Automated nodal calling system

A method of automatically placing phone calls to callees in a calling area, the method comprising the steps of:

• a. providing a database comprising a plurality of phone numbers and at least one data field associated with each of the plurality of phone numbers, the at least one data field containing information representing a geographic location;
• b. recording a message to be transmitted to the callees;
• c. defining a calling area to receive the recorded message, the calling area used to select a subset of phone numbers from the database, each of the subset of phone numbers having information representing a geographic location within the calling area in the at least one data field associated with the phone number;
• d. generating call requests and storing the call requests in a queue, each of the call requests containing one of the phone numbers from the subset of phone numbers selected from the database;
• e. initiating calls to callees based on a first group of the generated call requests;
• and
• f. sending a second group of the generated call requests to a remote node, the remote node operable to initiate phone calls to callees based on the second group of call requests.

A method of using a local node and a remote node to place telephone calls to a group of callees, the method comprising:

• a. defining a calling area;
• b. selecting a plurality of phone numbers from a database based on the calling area;
• c. storing a plurality of call requests in a local temporary file, each call request containing one of the plurality of phone numbers and at least one data field containing information about processing the call to be made to the one of the plurality of phone numbers;
• d. sending a first call request of the plurality of call requests to a local serving program for determining whether to process the first call request from the local node or the remote node;
• e. sending the first call request to a local template program for processing the first call request if the local serving program determines to process the first call request from the local node, the local template program operable to
• (i) place a call to the telephone number contained in the first call request and generate a first call response, and
• (ii) send the first call response to a local gate program which generates a statement to update the first call request in the local temporary file or remove the first call request from the local temporary file;
• f. sending the first call request to a remote gate program for entering the call request in a remote temporary file if the local serving program determines to process the first call request from the remote node.

A method of operating an automated nodal calling system comprising the steps of:

• a. providing a local node comprising a database having a plurality of phone numbers;
• b. generating a call request at the local node, the call request including one of the plurality of phone numbers from the database;
• c. providing a plurality of remote nodes operable to process the call request and generate a call response for the call request, the call response indicating the result of the call request;
• d. providing a network connecting the local node to each of the plurality of remote nodes, the network allowing the local node to send data to each of the plurality of remote nodes and receive data from each of the plurality of remote nodes;
• e. sending the call request to a first of the plurality of remote nodes for processing the call request;
• and
• f. sending the call request to a second of the plurality of remote nodes if the call response has not been received from the first of the plurality of remote nodes following a predetermined period of time after sending the call request.

An automated nodal calling system comprising:

• a. a local node comprising a database having a plurality of phone numbers, the local node operable to generate a call request, the call request including one of the plurality of phone numbers from the database;
• b. a plurality of remote nodes, each of the remote nodes operable to process the call request from the local node and generate a call response for the call request, the call response indicating the result of the call request;
• c. a network connecting the local node to each of the plurality of remote nodes, the network allowing the local node to send data to each of the plurality of remote nodes and receive data from each of the plurality of remote nodes;
• wherein the local node is further operable to send the call request to a first of the plurality of remote nodes for processing the call request and send the call request to a second of the plurality of remote nodes if the call response has not been received from the first of the plurality of remote nodes following a predetermined period after sending the call request.