Patent ID: 6359981
Filing Date: 2002-03-19
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A telephony call center, comprising:a plurality of agent stations, individual ones of the agent stations having a telephone connected to a telephone trunk from a telephony network level Service Control Point (SCP) and also having a computer platform; a local area network (LAN) connecting at least some of the computer platforms at the agent stations; a processor connected on the LAN having both a connection to an Internet network for Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) and a data link to the SCP separate from the telephone trunk; and a Telephone Application Programming Interface (TAPI)-compliant bridge circuit between the telephone and the computer platform in individual ones of the agent stations; wherein the call center receives conventional telephone calls from the conventional telephony network from the SCP, and also receives IPNT calls from the Internet, separate from the conventional telephony network, at the Internet connection, and distributes both the IPNT calls and conventional calls to the agent stations based on the status of agents at the computer platforms determined by the processor monitoring both the status of agents handling both conventional calls received at agent station telephones and IPNT calls received at the Internet connection, and wherein, at an agent workstation having the TAPI-compliant bridge, an agent may utilize the telephone in interacting with an IPNT call routed to the computer platform at the agent workstation.