System and method for event communication correlation

• US 7,653,186 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2007
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aeris Communications Inc.
• Original Assignee: Aeris Communications Inc.
• Inventors: Kim, Dae Seong, Weygandt, Lotus Lin, Fultz, Robert, Sim, Byung Hoon, Brezee, Kirk, Hosain, Syed Zaeem
• Primary Examiner(s): Woo; Stella L
• Application Number:
  US11/754,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20070287430A1
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: 379/45, 379/37, 379/39, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 370/352
• US Class Current: 379/106.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/002 with telemetering systems telemetering in general G08C
• 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 7/0024 Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services arrangements which combine a telephonic equipment and a computer H04M7/0012

Abstract

A system, method, and apparatus method for receiving one or more communications from a remote terminal, transmitted via a telephone exchange, the communications comprising telemetry data and voice data; selecting a call center from a plurality of call centers to receive a communication from the remote terminal, wherein selecting the call center is based at least in part on the telemetry data; sending a message from the service provider to the call center over a side-channel, the message comprising at least a portion of the telemetry data, and further comprising a request for a communication path to one of a plurality of operator stations connected with the call center; and sending the voice data to the one operator station over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) connection via the communication path requested.

Claims

1. A method at a service provider comprising:

receiving one or more communications from a remote terminal, transmitted to the service provider via a telephone exchange, wherein each communication comprises telemetry data and voice data;

selecting a call center from a plurality of call centers to receive a communication, wherein selecting the call center is based at least in part on the telemetry data;

sending a message to the call center over a side-channel, the message comprising at least a portion of the telemetry data, and further comprising a request for a communication path to one of a plurality of operator stations connected with the call center; and

sending the voice data to the one operator station over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) connection via the communication path requested.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more communications from the remote terminal comprises receiving the telemetry data from the remote terminal via a wireless messaging protocol.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the one or more communications from the remote terminal further comprises receiving the voice data from the remote terminal via a wireless voice transmission protocol.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the one or more communications from the remote terminal further comprises receiving the telemetry data and the voice data of each communication independently.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless messaging protocol comprises one of Short Message Delivery Point-to-Point (SMDPP) protocol, Short Message Peer to Peer (SMPP) protocol, MICROBURST, ANSI-41, GSM Mobile Application Part (MAP) protocol, Short Message Service (SMS) protocol, ANSI 2000 compatible Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) messaging protocols, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), and an overhead control channel encoding compatible protocol, and wherein the wireless voice transmission protocol comprises one of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) protocol, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) protocol, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) protocol, and a satellite compatible protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating a customer account with the communication based at least in part on the telemetry data, wherein the telemetry data comprises a device identifier uniquely associating the remote terminal with the customer account.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the communication path comprises a direct-inward-dial phone number to route the voice data over the public switched telephone network connection, and wherein the voice data arrives at the operator station less than 15 seconds after receipt of the communication at the service provider.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the telemetry data comprises at least one of:

an event code describing an event detected at the remote terminal, a device identifier uniquely identifying the remote terminal to the service provider, and an alphanumeric code transmitted from the remote terminal describing a destination for the communication.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

parsing the event code from the telemetry data; and

either selecting the call center to receive the message based at least in part on the event code, or embedding the event code into the message before sending the message to the call center selected.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the event code is selected from a group of event codes comprising:

a car accident, a vehicle diagnostics error, a vehicle lockout, a security system alarm, an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system malfunction, a distress signal, a concierge request, a high-value customer contact, a standard customer contact, a priority vehicle model contact, a wireless telephone call, an electronic monitoring device alarm, a “

9-1-1”

emergency services telephone call, or a wearable medical assistance device contact.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the remote terminal comprises a telephonic device selected from the group consisting of:

a wireless handset, a telephonic vehicle, a telephonic security system, a telephonic HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system, an electronic monitoring device, an electronic tracking device, a temperature monitoring device, a fire detection device, a moisture detection device, a location detection device, a television set-top box, a satellite signal receiver, a wearable medical alert telephonic device, a telephonically enabled tractor-trailer, or a combination thereof

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the call center comprises a plurality of operators associated with the plurality of operator stations, and wherein each operator station comprises a computer, a computer display, a telephone, a telephone head-set, and a connection with a database to receive correlated data associated with the communication.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the call center comprises parsing the alphanumeric code from the telemetry data and selecting the call center based at least in part on the alphanumeric code.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein selecting the call center based at least in part on the alphanumeric code comprises comparing the alphanumeric code with alphanumeric sequences in a database, and wherein comparing the alphanumeric code with the alphanumeric sequences in the database comprises one or more of:

indicating the alphanumeric code matches an alphanumeric sequence in the database;

indicating a beginning portion of the alphanumeric code matches the alphanumeric sequence in the database;

indicating a middle portion of the alphanumeric code matches the alphanumeric sequence in the database;

indicating a trailing portion of the alphanumeric code matches the alphanumeric sequence in the database; and

cross-referencing the alphanumeric code with corresponding data in the database.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein cross-referencing the alphanumeric code with the corresponding data in the database comprises:

using the corresponding data to send the message to the call center, wherein the corresponding data comprises at least an Internet Protocol (IP) address for a server connected with the call center.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

performing regular-expression pattern matching, or wild-card pattern matching, or character-position pattern matching against the alphanumeric code.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the side-channel comprises an Internet connection established through an Internet Service Provider (“

