented in the table.
\~
lZ943 ~
HIERARCHIcAL RE~ATIONSHIPS OF THE SEVERAL FILES IN THE DATABASE
Although the database employs a relational model, there is a natural hierarchical connection between the various types of ~iles which is useful to understand. ThiS iS illustrated in Figure 3.
The Advertiser File is at the top of the hierarchy.
The diagram shows three advertisers, Advertiser #l, Advertiser #2, and Advertiser #3 (which are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other advertisers up to adYertiser #;). An example of an Advertiser is l~Panasonic".
In the diagram, Advertiser #2 is shown to manufa~ture several products which are described in the Product File.
Products #l, #2, and #3 are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other products Up to product #k Of advertiser #2.
~he Product File is at the next level below the Advertiser File~ (Note that the particular Product File does not describe any arbitrarily selected product, only products manufactured by the parent Advertiser - in this case, Advertiser #2). The Product Records ~oin the Advertiser Records the on Advertiser Code.
The diagram shows that several advertisements for Advertiser #2, Product #2 are concurrently in publication.
Advertisements #1,#2, and #3 are diagrammed explicitly with reference to other advertisements up to advertisement #m.
lZ9~3 ~6 The Advertisement File is at the next level below the Product Files. The Advertisement Records joln the Product Records on Advertiser-Product Code.
The Ci~y Name voice file and the V-H file records are at the top of another hierarchy. The V-H file supplies records in the Dealer File with their V-H fields after matching on the first six digits of the Dealer's telephone number.
The Product-Dealer (PD) Files are diagrammed as subordinate to the V-H File and the Dealer Files. The Product records supply the NAME (File Identifier) of the PD files. The only identification of the product in a Product file is the file name.
In~ormation about the product does not appear in individual PD records. For example, a Product-Dealer file would exist for Panasonic - Television. The PD records in the Product-Dealer file would consist (primarily) of the telephone numbers and V-H coordinates of the dealers in Panasonic Televisions.
They also include state code and sales rating. No individual PD
record has any reference to Panasonic - Television.
The diagram shows three Product-Dealer Files, one for each of thxee products - #1, #2, and #3 of Advertiser #2's . In the illustration, Dealer #2 is a dealer in all three of the products. Therefore, each of the three files would contain a record with the telephone number and V-~ of Dealer #2.
Describing the hierarchy from the bottom up, the PD
~ 6 records are the primary data used to conduct the nearest neighbor algorithm. A PD record represents one product of one advertiser retailed by one dealer. ~aving used the PD records to locate a nearest neighbor, the PD record i~ joined to the corresponding dealer record on telephone number ln order to check for hours of operation or to deliver the dealer name, and address, to a caller. The PD record has the selected dealer's telephone number so it is not necessary to join a PD record to a dealer record except that the dealer records contain the hours of operation.
Otherwise, the PD records alone would be sufficient to make the caller-dealer telephone connection.
Note that the PD records point to the dealer records but that the dealer records don' t point back to the PD records.
In other words, it is not possible, without special processing, to tabulate all the products or advertisers represented by a given dealer. This can be done but it would require special processing.
The PD records do not have a field which explicitly joins them to the Advertiser-Product Records. Rather, it is the NAME (File Identifier) of the file in which the PD Records reside that identifies them as ~eing related to a particular Advertiser-Product.
The Advertiser-Product Records can be joined to their parent records in the hierarchy Which are the Advertiser Records.
The AdVertiser Records are at the top of the hierarchy.
:129~3~-6 DATABASE UPDATE PROCESSING
Figures 4A and 4B outline the menus and screens of the system, their sequence of presentation, and their interdependencies.
The database system exhlbits "referential lntegrity~.
For each subordinate record entered, the system guarantees that its suparior record, (if there is an existing subordinate-superior relatlonship) exists. Likewise, for each superior record proposed for deletion, the system checks to ensure that there are no subordinate records depending on it.
If the data entry action would violate the referential int~grity, the system invites the data entry clerk to elther sklp the record in question or to enter the record required to maintain the re~erential integrity.
For example, for screen 2, the dealer entry screen, there must be a V-H record available BO that the V-H fields of the V-H record can be copied into the dealer record. If the system learns by an unsuccessful search of the V-H file on the dealer's NPA-NNX that there is no V-H record corresponding to this dealer record, it will invite the data entry clerk to update the V-H file before proceeding with this particular dealer record.
The assumption is made that the files will be introduced into the database in a "top-down" hierarchical fashion so that the referential searches will probably be successful.
~Z~3 ~
TRANSACTION PROCESSING
Figures 5A-5F and 6A-6I diagram the transaction processing which occurs in the front end computers and the file server respectively.
HQ ~ REMOT~ C~NT~R CALL PROCESSING
Figures 5A-5F diagram the transaction processing that occurs in the telephone management front end computers when a telephone call arrives for service. The primary tasks of the front end computers are to acquire the necessary data items and send them to the file server and then to process the Product-Dealer records sent back by the file server. The necessary data items required to process a call are the caller's six or ten digit telephone number, the originally dialed 800 number, and, optionally, the extension.
These data items are sent to the file server which processes them against the database in order to select one or several product-dealer records which include the dealer's telephone number. The file server sends the selected dealer record or records to the front end computer from which the caller's query was received. The front end computer then extracts the telephone numbers from the product-dealer records, out-dials the dealer, repeats the proCess for another dealer if necessary, (in case of a busy or no answer) and then cross-connects the caller with the dealer.
The front end computer uses the dialed number and optionally the extension to locate the Processing Instructions 12~43~
record to be used for this call. It consults the Processing Instructions record for the procedures to be followed in all eventualities which might be encountered in the processing. For example, the Processing Instructions record will state the procedure to be followed in the event that there is no dealer within a reasonable distance from the caller. It also contains the procedure to be followed in case the caller is calling on a rotary (not Touchtone~ telephone.
The front end processing is on-line in real time. The telephones will be answered and the processing initiated almost immediately. However, once the data has been acquired and sent to the file server, the front end must wait until the file server responds with the selected dealer records before proceeding with the call.
The front end computer is aware of whether it is in the Headquarters configuration or a remote configuration. It uses this knowledge to communicate with the file server either locally or remotely via a data link.
FILE SERVER TRANSACTION PROCESSING
Figures 6A-6I diagrams the processing that occurs in the file server. The file server has a copy of the same Processing Instructions as the front end computer. Therefore lts actions are coordinated with the front end in functions such as the maximum distance from caller to dealer and the number of dealers to be selected.
12~43~6 The file server is serving several front end computers.
Its response to the queries from them is less real-time oriented than the front ends must be.
It queues up transactions and operates on them in an asynchronous manner. It will sacrifice some response time to an individual transaction in order to maximi~e overall throughput.
The phrase "demon wakes up" in the figures refers to the periodic scheduling of the processing programs by the operating syste~. The operating system is a UNIX multi-tasking, multi-user, multi-processor system whereas the front end computers are DOS single user machines.
Whereas the front end compUters are concerned ~Jith interfacing with callers and exchanging information with them, the file server is executing the application function which is chiefly locating dealers nearby to callers. It also is programmed to select dealers based on assigned territories as well as geographical distance.
The file server is responsible for generating and archiving the Call Record Journals and for connecting the caller portion of the record to the called dealer portion of the record.
It will also relate the caller name and address record to the Call Record Journal.
12~43 ~6 APPLICATION OF THE_V-H COORDINATE SYSTEM TO THE DEALER LOCATOR
PROGRAM
The V-H (Vertical-Horizontal) Coordinate system was originated by the Bell System in 1960 to determine rate mileage on toll messages. It employs the Donald Elliptic Pro~ection which enables distance between points identified by their V-H
coordinates to be calculated accurately without consideration of the earth's curvature. The CDSC system uses this coordinate system as delivered by the Bell Communications Research Company of Piscataway, New Jersey.
The origin of the coordinate System is northeast of Nova Scotia at V-H coordinates 0000,0000 and runs to southwest of California at coordinates 9999,9999. Thus, there are loo,000,000 distinct coordinate points covering most of Canada, the contlnental United states, and Mexico.
The area O~ a SqUare With dimensions Of one coordinate unit by one coordinate unit is one tenth of a square mile. The dimensions in feet of the square unit are then the square root of one tenth of a square mile on a side which is approximately 1670 feet.
The coordinate system provides the NPA-NNX (Central Office Code) and the associated V-H coordinates of every telephone central office in the USA and Canada and parts of Mexico. Given the argument of COC, the system can search the V-H
file and retrieve the coordinates of a caller or dealer and ~2943 ~6 can compute the distance between them easily and accurately. The formula is d = square root (delta v squared plus delta h squared). Delta v squared is the caller's v minus the dealer's v, the difference squared. Delta h squared is the caller's h minus the dealer's h, the difference squared. The distance in miles between ~ny two points in the coordinate system is the d (above) times the square root of one tenth which is approximately .~162277. This procedure yields distances with worst case errors of less than one per cent.
The assumption lnherent in this procedure is that both the caller and the dealer are located at their respective telephon~ central offices whlch, of course, ls not true. It is approximately true because telephones are linXed to their central offices ~y copper wire loop~ which Can extend only about three miles wlthout requiring amplification equipment. Therefore~ the average caller or dealer is approximately 1.5 miles from the central off ice serving his telephone.
The dealer locator system employs a novel variation on the V-H system. The coordinates, V and H are each four digit numbers. Considering V as V3, V2, Vl, V and H as H3, H2, Hl, Ho.
The system assigns coordinates to callers and dealers which are the result of lnterleaving the V and H so that the assigned coordinates are not the original V and H but instead V3H3, V2H2, VlHl, VoHo -Now consider that the V3H3 coordinate pair defines a 3'~6 system of grid blocks. There are one hundred of these blocks whose coordinates range from 00 identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class A blocks.
Within each Class A block, the V2H2 coordinate pair defines a system of 100 grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from 00 identifylng the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class B blocks.
Within each Class B block, the VlH1 coordinate pair defines a system of lOO grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from 00 identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block number proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class C blocks.
Within each Class C block, the VoHo coordinate pair defines a system of 100 grid blocks. These blocks are also numbered from OO identifying the northeast corner block to 99 identifying the southwest corner block. The block numbering proceeds in a southerly and westerly direction. These blocks are defined as Class D blocks.
The purpose of interleaving the v digits with the H
digits so as to create the system of Class ~, B, C, and D blocks 12~3 ~
is to translate from a linear array such as would be presented by a straight sequencing on v and H into a two dimensional array.
The dealer records are written to disk sequentially according to the interleaved V-H. When the dealer file is written on the disk driYe using the interleaving scheme, the result is that dealers in the same geographical area will tend to be in the same disk file area.
This can be seen by assuming that the dealers are arranged on the disk in straight V-H order and there is one dealer who is in a Class D block exactly beneath another Class D
block. There would be lO,OO0 Class D blocks between the two dealers in a linear array whereas in this described scheme, both dealers would tend to be in the same Class D block. If not in the same Class D block, then they would tend to be in the same Class C block. If not in the same Class C block, they would tend to be in the same Class B block. If not in the same Class B
block, they would tend to be in the same Class A block.
The worst case arises when two entities (i.e., dealers or callers) reside on different sides of a vertical Class A block boundary but this is still preferable to the array that would result from a sequencing on straight V and H. To examine the worst case~ assume that one entity is adjacent to the east of the boundary of Class A block VnHm and another entity adjacent to the west of this boundary in the Class D square adjacent to the first entity. Then, geographically, they would be one unit apart but ~2943~6 in the database, they would be separated by all the entries falling in the v column of the first entry remaining to Class A
blocked VnHg proceeding in a southerly direction and continuing with the entries of vO, Hm+ l to Vn + l, Hm + l. In this case, the system would sense that it is required to make a new database read, thus skipping over whatever dealer records might occupy the ,ooo,ooo units intervening between the two adjacent records.
The goal of the dealer searching method is to find the desired number of dealers nearby to the caller while minimizing the disk searching, minimizing the number of distance calculations, and minimizing the computation per distance calculation.
To perform a search in the continental USA for d (e.g., 3~ dealers nearby to a caller c, the system first constructs a square with c as the center. The dimensions, (sides a and b) of the square are computed as a function of the number of dealers in the file located in the USA and of the number of dealers desired to be yielded by the search.
The USA is covered by approximately half (50,000,000) of the V-H units, ~o that if an advertiser has D dealers, there are D/50,000,000 per unit. Then, a square with c at the center containing 50,000,000/D units would be expected, on the average, to contain one dealer. A square with 50,000,000/D units has dimensions a x b, (a = b) where a and b are equal to the square root of 50,000,000/D. If more than one dealer (e.g., J) is to be lZ~43 ~6 located in the search, then for J dealers, the dimensions of the square are a = b = sqrt (J(50,000,000/d)). Given c as the center, then the northeast corner o, the squarè with c as the center has the coordinates v = CV - a/2, h = ch - a/2. The southwest corner has the coordinates v = Cv + a/2, h = Ch +a/2.
