Telephone answering system with call transfer

• US 5,249,221 A
• Filed: 01/24/1992
• Issued: 09/28/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Partner GmbH
• Original Assignee: Partner GmbH
• Inventors: Ketring, Thomas D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Application Number:
  US07/825,057
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: 379/210-214, 379/265, 379/266, 379/309, 379/88, 379/127, 379/245, 379/246
• US Class Current: 379/214.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• 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 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308

Abstract

A telephone answering service system in which calls to a telephone which can not be answered are forwarded to a unique number identifying a line in a first telephone company (TELCO) service and immediately forwarded by the first TELCO service to a second TELCO service which uniformly distributes received calls over a group of lines connected to the answering service and provides called number ID and line identification over a separate data line to the answering service. The answering service has a number of operator stations where the status of the group of lines is displayed and processing data relative to the called party is available to answer and forward received calls to another number.

Claims

1. A telephone answering system for receiving calls forwarded from the answering system'"'"'s client phones by the switched network over a group of lines and data including a unique number identifying the called client and data identifying a line in the group of lines on which a forwarded call resides comprising:

storage means for storing at least first and second files, said first file including a plurality of client records each corresponding to one of the unique client identifying numbers and including a name identifying the client and call processing information, said second file including a plurality of line records, one for each line in the said group of lines, each said line record including the status of the line, and an indicia for accessing the client record in the first file corresponding to the said unique number identifying data identifying the client provided by the switched network;

processing means connected to the said storage means and responsive to the said data supplied by the switched network identifying the unique number and the line on which the call resides for updating the said second file in the said storage means to reflect the current status of each line in accordance with the received data; and

at least one operator station connected to said lines and said storage means and including operator controlled means for fetching and displaying the contents of the said second file, for selectively fetching and displaying a client record in the said first file in accordance with the displayed line status and answering the call as instructed in the displayed client record.

2. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 1 in which said at least one operator station also includes:

a line flashing circuit,

a signal generator for generating signals representing dial digits;

selection means for selecting the line corresponding to the displayed client record;

connecting means for connecting said flashing circuit, said signal generator and the selection means in parallel; and

,

operator initiated means for sending a control signal to said flashing circuit to flash the selected line and to send dial digits stored in the client record to the signal generator whereby the call is transferred by the switched network to the telephone identified by the dial digits stored in the client record.

3. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 2 in which said selection means comprises:

a plurality of switching means one for each line in the said group of lines for selectively connecting the line to the said connecting means.

4. A telephone answering system for receiving calls forwarded from the answering system'"'"'s client phones by the switched network over a group of lines and data including a unique number identifying the called client and data identifying the line in the group of lines on which a forwarded call resides comprising:

storage means for storing first, second and third files, said first file having a plurality of first records each corresponding to a different one of the unique numbers identifying the clients and including therein call processing information for the identified client, said second file having a plurality of second records one for each of said unique numbers and including the associated client name and an indicia for accessing the corresponding first record in the first file and said third file having a plurality of third records one for each of the lines in the group of lines, each said third record including the status of the line and an indicia for accessing a first record in the first file;

processing means connected to the said storage means and responsive to the data from the switched network for updating a third record, identified by the received data, the said third file to reflect the current status of each line; and

at least one operator station connected to said lines and said storage means and including operator controlled means for displaying the contents of the said third file, selectively accessing and displaying a first record in the said first file and answering the call as instructed in the display first record from the first file.

5. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 4 in which said at least one operator station also includes:

a line flashing circuit,

a signal generator for generating signals representing dial digits;

selection means for selecting the line corresponding to the displayed client record;

connecting means for connecting said flashing circuit, said signal generator and the selection means in parallel; and

,

operator initiated means for sending a control signal to said flashing circuit to flash the selected line and to send dial digits stored in the client record to the signal generator whereby the call is transferred by the switched network to the telephone identified by the dial digits stored in the displayed first record.

6. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 5 in which said selection means comprises:

a plurality of switching means one for each line in the said group of lines for selectively connecting the line to the said connecting means.

7. A method of operating a telephone answering service in which calls to an answering service client telephone from callers via a public telephone network are forwarded to the answering service when the client is unable to answer a call comprising the steps:

forwarding calls placed to an unattended client telephone to a preassigned client telephone number which is a unique one of a plurality of preassigned telephone numbers assigned to a line of a first telephone service provided by the said public telephone network;

immediately forwarding calls received on said line of said first service to a second service provided by the said public telephone network which uniformly distributes all received calls over a group of lines connected to the telephone answering service and provides signals to the telephone answering service identifying the said preassigned number and the one line of said group of lines over which the cell is routed;

receiving said signals at said telephone answering service, accessing stored call processing information associated with said preassigned client number and displaying said call processing information at an operator station; and

,

flashing the said one line over which the call is routed and thereafter transmitting dial digits identifying another telephone connected to the said public telephone network when the call processing information indicated that the caller is to be transferred and thereafter placing the said one line over which the call is routed on hook whereby the one line is available for receiving additional calls.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 in which the telephone answering service is provided with a plurality of lines in the first telephone service and each of the clients is provided with a unique telephone number on one of the lines.

9. A method as set forth in claim 7 in which the said signals from said second service are sent to the answering service over a dedicated data line distinct from the group of lines used by the said second service for connecting forwarded calls to the answering service.

10. A method as set forth in claim 7 in which the dial digits issued are included in the stored call processing information and are issued on command.

11. A method as set forth in claim 10 in which the said stored call processing information includes a plurality of different dial digits and the answering service operator selects one in response to information received from the caller.

12. A telephone answering service system for receiving calls forwarded from the answering service'"'"'s client phones by the switched network over a group of lines each having a different line number and data including a unique number identifying the called client and data identifying the line number in the group of lines on which a forwarded call resides comprising:

storage means for storing call processing information;

at least one operator station;

control means responsive to the unique number identifying the called client, the data identifying the line in the group of lines on which the call resides and the stored call processing information for displaying the status of each line in the group of lines at the said at least one operator station, said status including a line activity indicator and an indicia identifying the client corresponding to the unique number;

first operator actuated means for selecting one of said lines indicated as active for answering;

second operator actuated means for accessing the call processing information from said first means corresponding to the client identification indicia included in the selected line status display whereby the call can be processed in accordance with the accessed call processing information; and

,

third operator actuated means for flashing the line on which the call resides and thereafter transmitting dial signals over the said line which signals identifying another telephone connected to the switched network to which the caller can be connected.

13. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 12 in which said first operator actuated means for selecting one of said lines indicated as active for answering includes:

a plurality of switching means each connected to a different one of the lines in the said group of lines for selectively connecting its line to said control means when selected and for isolating its line from the said control means until selected.

14. A telephone answering system as set forth in claim 12 in which said storage means includes a file server having:

a first file with a plurality of first records, each corresponding to one client, arranged by the unique client number and each including call processing instructions and at least one set of dial digits identifying a telephone to which calls placed to that client number are selectively forwarded to;

a second file with a plurality of second records one corresponding to each said unique client number and arranged in accordance with said unique number, each said second record including the corresponding client name and an indicia for accessing the corresponding client first record in the said first file; and

,

a third file with a plurality of third records each one corresponding to one of the lines in the said group of lines and arranged in accordance with the line numbers.