Telephonic communications – Plural exchange network or interconnection – Toll center
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-01
2001-03-20
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Plural exchange network or interconnection
Toll center
C379S088050, C379S091010, C379S265080, C379S309000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205215
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications call processing, and more particularly to a method of and system for providing operator assistance to inbound international direct distance dialed (IDDD) callers in the event their call cannot be completed as dialed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
International direct distance dialed calls present special problems for callers. Callers may not know that U.S. numbers consist of ten digits with a three-digit area code, a three-digit exchange prefix, and a four-digit number. Callers may not be familiar with changes in the national numbering plan for the country they are trying to call. Thus, callers may misinterpret the number he or she has been given to call, or they may simply dial the wrong number.
Currently, telephone systems provide only an audible tone or a switch-generated announcement message when an international direct distance dial call cannot be completed. Roughly one-third of all telephone calls dialed at overseas locations do not complete. A percentage of those calls are failed by the network because the caller misdialed, had a wrong number, or the call encountered technical difficulty at the receiving telephone network. The caller is usually prompted to hang up and try to call again. Usually, the caller is not able to verify the number is correct and confirm that he or she has dialed the number correctly. The caller may redial once or twice and then abandon the attempt or ask for special assistance from the local operator.
Calls to the United States are routed by foreign post telephone and telegraph (PTT) administrations and competitive carriers through U.S. international carriers according to agreements. Usually, when the call is redialed, the new call is routed to the United States through a different U.S. international carrier. Thus, when an international call fails, the international carrier that fails the call typically loses the revenue associated with that call, even if the call is redialed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for increasing revenues by completing more inbound calls on the caller's first attempt.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A new method and system is identified so that service providers are no longer limited to just providing simple tones and announcements to callers. The new method and system allow a service provider to use a variety of network resources to assist a caller immediately when the call encounters difficulty in the service provider's network. The new method and system may be applied to the specific telephone traffic stream received in the U.S. as international inbound direct distance dialed (IDDD). According to the present invention, the failing call attempt is redirected to an operator so the caller can receive both/either call completion and/or directory assistance.
Briefly stated, the present invention provides a method of and system for processing calls from a first country having a first national language to a second country. The method of the present invention receives a request to complete a call from the first country and determines if the call cannot be completed as dialed. If the method determines that the call cannot be completed as dialed, the method forwards the call to an operator who can speak the first national language for assistance.
The method of the present invention may provide an automated announcement that the call is being forwarded to an operator for assistance, thereby giving the caller an opportunity to hang up before the call is forward to the operator. The method may apply answer suppression to the call while the operator is providing assistance, so that the operator assistance portion of the call is not charged.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4677552 (1987-06-01), Sibley, Jr.
patent: 4899375 (1990-02-01), Bauer et al.
patent: 4958366 (1990-09-01), Hashimoto
patent: 5021889 (1991-06-01), Yamamoto
patent: 5136633 (1992-08-01), Tejada et al.
patent: 5210789 (1993-05-01), Jeffus et al.
patent: 5390242 (1995-02-01), Bales et al.
patent: 5566234 (1996-10-01), Reed et al.
patent: 5642396 (1997-06-01), Cowgill
patent: 5703935 (1997-12-01), Raissyan et al.
patent: 5987118 (1999-11-01), Dickerman et al.
Hoosain Allan
MCI Communications Corporation
Tsang Fan
LandOfFree
Method of and system for providing network-initiated... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of and system for providing network-initiated..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of and system for providing network-initiated... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2440151