Technique for continually assisting a user during an information assistance call
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for providing an information assistance service, comprising:
- receiving a call from a user, the call including an information assistance request;
conducting a search on a database in response to the request;
storing a result of the search in association with the call;
connecting the user to a communications device associated with a desired party;
reconnecting the user to an information assistance provider to further assist the user during the call;
retrieving the search result;
performing an analysis of the search result; and
further assisting the user based on the analysis;
wherein the further assistance involves a second search, and a result of the second search is stored in association with the call in anticipation of the user returning to a second information assistance provider during the call.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A user may want to search for relevant information and/or conduct a transaction through an information assistance service. During an information assistance call, the user may return to an information assistance provider multiple times to accomplish the task at hand. To continually serve the user effectively, certain search results by previous information assistance providers are retained for the benefit of a future information assistance provider interacting with the user during the same call.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for providing an information assistance service, comprising:
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receiving a call from a user, the call including an information assistance request;
conducting a search on a database in response to the request;
storing a result of the search in association with the call;
connecting the user to a communications device associated with a desired party;
reconnecting the user to an information assistance provider to further assist the user during the call;
retrieving the search result;
performing an analysis of the search result; and
further assisting the user based on the analysis;
wherein the further assistance involves a second search, and a result of the second search is stored in association with the call in anticipation of the user returning to a second information assistance provider during the call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for providing an information assistance service, comprising:
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receiving a call from a user, the call including an information assistance request; and
performing the following one or more times;
(a) conducting a search on a database for a destination telephone number associated with a party desired by the user;
(b) connecting the user to a communications device associated with the destination telephone number;
(c) storing the destination telephone number in association with the call;
(d) reconnecting the user to an information assistance provider during the call;
(e) retrieving the destination telephone number;
(f) conducting a reverse search on the destination telephone number; and
(g) assisting the user based on a result of the reverse search. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for providing an information assistance service, comprising:
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an interface for receiving a call from a user, the call including an information assistance request;
a database, a search being conducted on the database in response to the request;
storage for storing a result of the search in association with the call;
a first mechanism for connecting the user to a communications device associated with a desired party;
a second mechanism for reconnecting the user to an information assistance provider to further assist the user during the call, the search result being retrieved from the storage; and
a server for performing an analysis of the search result, the user being further assisted based on the analysis;
wherein the further assistance involves a second search, and a result of the second search is stored in association with the call in anticipation of the user returning to a second information assistance provider during the call. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for providing an information assistance service, comprising:
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an interface for receiving a call from a user, the call including an information assistance request; and
a processing unit configured to perform the following one or more times;
(a) conducting a search on a database for a destination telephone number associated with a party desired by the user;
(b) connecting the user to a communications device associated with the destination telephone number;
(c) storing the destination telephone number in association with the call;
(d) reconnecting the user to an information assistance provider during the call;
(e) retrieving the destination telephone number;
(f) conducting a reverse search on the destination telephone number; and
(g) assisting the user based on a result of the reverse search. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification