Voice response system with automated data transfer

A voice response system providing interactive data exchange between a plurality of outside parties utilizing a plurality of outside telephone apparatus, a voice response unit, at least one operator terminal and at least one host system, comprising:

• a voice response unit coupled to said at least one host system, and responsive to telephone signals received from said plurality of outside telephone apparatus, for converting at least a portion of said received telephone signals to data signals, said data signals facilitating interactive data exchange between each of said plurality of outside parties utilizing said plurality of outside telephone apparatus and said at least one host system, for providing human recognizable audio output signals to said plurality of outside parties in response to data provided by said at least one host system and telephone signals received from said plurality of outside telephone apparatus;
• and for storing a plurality of interactive data exchange records, each of said interactive data exchange records representing at least a portion of the interactive data exchange between one of said plurality of outside parties and said at least one host system;
• a voice path switch, responsive to said voice response unit and to said telephone signals, for selectively connecting said telephone signals received from said plurality of outside parties utilizing said plurality of outside telephone apparatus to one of an operator terminal and said voice response unit dependent upon whether operator assistance is required for each of said plurality of outside parties;
• at least on operator terminal, for transmitting and receiving telephone signals to and from at least one outside party utilizing at least on outside telephone apparatus and requiring operator assistance, and for transmitting and receiving data signals to and from said voice response unit and said at least one host system;
• and
• a data controller, responsive to said voice responsive unit and said at least one operator terminal, for selectively connecting said voice response unit, said at least one host system and said at least one operator terminal, according to control signals provided by said voice response unit and said at least one operator terminal, for selectively providing a first data signal path between said voice response unit and said at least one host system, for providing a second data signal path between said voice response unit and said at least one operator terminal, said second data signal path between said voice response unit and said at leas one operator terminal for providing to said at least one operator terminal at least a portion of a selected interactive data exchange record stored by said voice response unit, said selected interactive data exchange record associated with telephone signals of said at least one outside party requiring operator assistance and presently selectively connected to said at least one operator terminal by said voice path switch and, said data controller further selectively providing a third data signal path between said at least one operator terminal and said at least one host system, for facilitating interactive data exchange between said at least one operator terminal and data stored on said at least one host system, said data associated with said at least on outside party selectively connected to said operator terminal and requiring operator assistance.

A voice response system providing interactive data exchange between a plurality of outside parties utilizing a plurality of outside telephone apparatus, a voice response unit, at least one operator terminal and at least one data base, comprising:

• a voice response unit, responsive to telephone signals received from said plurality of outside telephone apparatus, for converting at least a portion of said received telephone signals to data signals, said data signals facilitating interactive data exchange between each of said plurality of outside parties utilizing said plurality of outside telephone apparatus and said at least one data base;
• for providing human recognizable audio output signals to said plurality of outside parties in response to data provided by said at least one data base and said telephone signals received from said plurality of outside telephone apparatus;
• and for storing a plurality of interactive data exchange records, each of said interactive data exchange records representing at least a portion of the interactive data exchange between one of said plurality of outside parties and said at least one data base;
• a voice path switch, responsive to said voice response unit and to said telephone signals, for selectively connecting said telephone signals received from said plurality of outside parties utilizing said plurality of outside telephone apparatus to one of an operator terminal and said voice response unit dependent upon whether operator assistance is required for each of said plurality of outside parties;
• at least one operator terminal, for transmitting and receiving telephone signals to and from at least one outside party utilizing at least one outside telephone apparatus and requiring operator assistance, and for transmitting and receiving data signals to and from said voice response unit and said at least one data base, and wherein said at least one operator terminal includes at least one workstation programmable function, operative for automatically performing a selected task upon the occurrence of a predetermined event;
• and
• means, responsive to said voice responsive unit and said at lease one operator terminal, for selectively providing a first data signal path between said voice response unit and said at least one data base, for providing a second data signal path between said voice response unit and said at least one operator terminal, said second data signal path between said voice response unit and said at least one operator terminal for providing to said at least one operator terminal at least a portion of a selected interactive data exchange record stored by said voice response unit, said interactive data exchange record associated with telephone signals of said at least one outside party requiring operator assistance and presently selectively connected to said at least one operator terminal by said voice path switch and, said means further selectively providing a third data signal path between said at least one operator terminal and said at least one data base, for facilitating interactive data exchange between said at lease one operator terminal and data stored on said at least one data base regarding said at least one outside party requiring operator assistance.