AT&T Intellectual Property I, LP

Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.p.

Bobby Sams

Jonathan A Paden

Jon Harris

Kurt M Joseph

Jon Paden

Antonio Green

Dennis Collins

Wei Li

Stanford Emery Pennington, Jr

Scott Newman

Donna McCaffrey

Paul L Dent

A method includes receiving a call from a primary interactive voice response (IVR) system at a load-balancing IVR system. The primary IVR system routes a first percentage of calls to routing logic and a second percentage of calls to the load-balancing IVR system. A telephony system is selected from among a plurality of telephony systems based on agent availability data associated with call center sites of the plurality of telephony systems. The method includes routing the call to a routing protocol component of the routing logic, where the routing protocol component routes the call to a call center of the selected telephony system.

Dynamic load balancing between multiple locations with different telephony system

A method for resetting Internet access account passwords can include the step of connecting a user with an interactive voice response system (IVR). At least one access account associated with the user can be determined. The IVR can validate that the user is authorized to access the access account. The IVR can then cause a password associated with the at least one access account to be reset. The IVR can also present the reset password to the user.

Automated password reset via an interactive voice response system

A call routing system stores includes a processor that retrieves account information from a storage and identifies a previously provided telecommunications service that was provided to the party based on the account information. The processor restricts access to telecommunications services based on the identified previously provided telecommunications service and determines additional telecommunications services, distinct from the previously provided telecommunications service, desired by the party. The processor receives a selection from the party of the additional telecommunications services and processes a service request from the party based upon the selection by the party. A routing element suppresses routing of the call to a service center that provides the previously provided telecommunications service that was provided to the party, and routes the call to a service center that provides the additional telecommunications services selected by the party.

Method and apparatus for proper routing of customers

A customer-agent routing system () has a memory (B) for storage, and a processor (A) for controlling operations of the memory. The processor is programmed to retrieve () from the memory historical information about a calling party, restrict () access to one or more of a plurality of services according to the retrieved historical information, and process () a service request from the calling party according to the restricted services.

A server for automatically handling dial-up connectivity problems via a voice connection can include a controller to interface with a caller during a voice call, query a network operations center using a data connection to determine whether a dial-up number associated with the caller and received by the server is out of service, and present alternative dial-up numbers during the voice call without prompting the caller for further information. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Reporting dial up access problems using a real-time automated system

A system and method for dynamic load balancing between telephony systems are provided. The system includes an input to receive a call from a primary interactive voice response (IVR) system. The system also includes an IVR unit responsive to the call to receive input from a caller. The system also includes logic to select a telephony system from among a plurality of telephony systems based on the input from the caller and based on agent availability data of the plurality of telephony systems. The system further includes at least one output to send the received call for allocation to a call center site of the selected telephony system based on a routing protocol associated with the selected telephony system.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a method to monitor service outages of a service center, detect a service outage, identify one or more customers affected by the service outage, and assign a credit to each of the affected one or more customers. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Method and apparatus for issuing a credit

An automated IVR apparatus for notifying entities of customer-specific information. An automated IVR application that enables subscribers to check the status of their DSL line and to report problems in real time. A 'Service Restoration Callback' application enables a service provider to automatically contact a customer via telephone when service is restored after an outage. The customer can configure parameters concerning the received callback. An outage detection module checks all available systems for the status of a customer's service on a real-time, customer-by-customer, call-for-call basis.

System and method for automatically notifying a customer via phone of service restoration

A method for an automated voice response system to present access numbers to dial-up Internet users. The automated voice response system can perform the step of establishing a telephony communication with a party responsive to a received telephone call from the party. An indicator a service region within which dial-up Internet access is requested can be received by the automated voice response system. At least one data store can be queried for access numbers associated with the service region. A response to the querying step can be dynamically generated. The generated response can be customized specifically for the telephony communication. When the response includes at least one access number, the included access number or numbers can be presented to the party across the telephone communication.

Intelligently providing dialup access numbers using an automated voice response system

A method for reporting and responding to dial-up connectivity problems can include the step of establishing a voice connection between a caller and an automated response system. The caller can be automatically prompted for a dial-up access number that is problematic for the caller. A determination can be automatically made as to whether the received dial-up access number is valid. A potential problem can be automatically reported to a network operations center responsible for the access number via a data connection. The caller can be automatically presented with at least one alternative dial-up access number via the voice connection.

Reporting dial-up access problems using a real-time automated system

A method for resetting access account passwords using an interactive voice response system (IVR) can include the step of the IVR receiving a user request to reset a password. Account identification data can be acquired. The acquired data can be matched to account information stored in at least one compartmentalized system. The matching can identify at least one access account for which the user request applies. The IVR can also receive account verification data and compare this data with data stored within the compartmentalized system associated with the identified access account. Based upon results of this comparison, the IVR can reset the password stored within the compartmentalized system. The IVR can be configured to reset passwords for several compartmentalized systems.

Resetting access account passwords of a multitude of compartmentalized systems

An account management system () is coupled to a service center () serving a number of customers (). The account management system has a communications interface (), a memory (), and a controller (). The controller is programmed to monitor () service outages of the service center, detect () a service outage, identify () one or more customers affected by the service outage, and assign () a credit to each of the affected one or more customers.

Method and apparatus for automated billing and crediting of customer accounts

An allocation component allocates its received calls among a plurality of telephony systems including a first telephony system and a second telephony system. A first routing protocol (RP) component distributes those of the calls allocated to the first telephony system among a first plurality of call center sites. A second RP component distributes those of the calls allocated to the second telephony system among a second plurality of call center sites. A load-balancing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system dynamically distributes its received calls between the plurality of telephony systems based on agent availability data associated with the first and second plurality of call center sites and the second plurality of call center sites. A primary IVR receives a plurality of calls and routes a first percentage thereof to the allocation component and a second percentage thereof to the load-balancing IVR system.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Bobby Sams