Method and system for integrating an interactive voice response system into a host application system
First Claim
1. A system for providing interactive voice response (IVR) capability together with a plurality of application systems comprising:
- a first primary application system at a first site and a redundant second application system at a geographically remote and distinct second site, wherein the first and second site are connected through at least one of a wide area network connection and a dedicated point to point link, for the exchange of data; and
the first and second application systems, each comprising;
a call router in communication with an interexchange carrier routing an incoming telephone call to the first application system or the second application system based on the real-time availability of IVR call handling resources within the first application system and the second application system, wherein during a failover situation, at least one subsequent incoming telephone call from the interexchange carrier is routed to the redundant second application system at the distinct second site, wherein the second site completes an IVR session with the subsequent incoming call from the interexchange carrier, and where both the first site and the second site utilize IVR applications and resources;
an IVR environment comprising a plurality of IVR call handling resources, including at least a telephony server and a speech recognition system connected to the interexchange carrier through the telephony server, wherein the IVR environment receives an incoming telephone call and implements the IVR session using the IVR call handling resources within one of the first application system at the first site and the second application system at the second site to handle the incoming telephone call;
an application administration server that is part of the IVR environment, for handling the incoming telephone call and routing it to an IVR application server with a voice user interface; and
an ACD gateway server, located within the application system site or call center field site connecting an auto call distributor (ACD) to the respective call router, wherein a request for a customer service agent is directed by the respective call router to an agent based on real-time availability of the agents.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates particularly to a method and system for integrating an interactive voice response (IVR) environment into an existing host processing system to provide automated telephone responses to callers to the host system. The integrated IVR environment is highly scaleable with hardware and software open to the host system for in-house modification and/or addition of components and applications to accommodate additional and/or modified host business logic, host applications, and other host requirements. The integrated IVR environment also alleviates the high cost often associated with the purchase, installation, and maintenance of the IVR functionality for a host processing system.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for providing interactive voice response (IVR) capability together with a plurality of application systems comprising:
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a first primary application system at a first site and a redundant second application system at a geographically remote and distinct second site, wherein the first and second site are connected through at least one of a wide area network connection and a dedicated point to point link, for the exchange of data; and the first and second application systems, each comprising; a call router in communication with an interexchange carrier routing an incoming telephone call to the first application system or the second application system based on the real-time availability of IVR call handling resources within the first application system and the second application system, wherein during a failover situation, at least one subsequent incoming telephone call from the interexchange carrier is routed to the redundant second application system at the distinct second site, wherein the second site completes an IVR session with the subsequent incoming call from the interexchange carrier, and where both the first site and the second site utilize IVR applications and resources; an IVR environment comprising a plurality of IVR call handling resources, including at least a telephony server and a speech recognition system connected to the interexchange carrier through the telephony server, wherein the IVR environment receives an incoming telephone call and implements the IVR session using the IVR call handling resources within one of the first application system at the first site and the second application system at the second site to handle the incoming telephone call; an application administration server that is part of the IVR environment, for handling the incoming telephone call and routing it to an IVR application server with a voice user interface; and an ACD gateway server, located within the application system site or call center field site connecting an auto call distributor (ACD) to the respective call router, wherein a request for a customer service agent is directed by the respective call router to an agent based on real-time availability of the agents. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for providing interactive voice response (IVR) capability together with a plurality of call routing application systems, comprising:
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providing an IVR environment comprising a plurality of IVR call handling resources, including at least a telephony server and a speech recognition server within each of a first call routing application system, and a second call routing application system that is independent and geographically remotely located from the first call routing application system; providing redundant functionality by the first call routing application system at a first site and the second call routing application system at a second site, wherein one of the first site and the second site completes an IVR session with an incoming call from an interexchange carrier, connecting the first and second call routing application systems through at least one of a wide area network connection and a dedicated point-to-point link to for the exchange of data; receiving a notification of an incoming telephone call from the interexchange carrier into at least one of the first and second application systems; routing the incoming telephone call to an IVR environment of one of the first call routing application system and the second call routing application system to manage the incoming telephone call and implement the IVR session using the IVR call handling resources within one of the first application system and the second application system, wherein the incoming telephone call is routed to either the first call routing application system or the second call routing application system to avoid call congestion within the first and the second site, wherein the routing of the incoming telephone call is based on the real-time availability of IVR call handling resources within the first site and the second site; and receiving the call from the interexchange carrier, by the IVR call handling resources within the one of the first call routing application system and the second call routing application system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification