Method and apparatus for handling a telephone call

1. A method of handling a telephone call within a telephone network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a multi-tenanted computer-telephony integration (CTI) server, wherein the different tenants correspond to various outlets for one or more product or service offerings, and wherein the CTI server is located within the telephone network and adapted to receive conventional telephone calls via a telephony interface, the CTI server located outside the customer premises for the various outlets;

(b) intercepting by the CTI server within the telephone network a call directed to one of the outlets, and receiving the call at the telephony interface of the CTI server;

(c) using calling line identification (CLI) for the call by the CTI server to identify the calling party and to retrieve a customer profile by matching the calling party's CLI with a previously-stored CLI in a call history database collocated with the CTI server remotely from the various outlets, wherein the customer profile is based on previous orders processed by one or more of the outlets;

(d) queuing the call at the CTI server within the telephone network if it is determined that the outlet to which the call is directed is unable to currently service the call; and

(e) forwarding the call from the CTI server over the telephone network to the outlet to which the call was originally directed to process the call;

wherein the CTI server uses the customer profile for providing priority call handling treatment comprising at least automated order status for loyal customers, wherein a customer is considered loyal at least when the customer's profile indicates the customer is a repeat caller.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer profile is used to provide a marketing message dependent on the customer profile.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the marketing message is dependent on real-time information from an external source.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the marketing message is based on current product availability for an outlet.

5. The method of any of claim 2 , wherein the marketing message is dependent on the time spent in the queue.

6. The method of any of claim 2 , wherein the outlet is informed of the marketing message heard by the caller.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the priority call handling treatment includes accelerating the progress of the call through a queue of calls.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the CTI server for recording the call.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CTI server bridges the call with a call placed from the CTI server to an outlet.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a local copy at the CTI server of customer profile data and accessing at least one of remote order data and product availability data for handling the call.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing access to aggregated statistics for all the various outlets to a managing entity.

12. Apparatus for handling a telephone call within a telephone network, the apparatus comprising:

a multi-tenanted computer-telephony integration (CTI) server, wherein the different tenants correspond to various outlets for one or more product or service offerings, and wherein the CTI server is located within the telephone network and is adapted to receive conventional telephone calls via a telephony interface, the CTI server located outside the customer premises for the various outlets;

the CTI server including a telephony interface for intercepting and receiving a call within the telephone network directed to one of the outlets, for queuing the call at the CTI server, within the network if it is determined that the outlet is unable to currently service the call, and for forwarding the call from the CTI server over the telephone network to the outlet to which the call was originally directed to process the call;

wherein the CTI server is configured to use calling line identification (CLI) for the call to identify the calling party and to retrieve a customer profile for the calling party by matching the calling party's CLI with a previously-stored CLI in a database collocated with the CTI server remotely from the various outlets, wherein the customer profile is based on previous orders processed by one or more of the outlets, and to use the customer profile for providing priority call handling treatment comprising at least automated order status for loyal customers; wherein a customer is considered loyal at least when the customer's profile indicates the customer is a repeat caller.

13. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium including machine executable instructions comprising a computer program for causing a system to perform a method of handling a telephone call within a telephone network using a multitenanted computer-telephony integration (CTI) server located within the telephone network and adapted to receive conventional telephone calls via a telephony interface, wherein the different tenants correspond to various outlets for one or more product or service offerings, and wherein the CTI server is located outside the customer premises for the various outlets, the method comprising:

(a) intercepting by the CTI server within the telephone network a call directed to one of the outlets and receiving the call at a telephony interface of the CTI server;

(b) using calling line identification (CLI) for the call by the CTI server to identify the calling party and to retrieve a customer profile for the calling party by matching the calling party's CLI with a previously-stored CLI in a database collocated with the CTI server remotely from the various outlets, wherein the customer profile is based on previous orders processed by one or more of the outlets; and

(c) queuing the call at the CTI server within the telephone network to the outlet to which the call was originally directed to process the call;

wherein the CTI server uses the customer profile for providing priority call handling treatment comprising at least automated order status for loyal customers; wherein a customer is considered loyal at least when the customer's profile indicates the customer is a repeat caller.