Patent ID: 7567653

Claim:
A contact processing method, comprising: (a) receiving at a contact server, an incoming contact from a communication device of a contactor; (b) in response to step (a), transmitting, by a gateway, at least one TTY character to the contactor's communication device; (c) determining, by the server whether a TTY response from the contactor's communication device is received by the gateway within a selected time, wherein steps (b) and (c) are performed before the contact is routed to a contact center resource; and (d) applying, by the server, the following rules: (D1) when a TTY response is received within the selected time, routing, by the server, the contact to a TTY-enabled contact center resource; and (D2) when no TTY response is received within the selected time, processing, by the server, the contact as a non-TTY-enabled contact and routing the contact to the contact center resource.