Patent ID: 8670549

Claim:
A method for processing a communication received at a communications center over a communications network, comprising: determining, with a processor, whether a sender of the communication sent previous communications to the communications center based on identification information obtained from the communication, the determining including querying a database for user data matching the identification information, wherein the sender of the communication is determined to be a first time sender to the communications center when the user data does not match the identification information; processing the communication by generating a report by an agent from a first group of agents when it is determined that the sender did not send previous communications to the communications center and storing the identification information associated with the sender; and re-processing the communication by retrieving an existing service report by an agent from a second group of agents when it is determined that the sender sent previous communications to the communications center associated with the existing service report, a determination that the sender sent previous communications to the communications center being made when the identification information matches the user data, the user data associated with the existing service report and the communication being a request for status information regarding the existing service report, wherein the existing service report is generated based on information provided by the sender, and includes an estimated period for completing a repair, wherein processing the communication includes queuing the communication when no agents from the first group of agents are available to process the communication and routing the communication to an agent from the first group of agents, without any input from the sender, when the agent from the first group of agents becomes available to process the communication, wherein re-processing the communication includes queuing the communication when no agents from the second group of agents are available to re-process the communication and routing the communication to an agent from the second group of agents, without any input from the sender, when the agent from the second group of agents becomes available to process the communication, wherein the identification information provided by the sender further comprises an identifier for the sender, a communication address for the sender, and a description of a problem, wherein the problem relates to one of services and equipment, wherein the database stores the identifier for the sender, the communication address for the sender and the description of the problem, wherein the communication is routed based on data stored in the database, wherein communication management and routing functionality is implemented on a private branch exchange with automatic communication distributor functionality, and wherein the database is implemented on a remote computing device connected over a local area network.