Patent ID: 8565408

Claim:
One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method for routing a communications request to help facilitate a call between a user and a desired recipient by making use of an intermediary agent (“agent”), the method comprising: receiving said communications request, which (1) is associated with said user, and (2) includes a request to ultimately reach said desired recipient; retrieving a set of preferences associated with said user; retrieving agent-profile data related to a plurality of agents who may respond to said communications request; prior to the communications request reaching a specific agent, preselecting said specific agent from said plurality of agents based on said set of preferences and one or more of statistical data related a given agent and said profile data, wherein said specific agent possesses attributes consistent with at least a portion of the set of preferences and profile data; and routing said communications request to said specific agent, who is able to receive said communications request and facilitate said call, whereby said preselecting said specified agent substantially eliminates any delay that would otherwise be present between receiving said communications request at a telephony server and directing said request to said selected agent.