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:
Aug. 29, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 02, 1996
Robert F Galgano, Jr, Iowa City, IA (US);
Patrick Lutwitze, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Glenn E Highland, Marion, IA (US);
Sarah A Miller, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Tivis C Mobberley, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Christopher P Tofanelli, Marion, IA (US);
Timothy Darland, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Samuel Mullins, Iowa City, IA (US);
MCI Communications Corporation, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A system for routing telephone calls to operator consoles based on the type of call so that an appropriate operator can handle the call. The system comprises an Automated Call Distributor (ACD), adjunct processor nodes, and a call routing distribution system. The ACD receives calls, offers the calls to an adjunct processor node, receives instructions on routing the calls from the adjunct processor node, and routes the calls based on the received instructions. The ACD has links through which the calls are offered and the instructions on call routing are received. Each adjunct processor node is connected to the ACD through the links. The adjunct processor node receives call routing specifications from the call routing distribution system, receives the offered calls, determines to which operator console (or group of operator consoles) the offered call should be routed based on the call routing specifications, and provides an indication of the determined operator console to the ACD through a link as routing instructions. Each link of the ACD is connected to two adjunct processor nodes so that if one adjunct processor node fails, the ACD can receive instructions from the other adjunct processor to which a link is connected. The call routing distribution system inputs call routing specifications and distributes the call routing specifications to the adjunct processor nodes so that each adjunct processor node has the same call routing specification.