Communicating between stations

• US 6,573,911 B2
• Filed: 07/21/1998
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Brockbank, Robert G
• Primary Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US09/101,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20020107906A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,778 Days
• Field of Search: 345/326, 345/329, 345/330, 345/331, 345/332, 345/335, 345/336, 345/346, 345/962, 345/971, 345/700, 345/705, 345/733, 345/744, 345/751, 345/753, 345/759, 345/764, 345/804, 709/202, 709/203, 709/204, 709/205, 709/300
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10015 Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• 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 customer station and an agent station communicate with a call center server. In response to a customer server issuing a resource location to the server, an HTML page is returned containing a Java applet. The server is also connected to a plurality of agents, possibly at a service center. The customer station and its associated agent station receive substantially similar pages. In response to a modification being made at either station, the information is relayed to the server resulting in modified pages being displayed at both the customer station and the agent station. In this way, it is possible for an agent to assist a customer completing application forms. A voice channel may be provided in parallel with the on-line communication.

Claims

1. A method of communicating between a user station and an agent station, said method comprising:

(a) establishing communication from said user station to a serving means;

at the serving means, in response to (a),

(b) selecting an available agent station from a number of agent stations currently in communication with said serving means;

(c) detecting at each of said user station and said selected agent station events respectively generated by said user and said agent and, for each detected event, transmitting respective data to the serving means representative of that detected event;

(d) at the serving means, in response to the receipt of said data from one of said user station and said selected agent station, processing that data to change its display characteristics and

(e) transmitting the processed data to the other of said user station and said selected agent station for display thereat, whereby characters corresponding to said processed data are displayed differently at said user station and at said selected agent station from characters entered directly at said user station and at said selected agent station.

2. A method as in claim 1, said characters corresponding to said processed data being displayed in a different color from said characters entered directly at said user station and at said selected agent station.

3. A method as in claim 1, said characters entered directly at said user station and at said selected agent station being text characters entered via keyboard.

12. A method as in claim 2, said characters entered directly at said user station and at said selected agent station being text characters entered via keyboard.

4. A method of communicating between a user station and an agent station, said method comprising:

(a) establishing communication from said user station to a serving means;

at the serving means, in response to (a),

(b1) selecting an available agent station from a number of agent stations currently in communication with said serving means,

(b2) transmitting from the serving means to said user station data for a display of prompting information including a first set of selectable options each of said selectable options being representative of a respective page stored on a remote source, and

(b3) transmitting from the serving means to said selected agent station data for display of prompting information including a second set of selectable options, said second set including said first set;

(c) receiving at one of said user station and said selected agent station data generated by a corresponding one of said user or said selected agent identifying a selected option;

(d) transmitting said data identifying the selected option from said one station to said serving means;

(e) in response to receipt at the serving means of said data identifying the selected option, converting that data to a corresponding uniform resource locator (URL);

(f) transmitting that URL from the serving means to both said user station and said selected agent station; and

(g) at each of said user station and said selected agent station, supplying the received URL to a respective browser for requesting the respective page corresponding to that URL.

5. A method as in claim 4 wherein said user at said user station initiates communication to make contact with said serving means.

6. A method as in claim 5 wherein agents at said agent station identify their availability to receive communications from users by contacting said serving means.

7. A method as in claim 6 wherein a telephone call is established between said user and an agent in response to said communications being established between associated stations and said serving means.

8. A method as in claim 4 wherein said user and agent stations execute browsing instructions, transmit resource locations and receive encoded pages of information form said serving means.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein encoded pages include executable routines to present modified pages at said stations.

10. A method as in claim 4 wherein data inputted by said user is encoded as a message and transmitted to said serving means.

11. A method as in claim 10 wherein said serving means transmits encoded pages to associated stations in response to receiving said messages.