Telephonic communications – Special services
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-16
2002-07-30
Matar, Ahmad (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Special services
C379S211020, C379S212010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06427006
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to communications systems, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for facilitating operator assisted telephone calls, automating operator services, providing enhanced telecommunications services, and detecting, reporting and correcting operator input errors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computer systems have become an integral part of providing communication services, e.g., telephone services. They are frequently used by telephone operators, e.g., to service operator assisted telephone calls. Operator assisted calls include, e.g., directory assistance calls, calls requesting initiating of telephone conferences, requests for billing credit, etc.
Human telephone operators frequently work at computer systems referred to as operator workstations. These workstations are normally coupled to a telephone switch via separate bidirectional data and audio channels of a T
1
Link. The pair of data/audio channels used to service telephone calls and convey call audio, call data and call processing instructions between a switch and an operator workstation is commonly referred to as an operator interface. Protocols which allow an operator to communicate with a switch over such an interface are commonly referred to as operator interface protocols. In order to allow an operator to support a wide range of call processing transactions operator protocols support call transfer, billing, call connection instructions, in addition to commands which allow an operator to issue credits and to do a wide range of other call processing operations from an operator workstation.
Current automated call processing devices, including most intelligent peripherals, tend to be designed for specific functions, e.g., speech recognition, which are much more clearly defined and limited in comparison to the wide range of call processing functions a human operator working at an operator workstation is expected to perform. Fully automated devices tend to use protocols and interfaces which are more limited in terms of functionality than the operator interfaces and protocols used to interface with manned operator workstations.
A conventional telephone system
100
including manned operator workstations for servicing telephone calls, e.g., directory assistance telephone calls, is illustrated in FIG.
1
.
As illustrated, the known telephone system
100
comprises a plurality of telephones
102
,
104
which are coupled by POTS lines to a digital multiplexed switch (DMS)
106
. The DMS
106
, in turn, is coupled to an operator service center (OSC)
110
via a T
1
link
108
. As is known in the art, a T
1
link comprises
24
communication channels, each of which may be used to communicate audio or data signals. In addition to the OSC
110
, the system
100
comprises a voice function node (VFN)
112
and a listing service data base (LSDB) located at a physical, usually central site, identified as the LSDB site
114
. The VFN is used for, e.g., playing prompts and providing listing information to a caller. The LSDB
116
is used to perform database look-up operations and to output both published and non-published telephone number listing information, e.g., to a telephone operator and/or the VFN
112
.
The LSDB is coupled to the OSC
110
, the DMS
106
and the VFN
112
by data lines
107
,
109
,
111
respectively. The VFN in turn, is coupled to the DMS by a voice line
113
.
The OSC
110
includes various components which facilitate the servicing of a call by a human operator. The OSC
110
includes a channel bank
118
, a pair of first and second protocol converters
120
,
122
, a local area network (LAN)
126
router
124
and a plurality of operator workstations
128
,
130
,
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
. While 6 operator workstations are shown, OSC's normally include additional workstations. The maximum number of workstations is, in part, limited by the number of T
1
links which are coupled to the OSC.
As discussed above, a T
1
link supports 24 channels. The channel bank
118
operates to separate the channels of the T
1
link
108
. As is customary, in the
FIG. 1
example two channels of the T
1
link are used for data and the remaining channels are used for audio signals. One audio channel per operator workstation is normally employed. In
FIG. 1
, the individual line entering the top of each operator workstation
128
,
130
,
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
represents the audio channel used by the operator workstation. The lines extending from the channel bank
118
to the protocol translators
120
,
122
each represent one data channel. A single T
1
data channel may be shared by multiple workstations. In the
FIG. 1
system since 2 of the T
1
's channels are used for data,
22
channels remain which may be used as voice channels. Accordingly,
22
operator workstations may be supported by the T
1
link
108
.
The protocol converters
120
,
122
convert between an X.25 communication protocol used by the switch and an Ethernet protocol used by the LAN
126
. The lines extending from the LAN
126
into the bottoms of the workstations
128
,
130
,
132
134
,
136
,
138
represent data connections. Accordingly, each workstation is supported using one pair of audio/data connections.
The use of a router
124
to couple the LAN
126
to the LSDB is illustrated in FIG.
1
. By using a router in this manner, operators working at the workstations can gain access to the LSDB site in order to obtain listing information required to service directory assistance calls.
Operator time is a large component of the cost of servicing a directory assisted telephone call. In order to reduce costs, the announcement of telephone listing information once determined through operator/customer interaction is now performed primarily by automated announcement systems which are sometimes called voice function nodes (VFNs). Because VFNs tend to be used after an operator has his/her interaction with the customer, the use of a VFN for telephone number announcement purposes represents an automated post-operator call processing operation. Such an operation is in contrast to a pre-operator call processing operation which would involve processing a call prior to it being presented to a human operator.
Directory assistance call processing using the known system
100
is exemplary of known operator assisted call processing techniques. For this reason, conventional servicing of a directory assistance call by a human operator using the system
100
will now be discussed.
Before a human operator can service calls, the operator must first login on the operator workstation. Operator login is normally initiated on a workstation
128
,
130
,
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
in response to the workstation detecting the manual insertion of a operator headset connection into a port on the workstation. In response to the human input, the operator workstation transmits a signal to the DMS indicating that the operator position is manned and ready to service calls. The login signal to the DMS includes an operator position ID which uniquely identifies the operator workstation. Because each operator workstation
128
,
130
,
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
provides a position where a single operator can work, a conventional operator workstation is sometimes referred to as an operator position. It also may include a signal indicating the types of calls which the operator is authorized to service.
Once an operator is logged in, an authorized operator can process directory assistance calls. The DMS
106
maintains queues of calls to be processed according to call type, e.g., a queue of DA calls is maintained. As a function of operator availability, the DMS
106
assigns calls from the queues to active operator positions which are authorized to service the queued calls.
Servicing of a queued DA call by the conventional system
100
, begins with the DMS
106
assigning the queued call to an available operator and connecting the call to the operator position
128
,
130
,
132
,
134
,
136
, or
138
to which the cal
Levas Suzi
Metaxas Mike
Reding Craig
Tanuku Rao
Yashchin Dina
Bell Atlantic Network Services Inc.
Deane William J.
Matar Ahmad
Straub Michael P.
Straub & Pokotylo
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