At+t Corp.

At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone and Telegraph, Co.

Margaret H Redberg

Steven F Knittel

Gerard Conn

Valentine C Matula

Gregory C Sheehan

Percy B Brown

Steven David Simon

Steven T Kaish

Robert A Malmi

Robert Anthony Checchio

Michael M Winseck, Jr

Brenda L Casselman

Steven T Heinsius

Rise J Frankel

Margaret A Burd

William G Kuchenbecker

Lindsay A Shur

Arnold Chester McQuaide, Jr

William T Shampine

Dawn E Staniforth

Roger K Simonson

Dimitri T Stein

Judith L Sherman

Bernadette M Strout

Nancy A Kowalsky

Vandana S Chakravarti

R Paul Christmann

A voice mail system voice mail mailbox having a message container storing a plurality of messages and a pointer indicating a message in the message container. The pointer is initially set to point to a first message in the message container. A first user accesses the voice mail mailbox. At the same time, or any time thereafter, a second user also accesses the voice mail mailbox. Responsive to a command from the first user, the first message is played to the first user. The pointer is then updated to point to a second message in the message container. Responsive to a command from the second user, the second message is played to the second user, simultaneously with the first message being played to the first user.

Voice mail system with multi-retrieval mailboxes

Calls made to an 800 service subscriber are routed to the subscriber's primary location via a telephone network switch operating in conjunction with a specially configured adjunct processor. The adjunct processor is arranged to monitor the call even after it is answered by an attendant or other subscriber personnel at the primary location. If the call is to be redirected from the primary location to an alternate location, the adjunct is signaled, typically by a DTMF sequence. The adjunct responds by putting the calling party on hold and by initiating a call to the alternate location on an outgoing trunk of the network switch, in such a way that it emulates or imitates both the routing (call treatment) and billing the characteristics of a call made from the original customer location. Redirection can then be completed in one of three ways: blind transfer, consultation, or conference. Billing for the call is arranged so that the subscriber of the 800 number originally dialed by the calling party at the customer location pays only for the portion of the call in which the primary location is actively involved in communications with the calling party. The subscriber providing the 800 number for the alternate location pays for the portion of the call in which the alternate location is involved, as though the call originated from the customer's location and proceeded directly to the alternate location, without having been rerouted at the network switch. Thus, the subscriber is not charged for any period of time which is not 'used' by that subscriber.

Post answer telephone call redirection or rerouting

A facility is provided for redirecting a call from one destination point in a communications network to another destination point in the event that the call is not answered within a predetermined period of time, or in the event that after the call has been answered, the called party requests such redirection.

Method of redirecting a telephone call to an alternate destination

An agent at home (12) is enabled to receive a call from a customer (14), originally directed to a transaction-processing center (16), by first identifying, at an exchange (20) of a public switched telephone network (22), the identity of the transaction-processing center and the agent(s) designated to receive calls directed to that center. Once the agent (12) has been identified, the call is routed from a first local exchange carrier central office (18) serving the customer to a local exchange carrier central office (26) serving the agent and then to the agent across a combined voice and data line (44). Upon receipt of the call, the agent simultaneously establishes a data link with the transaction-processing center so as to complete a transaction for the customer.

Home agent telecommunication technique

A telemarketing complex is managed by a system that compiles and processes traffic analysis data obtained from customer premises-based information sources as well as public switched telecommunications network-based information sources, such that service levels are automatically and dynamically balanced among telecommunications centers (TCs) in the complex. Typically, the telemarketing complex is comprised of a plurality of ACDs and a plurality of data centers that may be selectively linked to the (TCs) where the telemarketer receives calls. The system includes: (1) an interface to network-based services that report the origin and destination of each of a plurality of calls received by the telemarketer at all locations; (2) an interface to network-based services that enables the telemarketer to affect changes in call processing logic; and (3) a traffic control center processor (TCCP) that accepts input data from all other elements in the system. The system accumulates performance data at the TCCP from each ACD and telemarketer database located at a data center (DC), while contemporaneously monitoring both the origins and destinations of the plurality of calls received at each ACD as well as the initiation of changes in call processing logic. The system analyzes the data to generate signals for implementing call routing changes needed to balance service levels among ACDs or changes in the staffing force levels at selected TCs where calls are received. The process is accomplished in real time, and is repeated at a desired frequency.

Telemarketing complex performance management system

Growing community of inventors

Red Bank, NJ, United States of America

Margaret H Redberg