Method and apparatus for executive phone call initiatiation
AssigneeApplied Minds, LLC
InventorsWilliam Daniel Hillis, Bran Ferren, Peter G. Peterson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and supporting apparatus for an executive phone patch is disclosed. An administrative assistant uses a first phone line to communicate with a first party, places first party on-hold, and establishes a connection with a second party. Once the second party is on the line, the two lines are connected together and the assistant is isolated from the conversation.
Claims70
A method for initiating a plurality of telephone calls on behalf of a first party comprising the steps of:
- using a telephone instrument comprising a base and a handset to communicate with a first party using a first voice channel;
- placing the first party on the first voice channel on hold;
- using the telephone instrument to establish a connection to a second party using a second voice channel;
- connecting the first channel to the second channel;
- and
- upon receiving a privacy signal, isolating the telephone instrument from said first and second channels while still leaving said first and second channels connected to each other.
The method of claim 8 wherein the pick-up signal is received from a cradle that detects the absence of the handset in the cradle.
An initiation unit for use by an assistant in establishing telephone calls on behalf of a first party comprising:
- controller;
- telephone instrument base interface;
- handset interface;
- and
- isolation switch for isolating the telephone instrument base interface from the handset interface upon receiving an isolation command from the controller and reconnecting the telephone instrument base interface to the handset interface upon receiving a connect command from the controller.
A telephone instrument for use by an assistant in establishing telephone calls on behalf of a first party comprising:
- controller;
- base;
- handset interface;
- plurality of telephone line interfaces;
- isolation switch having a line side and a handset side connected to said handset interface for isolating the telephone line interfaces from the handset interface upon receiving an isolation command from the controller and reconnecting the telephone line interfaces to the handset interface upon receiving a connect command from the controller;
- plurality of engagement switches corresponding to said plurality of telephone line interfaces wherein said engagement switches operate as radio buttons and wherein an engagement switch, when actuated, causes the corresponding telephone line interface to be connected to the line side of the isolation switch;
- hold switch for de-actuating an actuated engagement switch and contemporaneously placing a load on the telephone line interface corresponding to said actuated engagement switch in order to preclude dropping a telephone called carried on said telephone line interface;
- and
- conference switch for connecting at least two telephone line interfaces to each other.
A private branch exchange control element comprising:
- internal distribution bus;
- line converter that comprises a plurality of telephone line interfaces and converts a plurality of telephone signals carried on the telephone line interfaces into a formal for distribution over the internal distribution bus;
- and
- plurality of dual-channel user modules comprising at least two voice channel interfaces and a user interface that are capable of selectively conferencing two voice channels with the user interface and selectively isolating the user interface.
A dual-channel user module for use in a private branch exchange control element comprising:
- first voice channel that interfaces to a private branch exchange internal distribution bus;
- second voice channel that interfaces to a private branch exchange internal distribution bus;
- user interface that interfaces to a user telephone instrument;
- first channel switch that selectively routes the first voice channel to the user interface;
- second channel switch that selectively routes the second voice channel to the user interface;
- cross channel switch that connects the first voice channel to the second voice channel;
- on-hook/flash detector that monitors the hook activity of the user interface;
- and
- logic sequencer that controls said first channel switch, said second channel switch and said cross channel switch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.