HK1115490A - Enhanced directory assistance system - Google Patents

Description

Enhanced directory assistance system

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. provisional application No.60/233156, "Enhanced directory assistance System" (application date 2001, 9, 15), which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a system and method for allowing a caller to contact an enhanced directory assistance system in order to obtain directions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing instructional services to wireless device callers.

Background

In the field of travel guidance, there is a need for an improved system for individuals currently requesting guidance to collect or receive information that helps them reach their final destination. One such method is to use a map, with users finding their own location and their destination and attempting to guide themselves by using markers on the map. However, this approach has significant drawbacks because individuals often do not know their own location accurately when attempting to use the map, making it difficult to utilize the map correctly.

In addition, guidance systems have improved with the advent of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and triangulation that can determine the exact location of individuals with appropriate equipment. However, such GPS systems are expensive and bulky. The present invention seeks to improve upon the existing methods of tutoring information by providing an enhanced directory assistance system in which a caller is able to contact a directory service and give the name of a destination, and in a short time, to convey tutoring to the caller by one of several means based on the caller's device capabilities or on the caller's preferences.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an enhanced directory assistance system for providing instructional information to a plurality of callers. The system includes a telephone switch that receives calls from a plurality of callers who wish to receive directions. The system also includes an automatic location system that provides the location of the caller in the call session to the telephone exchange.

An enhanced services directions module is provided that receives destination and start location information provided by a caller and provides directions to the caller based on the provided information.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises a mapping and directions database coupled to the enhanced services directions module that stores information used to formulate directions. The mapping and directions database is located geographically remote from the enhanced directory assistance system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises an agent that provides the guidance packets formed by the enhanced services guidance module to the telephony switch.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises a traffic database coupled to the enhanced services guide module, providing traffic information corresponding to routes required by each of said callers. The system also includes a traffic information seller coupled to the traffic database that provides the traffic database with the most recent traffic information for the geographic area covered by the system.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further includes an advertisement hint module that generates advertisement hint codes corresponding to advertisement content that is provided to the plurality of callers. The system also includes an advertisement database coupled to the advertisement hint module that stores advertisement content. Possible formats for advertising content include voice messages and multimedia messages.

Drawings

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms that are presently preferred, but the invention is not, of course, limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

Figure 1 illustrates an enhanced directory assistance system architecture, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates an enhanced directory assistance system architecture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an enhanced directory assistance system architecture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates an enhanced directory assistance system architecture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 illustrates an enhanced directory assistance system architecture, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 illustrates an incoming caller information record, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 illustrates an instruction packet according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a guideline and map database table, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 illustrates a customer data list table, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a recent, alternate, and preferred destination sublist according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates an ad location business modification table, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates internal modules of an advertisement hint module, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates an advertisement data table, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an advertisement hint selection process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an enhanced directory assistance system guidance process, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 16 illustrates a flow diagram of an enhanced directory assistance system guidance process, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 17 illustrates a flow diagram of an enhanced directory assistance system guidance process, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals represent like parts, there is shown in fig. 1 an enhanced directory assistance system2 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. System2 allows caller 4 to request and receive directions relative to a desired location. Caller 4 may access system2 via a conventional wireline Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) and/or international exchange carrier, via a wireless carrier (including voice and data access) or via a connection to the internet.

In the present invention, caller 4 may access system2 through a directory assistance dial-string such as (411, 555-. However, it is contemplated that caller 4 may access system2 using any specified dial-string. ANI (automatic value authentication) that can be collected by a customer service representative is delivered from the system 2. The services provided by service 2 may be available 24 hours a day, days a day, and a week.

It should be noted that while caller 4 is able to access system2 via a landline carrier, many of the features discussed below relate to the functionality of system2 and caller 4 being operated by a wireless device. For ease of explanation, unless otherwise stated, it will be assumed that caller 4 is operating through a wireless device, but this is in no way meant to be limiting to the present invention. Any system and method by which caller 4 uses system2 to contact the necessary functions required to maintain transmission/reception guidance is within the contemplation of the present invention. The wireless device used by caller 4 may be any wireless communication device known, including cellular phones and modems, pagers, PCS phones and modems, RIM Blackberry, wireless PDA, instant messaging device, SMS device, and the like. In addition, it is contemplated that the present invention may be implemented to accommodate any device, including, for example, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) having voice and/or data communication capabilities, and the like.

The system2 is preferably coupled directly to one or more service providers 26 through a wireless MSC (mobile switching center) 8 or through a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 10.

Generally, as shown in fig. 1, caller 4 communicates with system2 through a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 8. Caller 4 may also communicate with system2 through MSC 8 coupled to PSTN 10. Similarly, caller 4 may communicate with system2 through MSC 8 which is directly coupled to system2, i.e. without communicating through PSTN 10.

An alternative method of caller 4 accessing system2 is fully described in applicant's related co-pending application, serial No. pct/US01/02366 (application date 2001, 1-24), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As shown in fig. 1, the system2 is preferably comprised of one or more switches and integrated Voice Response Units (VRUs) 12 (VRUs may be stand-alone, rather than integrated), a primary call center 16, a caller or customer list database 18, one or more operator terminals 20 running agent programs 19 that access enhanced service guide modules 21 (the enhanced service guide modules 21 may be automated or may be manipulated by agents), a mapping and guidance database 15 coupled to the enhanced service guide modules 21, a wide area network 25, a computer telephony interface 29, and T1 wiring 23. In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the architecture of system2 may include a location database 60 coupled to a Wide Area Network (WAN)25 to provide the location of caller 4 when caller 4 accesses directory assistance system 2. Although not shown in the figure, the location of caller 4 may also be provided for calls initiated using wired carrier 8.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the architecture of the system2 further includes a location database 60 and a traffic vendor module 43 coupled to the WAN 25 directly and via the Internet (direct connections and connections via the Internet are shown). The system2 also includes a traffic database 45 coupled to the enhanced services guidance module 21.

In another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 4, the architecture of system2 may further include an advertisement hint module 27 coupled with the enhanced service guide module 21. Advertisement hint module 27 is also coupled to an advertisement database 66 that stores advertiser information. As described below, the enhanced services direction module 21 may also obtain certain advertisement hint information from the customer database 18. The advertisement hint storage module 13 is connected to the VRU/switch 12 to store advertisement hints for the switch 12 such that the switch 12 can access the appropriate advertisement hints according to the instructions provided by the advertisement hints module 27 and the enhanced services guidance module 21.

In this configuration, the location database 60 is connected to the WAN 25 directly and through the internet, as shown in fig. 4, in the presence of additional advertising functions. Alternatively, the location database 60 may simply be connected directly to the WAN 25, as shown in fig. 5. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, in another embodiment of the present invention, the location database 60 may also reside within the system2 when coupled with a GPS module.

In another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 5, the architecture of the system2 further includes a VRU/ASR68 (Voice response Unit/advanced Speech recognition) module coupled to the primary call center 16. The VRU/ASR68 is configured to provide a stand-alone voice response device separate from the switch 12. This feature is illustrated simply as an alternative means of the display system2 to deliver advertising prompts and receive caller 4 commands in a manner that does not involve an integrated switch/VRU assembly. In this configuration, system2 is able to provide more flexibility in the ability of system2 in the delivery of advertising prompts and in the acquisition of caller 4 instructions. This is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention. Any similar enhanced directory assistance system that utilizes VRUs and/or ASRs in conjunction with providing instructions, whether or not these components are integrated with a telephony switch, is within the contemplation of the present invention. For ease of illustration, it will be assumed that VRU functionality resides in the integrated switch/VRU 12.

It should be noted that the various data source components of system2, such as location database 60, traffic vendor 62, traffic database 64, and advertisement database 66, may be located at a central or remote location in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. The salient features of these modules are based, for the most part, on their operation, function, connection and interaction with various other modules of the system 2. Their physics are only used to illustrate one embodiment of the invention. For example, the outsourced advertisements database 66 is within contemplation of the present invention, and in such a case, the advertisements database may be located at a remote location. Likewise, it is within the contemplation of the invention that the location database 60 may be centrally maintained.

