Acceptance of inputs from various interfaces to a telephony system
View Patent ↗A telephony system that accepts inputs, such as account codes, from a variety of devices and interfaces. The system includes a server with a telephony management software (TMS) unit, a telephony application programming interface (TAPI) unit, and an application unit. The application unit includes a control module, a call status module, an endpoint interface module, a storage interface module, a call transfer module, a TAPI interface module, a configuration module, and an extension library module. A server is capable of prompting several devices for an input and then accepting an input from any of the devices. Thus, a server enables a user to initiate a phone call on one device and then input information using a different device.
1. A method for associating information with a call, the method comprising:
receiving, by an incoming call module, a request to make a call, the call having been initiated by a user on a first device;
prompting, by sending a signal to the first device, by a first prompting module the user to enter information to associate with the call;
receiving, by an information receiving module, from a second device, a signal comprising such information;
associating, by an association module, the information with the call; and
communicating, by a control module, with the incoming call module, the prompting module, the information receiving module, and the association module.
2. A method for associating an account code with a call, the method comprising:
receiving, by an incoming call module, a request to make a call, the call having been initiated by a user on a first device;
prompting, by sending a signal to the first device, by a first prompting module, the user to enter an account code to associate with the call;
receiving, by an account code receiving module, from a second device, a signal comprising an account code;
associating, by an association module, the account code with the call; and
communicating, by a control module, with the incoming call module, the prompting module, the account code receiving module, and the association module.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the signal sent to the first device indicates whether the account code is required or optional.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the signal received from the second device further comprises an identifier of the second device.
5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining, by a validity module, whether the received account code is valid.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising responsive to having determined that the received account code is valid, sending a signal to one of the first device and the second device, the signal indicating that a valid account code has been received.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising responsive to having determined that the received account code is invalid, terminating the call.
8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising responsive to having determined that the received account code is invalid, prompting the user to enter an account code.
9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising prompting, by sending a signal to the second device, by a second prompting module, the user to enter an account code to associate with the call.
10. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving, by a query receiving module, a signal from one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising a request for one or more valid account codes.
11. The method of claim 2 , further comprising sending, by a query response module, a signal to one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising one or more valid account codes, responsive to having received a signal from one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising a request for one or more valid account codes.
12. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transferring the call to a destination number of the call.
13. The method of claim 2 , wherein one of the first device and the second device is one of an analog phone, an Internet Protocol (IP) phone, and a software phone.
14. The method of claim 2 , wherein one of the first device and the second device is running a software application that controls another device.
15. An apparatus for associating an account code with a call, the apparatus comprising:
an incoming call module, the incoming call module configured to receive a request to make a call, the call having been initiated by a user on a first device;
a first prompting module, the first prompting module configured to prompt, by sending a signal to the first device, the user to enter an account code to associate with the call;
an account code receiving module, the account code receiving module configured to receive, from a second device, a signal comprising an account code;
an association module, the association module configured to associate the account code with the call; and
a control module, the control module coupled to and configured to communicate with the incoming call module, the prompting module, the account code receiving module, and the association module.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a validity module, the validity module configured to determine whether the received account code is valid, wherein the control module is further coupled to and configured to communicate with the validity module.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a second prompting module, the second prompting module configured to prompt, by sending a signal to the second device, the user to enter an account code to associate with the call, wherein the control module is further coupled to and configured to communicate with the second prompting module.
18. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a query receiving module, the query receiving module configured to receive a signal from one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising a request for one or more valid account codes, wherein the control module is further coupled to and configured to communicate with the query receiving module.
19. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a query response module, the query response module configured to send a signal to one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising one or more valid account codes, responsive to having received a signal from one of the first device and the second device, the signal comprising a request for one or more valid account codes, wherein the control module is further coupled to and configured to communicate with the query response module.