Patent ID: 8223948

Claim:
A multi-tiered communication system for minimizing communication latency for a caller in a remote location who initiates contact with a local data center, the system comprising: a local data center located in a first location, the local data center including one or more Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) functions that are configured for use with a caller who initiates contact with the local data center; and a remote media server located in a second location that is remote from the first location, the remote media server configured to route an incoming call from the caller to the local data center, to route one or more IVR messages to the caller and to connect the caller with an agent for real-time communication, the agent being located in one of the second location or a third location that is closer to the second location than the first location; wherein having the local data center in the first location enables the one or more IVR messages to be received by the caller after a period of expected delay and wherein having the remote media server in the second location enables the real-time communication between the caller and the agent to be within an acceptable latency.