System and Method for Avoiding Hold Times on a Telephone Call

• US 20080317234A1
• Filed: 06/20/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Renger, Bernard S., Di Fabbrizio, Giuseppe, Stern, Benjamin J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,774,387 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/211.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4283 Call holding circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4286 Notifying a held subscriber when his held call is removed from hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/48 Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal

Abstract

A method and system including receiving a communication from a source, the communication including a request to connect to a destination, connecting, via a communication link, to the destination, detecting an event on the communication link to the destination, and connecting the source to the destination after detecting the event.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a communication from a source, the communication including a request to connect to a destination;

connecting, via a communication link, to the destination;

detecting an event on the communication link to the destination; and

connecting the source to the destination after detecting the event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting, via the communication link, to the destination includes:

establishing a new connection to the destination.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting, via the communication link, to the destination includes:

joining an existing connection to the destination.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is a telephone call from the source, and wherein the connecting, via a communication link, occurs while the telephone call from the source remains connected.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the detecting occurs after the telephone call has been disconnected.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a prompt to the destination, wherein the prompt informs the destination on how to generate the event.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the event is one of a touch-tone input and a voice input.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the source when the event is detected.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the source to the destination is based on one of an automatic number identification (“

ANI”

) of the source, a caller-identification number of the source, a user-identified number by the source, and a pre-registered number by the source.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a notification to the source indicating that the event has yet to be detected while connected, via the communication link, to the destination.

11. A system, comprising:

a receiving module receiving a communication from a source, the communication including a request to connect to a destination;

a detection module detecting an event on a communication link to the destination; and

a reciprocal holding module connecting, via the communication link, to the destination, and connecting the source to the destination after detecting the event.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the reciprocal holding module connects, via the communication link, by establishing a new connection to the destination.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the reciprocal holding module connects, via the communication link, by joining an existing connection to the destination.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the reciprocal holding module provides a prompt to the destination prior to detecting the event on the communication link, wherein the prompt informs the destination on the how to generate the event.

15. The system of claim 14, where the prompt further informs the destination of information relating to the source.

16. A device, comprising:

a user interface receiving destination information from a user;

a transceiver configured to place and receive telephone calls;

a processor instructing the transceiver to place a telephone call to a destination based on the destination information, wherein the processor monitors the telephone call to detect an event and generate an indication based on the detection of the event;

a user output module receiving the indication and providing an output to the user; and

a user communication module being connected to the telephone call by the processor.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor receives instructions to monitor the telephone call for the event prior to instructing the transceiver to place the telephone call.

18. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor receives instructions to monitor the telephone call for the event after instructing the transceiver to place the telephone call.

19. A computing device, comprising:

a processing module instructing a transceiver to place a telephone call to a destination based on destination information received from a source, wherein the processing module monitors the telephone call to detect an event and generate an indication based on the detection of the event; and

a computer readable storage medium including a set of instructions executable by the processing module, the set of instructions operable to;

receiving a communication from the source, the communication including a request to connect to the destination;

connecting, via the transceiver, the telephone call to the destination;

detecting the event on the telephone call to the destination; and

connecting the source to the destination after detecting the event.