The switch 12 is coupled to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 and to the PSTN and to a primary call center 16, the primary call center 16 being further coupled to at least one operator terminal 20 and to a customer database 18. Although not shown, it is within the contemplation of the invention that the system2 ' may also include a switch 12 ' that would be connected to the call center 16 '. In addition, although only one switch 12 is illustrated in fig. 1-5, any number of switches 12 may be used in system2 to increase the capacity of system 2.

The connection between the primary call centre 16 and the operator terminal 20 is such that voice communication is transmitted directly between them and data information is transmitted via the computer telephony interface 29. This can also be achieved by means of in-band signaling, as described below. The operator terminal 20 is connected not only to the customer database 18 but also to other databases and application software modules.

It should be noted that the hardware configuration illustrated in fig. 1-5 represents one embodiment of the present invention, however, other hardware configurations are also within the contemplation of the present invention. For example, primary call center 16 may be coupled to PSTN 10 to back up call routing via the PSTN. Any hardware architecture that maintains similar modules and provides similar enhanced directory assistance services is within contemplation of the subject invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, strategically, multiple call centers, such as system2 and system 2' illustrated in fig. 1-5, may be located in many geographic locations throughout the country. For example, each call center, system2 or system 2' may be located in a major metropolitan area distributed within the united states. Each call center is configured to handle call communications designated for that call center, which may include all possible types of calls.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, each system2 or 2 'may be connected to other call centers so that all systems 2 or' 2 are connected. Such connection may be accomplished by coupling the primary call centers 16 of the various systems 2 by way of, for example, T1 lines 23, WAN 25, or other similar facility, including PSTN 10. It is also within the contemplation of the invention that these connections may be established by utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or other similar technology.

Operationally, primary call center 16' receives forwarded calls from primary call center 16 in the event that system2 experiences an operational problem or the volume of requests exceeds its capacity. An important advantage with this solution is that the primary call centre 16 'of the system 2' can function as an overflow for the primary call centre 16 of the system2 in case of technical difficulties or large call volumes in the system 2. This configuration allows primary call center 16 to route calls to primary call center 16' during periods of high traffic, even in the event of a failure of the primary direct connection of system2, as described above.

The customer database 18, mapping and directions database 15, advertisement database 66 and customer database 18 ', mapping and directions database 15 ' and advertisement database 66 ' are similarly arranged and preferably mirror each other. Although operator terminal 20 is not shown as being directly coupled to primary call center 16 'and customer database 18', operator terminal 20 may also be directly coupled via WAN 25 or, as shown in fig. 1-5, may be capable of accessing call center 16 'and databases 15', 18 ', and 66' through primary call center 16. This overcomes the case where the database 15, 18 or 66 in the system2 malfunctions, so that the operation terminal 20 can complete a call by using the information stored on the database 15 ', 18 ' or 66 ' as appropriate.

This scheme of connecting all systems 2 and 2 'also allows for time shifting so that in some areas when call traffic is low, local systems can be shut down all night long, allowing systems 2' located in earlier time zones to process calls. For example, the call center system2 in new york may be closed between 2AM and 6AM, allowing the call center system 2' in california or hawaii to process the call. This not only allows for time shifting, but also allows for employee employment advantages by allowing the manager of the service to employ employees in areas where conditions are most favorable. For example, the east coast call center system2 may send a substantial portion of its call traffic to the midwest call center system 2' located in an area where the number of employees needed for easy employment and training is likely.

The links coupling the various components of system2 and service provider 26 together through Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)10 may be any known voice and/or data communication technology, including wide area networking and local area networking communication technologies such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), digital T-1s23 (as shown in fig. 1-5), leased line, satellite or wireless links, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), ethernet, token ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), and so forth. Further assume that the various components of system2, service provider 26 and PSTN 10 are provided with appropriate communications hardware interfaces for transmitting and receiving data over communications links. For example, wireless service provider 26 may interface directly with system2 through Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 hardware coupled directly to switch 12 of system 12.

