Telephone system adapted to telemarketing

In a merchandising business wherein telephone subscribers' responses are solicited by various commercial advertisements via the television and/or radio media, merchandising agents receive such telephone responses in order to accept requests for goods and services and to expedite deliveries and billings. A telephone system is disclosed wherein a portion of a direct dialled number associated with an advertised product is forwarded to an information server. The information server provides information about the product, such information being displayable at a data display terminal adjacent a merchandising agent's position. In the case where a group of merchandising agents is accessed via an automatic call distributing feature in the telephone system, the voice call and the data information appear at a selected merchandising agent's position at about the same time, thereby informing the agent as to the particular item of interest and its attributes in association with the voice call.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to the field of merchandising via telecommunications 
mediums. More particularly, the invention relates to adaptations of 
telephone systems and the like, for a merchandising function, sometimes 
referred to as telemarketing. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Advertisements of merchandise and services via the electronic medium of 
television and radio are well known commercial activities. Some of these 
advertisements solicit a telephone response in order to facilitate 
delivery of merchandise and payment for same. Upon witnessing a particular 
advertisement, an interested person dials a telephone number as given in 
the advertisement, to speak with a merchandising agent. The merchandising 
agent is located at some convenient place for this purpose and in the 
first instant was provided with a telephone having a directory number as 
given in the advertisement. Thus, soon after an occurrence of the 
advertisement, a great many telephone calls may be directed to the 
merchandising agent. As the merchandising agent and a potential customer 
are in telephone conversation, subsequent telephone calls from other 
potential customers are not completed. Actually, many potential customers 
become discouraged with repeated attempts to reach the merchandising 
agent. Furthermore, the intially aroused impulse to purchase deteriorates 
with time, such that some potential purchasers never make more than one 
attempt to complete a telephone call to the merchandising agent. 
Consequently, a very significant amount of business is lost. Attempts to 
reduce the amount of lost business includes the employ of more 
merchandising agents along with an automatic call distribution system so 
that many potential customers are served at the same time. However, as the 
rate at which calls occur is highest just after the occurrence of the 
advertisement, employment of sufficient agents and telephones to respond 
to this peak calling rate results in a high proportion of idle agents 
during intervals between airing occurrences of the advertisement. An 
advantageous reduction in the number of employed agents can be achieved by 
providing the telephone system with a call waiting feature. With the call 
waiting feature, when an agent is not immediately available, the caller is 
exposed to further information or entertainment intended to urge the 
potential customer to remain active in the telephone call for a period 
long enough for one of the agents to become available to receive the call. 
Nevertheless, there remains a balancing problem in regard to optimizing 
the business activity so the least amount of operating expenses per unit 
volume of sales is achieved. 
An alternate solution lies in having a plurality of advertisements which 
direct the potential purchasers to the same group of merchandising agents. 
In such an arrangement, the workload of the agents may be more randomly 
distributed and their time hence more efficiently utilized. However, this 
incurs a major disadvantage in that the merchandising agent must query the 
potential customer as to which of the various products the caller is 
interested in. The agent's function is therefore more complicated and 
probability of error is increased. Errors frequently result in wrong 
shipments and subsequent corrective costs which may nullify any initial 
cost saving. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide a telephone system and method 
which optimizes a number of calls per unit time which may be correctly 
handled by a merchandising agent in a telemarketing business. 
In accordance with the invention a controller in a telephone switching 
system operates in a call progress to recognize a dialled telephone number 
as being within a special number group. Thereafter, in a process of 
completing the call in progress, at least the last digit of the dialled 
telephone number is transmitted to an information server apparatus which 
is operative in association with the telephone call to provide displayable 
information for use by a called party. 
The invention is a telephone method for automatically identifying an item 
of purchase to a merchandising agent. The merchandising agent is provided 
with a telephone station set and an information display. The method 
includes the steps of assigning a plurality of directory numbers to the 
telephone station set and storing a product information in association 
with each of the telephone directory numbers, in a storage medium. In 
response to an incoming telephone call to one of the directory numbers, 
the incoming telephone call is connected to the telephone station set and 
an indication of the directory number is communicated to the information 
storage medium. The product information associated with the directory 
number is transmitted from the storage medium to the information display 
where it is displayed to automatically inform the merchandising agent as 
to the item for purchase. 
