US6813636B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for routing a transaction within a network environment
Assignee: Cyclacel Ltd
•
Filing: 1999-03-01
•
Granted: 2004-11-02
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Expires: 2019-03-01
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for routing a transaction. Initially, a resource is identified which is capable of servicing a transaction based upon resource data indicative of the capabilities of resources associated with a transactional processing system and a transaction request indicative of a request associated with the transaction. Upon identifying the resource capable of servicing the transaction, the transaction is supplied to the identified resource.
Inventors
- 👤 Timothy Bean
- 👤 Kevin McPartlan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 08:43
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/523; H04M3/5237; H04M3/5232; H04M3/5233
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
97 words
A method of routing a transaction from a customer, the method including: receiving a request identifier associated with the transaction, the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identifying an agent associated with a transactional processing system based upon the request identifier and agent data indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system; prior to routing the transaction to the identified agent, reserving the agent which has been identified; and routing the transaction to the identified agent wherein the agent generates a response to the transaction for communication to the customer.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
97 words
A method of routing a transaction from a customer, the method including: receiving a request identifier associated with the transaction, the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identifying an agent associated with a transactional processing system based upon the request identifier and agent data indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system; prior to routing the transaction to the identified agent, reserving the agent which has been identified; and routing the transaction to the identified agent wherein the agent generates a response to the transaction for communication to the customer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 , including supplying the agent data and the request identifier to a transactional routing controller which reserves an agent based on the agent data and the request identifier in accordance with a set of operating rules associated with the transaction routing controller.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the request identifier is derived from one of an Automatic Number Identifier (ANI), a Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS), a Touch Tone Selection (TTS) and an e-mail address of the transaction received from the customer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 3 , including generating a data message in response to the request identifier, the data message identifying the nature of the transaction to the transactional routing controller.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 , which includes receiving the agent data from the transactional processing system, the agent data identifying the agent capabilities associated with each agent of the transactional processing system.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the agent includes: comparing the agent data associated with a plurality of transactional processing systems to the request identifier; and determining a correlation between the agent data and the request identifier; and routing the transaction to an appropriate transactional processing system in response to the correlation.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the correlation between the agent data and the request identifier is determined in accordance with a set of associated operating rules.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 , which includes communicating a reservation response from the transactional processing system to a transactional routing controller to confirm that the agent has been reserved.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 8 , which includes generating a routing message based upon the reservation response, the routing message indicating the identity of the agent which has been reserved.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 8 , which includes supplying the transaction to the agent which has been reserved based upon the routing message.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is supplied to a queue associated with the identified agent, the queue being configured to supply the transaction to the identified agent.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is supplied to the transactional processing system which then supplies the transaction to the identified agent.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
107 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: a transaction handler to receive a transaction and generate a request identifier; a transactional routing controller to: receive the request identifier and agent data from at least one transactional processing system, the agent data being indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system and the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identify an appropriate agent associated with the transactional processing system based upon the agent data and the request identifier; and reserve the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supply the transaction to the appropriate agent.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
107 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: a transaction handler to receive a transaction and generate a request identifier; a transactional routing controller to: receive the request identifier and agent data from at least one transactional processing system, the agent data being indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system and the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identify an appropriate agent associated with the transactional processing system based upon the agent data and the request identifier; and reserve the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supply the transaction to the appropriate agent.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the request identifier is derived from one of an Automatic Number Identifier (ANI), a Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS), a Touch Tone Selection (TTS) and an e-mail address of the transaction received from the customer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein a data message is generated by the transaction handler to identify the nature of the transaction to the transactional routing controller.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the agent data from the transactional processing system identifies the agent capabilities associated with each agent of the transactional processing system.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
55 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the transactional routing controller compares the agent data and the request identifier to determine a correlation value between the agent data and the request identifier, the transactional routing controller using the correlation value to identify the appropriate agent associated with the transactional processing system to service the transaction.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the transactional processing system generates a signal confirming that the appropriate agent has been reserved.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the transactional processing system supplies a reservation response to the transactional routing controller to indicate that the appropriate agent has been reserved.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the transactional routing controller generates a routing message based upon the reservation response, the routing message identifying the agent which has been reserved.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the transaction handler supplies the transaction to the agent which has been reserved based upon the routing message.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the transaction handler supplies the transaction to a queue associated with the appropriate agent, the queue being configured to supply the transaction to the appropriate agent.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the transaction handler supplies the transaction to the transactional processing system which supplies the transaction to the appropriate agent.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