The search begins at the northeast corner and proceeds to the southwest corner. If no dealer recsrds fall between these two corners, a new larger square is computed and the process is repeated. A buffer is assigned to receive the records yielded by the search from the northeast corner to the southwest corner of the sqUare surrounding c. If so many records are ylelded as to overflow the buffer, a new smaller square is computed and the process iS repeated. This process continues until the number of dealer records yielded by the search is greater than or equal to J and less than or equal to the number Of buffer slots allocated to receive them.
The algorithm for adjusting the block size must be guaranteed not to oscillate between searching blocks which are too small and blocks which are too large. The algorithm remembers the adjustment, upward or downward, to the dimensions of the square. The algorithm halves or doubles the adjustment for each new computation of a square. Conceivably, an adjustment of one unit upward may result in buffer overflow followed by an adjustment of one unit downward yielding insufficient records.
In this case, provision is made to randomly discard records so as lZ9~
to finish the search without overflowing the buffer. Another procedure computes approximate distances "on the fly" and discards those records seen ~o be ~arther away from the caller than others which are saved in the buffer. The search will terminate without oscillating when the adjustment is halved so as to be equal to one unit. When computing an adjustment, fractions are rounded up to the next integer.
After saving the desired number of records in the buffer, the system computes the "square distance in units~ of each dealer to the caller. It is not necessary to compute the actual distance as the minimum square units distance will also be the minimum distance in miles.
When the system has found the d dealer record or records with the minimum square units distance to the callers, it will then compute the actual distance takiny into account the square root and the multiplicatlon by . 3166 to conv~rt from units to miles.
When the system finds multiple dealers approximately equidistant to the caller, it must choose between them if only one is specified by the processing instructions for the particular product delivering several dealer names to the caller is a viable choice, then this paraqraph does not apply unless there are so many that choosing several of them is a problem.
The file server will examine the hours of operation of the dealers and only send records for open dealers to the lZ943~6 telephone management computer. This will minimize "no answers".
The system will have several algorithms to choose one dealer from among several which might be yielded by the search.
It can generate a random number to choose from any number of dealers. For example, for five dealers, the computer will generate a random number from o to lØ The first dealer is selected if the random number ranges from 0 to .2, the second by a number from .2 to.4, etc.
The above scheme can be weighted by a constant inserted in the dealer record indicating, e.g., last year's sales of the product being called.
A "computer compass" can be programmed for each product. The compass needle revolves around 360 degrees every x minutes where x is a constant available for choice by the advertiser. The dealer will be selected on the basis of being the closest in terms of the compass heading when the choice algorithm is executed.
If multiple dealers are present and there is a busy when the dealer is called the system will try the next dealer.
This will continUe until all of the multiple dealers have been called.
This describes an approximation method using the V-H
coordinate system for locatin~ a desired number of dealers nearby to a caller. There are several errors to be acknowledged while reiterating that this is an approximation method not a rigorous, 1~43~
provable algorithm. The first error arises from the assumption that the dealers are distributed evenly across the V-H units.
This is, of course, not true as it assumes the same dealer distribution density in deserts as cities. The second error is due to the calculation of the coordinates of the northeast and southwest CornerS. These will always result in blocks slightly larger than desired as the method does not account for the row and the column containing the caller c. Note that the sqUare around c will always have an odd number of units in the a and b dimensions. The distances are always in airline miles, the system does not consider driving a car over available roadways.
The assumption that the caller and dealer are located at the central office serv~ng their telephones also induces error.
\~
\'\~
lZ943 ~6 Alternative Embodiment of the Invention An alternative embodiment of this invention is a computer owned by the custo~er dealer service company connected by a data link to the LDC database computer where the translation 5 of 800 numbers to standard telephone numbers is per~ormed. An acceptable translation process is described by United States Patent 4,191,860, Mar. 4, 1980, issued to Roy P. Weber, sridgewater~ NJ assigned to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ.
The function performed by the database processing is to intercept calls to 800 numbers and to translate the 800 telephone numberq into standard lo digit telephone numbers. In telephone company terminology, thiS is called translating "WATS to POTS".
This function is primarily a table lookup in a one-to-one table.
5 For each 800-xxx-xxXX number, there iS one and only one corresponding NPA-NNX-XXXX with the possible exception of one alternative number. There are also other choices af NPA-NNX-XXXX
Which are based on time-of-day, percentage distribution of calls and other criteria.
The database process receives its input from a Packet Transport Network (PTN) dedicated to processing call-setup data.
This network is called the Common Channel Interoffise Signalling (CCIS) Network. The CCIS PTN is separate and distinct from the voice network but is parallel to it. The concept of a separate lZ~3-~i data call for voice call setup i5 called Out-of-Band Signalling as distinct from In-Band Signalling wherein the network control data for call setup is carried in the same channel as the voice call itself.
In the alternative embodiment, the LDC database processor would be supplled by the CDSC with a listing of the 800 telephone numbers which are owned by the CDSC cUstomers and which are to be processed by the CDSC instead of by the LDC database processor. When the LDC database processor finds these CDSC
numbers in the process of performing its WATS-to-POTS function, it recognizes that the calls representing these numbers are to be switched to the CDSC computer for processing. The LDC database processor would set up a data call to the CDSC computer and transmit the dialled 800 number plus the caller's NPA-NNX-XXXX or at least the caller~s NPA-NNX (the first six digits of the caller's telephone number). Given this input over the data link from the LDC database proCessor, the CDSC CompUter would look up the advertisement (and consequently, the product) represented by the 800 number and also th~ V-~ coordinate of the caller. Using the information as to the product, the CDSC computer would select a file of dealers for that product.
Using the V-H coordinates of the caller, the CDSC
computer would select a record or records from the chosen file representing a dealer nearby or nearest to the caller. The computer would extract the lO digit POTS number for this dealer lZ9~3~6 from the CDSC database record of dealers and send it to the LDC
database processor over the data link. The LDC database processor would then be in possession of a POTS number as if it had obtained it by itself in its standard manner. The LDC
sdatabase processor would transmit the POTS number through the network to the point in the network where the call would be placed to the POTS number. Assuming that the network can sense a busy or no answer condition and relay this information back to the LDC processor, the call would then re-link to the CDSC
10computer. The CDSC computer would choose another POTS number and relay it to the LDC computer which would forward it in turn to the point where the call is placed to the dealer. This process would continue until the call was answered or until the CDSC
computer used up all of its dealer records for dealers nearby to 15the caller.
Another solution to the case of busy or no answer would be to forward all of the nearby dealer telephone numbers to the LDC database processor with a protocol for choosing the sequence in which to place the calls in case of busy or no answer. In 20this embodiment, the caller would place an 800 call in response to an advertisement and would be immediately connected to the nearest dealer of the advertised product without human intervention. This applies to both Touchton ~ and rotary calls.
The concept of allowing the public to access the 25telephone network with the same facility as the telephone company lZ~3 ~6 itself is referred to as "Comparably Efficient Interconnection"
and also as "Open Network Architecture". These tw~ words are not rigorously defined nor are they in a vigorous stage of implementation which would make the preferred embodiment described herein a possibility.
At the present time, the major LDC network declines to allow potential users to communicate directly with its database computers. Until this policy is revised, this preferred embodiment will remain a goal rather than an actuality. Also, the LDC database processor only receives the NPA (first three digits of the telephone num~er) of the caller whereas the present invention depends on the ~irst six digits (NPA-NNX) to perform the advanced routing function of selecting the nearest dealer for a specified product. When advanced network features are installed~ in particular, Automatic Number Identification (A~
then the full lO digit number of the caller will be available to the network and to the company computers.
~
` ~ ~
-~
129~3~6 GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS
~ his disclosure makes use of csrtain abbr~eviations which have the following meanings~
ANI Automatic Number Identification - a feature of the long distance network. It passes the telephone number Of the calling party into the network where it is then available for processing.
ASCII Ameri~an Standard Code for Information Interchange -a seven level code capable of representing 128 different characters.
CO Central Office - the facilities and eguipment owned by the local telephone company.
COC Central Office Code - the 4th to 6th digits of a ten digit telephone number.
CCR Custom Call Routing - a call routing service provided by the long distance communications carrier.
CDSC Customer~Dealer Service Company - this is an organiza-tion that performs certain services described herein.
CRJ Call Record Journal - a record of a telephone call including data such as calling number, called number, date, time, and duration.
CPE CUStomer Premises Equipment - as distinct from equipment located in the offices Of the telephone company.
CRT Cathode Ray Tube - a computer display device.
DACS Digital Access and Cross Connect System - a device which receives multi-channel telecommunications input, demultiplexes the input, and remultiplexes the output to dif ferent channels .
DID Direct Inward Dialling - a feature of a P~X which allows inbound calls to a specific station thereby bypassing the receptionist station.
129~3 ~6 DN Dialled Number - the 800 number originally dialled by a caller to the CDSC.
DNIS Dialled Number Identification Service - a service offerred by the LDC which automatically identifies the DN to the recipient of the call.
DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency - the generic term for "Touchtone ".
EXT An extension to the DN.
FEC Front End Computer.
FDX Full Duplex - a channel which allows simultaneous communications in two directions.
FS File Server - a computer which operates on the database.
HQ Headquarters - the main routing center operated by the CDSC .
ISDN Integrated Servlces Digital Network - an array of new equipment, protocols, facilities, and services which will, when implemented, allow for certain tele-communications features described herein.
Kbs Kilobits per second - a data transfer rate of 1000 binary digits per second.
LAN Local Area Network.
LATA Local Area Transport Arrangement - a local telephone company term referring to service within its own area as distinct from long distance service.
LDC Long Distance Telecommunications Carrier - the long distance telephone company.
-6~-lZ943 ~6 LEC Local ~xchange Telecommunications Carrier - the local telephone company.
LIC LAN Inter~ace Card.
MTD Magnetic Tape Drive.
NNX As in NP~-NNXI where NPA is defined below. The NNX
refer to the coc sO that NPA-NNX are the first six digits of a ten digit telephone number. The NNX are the 4th to 6th digits of a ten digit telephone number.
NPA Number Plan Area - the first three digits of a telephone number, also called the area code.
PC Personal Computer.
P~X Private Branch Exchange.
POTS Plain Old Telephone Service - as distinct from, e.q., WATS.
RC Routing Center - a computer center operated by the CDSC.
SIC Standard Industrial Classification Code TDM Time Division Multiplexing - a technique which divides a single communications line into a series of repeating multiple slots. For example, the Tl technology referred to in this application divides a single line into 24 channels or time slots, each of which occupies about .75 micro-seconds.
TIC Telephone Interface Card.
UCD Uniform Call Distribution - the PBX feature which distributes incoming calls to available stations.
12'3'~3~6 V-H Vertical-Horizontal - a geographic coordinate system derived from latitude and longitude. The V-H system was created by the long distance teleph`one company for the p~rpose of billing telephone calls on a point-to-point airline miles distance basis.
WATS Wide Area Telephone Service - a long distance telephone service provided both on an outbound basis and an inbound basis. The inbound service is commonly referred to as "800 service".
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modications can be made to the parts and steps that comprise the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
Claims (42)
1. A system for routing a telephone call from a first party who dials a telephone number including digits uniquely characteristic of a given item to a nearby second party out of a group of second parties who can supply said given item, the telephone system comprising:
first routing means for routing said telephone call to a telephone service center relatively near said first party;
location determining means for determining the location of said relatively nearby second party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, second routing means for routing said telephone call from said first party through said telephone service center to said nearby second party who can supply said item.
first routing means for routing said telephone call to a telephone service center relatively near said first party;
location determining means for determining the location of said relatively nearby second party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, second routing means for routing said telephone call from said first party through said telephone service center to said nearby second party who can supply said item.
2. The system of Claim 1 wherein said first routing means comprises:
means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party; and, means for routing said telephone call to said telephone service center based upon said originating telephone number.
means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party; and, means for routing said telephone call to said telephone service center based upon said originating telephone number.
3. The system of Claim 2 wherein said location determining means comprises:
a second party data base representing at least some of said group of second parties;
comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number dialed by said first party against said second party data base to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
a second party data base representing at least some of said group of second parties;
comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number dialed by said first party against said second party data base to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
4. The system of Claim 3 wherein said second routing means comprises:
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing said second telephone number to connect said first party to said second party through said telephone service cemter.
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing said second telephone number to connect said first party to said second party through said telephone service cemter.
5. The system of Claim 4 wherein said means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party comprises an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) means.
6. The system of Claim 5 wherein said second party data base comprises a vertical-horizontal file.
7. The system of Claim 6 wherein said comparison means compares the area code (NPA) and the local central telephone office code (NNX) against said vertical-horizontal file.
8. The system of Claim 7 wherein said second parties comprise dealers in said items and wherein said first party comprises a potential customer of said dealer for said item.
9. The system of Claim 8 wherein said item comprises a product.
10. The system of Claim 8 wherein said item comprises a service.
11. A method for routing a telephone call from a first party who dials a telephone number including digits uniquely characteristic of a given item to a nearby second party out of a group of second parties who can supply said item, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) first routing of said call to a telephone service center;
(b) determining the location of a relatively nearby second party based upon the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, (c) second routing of said call to said relatively nearby second party.
(a) first routing of said call to a telephone service center;
(b) determining the location of a relatively nearby second party based upon the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, (c) second routing of said call to said relatively nearby second party.
12. The method of Claim 11 wherein step (b) further comprises the step of:
(d) comparing at least some of the digits of the telephone number dialed by said first party against a data base representing at least some of said group of second parties to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
(d) comparing at least some of the digits of the telephone number dialed by said first party against a data base representing at least some of said group of second parties to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
13. The method of Claim 12 wherein step (a) further comprises the steps of:
(e) determining the originating telephone number of said first party; and, (f) performing said second routing of said call to said telephone service center based upon the originating telephone number determined in step (e) above.
(e) determining the originating telephone number of said first party; and, (f) performing said second routing of said call to said telephone service center based upon the originating telephone number determined in step (e) above.
14. A system for routing a telephone call from a potential customer who has an originating telephone number and who dials a telephone number including digits uniquely characteristic of a given item to a nearby dealer out of a group of dealers who can supply said item, said system comprising:
first routing means for routing the originating telephone number of said telephone call to a telephone service center relatively near said potential customer;
location determining means located at said telephone service center for determining the location of said nearby dealer based at least in part upon the telephone number dialed by said potential customer; and, second routing means for routing said telephone call from said potential customer to said nearby dealer of said item.
first routing means for routing the originating telephone number of said telephone call to a telephone service center relatively near said potential customer;
location determining means located at said telephone service center for determining the location of said nearby dealer based at least in part upon the telephone number dialed by said potential customer; and, second routing means for routing said telephone call from said potential customer to said nearby dealer of said item.
15. The system of Claim 14 wherein said first routing means includes:
means for determining the originating telephone number of said potential customer; and, means for routing said telephone call to said telephone service center based upon said originating telephone number of said potential customer.
means for determining the originating telephone number of said potential customer; and, means for routing said telephone call to said telephone service center based upon said originating telephone number of said potential customer.
16. The system of Claim 15 wherein said location determining means comprises:
a dealer data base representing at least some of said dealers; and, comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number dialed by said potential customer against said dealer data base to determine the shortest distance between said potential customer and said dealer.
a dealer data base representing at least some of said dealers; and, comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number dialed by said potential customer against said dealer data base to determine the shortest distance between said potential customer and said dealer.
17. The system of Claim 16 wherein said second routing means comprises:
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing the same to connect said potential customer to a nearby dealer through said telephone service center.
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing the same to connect said potential customer to a nearby dealer through said telephone service center.
18. The system of Claim 17 wherein said dealer data base comprises a vertical-horizontal geographical file of said dealers.
19. The system of Claim 18 wherein said means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party comprises an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) means.
20. A system for routing a telephone call from a first party who dials a telephone number, including digits characteristic of a given item to a nearby second party out of a group of second parties who can supply said given items, said telephone system comprising:
first party telephone number determining means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party;
determining means for determining the location of said nearby second party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said nearby second party who can supply said item.
first party telephone number determining means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party;
determining means for determining the location of said nearby second party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said nearby second party who can supply said item.
21. The system of Claim 20 wherein said telephone number comprises an 800 number type of telephone number and said telephone system further includes:
a WATS to POTS conversion means for converting said 800 number to a POTS number.
a WATS to POTS conversion means for converting said 800 number to a POTS number.
22. The system of Claim 20 wherein said location determining means comprises:
a second party data base representing at least some of said group of second parties;
comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number of said first party against said second party data base to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
a second party data base representing at least some of said group of second parties;
comparison means for comparing at least some of the digits of said telephone number of said first party against said second party data base to determine the shortest distance between said first party and said nearby second party.
23. The system of Claim 22 further comprising:
billing means for producing bills based upon the number of telephone calls placed to said second parties.
billing means for producing bills based upon the number of telephone calls placed to said second parties.
24. The system of Claim 23 wherein said billing means further includes means for producing reports of telephone activity between said first parties and said second parties.
25. The system of Claim 24 wherein said second party data base includes a vertical-horizontal file.
26. The system of Claim 25 wherein said second parties comprise dealers in said items and wherein said first party comprises a potential customer of said dealer for said item.
27. The system of Claim 26 wherein said item comprises a product.
28. The system of Claim 26 wherein said item comprises a service.
29. The system of Claim 20 wherein said routing means further includes:
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing said second telephone number to connect said first party to said second party through a customer/dealer service company (CDSC).
means for automatically generating a second telephone number and dialing said second telephone number to connect said first party to said second party through a customer/dealer service company (CDSC).
30. The system of Claim 20 wherein said first party telephone number determining means includes an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) means.
31. The system of Claim 20 wherein said first party telephone number determining means comprises a human operator who solicits said first party telephone number from said first party.
32. The system of Claim 20 wherein said routing means is connected by a network connection to the long distance carrier (LDC).
33. The system of Claim 32 further including:
further routing means for routing said telephone call to another second party if the first second party called does not answer within a predetermined period of time.
further routing means for routing said telephone call to another second party if the first second party called does not answer within a predetermined period of time.
34. A system for placing an order for an item based upon a telephone call from a first party who dials a telephone number, including digits characteristic of said item to be delivered to a second party from a nearby third party out of a group of third parties who can supply said given items, said telephone system comprising:
second party telephone number determining means for determining the telephone number of said second party;
location determining means for determining the location of said nearby third party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and;
routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said third party nearby said second party who can supply said item.
second party telephone number determining means for determining the telephone number of said second party;
location determining means for determining the location of said nearby third party based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and;
routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said third party nearby said second party who can supply said item.
35. The system of Claim 34 wherein said item comprises a gift for said second party.
36. The system of Claim 35 further comprising:
billing means for billing said first party for said gift.
billing means for billing said first party for said gift.
37. A telephone system for routing a telephone call from a first party who dials a telephone number including digits characteristic of a given item to a nearby second party out of a group of second parties who have exclusive territories for said items based at least in part on the telephone number dialed by said first party; and, routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said second party with said exclusive territory.
38. A telephone system for routing a telephone call from a first party who desires an item and who dials a telephone number to a nearby second party out of a group of second parties who can supply said item, said telephone system comprising:
item identification means for identifying the item designed by said first party;
first party telephone number determining means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party;
location determining means for determining the location of said nearby second party based at least in part on said originating telephone number of said first party and the identify of aid item as identified by said item identification means; and, routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said nearby second party.
item identification means for identifying the item designed by said first party;
first party telephone number determining means for determining the originating telephone number of said first party;
location determining means for determining the location of said nearby second party based at least in part on said originating telephone number of said first party and the identify of aid item as identified by said item identification means; and, routing means connected to said location determining means for routing said telephone call from said first party to said nearby second party.
39. The telephone system of Claim 38 wherein said item identification means includes voice recognition means for at least partially identifying said item from voice information from said first party.
40. The telephone system of Claim 38 wherein said item identification means identifies said item at least partially from the telephone number dialed by said first party.
41. The telephone system of Claim 40 wherein said telephone number comprises a standard telephone number comprises a standard telephone number (NPA-NNX-XXXX) plus an extension.
42. The telephone system of Claim 38 wherein said item identification means comprises a human operator.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US07/064,127 US4757267A (en) | 1987-06-17 | 1987-06-17 | Telephone system for connecting a customer to a supplier of goods |
US07/064,127 | 1987-06-17 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
CA1294346C true CA1294346C (en) | 1992-01-14 |
Family
ID=22053746
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
CA000569675A Expired - Fee Related CA1294346C (en) | 1987-06-17 | 1988-06-16 | Telephone system for connecting a customer to a supplier of goods |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US4757267A (en) |
CA (1) | CA1294346C (en) |
Families Citing this family (477)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6201950B1 (en) | 1984-09-14 | 2001-03-13 | Aspect Telecommunications Corporation | Computer-controlled paging and telephone communication system and method |
US5375161A (en) | 1984-09-14 | 1994-12-20 | Accessline Technologies, Inc. | Telephone control system with branch routing |
US6545589B1 (en) | 1984-09-14 | 2003-04-08 | Aspect Communications Corporation | Method and apparatus for managing telecommunications |
US5588037A (en) | 1984-09-14 | 1996-12-24 | Accessline Technologies, Inc. | Remote access telephone control system |
US5752191A (en) | 1984-09-14 | 1998-05-12 | Accessline Technologies, Inc. | Telephone control system which connects a caller with a subscriber AT A telephone address |
US5048075A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1991-09-10 | First Data Resources Inc. | Telephonic-interface statistical analysis system |
US20040071278A1 (en) | 1985-07-10 | 2004-04-15 | Ronald A. Katz | Multiple format telephonic interface control system |
US6678360B1 (en) | 1985-07-10 | 2004-01-13 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. | Telephonic-interface statistical analysis system |
US4930150A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1990-05-29 | First Data Resources Inc. | Telephonic interface control system |
US5835576A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1998-11-10 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. | Telephonic-interface lottery device |
US5359645A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1994-10-25 | First Data Corporation Inc. | Voice-data telephonic interface control system |
US6449346B1 (en) | 1985-07-10 | 2002-09-10 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. | Telephone-television interface statistical analysis system |
US4845739A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1989-07-04 | Fdr Interactive Technologies | Telephonic-interface statistical analysis system |
US5898762A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1999-04-27 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. | Telephonic-interface statistical analysis system |
US5828734A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1998-10-27 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, Lp | Telephone interface call processing system with call selectivity |
US5351285A (en) * | 1985-07-10 | 1994-09-27 | First Data Resources Inc. | Multiple format telephonic interface control system |
US5073929A (en) * | 1988-05-16 | 1991-12-17 | First Data Resources Inc. | Voice-data telephonic control system |
US5793846A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1998-08-11 | Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, Lp | Telephonic-interface game control system |
US5365575A (en) | 1985-07-10 | 1994-11-15 | First Data Resources Inc. | Telephonic-interface lottery system |
US4827500A (en) * | 1987-01-30 | 1989-05-02 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company, At&T Bell Laboratories | Automatic speech recognition to select among call destinations |
US4866759A (en) * | 1987-11-30 | 1989-09-12 | Riskin Bernard N | Packet network telecommunication system having access nodes with word guessing capability |
US5031206A (en) * | 1987-11-30 | 1991-07-09 | Fon-Ex, Inc. | Method and apparatus for identifying words entered on DTMF pushbuttons |
US4908850B1 (en) * | 1988-01-11 | 1995-02-07 | American Communications & Engi | Voice services network with automated billing |
US5199062A (en) * | 1988-01-20 | 1993-03-30 | Phone Base Systems Inc. | Telephone communications system including a digital telephone switch, a voice response unit and a stored program sequence for controlling both the switch and the voice response unit |
US5117451A (en) * | 1988-02-24 | 1992-05-26 | Vmx/Opcom | Interface to and operation of a voice messaging system |
US4926462A (en) * | 1988-02-24 | 1990-05-15 | Vmx/Opcom | Interface to and operation of a voice messaging system |
FR2628588A1 (en) * | 1988-03-14 | 1989-09-15 | Croquet Cie | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING AND TRANSMITTING INFORMATION ON THE AUDIENCE OF TELEVISION PROGRAMS |
US4922522A (en) * | 1988-06-07 | 1990-05-01 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company | Telecommunications access to lottery systems |
US5029196A (en) * | 1988-07-11 | 1991-07-02 | Dytel Corporation | Automated call screening |
US5109405A (en) * | 1988-07-11 | 1992-04-28 | Dytel Corporation | Automated call screening |
JPH0233661A (en) * | 1988-07-22 | 1990-02-02 | Sharp Corp | Character processor containing automatic address input function |
US4924495A (en) * | 1988-09-01 | 1990-05-08 | Richards Philip C | Enhanced communication services and apparatus |
US4924510A (en) * | 1988-12-28 | 1990-05-08 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company | Telecommunications database accessing method |
US4942599A (en) * | 1989-02-02 | 1990-07-17 | Alphanet Technology Corporation | Location identification |
US5341477A (en) * | 1989-02-24 | 1994-08-23 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Broker for computer network server selection |
US4896350A (en) * | 1989-03-29 | 1990-01-23 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company | Arrangement for providing a call-connection service |
US4989233A (en) * | 1989-04-11 | 1991-01-29 | Evanston Enterprises, Inc. | Systems for capturing telephonic mass responses |
US4989234A (en) * | 1989-04-11 | 1991-01-29 | Evanston Enterprises, Inc. | Systems for capturing telephonic mass responses |
JP2635163B2 (en) * | 1989-04-17 | 1997-07-30 | 株式会社日立製作所 | Network service provision method |
US5056132A (en) * | 1989-07-25 | 1991-10-08 | Intertech Engineering Associates, Inc. | Switch device adapted to interface between an incoming telephone line and an internal telephone system |
US4987587A (en) * | 1989-07-26 | 1991-01-22 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing 800 number service |
US5212721A (en) * | 1989-08-18 | 1993-05-18 | Motorola, Inc. | Telephone dialing paging apparatus method |
CA2022265C (en) * | 1989-09-20 | 1994-10-04 | Percy B. Brown | Call message delivery system and method utilizing caller-selected system annoucements |
US4996704A (en) * | 1989-09-29 | 1991-02-26 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Electronic messaging systems with additional message storage capability |
US4953204A (en) * | 1989-10-17 | 1990-08-28 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Multilocation queuing for telephone calls |
US5046088A (en) * | 1989-10-31 | 1991-09-03 | Dialogic Corporation | Converter for in-band routing and/or origination information |
US5103449A (en) * | 1989-11-03 | 1992-04-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Pbx transparent ani and dnis using vru |
US5274700A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1993-12-28 | Unifi Communications Corporation | Methods of automatically rerouting an incoming telephone call placed over a network |
US5168515A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1992-12-01 | Unifi Communications Corporation | Switchless automatic call distribution system |
US5271058A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1993-12-14 | Unifi Communications Corporation | Switchless automatic call distribution system used with a combination of networks |
US5036535A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1991-07-30 | Unifi Communications Corporation | Switchless automatic call distribution system |
US5058152A (en) * | 1989-12-12 | 1991-10-15 | The Telephone Connection | Anonymous interactive telephone system having direct connect feature |
US5056086A (en) * | 1989-12-21 | 1991-10-08 | Bell Communications Research, Inc. | Apparatus for providing telephonic mass announcement service and methods for use therein |
US5136633A (en) * | 1990-01-30 | 1992-08-04 | Visa International Service Association | International authorization system |
US5095505A (en) * | 1990-02-28 | 1992-03-10 | Mci Communications Corp. | Efficient flexible special service call processing |
US5253288A (en) * | 1990-03-28 | 1993-10-12 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Alternate destination call redirection for telecommunications systems |
US5003584A (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1991-03-26 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Method and apparatus for the billing of value-added communication calls |
US5222120A (en) * | 1990-04-23 | 1993-06-22 | Mci Communications Corporation | Long distance telephone switching system with enhanced subscriber services |
US5187735A (en) * | 1990-05-01 | 1993-02-16 | Tele Guia Talking Yellow Pages, Inc. | Integrated voice-mail based voice and information processing system |
US5133004A (en) * | 1990-05-07 | 1992-07-21 | Unisys Corporation | Digital computer platform for supporting telephone network applications |
US5214688A (en) * | 1990-06-05 | 1993-05-25 | Inventions, Inc. | Method and apparatus for dynamic and interdependent processing of inbound calls and outbound calls |
US5226075A (en) * | 1990-06-11 | 1993-07-06 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Method of and apparatus for numbering and routing calls through a communication network |
US5113430A (en) * | 1990-10-01 | 1992-05-12 | United States Advanced Network, Inc. | Enhanced wide area audio response network |
US5335266A (en) * | 1990-10-01 | 1994-08-02 | United States Advance Network, Inc. | Automated telecommunication peripheral system |
US5206903A (en) * | 1990-12-26 | 1993-04-27 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Automatic call distribution based on matching required skills with agents skills |
CA2056203A1 (en) * | 1990-12-31 | 1992-07-01 | Craig A. Reading | Method and circuitry for routing a call from a calling station to a desired nearby destination station |
US5163087A (en) * | 1990-12-31 | 1992-11-10 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Delivery of customer data base key using automatic number identification |
US5136636A (en) * | 1991-02-07 | 1992-08-04 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Telephone connection to a nearby dealer |
CA2059078C (en) * | 1991-02-27 | 1995-10-03 | Alexander G. Fraser | Mediation of transactions by a communications system |
JPH04271454A (en) * | 1991-02-27 | 1992-09-28 | Toshiba Corp | Loosely-coupled computer system |
US5272749A (en) * | 1991-04-08 | 1993-12-21 | Masek Jan K | Telephone dialing system for converting subscriber-created telephone numbers to directory numbers |
US5251255A (en) * | 1991-04-17 | 1993-10-05 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Processing interactions among telecommunications call features |
US5189692A (en) * | 1991-04-26 | 1993-02-23 | George Ferrara | Telephone operator simulator |
US5333185A (en) * | 1991-06-03 | 1994-07-26 | At&T Bell Laboratories | System for processing calling party information for international communications services |
US5216703A (en) * | 1991-06-17 | 1993-06-01 | Pactel Corporation | Piggy-back number and routing isolation for cellular telephone switches |
US5157714A (en) * | 1991-07-22 | 1992-10-20 | Spicer James R | Method for collecting and disseminating available-load information for the trucking industry |
US5481534A (en) * | 1991-09-27 | 1996-01-02 | At&T Corp. | Data packet switch apparatus and method with enhanced charge assessment capability |
US5311572A (en) * | 1991-10-03 | 1994-05-10 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Cooperative databases call processing system |
US5825865A (en) * | 1991-10-04 | 1998-10-20 | Motorola, Inc. | Temporary message routing and destination selection |
JPH05110693A (en) * | 1991-10-16 | 1993-04-30 | Fujitsu Ltd | Transfer information informing system |
US5291551A (en) * | 1991-10-23 | 1994-03-01 | At&T Bell Laboratories | Home agent telecommunication technique |
EP0542628B1 (en) * | 1991-11-12 | 2001-10-10 | Fujitsu Limited | Speech synthesis system |
DE4141027A1 (en) * | 1991-12-12 | 1993-06-17 | Christian Schmidt | Telephone system for spoken information transmission - has intermediate local exchange, accessible by dialling access digit, which delivers spoken information, esp. advertising, and allows reconnection to public network on dialling access digit |
US10361802B1 (en) | 1999-02-01 | 2019-07-23 | Blanding Hovenweep, Llc | Adaptive pattern recognition based control system and method |
US8352400B2 (en) | 1991-12-23 | 2013-01-08 | Hoffberg Steven M | Adaptive pattern recognition based controller apparatus and method and human-factored interface therefore |
US5367566A (en) * | 1991-12-27 | 1994-11-22 | At&T Corp. | Common channel signaling message intercept system |
US5369695A (en) * | 1992-01-06 | 1994-11-29 | At&T Corp. | Method of redirecting a telephone call to an alternate destination |
US5283731A (en) * | 1992-01-19 | 1994-02-01 | Ec Corporation | Computer-based classified ad system and method |
US5812654A (en) * | 1992-01-27 | 1998-09-22 | Sprint Communications Co. L.P. | Telecommunications network routing |
US5734709A (en) * | 1992-01-27 | 1998-03-31 | Sprint Communications Co. L.P. | System for customer configuration of call routing in a telecommunications network |
US5412714A (en) * | 1992-02-24 | 1995-05-02 | At&T Corp. | Mnemonic and synonymic addressing in a telecommunications system |
US5247571A (en) * | 1992-02-28 | 1993-09-21 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Area wide centrex |
US5579379A (en) * | 1992-03-05 | 1996-11-26 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Personal communications service having a calling party pays capability |
US5353331A (en) * | 1992-03-05 | 1994-10-04 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Personal communications service using wireline/wireless integration |
US5701419A (en) * | 1992-03-06 | 1997-12-23 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Telecommunications service creation apparatus and method |
US5452350A (en) * | 1992-03-09 | 1995-09-19 | Advantis | Subscriber call routing processing system |
CA2090165C (en) * | 1992-04-01 | 1997-06-17 | Barbara I. Gaechter | Network based outbound call management |
US5572583A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1996-11-05 | Bell Atlantic | Advanced intelligent network with intelligent peripherals interfaced to the integrated services control point |
US5583920A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1996-12-10 | Bell Atlantic | Intelligent peripheral in video dial tone network |
US5418844A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1995-05-23 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Automatic access to information service providers |
US5864614A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1999-01-26 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Intelligent peripheral and network control |
US5402472A (en) * | 1992-04-23 | 1995-03-28 | Boston Technology, Inc. | Automated attendant for any combination of PBX, centrex, and single-line telephones |
WO1993022866A1 (en) * | 1992-04-24 | 1993-11-11 | Paragon Services International, Inc. | Interactive telephone system for optimizing service economy |
US20020131574A1 (en) * | 1992-04-24 | 2002-09-19 | Alleman James H. | Interactive system for optimizing service economy |
US5479493A (en) * | 1992-05-21 | 1995-12-26 | At&T Corp. | Calling line identification adjunct for use with a communication system |
US5729600A (en) * | 1992-06-25 | 1998-03-17 | Rockwell International Corporation | Automatic call distributor with automated voice responsive call servicing system and method |
US5588048A (en) * | 1992-07-31 | 1996-12-24 | 800 Adept, Inc. | Geographically mapped telephone routing method and system |
US5386467A (en) * | 1992-07-31 | 1995-01-31 | At&T Corp. | Intelligent network communication system |
US5805689A (en) * | 1992-07-31 | 1998-09-08 | 800 Adept, Inc. | Geographically mapped telephone routing method and system |
US5430782A (en) * | 1992-08-28 | 1995-07-04 | At&T Corp. | Caller directed routing of toll free calls using variable prefixes |
US5289371A (en) * | 1992-09-11 | 1994-02-22 | Memorylink, Inc. | System and method for routing data and communications |
US5715299A (en) * | 1992-09-25 | 1998-02-03 | Mosley; Jeffery Brian | Method and apparatus for telecommunications network routing |
US5598462A (en) * | 1992-09-25 | 1997-01-28 | Truemner; Michael A. | Telecommunications network routing |
US5740234A (en) * | 1992-09-29 | 1998-04-14 | At&T Corp. | Telephone call monitoring method and apparatus |
US5799071A (en) * | 1992-10-05 | 1998-08-25 | Azar; Sanjar | Telecommunications cost-minimizing system |
US5680448A (en) * | 1992-10-05 | 1997-10-21 | Advantis | Call routing selection method |
US5388145A (en) * | 1992-11-12 | 1995-02-07 | Rockwell International Corporation | Internode routing for a telephone system |
US5425084A (en) * | 1992-11-23 | 1995-06-13 | Brinskele; Edward A. | Computer-controlled telecommunications system |
US5432845A (en) * | 1992-12-21 | 1995-07-11 | At&T Corp. | Post answer telephone call redirection or rerouting |
AU6015594A (en) * | 1992-12-23 | 1994-07-19 | Surefind Corporation | Interactive computer system with multi-protocol capability |
CA2107453C (en) * | 1992-12-29 | 1997-03-04 | Daniel S. Furman | Caller directed routing of a telephone call based on a dialed suffix |
US5394463A (en) * | 1992-12-31 | 1995-02-28 | At&T Corp. | Telephone call processing arrangement based on calling and called party telephone services |
US5982868A (en) * | 1993-02-22 | 1999-11-09 | Murex Securities, Ltd. | Automatic routing and information system for telephonic services |
US6385312B1 (en) * | 1993-02-22 | 2002-05-07 | Murex Securities, Ltd. | Automatic routing and information system for telephonic services |
US5506897C1 (en) * | 1993-02-22 | 2001-12-11 | Murex Securities Ltd | Automatic routing system for telephonic services |
US5848131A (en) * | 1993-02-22 | 1998-12-08 | Murex Securities, Ltd. | Automatic information and routing system for telephonic services |
US5495284A (en) | 1993-03-12 | 1996-02-27 | Katz; Ronald A. | Scheduling and processing system for telephone video communication |
US20030185356A1 (en) | 1993-03-12 | 2003-10-02 | Telebuyer, Llc | Commercial product telephonic routing system with mobile wireless and video vending capability |
US6323894B1 (en) * | 1993-03-12 | 2001-11-27 | Telebuyer, Llc | Commercial product routing system with video vending capability |
JPH08506710A (en) * | 1993-06-11 | 1996-07-16 | ノーザン・テレコム・リミテッド | User-controlled call management service method and apparatus |
WO1995000911A1 (en) * | 1993-06-23 | 1995-01-05 | Ec Corporation | Computer-based classified ad system and method |
US5553129A (en) * | 1993-07-02 | 1996-09-03 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus for treating calls based on receipt of telecommunications carrier code indications |
AU677393B2 (en) * | 1993-07-08 | 1997-04-24 | E-Talk Corporation | Method and system for transferring calls and call-related data between a plurality of call centres |
US5937051A (en) * | 1993-07-08 | 1999-08-10 | Teknekron Infoswitch Corporation | Method and system for transferring calls and call-related data between a plurality of call centers |
US5590180A (en) * | 1993-09-30 | 1996-12-31 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Communication method of supplying information in intelligent network and apparatus therefor |
US5590181A (en) * | 1993-10-15 | 1996-12-31 | Link Usa Corporation | Call-processing system and method |
US5506890A (en) * | 1993-11-16 | 1996-04-09 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus for group-specific calling |
US5590186A (en) * | 1993-12-22 | 1996-12-31 | At & T | System and method for redirecting a telephone call with call merging |
US5550912A (en) * | 1994-02-28 | 1996-08-27 | At&T Corp. | Connections between a toll network and multiple local networks |
US5533107A (en) * | 1994-03-01 | 1996-07-02 | Bellsouth Corporation | Method for routing calls based on predetermined assignments of callers geographic locations |
DE69429241T2 (en) * | 1994-03-16 | 2002-07-18 | British Telecomm Public Ltd Co | Networking System |
US5533108A (en) * | 1994-03-18 | 1996-07-02 | At&T Corp. | Method and system for routing phone calls based on voice and data transport capability |
US6026156A (en) | 1994-03-18 | 2000-02-15 | Aspect Telecommunications Corporation | Enhanced call waiting |
WO1995027360A1 (en) | 1994-03-31 | 1995-10-12 | Citibank, N.A. | Interactive voice response system |
JPH07319810A (en) * | 1994-04-01 | 1995-12-08 | Fujitsu Ltd | Network service system and communication equipment for game machine and the game machine capable of utilizing the network service system |
US5623660A (en) * | 1994-04-22 | 1997-04-22 | Josephson; Jeffrey L. | System for regulating access to data base for purposes of data base management |
US5673381A (en) * | 1994-05-27 | 1997-09-30 | Cheyenne Software International Sales Corp. | System and parallel streaming and data stripping to back-up a network |
US6222919B1 (en) | 1994-09-12 | 2001-04-24 | Rockwell International Corporation | Method and system for routing incoming telephone calls to available agents based on agent skills |
US6333980B1 (en) | 1994-09-28 | 2001-12-25 | Rockwell International Corporation | Automatic call distributor and method for routing incoming telephone calls based on proficiency ratings of agents |
US5694464A (en) * | 1995-01-06 | 1997-12-02 | Snip, Inc. | Automated access telephone system |
US5673308A (en) * | 1994-10-12 | 1997-09-30 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Personal phone number system |
EP0710042A2 (en) * | 1994-10-26 | 1996-05-01 | AT&T Corp. | Means and method for providing local telephone number portability |
US5661787A (en) * | 1994-10-27 | 1997-08-26 | Pocock; Michael H. | System for on-demand remote access to a self-generating audio recording, storage, indexing and transaction system |
SE504958C2 (en) * | 1994-11-04 | 1997-06-02 | Gratistelefon Svenska Ab | Procedure for telephone communication and apparatus for this |
US5602901A (en) * | 1994-12-22 | 1997-02-11 | Motorola, Inc. | Specialized call routing method and apparatus for a cellular communication system |
US5646987A (en) * | 1994-12-22 | 1997-07-08 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Dynamic reallocation of calls to agent groups |
US5610969A (en) * | 1994-12-23 | 1997-03-11 | Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, Inc. | Personal communication service registration system and method |
CA2164896C (en) * | 1994-12-27 | 2000-11-21 | Daniel Jitzchak Mayer | Context-based transactions using broadcast advertising |
US5937047A (en) * | 1995-01-02 | 1999-08-10 | Stabler; Jerry | Remote voice mail messaging and management system |
JPH08191354A (en) * | 1995-01-09 | 1996-07-23 | Fujitsu Ltd | Call charging processing method |
GB2314996A (en) | 1995-01-09 | 1998-01-14 | Mci Communications Corp | Enhanced overflow call processing |
US5682525A (en) * | 1995-01-11 | 1997-10-28 | Civix Corporation | System and methods for remotely accessing a selected group of items of interest from a database |
US5692126A (en) * | 1995-01-24 | 1997-11-25 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | ISDN access to fast packet data network |
US6163597A (en) * | 1995-02-10 | 2000-12-19 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Method and apparatus for routing calls placed to a virtual telephone number |
JPH08235260A (en) * | 1995-03-01 | 1996-09-13 | Fujitsu Ltd | Multi-media communication system |
US5546452A (en) * | 1995-03-02 | 1996-08-13 | Geotel Communications Corp. | Communications system using a central controller to control at least one network and agent system |
US5978577A (en) * | 1995-03-17 | 1999-11-02 | Csg Systems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for transaction processing in a distributed database system |
GB9506290D0 (en) * | 1995-03-28 | 1995-05-17 | British Telecomm | Teleworking arrangements |
US5661791A (en) * | 1995-03-29 | 1997-08-26 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Method and apparatus for enhanced distinctive call redirection |
US7937312B1 (en) * | 1995-04-26 | 2011-05-03 | Ebay Inc. | Facilitating electronic commerce transactions through binding offers |
US5675637A (en) | 1995-05-16 | 1997-10-07 | Inventions, Inc. | Method for automatically obtaining and presenting data from multiple data sources |
EP0782728B1 (en) | 1995-05-24 | 2006-04-26 | Walker Digital, LLC | 900 number billing and collection system and method for on-line computer services |
US5592541A (en) * | 1995-05-31 | 1997-01-07 | Southwestern Bell Technology Resources, Inc. | Apparatus and method for forwarding incoming calls |
US5835061A (en) | 1995-06-06 | 1998-11-10 | Wayport, Inc. | Method and apparatus for geographic-based communications service |
US8606851B2 (en) | 1995-06-06 | 2013-12-10 | Wayport, Inc. | Method and apparatus for geographic-based communications service |
US8041341B1 (en) | 1995-06-07 | 2011-10-18 | Single Touch Interactive, Inc. | System of providing information to a telephony subscriber |
US5752186A (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1998-05-12 | Jeman Technologies, Inc. | Access free wireless telephony fulfillment service system |
US5799073A (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1998-08-25 | Southwestern Bell Technology Resources, Inc. | Apparatus and method for recording call related data |
US5956521A (en) * | 1995-06-26 | 1999-09-21 | Wang; Kevin Kuan-Pin | System for universal electronic mail delivery where messaging devices are notified using a particular dialing, ringing, and hanging-up pattern |
US5794221A (en) | 1995-07-07 | 1998-08-11 | Egendorf; Andrew | Internet billing method |
US5680446A (en) * | 1995-08-24 | 1997-10-21 | Southwestern Bell Technology Resources, Inc. | Advanced intelligent network screening |
US6795852B1 (en) | 1995-09-11 | 2004-09-21 | Nomadix, Inc. | Automatic network connection |
US5621787A (en) * | 1995-09-13 | 1997-04-15 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Prepaid cash card |
US6411682B1 (en) | 1995-09-21 | 2002-06-25 | Aspect Telecommunications Corporation | Computer controlled paging and telephone communication system and method |
US5661283A (en) * | 1995-10-03 | 1997-08-26 | Ncr Corporation | Automated patching between ATM and consultant |
US5566235A (en) * | 1995-10-05 | 1996-10-15 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Customer controlled service mediation management |
US5835583A (en) * | 1995-10-05 | 1998-11-10 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | Mediated AIN control of short code access to information service providers |
US5765033A (en) * | 1997-02-06 | 1998-06-09 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | System for routing electronic mails |
US6130933A (en) * | 1996-02-02 | 2000-10-10 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for coordinating telephone and data communications |
US5926538A (en) * | 1997-02-11 | 1999-07-20 | Genesys Telecommunications Labs, Inc | Method for routing calls to call centers based on statistical modeling of call behavior |
US5802163A (en) * | 1996-04-05 | 1998-09-01 | Genesys Telccommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for implementing an outbound network call center |
US5825870A (en) * | 1996-04-05 | 1998-10-20 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories | Methods and apparatus for implementing a network call center |
US5933492A (en) * | 1997-01-21 | 1999-08-03 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and system for determining and using multiple object states in a computer telephony integration system |
WO1997017653A1 (en) * | 1995-11-09 | 1997-05-15 | Transquest, Incorporated | Method and apparatus for providing component-related information |
US6301339B1 (en) | 1995-11-15 | 2001-10-09 | Data Race, Inc. | System and method for providing a remote user with a virtual presence to an office |
US5966433A (en) * | 1995-11-30 | 1999-10-12 | Nortel Networks Corporation | Method and apparatus for screening calls in telephone networks |
US5878126A (en) * | 1995-12-11 | 1999-03-02 | Bellsouth Corporation | Method for routing a call to a destination based on range identifiers for geographic area assignments |
US5633922A (en) * | 1995-12-29 | 1997-05-27 | At&T | Process and apparatus for restarting call routing in a telephone network |
US5796807A (en) * | 1996-01-19 | 1998-08-18 | Costello; Matthew W. | Telephone recycling system |
US5805997A (en) * | 1996-01-26 | 1998-09-08 | Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. | System for sending control signals from a subscriber station to a network controller using cellular digital packet data (CDPD) communication |
US5802513A (en) * | 1996-02-01 | 1998-09-01 | Bellsouth Corporation | Method and system for distance determination and use of the distance determination |
US6097802A (en) * | 1996-02-28 | 2000-08-01 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Advanced intelligent single telephone number routing |
US5822416A (en) * | 1996-03-04 | 1998-10-13 | Mosaix, Inc. | System and method for real-time screening and routing of telephone calls |
US5963861A (en) * | 1996-04-05 | 1999-10-05 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Dealer-locator service and apparatus for mobile telecommunications system |
US5974133A (en) * | 1996-04-30 | 1999-10-26 | Southwestern Bell Technology Resources, Inc. | Method and apparatus for facilitating communication across multiple locations |
US7555458B1 (en) | 1996-06-05 | 2009-06-30 | Fraud Control System.Com Corporation | Method of billing a purchase made over a computer network |
US5802156A (en) * | 1996-06-05 | 1998-09-01 | David Felger | Method for billing and controlling fraud in providing pay information services |
US6553108B1 (en) | 1996-06-05 | 2003-04-22 | David Felger | Method of billing a communication session conducted over a computer network |
US6282276B1 (en) | 1996-06-05 | 2001-08-28 | David Felger | Method of billing a value-added call |
US7013001B1 (en) | 1996-06-05 | 2006-03-14 | David Felger | Method of billing a communication session conducted over a computer network |
US8229844B2 (en) | 1996-06-05 | 2012-07-24 | Fraud Control Systems.Com Corporation | Method of billing a purchase made over a computer network |
US20030195848A1 (en) * | 1996-06-05 | 2003-10-16 | David Felger | Method of billing a purchase made over a computer network |
US5915010A (en) | 1996-06-10 | 1999-06-22 | Teknekron Infoswitch | System, method and user interface for data announced call transfer |
US5901214A (en) | 1996-06-10 | 1999-05-04 | Murex Securities, Ltd. | One number intelligent call processing system |
US5917888A (en) * | 1996-06-28 | 1999-06-29 | Mci Communications Corporation | System and method for enhanced telecommunications relay service with easy extension feature |
