Lucent Technologies Inc.

At+t Corp.

Kerry Wayne Hassler

Joylee E Kohler

Paul Lawrence Richman

Robert Daniel Nalbone

Cynthia C Jones

A telephone switching system (100), such as an ACD switching system in a call center, is used to broadcast information for users, such as displayable messages, to telecommunications terminals (110-112, 212), such as display telephones or data terminals, of a plurality of the users, such as call center agents, by means of non-call-associated display messages that are transmitted over the terminals' telephone lines (120-122), at the request of one of the users, such as the supervisor of the call center. The one of the users requests the broadcast either by depressing a predetermined button on their terminal accompanied by dialing a message identifier, or by dialing a feature access code and a message identifier, or by sending an ISDN 'userinfo' or DCP 'route text message' message that contains the information for users. The switching system uses either stored data or data contained in the request to determine the destinees of the information for users. The switching system then broadcasts the information in either an ISDN 'userinfo' or 'notify' message or a DCP 'text' message to the destinees' terminals for displaying to the users of those terminals.

Broadcasting of information through telephone switching system display

In a telecommunications system that includes a plurality of user terminals and terminal translations that define attributes of the individual terminals, shared use of the terminals by a plurality of users, or use by a user of different ones of the terminals at different times, is facilitated. Each terminal's physical translations, which include for each terminal those attributes that are independent of the users of the terminal and which include a physical extension number, are associated with the corresponding terminals. Each terminal's default terminal translations, which include for each terminal those attributes that are dependent on the users of the terminal and which include a call-coverage path, also are associated with the corresponding terminals. Each user's logical translations, which include for each user those attributes that are independent of the terminals used by the user and which include a logical extension number and a call-coverage path, are associated with the corresponding users. Prior to a user logging on at a terminal, call processing uses the terminal's associated physical and default terminal translations to process calls originating at the terminal or addressed to the terminal, and redirects calls addressed to the user to the call-coverage path specified in the user's logical translations. Subsequent to a user logging on at a terminal, call processing uses the terminal's associated physical translations and the user's associated logical translations to process calls originating at the terminal or addressed to the user, and continues to use the terminal's associated physical and default terminal translations to process calls addressed to the terminal.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Kerry Wayne Hassler