Granted Patent B1

US 12,401,748 · App. 18/462,552 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Inventors: William Thomas Bernabe (Northborough, MA); Benjamin Joseph DeStephen (Hilliard, OH); George John Thomas (Pleasanton, CA)

Assignee: Zoom Communications, Inc.

H04M3/5191G06Q20/16H04M1/54

Abstract

Claims (47)

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a communication session via a server device between a customer device and an agent device;

receiving, from the agent device, a first Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) key sequence indicative of a rerouting request of an audio stream of the communication session;

in response to receiving the first DTMF key sequence, transmitting the rerouting request to a third-party device, the rerouting request indicating that the third-party device is to receive the audio stream from the customer device without the audio stream passing via the server device and that the third-party device is to process a transaction with a user of the customer device;

receiving an indication from the third-party device that the transaction is completed; and

in response to receiving the indication that the transaction is completed, transmitting the audio stream to the agent device via the server device without passing through the third-party device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the agent device, a second DTMF key sequence indicative of an identifier associated with the transaction; and

in response to receiving the second DTMF key sequence, transmitting information associated with the communication session to the third-party device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction comprises receiving user information that is subject to a compliance regulation from the user of the customer device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is completed while a signaling channel associated with the communication session between the customer device and the agent device is maintained.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

establishing a communication session between the server device and the third-party device;

receiving, from the third-party device and at the server device, a modified audio stream from the audio stream, wherein sensitive data in the audio stream are obfuscated in the modified audio stream; and

transmitting the modified audio stream to the agent device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

utilizing one or more communication protocols to negotiate a redirection of the audio stream between the agent device and the third-party device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the agent device is an un-anchored device such that no agent is associated with the agent device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first DTMF key sequence is indicative of the third-party device.

9. A server, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memories to:

establish a communication session via the server between a customer device and an agent device;

receive, from the agent device, a first Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) key sequence indicative of a rerouting request of an audio stream of the communication session;

in response to receiving the first DTMF key sequence, transmit the rerouting request to a third-party device, the rerouting request indicating that the third-party device is to receive the audio stream from the customer device without the audio stream passing via the server and that the third-party device is to process a transaction with a user of the customer device;

receive an indication from the third-party device that the transaction is completed; and

in response to receiving the indication that the transaction is completed, transmit the audio stream to the agent device via the server without passing through the third-party device.

10. The server of claim 9 , wherein the one more processors is further configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memories to:

transmit a second DTMF key sequence indicative of an identifier associated with the transaction, the second DTMF key sequence received from the agent device.

11. The server of claim 9 , wherein the transaction comprises receiving sensitive data associated with the user of the customer device.

12. The server of claim 9 , wherein the one more processors is further configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memories to:

establishing an other communication session between the server and the third-party device, the other communication session is established while a signaling channel associated with the communication session between the customer device and the agent device is maintained.

13. The server of claim 9 , wherein session initiation protocol (SIP) signaling is used to negotiate a redirection of the audio stream between the agent device and the third-party device.

14. The server of claim 9 , wherein no particular, identifiable agent is associated with the agent device during the communication session.

15. The server of claim 9 , wherein the first DTMF key sequence is indicative of a service associated with third-party device.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

establishing a communication session via a server device between a customer device and an agent device;

receiving, from the agent device, a first Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) key sequence indicative of a rerouting request of an audio stream of the communication session;

in response to receiving the first DTMF key sequence, transmitting the rerouting request to a third-party device, the rerouting request indicating that the third-party device is to receive the audio stream from the customer device without the audio stream passing via the server device and that the third-party device is to process a transaction with a user of the customer device;

receiving an indication from the third-party device that the transaction is completed; and

in response to receiving the indication that the transaction is completed, transmitting the audio stream to the agent device via the server device without passing through the third-party device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting information associated with the communication session to another device.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the transaction comprises receiving payment information via the customer device.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein transmitting the audio stream to the agent device via the server device without passing through the third-party device comprises:

using session initiation protocol (SIP) signaling to cause the audio stream to be received at the server device and to not pass through the third-party device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the transaction is completed while a signaling channel associated with the communication session between the customer device and the agent device is maintained.

Assignments (2)

References Cited (9)