US5883940A (en) * | 1996-07-01 | 1999-03-16 | Teledynamics Group, Inc. | Interactive method and apparatus for the generation of leads |
US5862339A (en) * | 1996-07-09 | 1999-01-19 | Webtv Networks, Inc. | Client connects to an internet access provider using algorithm downloaded from a central server based upon client's desired criteria after disconnected from the server |
US5926535A (en) * | 1996-08-05 | 1999-07-20 | International Business Machines Corporation | Third party call control |
US5839088A (en) | 1996-08-22 | 1998-11-17 | Go2 Software, Inc. | Geographic location referencing system and method |
US20040139049A1 (en) | 1996-08-22 | 2004-07-15 | Wgrs Licensing Company, Llc | Unified geographic database and method of creating, maintaining and using the same |
GB9618350D0 (en) * | 1996-09-03 | 1996-10-16 | Profit Thru Telecommunications | Interactivity telecommunications |
US5970476A (en) * | 1996-09-19 | 1999-10-19 | Manufacturing Management Systems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for industrial data acquisition and product costing |
US7359720B2 (en) * | 1996-09-27 | 2008-04-15 | Openwave Systems Inc. | Mobility extended telephone application programming interface and method of use |
US6134316A (en) * | 1996-10-18 | 2000-10-17 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson | Telecommunications network with relocateability of subscriber number |
DE19644386A1 (en) * | 1996-10-25 | 1998-04-30 | Deutsche Telekom Ag | Free of charge switching and connection method for calls |
US5982867A (en) * | 1996-11-27 | 1999-11-09 | Ameritech Corporation | Method and system for providing the name of the state of a calling party |
US5841839A (en) * | 1996-12-06 | 1998-11-24 | Fogg; Shawn D. T. | Integrated telephone switching apparatus for fully integrating multiple business telephone systems with a single voice mail system |
US6055308A (en) * | 1997-01-21 | 2000-04-25 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and system for determining and using multiple object states in a computer telephony integration system |
US5905791A (en) * | 1997-01-23 | 1999-05-18 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus for providing combined communication services including local service and toll service |
US5946387A (en) * | 1997-02-10 | 1999-08-31 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc, | Agent-level network call routing |
US5995614A (en) * | 1997-02-10 | 1999-11-30 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Dynamic requeing to avoid latency in call-routing systems |
US6480600B1 (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2002-11-12 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Call and data correspondence in a call-in center employing virtual restructuring for computer telephony integrated functionality |
US6560328B1 (en) | 1997-04-03 | 2003-05-06 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Voice extensions in a call-in center employing virtual restructuring for computer telephony integrated functionality |
US6282279B1 (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2001-08-28 | At&T Corp. | Method and system for processing outbound service calls via a network adjunct platform |
US6104802A (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2000-08-15 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | In-band signaling for routing |
US6185291B1 (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2001-02-06 | Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories, Inc. | Personal desktop router |
US7031442B1 (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2006-04-18 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for personal routing in computer-simulated telephony |
US6201863B1 (en) | 1997-02-10 | 2001-03-13 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Personal desktop router |
US6185292B1 (en) * | 1997-02-10 | 2001-02-06 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Skill-based real-time call routing in telephony systems |
US6268802B1 (en) * | 1997-02-18 | 2001-07-31 | At&T Corp. | Personal reach system with improved paging capabilities |
US5859901A (en) * | 1997-03-06 | 1999-01-12 | At&T Corp. | Intelligent call connection service |
US6850600B1 (en) | 1997-03-31 | 2005-02-01 | Sbc Laboratories, Inc. | Apparatus and method for intelligent call routing and call return |
US6018578A (en) * | 1997-04-03 | 2000-01-25 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Call and data correspondence in a call-in center employing virtual restructuring for computer telephony integrated functionality |
US6021180A (en) * | 1997-04-30 | 2000-02-01 | The Business Edge Group, Inc. | Processing of telecommunications transmissions and directing consumers to need providers |
US6061436A (en) * | 1997-05-16 | 2000-05-09 | At&T Corp | Telephone billing system |
US6078657A (en) * | 1997-05-30 | 2000-06-20 | Telcordia Technologies, Inc. | Method and system for providing local telephone number portability using geographic unit building blocks |
US6026151A (en) * | 1997-06-12 | 2000-02-15 | At&T Corp. | Network based determination of cost effective access |
US6571290B2 (en) | 1997-06-19 | 2003-05-27 | Mymail, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing fungible intercourse over a network |
US8516132B2 (en) | 1997-06-19 | 2013-08-20 | Mymail, Ltd. | Method of accessing a selected network |
DE19726175A1 (en) * | 1997-06-20 | 1998-12-24 | Alsthom Cge Alcatel | Method for setting up a toll-free communication connection and service unit, switching center and communication network |
US20070150354A1 (en) * | 1997-07-08 | 2007-06-28 | Walker Jay S | Method and apparatus for conducting a transaction based on brand indifference |
US6058379A (en) * | 1997-07-11 | 2000-05-02 | Auction Source, L.L.C. | Real-time network exchange with seller specified exchange parameters and interactive seller participation |
US6560461B1 (en) | 1997-08-04 | 2003-05-06 | Mundi Fomukong | Authorized location reporting paging system |
DE19737255C2 (en) * | 1997-08-27 | 2001-12-13 | Deutsche Telekom Ag | Method and circuit arrangement for using telecommunication networks |
DE19741576A1 (en) * | 1997-09-20 | 1999-03-25 | Cit Alcatel | Procedure for routing emergency calls |
US6985943B2 (en) | 1998-09-11 | 2006-01-10 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and apparatus for extended management of state and interaction of a remote knowledge worker from a contact center |
US6711611B2 (en) | 1998-09-11 | 2004-03-23 | Genesis Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and apparatus for data-linking a mobile knowledge worker to home communication-center infrastructure |
USRE46528E1 (en) | 1997-11-14 | 2017-08-29 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Implementation of call-center outbound dialing capability at a telephony network level |
US6330324B1 (en) | 1997-12-09 | 2001-12-11 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Geographical call routing for a non-emergency calling service |
GB2347583B (en) * | 1997-12-19 | 2003-03-12 | Blake Rice | Automated right-party contact telephone system |
US20010025273A1 (en) * | 1997-12-22 | 2001-09-27 | Jay Walker | Parallel data network billing and collection system |
US7184977B1 (en) * | 1997-12-31 | 2007-02-27 | Gte Communications Corporation | CLEC convergent billing system |
US6349289B1 (en) | 1998-01-16 | 2002-02-19 | Ameritech Corporation | Method and system for tracking computer system usage through a remote access security device |
US7907598B2 (en) | 1998-02-17 | 2011-03-15 | Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories, Inc. | Method for implementing and executing communication center routing strategies represented in extensible markup language |
US6332154B2 (en) | 1998-09-11 | 2001-12-18 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing media-independent self-help modules within a multimedia communication-center customer interface |
US6076121A (en) * | 1998-03-13 | 2000-06-13 | Levine; Richard C. | Method of network addressing and translation |
US7548610B2 (en) * | 1998-04-14 | 2009-06-16 | Alaven, Inc. | Voice-activated geographically based telephone routing system and method |
FR2778294B1 (en) * | 1998-04-30 | 2000-06-09 | Alsthom Cge Alcatel | INTERNET SUBSCRIBER PROFILE |
CA2270038A1 (en) * | 1998-05-06 | 1999-11-06 | Daniel Selig Furman | System and method for voice dialing |
EP0963095B1 (en) * | 1998-05-12 | 2004-03-17 | Nokia Corporation | A method for differentiated treatment of calling subscribers |
US6154535A (en) * | 1998-05-15 | 2000-11-28 | Bellsouth Corporation | Methods and system for obtaining processing information relating to a communication |
US7006620B1 (en) | 1998-06-12 | 2006-02-28 | Sbc Properties, L.P. | System and method for routing both toll-free and caller-paid telephone calls to call service centers |
US6011844A (en) | 1998-06-19 | 2000-01-04 | Callnet Communications | Point-of-presence call center management system |
US6324276B1 (en) | 1999-02-12 | 2001-11-27 | Telera, Inc. | Point-of-presence call center management system |
AU8567798A (en) | 1998-06-19 | 2000-01-05 | Netsafe, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing connections over a network |
JP2001303934A (en) * | 1998-06-23 | 2001-10-31 | Toyota Motor Corp | Exhaust emission control device for internal combustion engine |
US6088433A (en) | 1998-07-09 | 2000-07-11 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | System and method for forwarding call from disconnected telephone number to new telephone number |
US6813346B2 (en) * | 1998-08-10 | 2004-11-02 | Sbc Properties, L.P. | System and method for selecting a destination number upon receiving a dialed number from a calling party |
US6614885B2 (en) * | 1998-08-14 | 2003-09-02 | Intervoice Limited Partnership | System and method for operating a highly distributed interactive voice response system |
GB2342805B (en) * | 1998-08-14 | 2001-01-10 | Toshiba Kk | Exchange and telephone exchange system |
US6633539B1 (en) | 1998-08-28 | 2003-10-14 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Device, method and article of manufacture for call setup pacing in connection-oriented networks |
US7769620B1 (en) | 1998-09-01 | 2010-08-03 | Dennis Fernandez | Adaptive direct transaction for networked client group |
USRE46153E1 (en) | 1998-09-11 | 2016-09-20 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and apparatus enabling voice-based management of state and interaction of a remote knowledge worker in a contact center environment |
US7079631B1 (en) * | 1998-10-29 | 2006-07-18 | Agere Systems Inc. | Localized broadcast information based on call related information |
DE19852103B4 (en) * | 1998-11-12 | 2013-02-21 | T-Mobile Deutschland Gmbh | Method for operating location-dependent switching services in telecommunication networks |
US6526135B1 (en) * | 1998-11-18 | 2003-02-25 | Nortel Networks Limited | Automated competitive business call distribution (ACBCD) system |
US7194554B1 (en) | 1998-12-08 | 2007-03-20 | Nomadix, Inc. | Systems and methods for providing dynamic network authorization authentication and accounting |
US8713641B1 (en) | 1998-12-08 | 2014-04-29 | Nomadix, Inc. | Systems and methods for authorizing, authenticating and accounting users having transparent computer access to a network using a gateway device |
US8266266B2 (en) | 1998-12-08 | 2012-09-11 | Nomadix, Inc. | Systems and methods for providing dynamic network authorization, authentication and accounting |
FR2789252A1 (en) * | 1998-12-31 | 2000-08-04 | Sion Serge Samama | TELEMATIC INSTALLATION ASSOCIATED WITH A DISTINCT TELEPHONE NETWORK AND INCLUDING GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS |
US8364136B2 (en) | 1999-02-01 | 2013-01-29 | Steven M Hoffberg | Mobile system, a method of operating mobile system and a non-transitory computer readable medium for a programmable control of a mobile system |
US7904187B2 (en) | 1999-02-01 | 2011-03-08 | Hoffberg Steven M | Internet appliance system and method |
US6631186B1 (en) * | 1999-04-09 | 2003-10-07 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | System and method for implementing and accessing call forwarding services |
US6816481B1 (en) * | 1999-04-09 | 2004-11-09 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Internet caller identification system and method |
CA2372003A1 (en) * | 1999-04-27 | 2000-11-02 | Mukesh Sundaram | Method and apparatus for local routing of toll free calls |
WO2000079456A2 (en) * | 1999-06-22 | 2000-12-28 | Walker Digital, Llc. | Method and apparatus for conducting a transaction based on brand indifference |
US6590970B1 (en) * | 1999-07-09 | 2003-07-08 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Intelligent-networked telephone system having advertisement with bonus free phone call service |
US6681000B1 (en) * | 1999-07-30 | 2004-01-20 | Ntt Docomo, Inc, | Signal converter server network information system control methods thereof and telephone terminal |
GB2353175B (en) * | 1999-08-13 | 2001-07-04 | Mark Taylor | Telephone contact system |
US6668050B1 (en) * | 1999-09-07 | 2003-12-23 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Common access code routing using subscriber directory number |
US6823060B1 (en) * | 1999-09-24 | 2004-11-23 | At&T Corp. | Method for implementing service logic via database table transversals |
US6775378B1 (en) | 1999-10-25 | 2004-08-10 | Concerto Software, Inc | Blended agent contact center |
EP1226697B1 (en) | 1999-11-03 | 2010-09-22 | Wayport, Inc. | Distributed network communication system which enables multiple network providers to use a common distributed network infrastructure |
US6252943B1 (en) * | 1999-11-03 | 2001-06-26 | At&T Corp | Telephone network having dual gateway interconnection architecture for handling emergency services |
US6832203B1 (en) | 1999-11-05 | 2004-12-14 | Cim, Ltd. | Skills based contact routing |
US6459782B1 (en) * | 1999-11-10 | 2002-10-01 | Goldstar Information Technologies, Llc | System and method of developing mapping and directions from caller ID |
US6594659B1 (en) * | 1999-11-29 | 2003-07-15 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Method for creating a toll-free number audit tape |
US7929978B2 (en) | 1999-12-01 | 2011-04-19 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing enhanced communication capability for mobile devices on a virtual private network |
US6633638B1 (en) * | 1999-12-02 | 2003-10-14 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus for a customer self-provisioning of outpulsed digits in a telecommunication network |
US7230927B1 (en) | 1999-12-07 | 2007-06-12 | Aspect Software, Inc. | Non-blocking expandable call center architecture |
KR100732331B1 (en) * | 1999-12-18 | 2007-06-25 | 주식회사 케이티 | Shortest call routing apparatus and method according to charging distance in intelligent network |
US7171221B1 (en) * | 1999-12-20 | 2007-01-30 | Cingular Wirelesss Ii, Llc | System and method for automatically transferring a call from a first telephone to a designated telephone in close proximity |
US6615046B1 (en) * | 1999-12-29 | 2003-09-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Automatic dispatch of mobile services |
US20030065565A1 (en) * | 2000-01-26 | 2003-04-03 | Wagner Peter J. | Method and system for routing food orders over a computer network |
US6654451B1 (en) * | 2000-02-07 | 2003-11-25 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Methods and systems for billing and routing local toll-free calls |
US7443969B2 (en) * | 2003-09-24 | 2008-10-28 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Methods and systems for billing and routing local toll-free communications |
US6415018B1 (en) | 2000-02-08 | 2002-07-02 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Telecommunication system and method for handling special number calls having geographic sensitivity |
US6853714B2 (en) * | 2000-02-25 | 2005-02-08 | Keith A. Liljestrand | Apparatus and method for providing enhanced telecommunications services |
US6993118B2 (en) * | 2000-03-04 | 2006-01-31 | Intrado Inc. | System and method for accessing personal information relating to a caller in a remote telecommunication network |
US6587545B1 (en) | 2000-03-04 | 2003-07-01 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | System for providing expanded emergency service communication in a telecommunication network |
US6707906B1 (en) | 2000-03-13 | 2004-03-16 | Concerto Software, Inc. | Outbound calling system in a contact center |
US6526275B1 (en) * | 2000-04-24 | 2003-02-25 | Motorola, Inc. | Method for informing a user of a communication device where to obtain a product and communication system employing same |
DE10023359A1 (en) * | 2000-05-12 | 2001-11-22 | Siemens Ag | Broker device has database for storing offer information of various providers calling over speech communications network for speech-controlled enquiry by interested parties over network |
US7412051B1 (en) * | 2000-05-25 | 2008-08-12 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | System and method for routing calls across call managers using a route plan |
US7733845B1 (en) * | 2000-05-25 | 2010-06-08 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | System and method for device registration replication in a communication network |
US7359368B1 (en) * | 2000-05-25 | 2008-04-15 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | System and method for routing calls using dialing partitions |
US7145899B1 (en) | 2000-05-25 | 2006-12-05 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | System and method for providing shared line appearances in a distributed call routing network |
US7974277B2 (en) * | 2000-05-25 | 2011-07-05 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | System and method for routing calls |
US6748426B1 (en) * | 2000-06-15 | 2004-06-08 | Murex Securities, Ltd. | System and method for linking information in a global computer network |
US6665393B1 (en) | 2000-06-16 | 2003-12-16 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Call routing control using call routing scripts |
US6766011B1 (en) | 2000-06-16 | 2004-07-20 | Concerto Software, Inc. | Method and apparatus for controlling a contact center |
US6879676B1 (en) * | 2000-06-29 | 2005-04-12 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | System and method for routing a call to an optimal location |
US6675017B1 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2004-01-06 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Location blocking service for wireless networks |
US8041817B2 (en) | 2000-06-30 | 2011-10-18 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | Anonymous location service for wireless networks |
US6738808B1 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2004-05-18 | Bell South Intellectual Property Corporation | Anonymous location service for wireless networks |
US6625595B1 (en) | 2000-07-05 | 2003-09-23 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Method and system for selectively presenting database results in an information retrieval system |
US6807269B1 (en) | 2000-07-20 | 2004-10-19 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Call management implemented using call routing engine |
US6571242B1 (en) | 2000-07-25 | 2003-05-27 | Verizon Laboratories Inc. | Methods and systems for updating a land use and land cover map using postal records |
US7796998B1 (en) * | 2000-08-01 | 2010-09-14 | At&T Intellectual Property, I, L.P. | Method and system for delivery of a calling party's location |
US6778951B1 (en) | 2000-08-09 | 2004-08-17 | Concerto Software, Inc. | Information retrieval method with natural language interface |
US7899690B1 (en) | 2000-08-18 | 2011-03-01 | The Crawford Group, Inc. | Extended web enabled business to business computer system for rental vehicle services |
US7275038B1 (en) | 2000-08-18 | 2007-09-25 | The Crawford Group, Inc. | Web enabled business to business operating system for rental car services |
US8600783B2 (en) | 2000-08-18 | 2013-12-03 | The Crawford Group, Inc. | Business to business computer system for communicating and processing rental car reservations using web services |
US6819754B1 (en) | 2000-08-29 | 2004-11-16 | Cisco Technology, Inc. | Generation of communication system control scripts |
US7099304B2 (en) | 2000-09-05 | 2006-08-29 | Flexiworld Technologies, Inc. | Apparatus, methods and systems for anonymous communication |
US7243075B1 (en) * | 2000-10-03 | 2007-07-10 | Shaffer James D | Real-time process for defining, processing and delivering a highly customized contact list over a network |
US6839424B1 (en) * | 2000-10-03 | 2005-01-04 | Netcall Plc | Telephony system |
US7564957B1 (en) * | 2000-10-20 | 2009-07-21 | Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc. | Method and system for call center screening |
US6636590B1 (en) * | 2000-10-30 | 2003-10-21 | Ingenio, Inc. | Apparatus and method for specifying and obtaining services through voice commands |
EP1356691A2 (en) * | 2000-10-30 | 2003-10-29 | Telera, Inc. | Call center management for wireless access network |
US8515821B2 (en) * | 2000-11-13 | 2013-08-20 | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Online system and method for locating and referring an automobile dealer to customers |
US7116977B1 (en) * | 2000-12-19 | 2006-10-03 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | System and method for using location information to execute an action |
US7181225B1 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2007-02-20 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | System and method for surveying wireless device users by location |
US7428411B2 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2008-09-23 | At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. | Location-based security rules |
US7085555B2 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2006-08-01 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Location blocking service from a web advertiser |
US7245925B2 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2007-07-17 | At&T Intellectual Property, Inc. | System and method for using location information to execute an action |
US7224978B2 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2007-05-29 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Location blocking service from a wireless service provider |
US7130630B1 (en) | 2000-12-19 | 2006-10-31 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Location query service for wireless networks |
US7110749B2 (en) * | 2000-12-19 | 2006-09-19 | Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation | Identity blocking service from a wireless service provider |
EP1220551A1 (en) * | 2000-12-28 | 2002-07-03 | Alcatel | Provision of localized multimedia services |
US7289623B2 (en) * | 2001-01-16 | 2007-10-30 | Utbk, Inc. | System and method for an online speaker patch-through |
US6567514B2 (en) * | 2001-01-17 | 2003-05-20 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Method and system for processing telephone calls via a remote tie-line |
US7054431B2 (en) * | 2001-01-17 | 2006-05-30 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Method and system for generating call data reports |
US6771753B2 (en) * | 2001-01-17 | 2004-08-03 | Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. | Billing for abbreviated dialing plan service |
US7039681B2 (en) * | 2001-02-15 | 2006-05-02 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Method of initiating a telecommunication session between a resource provider and a patron |
US20020133402A1 (en) | 2001-03-13 | 2002-09-19 | Scott Faber | Apparatus and method for recruiting, communicating with, and paying participants of interactive advertising |
US7751548B1 (en) * | 2001-03-15 | 2010-07-06 | Alex Mashinsky Family Trust | System and method for facilitating targeted marketing over a telecommunications network |
US20020178030A1 (en) * | 2001-03-23 | 2002-11-28 | Loeb Marvin P. | Method and system for promotion of non-invasive and less invasive medical procedures on the internet and by other means |
US7068772B1 (en) | 2001-03-30 | 2006-06-27 | Accessline Communications Corporation | Economical call processing system and method, such as for providing one-number telecommunication services |
US6778660B2 (en) | 2001-04-06 | 2004-08-17 | Concerto Software, Inc. | Customer interaction system |
NZ511180A (en) * | 2001-04-19 | 2003-10-31 | Zeacom Group Ltd | Call handling method |
US20020164012A1 (en) * | 2001-05-01 | 2002-11-07 | Eyal Sadot | Method for providing information |
US7809121B2 (en) | 2001-06-22 | 2010-10-05 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Identification of calling devices dialing a universal number to access a telecommunications relay service center |
US6704403B2 (en) | 2001-09-05 | 2004-03-09 | Ingenio, Inc. | Apparatus and method for ensuring a real-time connection between users and selected service provider using voice mail |
US7555111B2 (en) * | 2001-11-29 | 2009-06-30 | At&T Intellecutal Property I, L.P. | System and method for star code dialing |
US7890393B2 (en) | 2002-02-07 | 2011-02-15 | Ebay, Inc. | Method and system for completing a transaction between a customer and a merchant |
US6718021B2 (en) * | 2002-02-19 | 2004-04-06 | Sbc Properties, L.P. | Method and system for presenting customized call alerts in a service for internet caller identification |
US6954524B2 (en) * | 2002-06-07 | 2005-10-11 | Sbc Properties, L.P. | System and method for implementing and accessing call forwarding services |
US8108231B2 (en) | 2002-06-14 | 2012-01-31 | The Crawford Group, Inc. | Method and apparatus for improved customer direct on-line reservation of rental vehicles |
US20040039612A1 (en) | 2002-06-14 | 2004-02-26 | Neil Fitzgerald | Method and apparatus for customer direct on-line reservation of rental vehicles |
US6757364B2 (en) * | 2002-08-23 | 2004-06-29 | Usa★Usa★Usa, Llc | Voice-activated telephone directory |
US7876744B2 (en) | 2002-11-14 | 2011-01-25 | Ey-Taeg Kwon | Method for collect call service based on VoIP technology and system thereof |
US20040225511A1 (en) * | 2003-05-07 | 2004-11-11 | Gould Mark B. | Method for phone solicitations |
US20040242239A1 (en) * | 2003-05-27 | 2004-12-02 | Ombek Ltd. | Method and apparatus for broadcasting data to mobile devices within a specific locality |
US7359498B2 (en) * | 2003-06-12 | 2008-04-15 | Utbk, Inc. | Systems and methods for arranging a call |
US7698183B2 (en) | 2003-06-18 | 2010-04-13 | Utbk, Inc. | Method and apparatus for prioritizing a listing of information providers |
US7000869B2 (en) * | 2003-09-22 | 2006-02-21 | The Boeing Company | Cross section for a supersonic airplane |
US8140389B2 (en) | 2003-10-06 | 2012-03-20 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for pay for deal advertisements |
US8837698B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2014-09-16 | Yp Interactive Llc | Systems and methods to collect information just in time for connecting people for real time communications |
US9208495B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2015-12-08 | Yellowpages.Com Llc | Methods and apparatuses for advertisement presentation |
US20070140451A1 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2007-06-21 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and Systems for Pay For Performance Advertisements |
US10425538B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2019-09-24 | Yellowpages.Com Llc | Methods and apparatuses for advertisements on mobile devices for communication connections |
US7428497B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2008-09-23 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for pay-per-call advertising in mobile/wireless applications |
US20070121845A1 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2007-05-31 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for offline selection of pay-per-call advertisers via visual advertisements |
US7366683B2 (en) | 2003-10-06 | 2008-04-29 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for offline selection of pay-per-call advertisers |
US9203974B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2015-12-01 | Yellowpages.Com Llc | Methods and apparatuses for offline selection of pay-per-call advertisers |
US9202220B2 (en) * | 2003-10-06 | 2015-12-01 | Yellowpages.Com Llc | Methods and apparatuses to provide application programming interface for retrieving pay per call advertisements |
US20050154648A1 (en) * | 2003-11-04 | 2005-07-14 | Strause Todd M. | Interactive lead generation system having a web-based application for reporting and following up with leads and methods of use thereof |
US20050125286A1 (en) * | 2003-12-03 | 2005-06-09 | Jason M. Crippen | Voice mail advertising system |
US7386111B2 (en) | 2004-02-10 | 2008-06-10 | Vonage Network Inc. | Method and apparatus for placing a long distance call based on a virtual phone number |
WO2005084187A2 (en) * | 2004-02-23 | 2005-09-15 | I4 Licensing Llc | Verification and authorization of a consumer transaction |
US20050220288A1 (en) * | 2004-03-31 | 2005-10-06 | Huey Christopher A | Technique for routing a call to a call center based on the geographic origin of the call |
US20140316928A1 (en) * | 2004-04-23 | 2014-10-23 | Mark Springer | Method and system for businesses to acquire profitable customers |
US20050249344A1 (en) * | 2004-05-07 | 2005-11-10 | Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. | Network delivery of personalized caller identification |
US20060015400A1 (en) * | 2004-07-14 | 2006-01-19 | Pinotti Thomas J | Processing data for an advertising program conducted in association with a telecommunications network |
US7970690B2 (en) * | 2004-08-19 | 2011-06-28 | Leadpoint, Inc. | System for implementing automated open market auctioning of leads |
US8571951B2 (en) | 2004-08-19 | 2013-10-29 | Leadpoint, Inc. | Automated attachment of segmentation data to hot contact leads for facilitating matching of leads to interested lead buyers |
US8924247B2 (en) * | 2004-08-19 | 2014-12-30 | LoadPoint, Inc | Ranking system using instant post-transaction surveying of transaction judges |
US7403762B2 (en) | 2004-10-29 | 2008-07-22 | Skyhook Wireless, Inc. | Method and system for building a location beacon database |
US8369264B2 (en) | 2005-10-28 | 2013-02-05 | Skyhook Wireless, Inc. | Method and system for selecting and providing a relevant subset of Wi-Fi location information to a mobile client device so the client device may estimate its position with efficient utilization of resources |
US8380158B2 (en) * | 2004-12-06 | 2013-02-19 | Edward A. McCulloch | System and method for vital communications connectivity |
US20080261657A1 (en) * | 2004-12-21 | 2008-10-23 | Mobilmax, Inc. | Plug-In Device for Enabling Mobile Telephone to Execute Applications |
US8001040B2 (en) | 2005-01-25 | 2011-08-16 | Ebay Inc. | Computer-implemented method and system for dynamic consumer rating in a transaction |
US20080069327A1 (en) * | 2005-02-08 | 2008-03-20 | Kingsley Christopher G | Apparatus and method for providing enhanced telecommunications services |
US8538768B2 (en) | 2005-02-16 | 2013-09-17 | Ingenio Llc | Methods and apparatuses for delivery of advice to mobile/wireless devices |
KR101249178B1 (en) | 2005-02-22 | 2013-04-03 | 스카이후크 와이어리스, 인크. | Continuous data optimization in positioning system |
US8934614B2 (en) * | 2005-02-25 | 2015-01-13 | YP Interatcive LLC | Systems and methods for dynamic pay for performance advertisements |
US20060229974A1 (en) * | 2005-04-11 | 2006-10-12 | I4 Licensing Llc | Method of extending credit to at least one consumer and method of processing a transaction between a consumer and a merchant |
US7527195B2 (en) * | 2005-04-11 | 2009-05-05 | Bill Me Later, Inc. | Method and system for risk management in a transaction |
US8756099B2 (en) * | 2005-04-11 | 2014-06-17 | Bill Me Later, Inc. | Consumer processing system and method |
KR100857019B1 (en) * | 2005-04-19 | 2008-09-05 | 주식회사 엘지화학 | Mechanically and Electrically Connecting Member |
US8041021B2 (en) * | 2005-06-13 | 2011-10-18 | Tekelec | Methods, systems, and computer program products for selecting a global title translation mode based on an originator of a signaling message and performing global title translation according to the selected mode |
US20070036288A1 (en) * | 2005-07-18 | 2007-02-15 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Personalized telephone number |
US7517355B2 (en) * | 2005-09-08 | 2009-04-14 | Medafor, Incorporated | Method of supporting and/or applying particulate materials |
US8599832B2 (en) | 2005-09-28 | 2013-12-03 | Ingenio Llc | Methods and apparatuses to connect people for real time communications via voice over internet protocol (VOIP) |
US7924989B1 (en) | 2005-10-14 | 2011-04-12 | Aol Inc. | Intelligent link telephone communications |
US9008075B2 (en) | 2005-12-22 | 2015-04-14 | Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. | System and methods for improving interaction routing performance |
US8681778B2 (en) * | 2006-01-10 | 2014-03-25 | Ingenio Llc | Systems and methods to manage privilege to speak |
US9197479B2 (en) * | 2006-01-10 | 2015-11-24 | Yellowpages.Com Llc | Systems and methods to manage a queue of people requesting real time communication connections |
US8271309B2 (en) | 2006-03-16 | 2012-09-18 | The Crawford Group, Inc. | Method and system for providing and administering online rental vehicle reservation booking services |
US20070217391A1 (en) * | 2006-03-16 | 2007-09-20 | Tekelec | Methods, systems, and computer program products for setting congestion levels for a plurality of routes to a common destination |
US20080013446A1 (en) * | 2006-04-12 | 2008-01-17 | Tekelec | Methods, systems, and computer program products for selectively limiting access to signaling network nodes that share a point code |
SE531400C2 (en) * | 2006-05-10 | 2009-03-24 | Rebtel Networks Ab | telephone Communication |
US20070286083A1 (en) * | 2006-06-09 | 2007-12-13 | Tekelec | Methods, systems and computer program products for individually identifying and disabling circular routes from a plurality of active routes to a common destination |
US20080082515A1 (en) * | 2006-10-03 | 2008-04-03 | Gould Mark B | Methods and systems for initiating phone calls using a predictive dialer |
US20080101248A1 (en) * | 2006-10-31 | 2008-05-01 | Tekelec | Methods, systems and computer program products for selective network management in a network having multiple active routes to a common destination that are keyed by different combinations of parameters |
US8554669B2 (en) | 2007-01-09 | 2013-10-08 | Bill Me Later, Inc. | Method and system for offering a credit product by a credit issuer to a consumer at a point-of sale |
US8433648B2 (en) * | 2007-02-26 | 2013-04-30 | Bill Me Later, Inc. | Method and system for engaging in a transaction between a consumer and a merchant |
US20080243674A1 (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2008-10-02 | Leadpoint, Inc. | System for automated trading of informational items and having integrated ask-and -post features |
US20080263460A1 (en) * | 2007-04-20 | 2008-10-23 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and Systems to Connect People for Virtual Meeting in Virtual Reality |
US20080262910A1 (en) * | 2007-04-20 | 2008-10-23 | Utbk, Inc. | Methods and Systems to Connect People via Virtual Reality for Real Time Communications |
US20080272188A1 (en) | 2007-05-02 | 2008-11-06 | I4 Commerce Inc. | Distributed system for commerce |
US8838476B2 (en) * | 2007-09-07 | 2014-09-16 | Yp Interactive Llc | Systems and methods to provide information and connect people for real time communications |
US8284914B2 (en) * | 2008-01-02 | 2012-10-09 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method for determining a telecommunications address |
US8634796B2 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2014-01-21 | William J. Johnson | System and method for location based exchanges of data facilitating distributed location applications |
US8761751B2 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2014-06-24 | William J. Johnson | System and method for targeting data processing system(s) with data |
US9078095B2 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2015-07-07 | William J. Johnson | System and method for location based inventory management |
US8600341B2 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2013-12-03 | William J. Johnson | System and method for location based exchanges of data facilitating distributed locational applications |
US8639267B2 (en) * | 2008-03-14 | 2014-01-28 | William J. Johnson | System and method for location based exchanges of data facilitating distributed locational applications |
US8566839B2 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2013-10-22 | William J. Johnson | System and method for automated content presentation objects |
US8582728B2 (en) | 2008-05-05 | 2013-11-12 | Freddie B. Ross | Web-type audio information system using phone communication lines (audio net pages) |
US8503643B2 (en) * | 2008-05-07 | 2013-08-06 | Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. | Location- and presence-based media session routing |
CA2665055C (en) * | 2008-05-23 | 2018-03-06 | Accenture Global Services Gmbh | Treatment processing of a plurality of streaming voice signals for determination of responsive action thereto |
CA2665014C (en) | 2008-05-23 | 2020-05-26 | Accenture Global Services Gmbh | Recognition processing of a plurality of streaming voice signals for determination of responsive action thereto |
CA2665009C (en) * | 2008-05-23 | 2018-11-27 | Accenture Global Services Gmbh | System for handling a plurality of streaming voice signals for determination of responsive action thereto |
US8155666B2 (en) | 2008-06-16 | 2012-04-10 | Skyhook Wireless, Inc. | Methods and systems for determining location using a cellular and WLAN positioning system by selecting the best cellular positioning system solution |
US8719164B2 (en) | 2008-06-19 | 2014-05-06 | Bill Me Later, Inc. | Method and system for engaging in a transaction between a business entity and a merchant |
US8948367B2 (en) * | 2008-08-19 | 2015-02-03 | Avaya Inc. | Rerouting of trunks by a PBX to an alternate PBX |
US8611874B2 (en) * | 2008-08-26 | 2013-12-17 | Neustar Information Services, Inc. | Automated mobile intelligent call processing system |
US20100099441A1 (en) * | 2008-10-17 | 2010-04-22 | Sanjay Agarwal | Mobile Device Advertising |
US9584959B2 (en) * | 2008-11-24 | 2017-02-28 | Tekelec Global, Inc. | Systems, methods, and computer readable media for location-sensitive called-party number translation in a telecommunications network |
US9219677B2 (en) * | 2009-01-16 | 2015-12-22 | Tekelec Global, Inc. | Methods, systems, and computer readable media for centralized routing and call instance code management for bearer independent call control (BICC) signaling messages |
US8320542B2 (en) * | 2009-01-26 | 2012-11-27 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and system for telephone numbers linking callers with greater functionality |
US8638256B2 (en) | 2009-09-29 | 2014-01-28 | Skyhook Wireless, Inc. | Accuracy and performance of a hybrid positioning system |
EP2635915B1 (en) | 2010-11-03 | 2016-05-18 | Skyhook Wireless, Inc. | Method of system for increasing the reliability and accuracy of location estimation in a hybrid positioning system |
WO2013063507A1 (en) | 2011-10-26 | 2013-05-02 | Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation | Wireless tracking of power tools and related devices |
WO2013133870A2 (en) | 2012-03-07 | 2013-09-12 | Snap Trends, Inc. | Methods and systems of aggregating information of social networks based on geographical locations via a network |
US10158213B2 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2018-12-18 | Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation | Worksite power distribution box |
US9466198B2 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2016-10-11 | Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation | Wireless tracking of power tools and related devices |
US9414294B2 (en) * | 2013-07-25 | 2016-08-09 | 800 Response Information Services Llc | Method for decoupling caller routing services and off-net data acquisition |
US9477991B2 (en) | 2013-08-27 | 2016-10-25 | Snap Trends, Inc. | Methods and systems of aggregating information of geographic context regions of social networks based on geographical locations via a network |
US9894489B2 (en) | 2013-09-30 | 2018-02-13 | William J. Johnson | System and method for situational proximity observation alerting privileged recipients |
US11205153B1 (en) | 2013-11-15 | 2021-12-21 | Grubhub Holdings, Inc. | System and method for determining time of delivery of order |
CN107241484A (en) * | 2016-03-29 | 2017-10-10 | 中兴通讯股份有限公司 | Method of calling, device, system and call management system |
US11715056B2 (en) | 2021-03-16 | 2023-08-01 | Bank Of America Corporation | Performance monitoring for communication systems |
US11595527B2 (en) | 2021-03-16 | 2023-02-28 | Bank Of America Corporation | Dynamic routing for communication systems |
USD959552S1 (en) | 2021-07-21 | 2022-08-02 | Speedfind, Inc | Display sign |
Family Cites Families (11)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3556530A (en) * | 1968-05-23 | 1971-01-19 | Howard Miller | Game having quick prize indication for wide area use |
US3614328A (en) * | 1969-06-24 | 1971-10-19 | Kenneth Eugene Mcnaughton | Automatic subscriber answering service |
US3928724A (en) * | 1974-10-10 | 1975-12-23 | Andersen Byram Kouma Murphy Lo | Voice-actuated telephone directory-assistance system |
US4139739A (en) * | 1977-07-05 | 1979-02-13 | Tdx Systems, Inc. | Telecommunications call back system |
US4164025A (en) * | 1977-12-13 | 1979-08-07 | Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated | Spelled word input directory information retrieval system with input word error corrective searching |
US4178476A (en) * | 1978-05-26 | 1979-12-11 | Frost Edward G | Automatic nationwide paging system |
US4313035A (en) * | 1980-01-18 | 1982-01-26 | Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated | Method of providing person locator service |
US4310727A (en) * | 1980-02-04 | 1982-01-12 | Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated | Method of processing special service telephone calls |
US4341929A (en) * | 1980-03-20 | 1982-07-27 | Zelex, Inc. | Memory accessing system |
US4577062A (en) * | 1983-09-02 | 1986-03-18 | Butler National Corporation | Method for dispensing information |
US4608460A (en) * | 1984-09-17 | 1986-08-26 | Itt Corporation | Comprehensive automatic directory assistance apparatus and method thereof |
-
1987
- 1987-06-17 US US07/064,127 patent/US4757267A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1988
- 1988-06-16 CA CA000569675A patent/CA1294346C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US4757267A (en) | 1988-07-12 |
US4757267B1 (en) | 1991-05-21 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
CA1294346C (en) | Telephone system for connecting a customer to a supplier of goods | |
JP2705864B2 (en) | Call connection method | |
EP0909504B1 (en) | Telephone polling method | |
US5848131A (en) | Automatic information and routing system for telephonic services | |
CA2335128C (en) | Automatic routing and information system for mobile telephonic services | |
US5652785A (en) | Enhanced wide area audio response network | |
US6091810A (en) | Automatic routing and information system for telephonic services | |
US5479491A (en) | Integrated voice-mail based voice and information processing system | |
US5805688A (en) | Automated system and method for call handling | |
US6980640B2 (en) | Automated right-party contact telephone system | |
US20070098146A1 (en) | Automated right-party contact telephone system | |
US6359978B1 (en) | Service bureau Caller ID collection with ISDN BRI | |
US6343073B1 (en) | Method and system for efficient link utlization | |
EP1064773B1 (en) | Telecommunications network | |
US6744880B1 (en) | Method for creating a telephone digital switching platform | |
Pangalos | Private telecommunications systems: a systems approach | |
Pangalos | PRIVATE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | |
AU3579300A (en) | Support for change of numbers |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
MKLA | Lapsed |