Method and apparatus automatic call-back
First Claim
1. A method for operating a call-back system in a telecommunications network, comprising:
- receiving a call from a calling subscriber directed to a telephone station of a called party;
determining in a first control unit associated with the calling subscriber whether the telephone station of the called party is busy;
in response to a determinaton that the telephone station is busy, the first control unit retrieving a profile associated with the calling subscriber and soliciting additional information from the calling subscriber;
generating call-back information based on the profile and the additional information; and
sending the call-back information to a second control unit associated with the called party.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automatic call-back device notifies a subscriber when a called party'"'"'s telephone station is no longer busy. When the subscriber calls a called party and the called party'"'"'s telephone station is busy, the automatic call-back device offers the subscriber call-back options for calling the subscriber when the called party'"'"'s telephone station is no longer busy. If selected, the automatic call-back device monitors the called party'"'"'s telephone station for an on-hook signal, for example. When the called party goes on-hook, the automatic call-back device calls the called party and the subscriber and connects the subscriber and the called party in a call. If multiple subscribers call the same called party, the automatic call-back device stores an identifier corresponding to each subscriber in a call-back list based on when each subscriber called the called party. When the called party goes on-hook, the automatic call-back device contacts the first subscriber in the call-back list (i.e., the subscriber that called first). If this subscriber cannot be reached, then the automatic call-back device calls the next subscriber in the call-back list and so on until one of the calling subscribers is connected with the called party or the call-back list is exhausted.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method for operating a call-back system in a telecommunications network, comprising:
-
receiving a call from a calling subscriber directed to a telephone station of a called party; determining in a first control unit associated with the calling subscriber whether the telephone station of the called party is busy; in response to a determinaton that the telephone station is busy, the first control unit retrieving a profile associated with the calling subscriber and soliciting additional information from the calling subscriber; generating call-back information based on the profile and the additional information; and sending the call-back information to a second control unit associated with the called party. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A call-back system operating in a telecommunications network, comprising:
-
a database; a first control unit coupled to a telephone station of a called party; and a second control unit coupled to the database, the second control unit being associated with a calling subscriber who initiates a call directed to the telephone station and in response to a determination that the telephone station is busy, (a) retrieves a profile associated with the calling subscriber and solicits additional information from the calling subscriber, (b) generates call-back information based on the profile and the additional information, and (c) sends the call-back information to the first control unit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
Specification