The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 28, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 25, 1997
Applicant:
Inventor:
John Joseph O'Donovan, Galway, IE;
Assignee:
Northern Telecom Limited, Montreal, CA;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04M / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
379114 ; 379115 ; 379121 ; 379265 ; 379266 ;
Abstract
During a telephone call to a call center, in a first portion of the call is placed in a call queue, and the call center apparatus generates a pre-answer signal which is interpreted by a central office apparatus to meter and bill a cost of the call to a receiving party operating the call center. When the call is connected to an interactive device, e.g. a call center agent's telephone handset, the call center generates a call answer signal which is transmitted to the central office apparatus, and interpreted as a signal to meter and bill a second portion of the call, containing interactive communication to a caller.