Systems and methods for arranging a call

• US 7,519,170 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2008
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: UTBK, Inc.
• Inventors: Migdal, James D., Altberg, Henrik Axel Ebbe, Faber, Scott, Hirson, Ron, Van Der Linden, Sean David
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Harry S
• Application Number:
  US12/026,488
• Publication Number:
  US 20080212756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 434 Days
• Field of Search: 379/209.01, 379/210.01, 705/9
• US Class Current: 379/210.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/651 Text message transmission triggered by call
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42127 Systems providing several special services or facilities from groups H04M3/42008 - H04M3/58

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of arranging a call with a service provider is disclosed. The method includes: determining whether the service provider accepts arranged calls; if it is determined that the service provider does not accept arranged calls, contacting the service provider to request arranged calls from the service provider; and if it is determined that the service provider accepts arranged calls, requesting an arranged call.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a data processing system, the method comprising:

providing a list of entities for presentation to a user;

in response to a selection of an entity from the list, determining whether the entity is currently available for a connection for real time communication between the user and the entity;

if the entity is not currently available for the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity, determining whether the entity allowed the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity; and

if the elected entity did not allow the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity, requesting the entity to allow the data processing system to schedule the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity comprises a telephonic connection between the user and the entity.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of whether the entity is currently available for the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity comprises a phone call between the data processing system and the entity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein if the entity allowed the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity, the method further comprising:

receiving a date and time from the user; and

scheduling a connection for real time communication between the user and the entity according to the date and time received from the user.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

presenting to the entity a queue of users lined up for real time communication with the entity.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to a presentation of the queue, receiving from the entity an input indicating that the entity is currently available for a connection for real time communication.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

re-ordering the queue according to an input received from the entity.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the input received from the entity comprises the entity selecting a user from the queue.

9. The method of claim 4, farther comprising:

notifying the entity according to a preference of the entity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the preference is based on one or more quiet periods specified by the entity.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

acknowledging to the user after the entity accepts an appointment to schedule the connection according to the date and time received from the user.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing information to the user to indicate a duration limit for the connection scheduled according to the date and time received from the user.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling of the connection is based on an item of the entity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the item is a calendar of the entity.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling of the connection is based on a deposit of the user to reserve an appointment for the scheduled connection for real time communication between the user and the entity.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting the entity to allow the data processing system to schedule the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity is via email, phone call, page, or a piece of mail.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity is requested, via a phone call to the entity, to allow the data processing system to schedule the connection between the user and the entity for real time communication.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the data processing system placing a phone call to the entity to establish the scheduled connection for real time communication between the user and the entity.

19. A tangible computer readable medium storing instructions, the instructions causing a data processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

providing a list of entities for presentation to a user;

in response to a selection of an entity from the list, determining whether the entity is currently available for a connection for real time communication between the user and the entity;

if the entity is not currently available for the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity, determining whether the entity allowed the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity; and

if the elected entity did not allow the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity, requesting the entity to allow the data processing system to schedule the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity.

20. A data processing system, comprising:

means for providing a list of entities for presentation to a user;

means for determining, in response to a selection of an entity from the list, whether the entity is currently available for a connection for real time communication between the user and the entity;

means for determining whether the entity allowed the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity, if the entity is not currently available for the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity; and

means for requesting the entity to allow the data processing system to schedule the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity, if the elected entity did not allow the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity.

21. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

a machine readable medium coupled to the processor, the machine readable medium to store instructions to program the processor; and

a communication device coupled to the processor to provide a list of entities for presentation to a user;

wherein in response to a selection of an entity from the list, the processor is to determine whether the entity is currently available for a connection for real time communication between the user and the entity;

if the entity is not currently available for the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity, the processor is to determine whether the entity allowed the computer system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity; and

if the elected entity did not allow the data processing system to schedule a connection for real time communication with the entity, the processor is to request the entity to allow the computer system to schedule the connection for real time communication between the user and the entity.