Telephone system and method for providing directory assistance/intercept information

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to telephony, and in particular relates to systems and methods which are used to provide information to an intercept and/or directory assistance operator as to the status of a plurality of subscriber telephone numbers.

#2. Description of the Prior Art

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the system in accordance with the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of the system of FIG. 1.

#One embodiment of a system in accordance with the present invention, and the method incorporated therein, will be described with respect to the drawing.

#The system of the present invention is referred to generally as 10, and is used in conjunction with a central telephone office facility having a cable trunk 12 and a plurality of line conductor pairs 14 each of which is fed into a corresponding operator terminal 16. In this preferred embodiment, 64 operator terminals 16 are contemplated, the first and sixty-fourth terminals actually being shown in the drawing, and the balance being depicted by a dotted line therebetween.

#A common input-output device, which in this example comprises a cathode-ray tube terminal 18 having a keyboard 20 associated therewith, is collocated with each operator terminal 16. This cathode-ray tube-keyboard combination 18, 20 may comprise any common commercially available input-output terminal, such as the Hazeltine model 2000 manufactured by Hazeltine Corporation of Greenlawn, New York, for example. It will be understood that a directory assistance or intercept operator 22 is positioned between each of the terminals 16 and each keyboard 20 so as to receive messages (usually through a headset associated with the terminal 16), operate the keyboard 20 and thereafter converse with the calling part through the operator terminal 16, usually through a microphone associated therewith.