ISP”

), and wherein the PSTN connection comprises a telecommunications circuit established through a telecommunications carder.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the message to the call center over the side-channel further comprises:

parsing the alphanumeric code associated with the received communication from the telemetry data; and

retrieving an internet address for a server at the call center from a database connected with the service provider, wherein retrieving the internet address comprises querying the database for information based, at least in part, on the alphanumeric code and receiving the internet address from the database; and

sending the message to the server at the call center using the Internet address retrieved from the database via the side-channel, wherein the side-channel comprises an Internet connection established via an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a response to the message from the server at the call center via the side-channel, the response to the message comprising the communication path for the one operator station connected with the call center, wherein the communication path comprises a direct phone number to the one operator station, the one operator station selected by the server at the call center based at least in part on the telemetry data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein sending the voice data to the one operator station over the PSTN connection via the communication path comprises forwarding the voice data to the communication path in the form of a forwarded telephone call.

21. A system comprising:

a service provider to receive a communication from a remote terminal, wherein the communication to be transmitted to the service provider via a telephone exchange, and wherein the communication comprises telemetry data and voice data;

a database server connected with the service provider to select a call center from a plurality of call centers to receive the voice data, based at least in part on the telemetry data of the communication;

a message for transmission from the service provider to the call center over a side-channel, the message comprising at least a portion of the telemetry data, and further comprising a request for a communication path to one of a plurality of operator stations connected with the call center; and

a forwarded transmission to carry the voice data from the service provider to the one operator station over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) connection, wherein the PSTN to route the forwarded transmission via the communication path requested.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the service provider to receive the communication from the remote terminal comprises the service provider to receive the telemetry data via a wireless messaging protocol and wherein the service provider to receive the communication from the remote terminal further comprises the service provider to receive the voice data via a wireless voice transmission protocol.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the telemetry data comprises a device identifier to uniquely correlate the remote terminal with a customer account stored at either the database server connected with the service provider or a second database server connected with the call center, or both.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the service provider to further encode the device identifier into the message, and transmit the message to the call center, and wherein

the service provider to further receive a response to the message comprising at least a communication path for the one operator station connected with the call center to receive the voice data.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a fall-back routing instruction to direct the voice data to a call center when the message fails to yield a response from the call center, wherein the fall-back routing instruction comprises one of;

a first instruction to forward the voice data from the service provider to the alphanumeric code received from the remote terminal; and

a second instruction to forward the voice data from the service provider to a hold-queue associated with the call center, wherein a phone number for the hold-queue is retrieved from a database connected with the service provider.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting the call center to receive the voice data from the plurality of call centers comprises selecting the call center based on a time zone value associated with the remote terminal encoded in the telemetry data, wherein the call center selected resides in a time zone matching the time zone value.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting the call center to receive the voice data from the plurality of call centers comprises selecting the call center based on a geographic location value associated with the remote terminal and encoded into the telemetry data by either the remote terminal or the telephone exchange, wherein the call center selected is the call center closest in distance to the geographic location value associated with the remote terminal.

28. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting the call center to receive the voice data from the plurality of call centers comprises selecting the call center based on a temporary telephone number utilized by the remote terminal to connect with the telephone exchange and encoded into the telemetry data by either the remote terminal or the telephone exchange, and wherein the call center selected comprises an emergency services dispatch center pre-determined to provide emergency services to a range of telephone numbers comprising the temporary telephone number utilized by the remote terminal.

29. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting the call center to receive the voice data from the plurality of call centers comprises selecting the call center based on a preferred language associated with the remote terminal determined based at least in part on the telemetry data, wherein the call center selected comprises operators pre-determined speak a language matching the preferred language associated with the remote terminal.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting the call center to receive the voice data from the plurality of call centers comprises selecting the call center based on a subscription tier value associated with the remote terminal and determined based at least in part on the telemetry data, wherein the call center selected comprises operators trained specifically to service communications matching the subscription tier value associated with the remote terminal.

31. A remote terminal comprising a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by hardware embedded in the remote terminal, causes the remote terminal to:

transmit a communication to a service provider via a central office, wherein the communication comprises voice data and telemetry data, wherein the service provider to select a call center from a plurality of call centers to receive the voice data, based at least in part on the telemetry data of the communication, send a message to the call center over a side-channel, the message comprising at least a portion of the telemetry data, and further comprising a request for a communication path to one of a plurality of operator stations connected with the call center, and forward the voice data to the one operator station over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) connection via the communication path requested from the call center.

32. The remote terminal of claim 31, wherein the remote terminal to transmit the communication to the service provider via the central office comprises the remote terminal to transmit the telemetry data via a wireless messaging protocol and wherein the remote terminal to transmit the communication to the service provider via the central office further comprises the remote terminal to transmit the voice data via a wireless voice transmission protocol.

33. The remote terminal of claim 31, wherein the instructions further cause the remote terminal to encode a device identifier into the telemetry data, the device identifier uniquely associating the remote terminal with a customer account.

34. The remote terminal of claim 31, wherein the instructions further cause the remote terminal to detect an event at the remote terminal, generate an event code based at least in part on the event detected and encode the event code in the telemetry data of the communication.