Personalized assistance system and method
First Claim
1. A personalized assistance system for a user of a telephone, the personalized assistance system comprising:
- a first database, the first database having a contact list for the user, the contact list including at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number;
telephony hardware, the telephony hardware coupling the telephone to the database;
a customer service representative terminal coupled to the database and the telephone hardware, the customer service representative terminal searching the first database in response to a user query to locate a designated contact from the user'"'"'s contact list and causing the telephony hardware to connect the telephone with the contact number corresponding to the designated contact.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for a personalized directory assistance system are provided. The system allows a user to speak with a customer service representative (CSR) by dialing an easy to remember telephone number on their phone. Specialized telephony equipment routes the call. to the customer service representative and the user'"'"'s personal contact list made available to the (CSR). The CSR searches the user'"'"'s personal contact list in accordance with the user'"'"'s request. The CSR'"'"'s terminal generates a call completion string and sends it to the telephony equipment using an out-of-band signaling network for release link transfer switching. The user'"'"'s personal contact list can be populated by the user via a web browser, by interacting with the CSR, by synchronizing a personal information manager or personal digital assistant database or by sending a facsimile or the service provider.
34 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A personalized assistance system for a user of a telephone, the personalized assistance system comprising:
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a first database, the first database having a contact list for the user, the contact list including at least one contact name and a corresponding contact number;
telephony hardware, the telephony hardware coupling the telephone to the database;
a customer service representative terminal coupled to the database and the telephone hardware, the customer service representative terminal searching the first database in response to a user query to locate a designated contact from the user'"'"'s contact list and causing the telephony hardware to connect the telephone with the contact number corresponding to the designated contact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31)
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16. A system for populating and maintaining a list of personal contact data for a user of the system, the system comprising:
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at least one user terminal;
a web server coupled to the at least one user terminal through a communication network, the web server receiving personal contact update data from the at least one user terminal;
a first database coupled to the web server, the first database storing the list of personal contact data; and
the list of personal contact data stored in the first database being updated with the personal contact update data received by the web server.
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28. A signaling method for a personal assistance system, the method comprising the steps of:
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translating a first dial string sent from a telephone to a second dial string, the second dial string identifying an originating switch at least one of the originating service and originating service provider for the telephone;
transmitting the second dial string to a computer terminal;
searching a database to identify a destination contact number;
searching the database to identify a network address of the originating switch, the network address being identified in accordance with the second dial string; and
sending the destination number to the network address of the originating switch using an out-of-band network.
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32. A method for using a telephone to contact a service for searching a database of contact numbers for a desired contact number and connecting a calling telephone to the desired contact number, the method comprising the steps of:
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calling a telephone number associated with the service;
routing data corresponding to the call to a computer terminal;
searching the database for a contact list corresponding to an identification number of the calling telephone;
retrieving the contact list;
searching the contact list for the desired contact number;
sending call completion data to a switch, the call completion data corresponding to the desired contact number; and
connecting the call to the desired contact number. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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38. A method for populating and maintaining a list of personal contact data for a user of a personalized assistance system, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving personal contact update data from a user terminal;
storing a list of personal contact data in a first database; and
periodically synchronizing the list of personal contact data stored in the first database with the received personal contact update data.
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50. A method for using a telephone to contact a service for searching a database for desired information and performing an operation requested by a user, the method comprising the steps of:
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calling a telephone number associated with the service;
routing data corresponding to the call to a computer terminal;
searching the database for a contact list corresponding to an identification number of the calling telephone;
retrieving the contact list from the database;
receiving a requested operation from the user;
performing the requested operation. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53)
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Specification