Switch 12 may be any switch that preferably includes an integrated voice response device. Many functions performed by switch 12 are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, including routing telephone calls between trunks, converting one signaling type to another signaling type, such as between digital signaling systems, Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) signaling, Multi Frequency (MF) signaling, ISDN, SS7, etc., and capturing call length and destination data for billing, among others.

As shown in fig. 1-5, when a call enters switch 12, the call is identified by means of the DNIS associated with the number dialed by caller 4 so that appropriate data generated by system2 can be sent to the correct switch 12 to complete the call, as will be described in more detail later.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, after switch 12 receives a call from caller 4, switch 12 provides an incoming caller identification record 70. Caller identification record 70 includes a number of fields including (but not limited to): the number dialed by the caller, the preferred language, the caller's originating telephone number, the caller service provider and the feature code. Additionally, if some form of automated caller location system is installed in place, as shown in fig. 2-5 representing location database 60, caller identification record 70 may include a caller location field specific to the location of caller 4.

As shown in fig. 6, the number dialed by the caller field contains the number dialed by the caller, which can be used to identify the originating switch location of the incoming call. In addition, as described below, the dialed number may be used to access a specific language service based solely on the dialed number.

As shown in fig. 6, the preferred language code field contains information indicating the preferred language of the caller. System2, and in particular switch 12, has the ability to input a variety of different dial-string conversions into system 2. One possibility for determining the preferred language of caller 4 is to automatically send the call from a particular dialed number, such as NPA-555-. The preferred language code field is used to route the call to primary call center 16 via switch 12 via incoming caller identification record 70. The preferred language may also be stored in customer database 18 for frequent callers 4 whose preferences are stored in system 2.

As shown in fig. 6, the originating telephone number field of the caller holds the originating telephone number of caller 4. The caller service provider field indicates the service provider of caller 4. This field allows system2 to identify the calling party's service provider 26 for use in functions such as referral reminders, advertisement reminders, billing information, usage tracking, and the like. One example use of this data is in connection with targeted advertisement ending prompts directed to caller 4 from a particular service provider 26.

As shown in fig. 6, the feature code field holds information that can be used to identify any particular feature associated with the caller's 4 device. These features may include (but are not limited to): promotional rate plans, standard rate plans, bundled service plans, device capabilities, and the like. For example, the service provider 26 may provide unlimited instructional help for unifying prices per month, or may provide free services during a marketing period.

As shown in fig. 6, the caller location field holds information about the location of caller 4 based on information provided to system2 by location database 60. In the event that caller 4 or service provider 26 of caller 4 does not provide caller 4 with automated means of determining the location of caller 4, this field will remain empty until later operator terminal 20 and agent 19 fill it when caller 4 manually or verbally informs system2 of their location.

In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 2-5, the location database 60 is connected to the WAN 25 of the system2 either through a direct connection or through the Internet. The location database is not coupled to service provider 26 of caller 4. The location database is configured to generate caller 4 location using any (possibly more than one) commercially available method.

For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, location database 60 utilizes a positioning system, such as GPS or triangulation, to ascertain the location of the caller for the purpose of determining the proper direction of the caller's identified destination without requiring the caller to enter any information about their own location. Additionally, the location database 60 may be embedded directly in the city/state guidelines of the guideline database in order to reduce the time required to find the appropriate guideline information.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2-5, the location database 60 of system2 maintains the ability to quickly determine the location of the caller without the caller providing any verbal information. Current systems with this technology include triangulation systems and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

The triangulation system provides the accurate location of the caller by measuring the signal response time from three independent cell towers generated by the caller 4's cell phone. When a caller places a call, signals are retrieved at three separate antenna towers. From the time it takes for the signal to reach the antenna tower, the distance to the antenna tower can be calculated and by using this information the location of the caller can be determined. The service provider 26 or some third party service may provide such services to the guidance database. Alternatively, the coaching database 60 may be maintained by the system2 directly providing its own triangulation capability. It should be noted that regardless of how the location database 60 obtains the triangulation data, the connection to the system2 and the ability to provide an accurate location of the caller 4 is the most fundamental feature with little input from the caller 4.

The GPS system uses a chip placed in the cell phone or cell phone battery that works with GPS satellites to pinpoint the location of the chip. Unlike triangulation methods, which pinpoint the location of caller 4 from a signal emanating from one of the three antenna towers used in triangulation, GPS systems use a chip in the phone or battery to insert its location signal into cellular telephone communications. The GPS information is then sent to the location database 60 which uses the GPS module 67 to decipher the GPS information.

It should be noted that although GPS and triangulation are discussed above as the method by which location database 60 obtains the location of caller 4, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Any automated means by which location database 60 may obtain the location of caller 4 is within contemplation of the present invention in the event that caller 4 does not provide any information for use with the enhanced directory assistance system to provide guidance, such as if the caller does not know where they are. Also, although the location database 60 is depicted as being outside of the physical structure of the system2, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Any provider that can provide location information to a location database for use with the system2, whether the location information is purchased outsourced, provided by the service provider 26, provided by a third party vendor, or provided by the system2 itself, is within the contemplation of the present invention.

Populating location database 60 with these automated positioning systems, with destinations being continually processed, allows system2 to better estimate the location of the caller, particularly when the caller is lost, or when caller 4 is moving. The information provided by the location database to system2 is incorporated into the location field of caller 4 of incoming caller identification record 70. This information is then used by the agent 19 and enhanced services guidance module 21 to populate the necessary "start" guidance information, unless otherwise noted.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the caller 4 location field is populated by location database 60 as described above, as shown in FIG. 6. The format of the information is based on the operation of the database 60. For example, if location database 60 is acting on a GPS (Global positioning System) system, the information in the caller 4 location field of caller identification record 70 takes the form of a GPS location. Regardless of the system employed by location database 60, the information contained in the caller 4 location field will be used by enhanced services direction module 21 to populate the "start from" information, unless otherwise specified.

Although only six fields of the incoming call identification record 70 are identified, any number of fields for providing the system2 with the data needed to complete the call is within the contemplation of the present invention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the output from switch/VRU 12 preferably takes the form of a text-to-speech interface. This allows agent 19 to pass directions to the text-to-speech processor for reading the directions given to caller 4. This has the advantage of automating the majority of the time required to provide the directions, thereby freeing the customer service representative from making additional calls. In addition, by utilizing text-to-speech services, this allows caller 4 to spend as much time as they wish to preview the directions by selecting either a read-back rate (rate) or a repeat function.

Call centers 16 and 16' are comprised of hardware and software that accept inbound calls from switch 12 and distribute the calls to a plurality of operator terminals 20 using Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) techniques. The enhanced services directions module 21 and directions and mapping database 15 configure the operator terminal 20 with respect to the customer database 18 to search for and retrieve new directions and/or to retrieve old or saved directions.

Call centers 16 and 16' may be comprised of one or more processors coupled together in a network configuration to perform these functions and may be constructed using known computing techniques such as using personal computers, small or large computing devices, routers, switches, and the like. Since call centers 16 and 16 'are similar in structure and operation, the discussion of primary call center 16 also describes primary call center 16' of course.

A Computer Telephony Interface (CTI)29 is arranged between call center 16 and operator terminal 20. CTI 29 is configured to send to operator terminal 20 the data portion of an incoming caller 4 call (incoming caller identification record), such as the number dialed by caller 4 and the originating telephone number of caller 4, while the voice portion of the call is communicated directly between call center 16 and operator terminal 20. Although not discussed herein, it is within the intended scope of the present invention that the data portion of the incoming caller 4 may be transmitted to the operator terminal 20 by utilizing in-band signaling (i.e., utilizing the voice path of the call).