In one example, telemarketing features in accordance with the invention are 
provided in a private branch exchange (PBX). A switching network, and a 
call controller for controlling the switching network in the PBX provide 
for a direct inward dialing feature such that in operation, a telephone 
call routed to the PBX via a central office telephone facility is directly 
connectable to a telephone station set connected to the PBX and associated 
with a corresponding PBX directory number. The call controller causes a 
direct inward dialled call which identifies one of a predetermined 
plurality of PBX directory numbers to be connected, via the switching 
network, to a predetermined telephone station set. The call controller 
also causes the PBX directory number to be communicated to an information 
server in response to each occurrence of a direct inward dialled telephone 
call of a number corresponding to one of the plurality of predetermined 
PBX directory numbers. The information server includes memory means 
wherein information is stored in association with each of the 
predetermined plurality of PBX directory numbers. The information server 
is responsive to each of the directory numbers, when communicated thereto, 
for routing the associated information from the memory means to the 
switching network and hence be directed by the call controller to an 
information display means associated with the telephone station set. 
In every example of the invention, a call controller in the telephone 
switching system causes an indication of an incoming dialled telephone 
number to be directed to an information server or the like. Such 
indication is directed via a direct signalling path between the call 
controller and a common information server or is directed via a 
supervisory and signalling path associated with a data call or a pseudo 
data call which is directed to an information server dedicated to a 
telephone terminal to which said incoming dialled telephone call is 
directed for completion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, a central telephone switching office (CO) 10 is 
coupled via a central office (CO) trunk 11 to a private telephone branch 
exchange (PBX) 20 for providing the telemarketing feature. The PBX 20 is 
connected to an information server 30 via a signalling path 29 and a PBX 
trunk 28. A merchandising agent position at 40 includes a telephone set 41 
including a handset or a headset 42 for use in a manner as depicted in the 
diagram. The telephone set 41 is connected via a telephone line 43 to the 
PBX 20. The merchandising agent position at 40 also includes a display 
data terminal 46 connected via a telephone line 47 to the PBX 20. The PBX 
20 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2, wherein the CO trunk 11 is of 
the analog signal type and is coupled to a TDM PCM switching network 22 by 
a trunk interface circuit 24. The PBX trunk 28 is coupled to the switching 
network 22 by a trunk interface circuit 27. In this example, the telephone 
line 43 is of the analog signal type and is connected to the switching 
network 22 by a line interface circuit 25. The circuits 24 and 25 each 
include encoders and decoders (not shown) commonly referred to as CODECs 
for connecting between analog signals and the digital signal format of the 
switching network 22. A digital line interface circuit 26 provides for 
coupling of the data display terminal 46 with the switching network 22. A 
call controller 21 provides for operation of the switching network to 
provide the normal PBX operation and to invoke and control the 
telemarketing feature via the signal path 29 which is connected to the 
information server which is illustsrated in more detail in FIG. 3. 
The PBX 20 is a simplified illustration of a TDM PCM Communication System 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,399 which issued to Bruce Robert Barrett 
and Alan Stanley John Chapman on Jan. 17, 1978. 
The information server in FIG. 3 includes a call controller 33, a trunk 
interface circuit 34 a features processor 35 and a storage unit 36 all 
interconnected to a bus 31 and having access thereto for signal 
transmission as determined by a bus controller 32. The structure and 
operation of a suitable information server is disclosed in more detail in 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,685 titled Packet and Circuit Switched Communications 
Network, and issued to Prem C. Jain and Frederick Enns on Aug. 26, 1986. 
The telemarketing feature is provided for by the feature processor 35 and 
by applications programs and merchandising information stored in the 
storage unit 36. 