100 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: first means for receiving a transaction and generating a request identifier derived from the transaction from the customer; second means for: receiving the request identifier and agent data from a third means; identifying an appropriate agent associated with the third means, in accordance with associated operating rules, capable of servicing the transaction based upon the agent data and the request identifier; and reserving the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supplying the transaction to the appropriate agent to generate a response for communication to the customer.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
100 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: first means for receiving a transaction and generating a request identifier derived from the transaction from the customer; second means for: receiving the request identifier and agent data from a third means; identifying an appropriate agent associated with the third means, in accordance with associated operating rules, capable of servicing the transaction based upon the agent data and the request identifier; and reserving the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supplying the transaction to the appropriate agent to generate a response for communication to the customer.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
99 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: a transactional routing controller to receive a request identifier and agent data from a transactional processing system, the transactional routing controller identifying an appropriate agent associated with the transactional processing system which is capable of servicing the transaction based upon the agent data and the request identifier, the request identifier being derived from the transaction; and wherein the transactional routing controller reserves the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supplies the transaction to the appropriate agent to generate a response for communication to the customer.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
99 words
An apparatus to route a transaction from a customer, the apparatus including: a transactional routing controller to receive a request identifier and agent data from a transactional processing system, the transactional routing controller identifying an appropriate agent associated with the transactional processing system which is capable of servicing the transaction based upon the agent data and the request identifier, the request identifier being derived from the transaction; and wherein the transactional routing controller reserves the agent and, after the agent has been reserved, supplies the transaction to the appropriate agent to generate a response for communication to the customer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
108 words
A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to: receive a request identifier associated with a transaction from a customer, the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identify an agent associated with a transactional processing system based upon the request identifier and agent data indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system; prior to routing the transaction to the identified agent, reserve the agent which has been identified; and route the transaction to the identified agent, wherein the agent generates a response to the transaction for communication to the customer.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
108 words
A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to: receive a request identifier associated with a transaction from a customer, the request identifier being derived from the transaction from the customer; identify an agent associated with a transactional processing system based upon the request identifier and agent data indicative of capabilities of agents associated with the transactional processing system; prior to routing the transaction to the identified agent, reserve the agent which has been identified; and route the transaction to the identified agent, wherein the agent generates a response to the transaction for communication to the customer.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
23 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the medium supplies the agent data and the request identifier to a transactional routing controller.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
43 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the request identifier is derived from one of an Automatic Number Identifier (ANI), a Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS), a Touch Tone Selection (TTS) and an e-mail address of the transaction received from the customer.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
33 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 28 , wherein a data message is generated in response to the request identifier, the data message identifying the nature of the transaction to a transactional routing controller.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
32 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the agent data is supplied from the transactional processing system and identifies the agent capabilities associated with each agent of the transactional processing system.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
41 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the medium compares the agent data and the request identifier to determine a correlation between the agent data and the request identifier in order to identify the agent capable of servicing the transaction.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
32 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the determination of a correlation between the agent data and the request identifier is determined in accordance with a set of associated operating rules.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
26 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the medium supplies a reservation response to a transactional routing controller indicating that the agent has been reserved.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
29 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the medium generates a routing message based upon the reservation response, the routing message identifying the agent which has been reserved.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
25 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the medium supplies the transaction to the agent which has been reserved based upon the routing message.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
33 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the medium supplies the transaction to a queue associated with the identified agent, the queue being configured to supply the transaction to the identified agent.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
32 words
The machine-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the medium supplies the transaction to the transactional processing system, the transactional processing system being configured to supply the transaction to the identified agent.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-11-02 | 2008-05-03 | 2008-11-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-11-02 | 2012-05-03 | 2012-11-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-11-02 | 2016-05-03 | 2016-11-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |