METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED CALENDAR SELECTIONS

• US 20080298350A1
• Filed: 08/12/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Discovery Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Jefferson Valley LLC (Allied Security Trust)
• Inventors: Croak, Marian, Eslambolchi, Hossein
• Granted Patent: US 8,199,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reserving an appointment in a communications network is described. In one embodiment, a request is received from a caller to schedule an appointment with an enterprise customer, wherein the request is processed in accordance with a media server in the communications network. A scheduling calendar is then accessed. Afterwards, the appointment is reserved with one of a plurality available appointment time slots.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling an appointment in a communications network, comprising:

receiving a first request from a caller to schedule said appointment with an enterprise customer, wherein said first request is processed in accordance with a media server in said communications network;

accessing at least one scheduling calendar of said enterprise customer from a plurality of scheduling calendars of different enterprise customers;

in response to said first request, providing at least one available appointment time slot to said caller;

receiving a second request to reserve said appointment at said at least one of one available appointment time slot; and

reserving said appointment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said communications network comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the IP network comprises at least one of:

a Voice over IP (VoIP) network or a Service over IP (SoIP) network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing is performed using an interactive voice response (IVR) application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said second request to reserve said appointment by said caller is reserved in response to either a phone keypad signal or a voice instruction signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one scheduling calendar comprises an electronic calendar that is accessed by said media server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one scheduling calendar comprises a plurality of scheduling calendars, where each of said plurality of scheduling calendars is associated with a different entity of said enterprise customer.

8. An apparatus for scheduling an appointment in a communications network, comprising:

means for receiving a first request from a caller to schedule said appointment with an enterprise customer, wherein said first request is processed in accordance with a media server in said communications network;

means for accessing at least one scheduling calendar of said enterprise customer from a plurality of scheduling calendars of different enterprise customers;

means for providing at least one available appointment time slot to said caller in response to said first request;

means for receiving a second request to reserve said appointment at said at least one available appointment time slot; and

means for reserving said appointment.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said communications network comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the IP network comprises at least one of:

a Voice over IP (VoIP) network or a Service over IP (SoIP) network.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said means for providing comprises an interactive voice response (IVR) application.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said second request to reserve said appointment by said caller is reserved in response to either a phone keypad signal or a voice instruction signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said scheduling calendar comprises an electronic calendar that is accessed by said media server.

14. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method for scheduling an appointment in a communications network, comprising:

receiving a first request from a caller to schedule said appointment with an enterprise customer, wherein said first request is processed in accordance with a media server in said communications network;

accessing at least one scheduling calendar of said enterprise customer from a plurality of scheduling calendars of different enterprise customers;

in response to said first request, providing at least one available appointment time slot to said caller;

receiving a second request to reserve said appointment at said at least one available appointment time slot; and

reserving said appointment.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said communications network comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the IP network comprises at least one of:

a Voice over IP (VoIP) network or a Service over IP (SoIP) network.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said providing is performed using an interactive voice response (IVR) application.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said second request to reserve said appointment by said caller is reserved in response to either a phone keypad signal or a voice instruction signal.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said scheduling calendar comprises an electronic calendar that is accessed by said media server.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said at least one scheduling calendar comprises a plurality of scheduling calendars, where each of said plurality of scheduling calendars is associated with a different entity of said enterprise customer.