In order for the telemarketing feature to be invoked, a direct inward 
dialled call is completed through the central office 10 to the PBX 20. Of 
necessity, such calls include signalling of the PBX extension directory 
number from the CO 10 to the PBX 20. Referring to FIG. 1, the call is 
originated by a telephone subscriber 1, via a telephone set 3 and a 
subscriber telephone line 4, in response to an advertisement received by 
the telephone subscriber via a television receiver 2. If the extension 
directory number resides within a group of numbers reserved for the 
telemarketing feature, the call controller 21 establishes a voice call 
connection between the trunk or channel of the incoming call and the 
station set at a merchandising agent's position at 40. It should be 
understood that there may be many different numbers in the group but as 
few as only one agent's position. However, more practically, there are 
normally a plurality of agent's positions. There is no fixed relationship 
between the number of agent's positions and the extension directory 
numbers assigned to items of merchandise. At the same time the voice call 
connection is established, the call controller 21 sets up the connection 
through the switching network 22 and the extension directory number is 
transmitted via the signalling path 29 to the call controller 33, in the 
information server in FIG. 3. The extension directory number is passed on 
to the features processor 35, via the bus 31, which in turn responds by 
fetching corresponding mechandise information from the storage unit 36. 
The call controller 33 also reserves a channel via the trunk interface 
circuit 34 and the PBX trunk 28 for data communication between the 
features processor 35 and the switching network. The call controller 21 in 
FIG. 2 is informed of this data communication channel via the signalling 
path 29 so that it can set up a communication path through the switching 
network 22 to the display data terminal 46 at the merchandising agent's 
position 40, to which it previously directed the direct inward dialled 
call. Once the data communication path is completed the call controller 21 
informs the call controller 33 which in turn sets up a syncronous channel 
on the bus 31 between the features processor 35 and the trunk interface 
circuit 34. Subsequently, the merchandising information is transferred to 
the data display terminal 46 and displayed there to assist the 
merchandising agent in handling the calling customer's purchase request. 
Of course, the merchandising information may be displayed immediately as 
it is available or alternately the display may be contingent upon the 
merchandising agent answering the call. 
The functions as discussed in the preceeding paragraph are sequentially 
illustrated in the flow chart in FIGS. 4a and 4b. 
The telemarketing feature as provided in the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 
1, 2 and 3 with reference to the previously mentioned patents may also be 
provided on a more limited scale by apparatus as generally depicted in 
FIG. 5. In this case, an agent position 60 is connected directly to a 
central office 50 of an operating telephone company, such central office 
being arranged to provide business oriented telephone services sometimes 
referred to as Centrex. The central office 50 is arranged to recognize 
predetermined merchandise directory numbers as being in a group for 
automatic call distribution to a group of the agent positions 60. Each of 
the agent positions 60 includes a telephone terminal 61 and a personal 
computer 65, the personal computer 65 having been loaded with appropriate 
telemarketing merchandise information. The central office 50 directs the 
telephone call to the agent position 60 via a line interface circuit 52 
which is connected to the telephone terminal 61 and to a remote line 
interface circuit 62. The central office is adapted to signal the last few 
digits of each inward call occurrence to the line interface circuit 52 
associated with the agent position. The remote line interface circuit at 
the agent position passes these digits to the personal computer 65 which 
is thus enabled to display the required merchandise information. 
Elements appropriate for providing the line interface circuits and the 
remote line interface circuits as illustrated in FIG. 5 are disclosed in 
more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,427, titled Subscriber Loop System for 
Voice and Data which issued on Apr. 26, 1983 to William E. Cheal et al, 
and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,556, titled Digital Signal Subscriber Loop and 
Interface Circuit which issued on May 22, 1984 to Alberto Boleda and 
Terence N. Thomas. 
It will become apparent to the reader that the basic telemarketing feature 
as described herein, and variations of same, may well be enhanced. For 
example, such enhancement includes key board entry of details of the 
customers voiced purchase quantity and method of payment. Such entered 
data is used to generate the required accounting, billing, packaging, 
shipping and delivering functions normally associated with this type of 
merchandising function, and such entered data may be used locally or 
transmitted via the telephone system to remote locations. 
Alternately it is envisaged that the merchandising function is completely 
automated such that machine generated voice communication is directed to 
the calling party, such machine voice communication being designed to 
solicit detectable touch tone key pad responses from the customer for 
ordering and confirmation functions, et cetera.