Facilitating navigation of an interactive voice response (IVR) menu to establish a telephone connection
First Claim
1. A method of facilitating a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity accessed via an interactive telephone menu, the method comprising:
- receiving from the subscriber a series of menu selections for navigating the interactive telephone menu, wherein said series of menu selections corresponds to the entity;
establishing a first connection with the interactive telephone menu; and
submitting said series of menu selections to the interactive telephone menu.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for facilitating navigation of an interactive voice response (IVR) menu. When a subscriber desires a connection (e.g., telephone call) with an organization or other entity accessed though an IVR menu, the system maps or translates the IVR menu options into a textual or graphical format for presentation on a suitable subscriber device (e.g., computer, PDA, telephone). The mapped IVR options may be provided to the subscriber in real-time, while the subscriber is connected to the organization. Or, the mapping may be presented off-line so that the subscriber may select a navigation path or destination prior to a connection being established. The system may enter the menu choices (e.g., via DTMF signals) for the subscriber, and the caller may be connected to the call before or after the target of the call answers.
177 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method of facilitating a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity accessed via an interactive telephone menu, the method comprising:
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receiving from the subscriber a series of menu selections for navigating the interactive telephone menu, wherein said series of menu selections corresponds to the entity;
establishing a first connection with the interactive telephone menu; and
submitting said series of menu selections to the interactive telephone menu. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of facilitating a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity accessed via an interactive telephone menu, the method comprising:
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receiving from the subscriber a series of menu selections for navigating the interactive telephone menu, wherein said series of menu selections corresponds to the entity;
establishing a first connection with the interactive telephone menu; and
submitting said series of menu selections to the interactive telephone menu.
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20. An automated method of facilitating a subscriber'"'"'s navigation of an interactive telephone menu to reach a desired entity, the method comprising:
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identifying a set of menu options offered by the interactive telephone menu;
presenting said set of menu options to the subscriber in a graphical form;
receiving from the subscriber a selection of a subset of said set of menu options, wherein said subset of menu options correspond to the entity;
transmitting to the interactive telephone menu said subset of menu options; and
telephonically connecting the subscriber with the entity. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform an automated method of facilitating a subscriber'"'"'s navigation of an interactive telephone menu to reach a desired entity, the method comprising:
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identifying a set of menu options offered by the interactive telephone menu;
presenting said set of menu options to the subscriber in a graphical form;
receiving from the subscriber a selection of a subset of said set of menu options, wherein said subset of menu options correspond to the entity;
transmitting to the interactive telephone menu said subset of menu options; and
telephonically connecting the subscriber with the entity.
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32. A method of establishing a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity, through an interactive telephone menu, the method comprising:
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receiving from a subscriber a request for a telephone connection with an entity, wherein telephone access to the entity is through an interactive telephone menu;
eliciting from the subscriber a series of menu options within the interactive telephone menu that correspond to the entity;
establishing a telephone connection with the interactive telephone menu;
submitting said series of menu options to the interactive telephone menu; and
after the entity answers said telephone connection, joining the subscriber to said telephone connection.
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33. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of establishing a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity, through an interactive telephone menu, the method comprising:
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receiving from a subscriber a request for a telephone connection with an entity, wherein telephone access to the entity is through an interactive telephone menu;
eliciting from the subscriber a series of menu options within the interactive telephone menu that correspond to the entity;
establishing a telephone connection with the interactive telephone menu;
submitting said series of menu options to the interactive telephone menu; and
after the entity answers said telephone connection, joining the subscriber to said telephone connection.
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34. A method of facilitating a telephone connection between a first party and a second party selected on the basis of one or more criteria provided by the first party, comprising:
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receiving from a first party a request for a telephone connection;
identifying a second party to the telephone connection using one or more criteria provided by the first party, wherein said one or more criteria do not include a telephone number;
establishing a first connection with an interactive telephone voice menu associated with the second party;
navigating the interactive telephone voice menu to reach the second party; and
establishing said telephone connection between the first party and the second party.
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35. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of facilitating a telephone connection between a first party and a second party selected on the basis of one or more criteria provided by the first party, the method comprising:
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receiving from a first party a request for a telephone connection;
identifying a second party to the telephone connection using one or more criteria provided by the first party, wherein said one or more criteria do not include a telephone number;
establishing a first connection with an interactive telephone voice menu associated with the second party;
navigating the interactive telephone voice menu to reach the second party; and
establishing said telephone connection between the first party and the second party.
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36. A method of automatically establishing a telephone connection between a first party and a second party, wherein neither of the first party and the second party knows the other party'"'"'s telephone number used for the telephone connection, the method comprising:
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receiving from a first party a request for a telephone connection with a second party, wherein the first party identifies the second party with an identifier other than a telephone number;
accessing an interactive telephone menu associated with the second party;
navigating the interactive telephone menu to reach the second party; and
establishing said telephone connection between the first party and the second party.
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37. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of automatically establishing a telephone connection between a first party and a second party, wherein neither of the first party and the second party knows the other party'"'"'s telephone number used for the telephone connection, the method comprising:
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receiving from a first party a request for a telephone connection with a second party, wherein the first party identifies the second party with an identifier other than a telephone number;
accessing an interactive telephone menu associated with the second party;
navigating the interactive telephone menu to reach the second party; and
establishing said telephone connection between the first party and the second party.
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38. A system for facilitating a telephone connection between a subscriber and an entity accessed through an interactive telephone menu, comprising:
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presentation means for presenting to a subscriber a set of options offered by an interactive telephone menu;
signal means for signaling a subset of said interactive telephone menu options to the interactive telephone menu, wherein said subset of said interactive telephone menu options is selected by the subscriber; and
connection means for establishing a telephone connection between the subscriber and an entity associated with said subset of said interactive telephone menu options. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A system for facilitating a telephone connection between a subscriber and a destination entity, through an interactive telephone menu, the system comprising:
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a menu presenter configured to present to the subscriber, in visual form, a set of menu options offered by the interactive telephone menu;
a menu navigator configured to navigate the interactive telephone menu according to a series of menu options specified by the subscriber, wherein said series of menu options corresponds to the destination entity; and
a call server configured to establish a telephone connection between the subscriber and the destination entity. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification