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. 23, 2005
Filed:
May. 31, 2002
Nathan Bryant Baker, Tigard, OR (US);
Christopher Alan Huey, Banks, OR (US);
Nathan Bryant Baker, Tigard, OR (US);
Christopher Alan Huey, Banks, OR (US);
Metro One Telecommunications, Inc., Beaverton, OR (US);
Abstract
In an information assistance service environment, after information assistance is provided to a caller, the caller may request to have the information assistance service provider complete the call. In the prior art, the call was routed back to the carrier switch from which the information assistance service provider received the call, and that carrier completed the call. In the invention, the information assistance service provider chooses how to route the call to the destination requested by the caller. A routing database including routes available to terminate the call is searched and the call is routed after considering a number of criteria such as availability of routing trunks, the LATA (local access and transport area) within which the destination phone number resides, pricing information, or a combination of these criteria. Routing may be accomplished using a local exchange carrier (LEC), an inter-exchange (or long-distance) carrier (IXC), an inter-machine transfer trunk (IMT), which connects two or more information assistance service centers, or a combination of these.