Patent ID: 6061347
Filing Date: 2000-05-09
Classification: H04M,H04Q

Abstract:
A method of providing a voice path between a customer call connection received from a public switched telephone network at a switch of an automatic call distributor and an agent of the automatic call distributor at a remote location from the automatic call distributor and also a data path between a terminal of the agent and a host of the automatic call distributor, such method comprising the steps of:receiving a call from the customer at a first port of the switch of the automatic call distributor along with an ANI and DNIS number of the call from the public switched telephone network;determining which agent should handle the call based upon the ANI and DNIS numbers;transferring a telephone number of the determined agent to a modem of the automatic call distributor;transferring the telephone number of the agent from the modem of the automatic call distributor to the public switched telephone network for setup of a dedicated call connection between the modem of the automatic call distributor and modem of the terminal of the agent;setting up the dedicated telephone connection through the public switched telephone network between the automatic call distributor and agent at the remote location;establishing a call connection between the voice application of the automatic call distributor and the customer through the call switch of the automatic call distributor;transferring a local area identifier of the voice application of the automatic call distributor to a controller of the modem of the automatic call distributor and an identifier of the modem of the automatic call distributor to the voice application of the automatic call distributor;providing a voice application within the terminal of the agent which operates between the dedicated connection and an audio speaker and microphone of the agent and which converts between voice internet protocol of the dedicated connection and audible information of the agent;establishing a voice internet protocol communication link between the automatic call distributor and agent through the dedicated connection for exchange of voice information between the customer and agent; andestablishing a data link between a database application of the host and a database application of the terminal of the agent through the dedicated connection.