IP Library Granted Patent US 8,315,609
Granted Patent B2
US 8,315,609 · App. 12/388,634 · Granted Nov 20, 2012

Personal call center

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,315,609
App. No.
12/388,634
Granted
Nov 20, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A personal call center that can schedule calls for a user, make the call at the scheduled time and connect the user when the other party answers, thus making the calls completely “hands free” and transparent for the user. In essence, the system can make an outbound call look and act like an inbound call. Advantageously, the system can also be used by a manager or a centralized call center to schedule calls for a given user or group of users. This way, managers or call centers can schedule calls, between salespersons and customers, and have calls go through without interaction from the salesperson.

Claims (35)

1. A method of facilitating telephone calls for a mobile communication device associated with a user of a personal call center, the method comprising:

receiving a list of contact numbers, each contact number corresponding to a call to be made for the mobile communication device on behalf of the user of the call center;

determining, based on a schedule associated with the user of the call center, whether the user is available for calls to be made;

retrieving based on said determining, a real-time status of the mobile communication device associated with a user;

if the real-time status indicates user is available for calls to be made, initiating a call to a recipient from the list of contact numbers; and

connecting the call to the mobile communication device;

wherein said retrieving, initiating and connecting steps are repeated until each contact number on the list has been called; and

notifying the mobile communication device after all contact numbers on the list have been called.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of waiting a predetermined time before initiating a call if the real-time status of the device indicates the associated user is unavailable.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the retrieving and waiting steps are repeated until the real-time status of the mobile communication device indicates that the associated user is available.

4. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of waiting for the recipient of said call to answer before connecting the call to the mobile communication device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of forwarding information corresponding to the call to the mobile communication device once the call to the contact number has been initiated.

6. A method of facilitating a series of telephone calls for a group of mobile communication devices each associated with a respective user of a personal call center, the method comprising:

receiving a list of contact numbers, each contact number corresponding to a call to be made for the group of devices on behalf of the user of the call center,

determining, based on a schedule associated with each user of the call center, whether the users are available;

retrieving based on said determining, a real-time status of each mobile communication device;

initiating calls to a recipient from the list of contact numbers for each of the mobile communication devices associated with the users determined when the real-time status indicates to be available;

connecting each call to one of the available mobile communication devices;

repeating said retrieving, initiating and connecting steps for each mobile communication device upon completion of a call to the mobile communication device; and

notifying the group of mobile communication devices after all contact numbers on the list have been called.

7. The method of claim 6 , further including a step of waiting a predetermined time before initiating a call for a mobile communication device if the real-time status of that mobile communication device indicates the associated user is unavailable.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the retrieving and waiting steps are repeated for the unavailable mobile communication device until the real-time status of the mobile communication device indicates that the associated user is available.

9. The method of claim 6 , further including a step of waiting for the recipient of each call to answer before connecting the call to the mobile communication device.

10. A personal call center system, the system comprising:

a first server for facilitating telephone calls for at least one user of a personal call center, each user being associated with a mobile communication device, the server being programmed to perform the steps of:

receiving a list of contact numbers for a given user, each contact number corresponding to a call to be made for a given mobile communication device on behalf of an associated user,

determining, based on a schedule of the given user of the call center, whether the given user is available for calls to be made;

retrieving based on said determining, a real-time status of each mobile communication device;

initiating, if the real-time status indicates that the given user is available, a call to a recipient from the list of contact numbers;

connecting the call to the given mobile communication device associated with the user;

repeating the initiating and connecting steps to call a next contact number on the list of contact numbers upon a detection of completion of the call until each contact number on the list has been called; and

notifying the mobile communication device after all contact numbers on the list have been called.

11. The system of claim 10 , further including a second server configured to determine a real-time status of each mobile communication device associated with a user, wherein the first server communicates with the second server to verify that a mobile communication device is available before the first server initiates a call to a contact number.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first server facilitates calls to a group of users, each associated with a mobile communication device, and is further programmed to determine which of the group of users is available to take calls and, for those users determined to be available, performing the steps of initiating and connecting calls.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first server is configured to detect whether the recipient of an initiated call is unavailable and leave a prerecorded message on a voicemail of the recipient.

Assignments (5)
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Jun 19, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064270/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064104/0103 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 5, 2014
From: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 034176/0557 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 4, 2011
From: ASCENDENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.
To: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
Reel/Frame 026703/0851 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2009
From: GISBY, DOUGLAS
To: ASCENDENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 022281/0273 →