Operator terminal 20 may also be any known input device capable of receiving and displaying data on its display, including, but not limited to, a personal computer, a UNIX workstation, and the like. Although it is preferred that a separate customer service representative telephone be implemented as part of system2 and coupled to primary call center 16 for communication with caller 4, operator terminal 20 is not so limited. For example, the operator terminal 20 may be arranged to include an integrated telephone set (not shown). In other words, any arrangement that allows a customer service representative to engage in verbal communication with caller 4 is sufficient.

In addition, although only one operation terminal 20 is shown, the system2 is not limited to this arrangement. The system2 may be comprised of a plurality of operator terminals 20 such that more than one customer service representative is adapted to host users of the system 2. It should be noted that primary call center 16 and its communications with switch 12 and operator terminals 20, as well as the arrangement and communications between primary call center 16 'and switch 12' may be implemented in accordance with the connection and communication techniques described in U.S. patent application No.09/449126 (application date 1999, 11/24), which is incorporated herein by reference.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, caller 4 may interact with the agent using non-voice methods such as, but not limited to, Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), real-time chat, and instant messaging, as discussed below.

In another embodiment of the present invention, caller 4 may wish to access system2 for drawing purposes without entering the tutorial function. In this case, the customer service representative at the operator terminal 20 may instruct the enhanced service guide module 21 to retrieve only the drawing information, increasing the response time of the system 2.

The representative program 19 platform is used to manipulate the operator terminal 20, the customer database 18, the enhanced services guidance module 21, and the guidance and mapping database 15 and to generate guidance packages 50 using information from these modules.

According to one embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the instructional packet 50 may include (but is not limited to) the following fields: caller's originating telephone number field 54, guide/drawing field 56, advertisement cue code field 58 and traffic field 57. These fields are merely provided as an example of the field format of the guide packet 50 and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Other fields for use by the instructional packet 50 for implementing additional functionality in a similar enhanced directory assistance system2 are also within the contemplation of the present invention.

The caller's originating telephone number field 54 shown in figure 7 is used to ensure that switch/VRU 12 delivers the directions, mapping information and/or traffic information to the appropriate caller 4. As shown in FIG. 7, the guide/mapping field 56 contains the guidance and information generated by the enhanced services guidance module 21 of the system 2. Tutor/mapping field 56 includes instructions for switch/VRU 12 to convey the tutoring to caller 4.

As shown in FIG. 7, advertisement hint code field 58 provides information to switch/VRU 12 regarding which advertisement hint selected by advertisement hint module 27 should be retrieved from advertisement hint storage module 13 and communicated to caller 4. As shown in fig. 7, traffic field 57 informs switch/VRU 12 of the traffic information generated by enhanced services direction module 21 and traffic database 45 to be delivered to caller 4.

Tutorial package 50 is packetized information generated by system2 in response to a tutorial request from caller 4. Agent 19 generates an instructional packet 50 using information generated by and/or stored in the various modules of system 2. A detailed description of how the fields of the instructional packet 50 are populated is given below based on the module used to populate the particular fields. It should be understood, however, that the primary function of system2 in transmitting instructions to caller 4 is contained in the generation of instruction packet 50 and the transmission of instruction packet 50 relative to caller 4, but this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Any information delivery system that delivers similar directions and related information to callers on request, as used by similar enhanced directory assistance systems, is within the contemplation of the present invention.

Agent 19, which is the primary software used by system2 to generate the tutoring, not only supports communication between the various modules of system2, but also prepares the tutoring packets to be sent to switch 12 to ultimately provide the requested tutoring or mapping information to caller 4.

To generate the tutorial package 50, the operator terminal 20 and agent 19 request that information be retrieved from the tutorial and mapping database 15, the customer database 18 (in the case of caller 4 being an old customer with stored preferences), the advertising module 27, the advertising database 66 and information from the enhanced services tutorial module 21. This data is used to populate various fields of the guidance packet 50, as described in detail below.

The agent 19 is configured to run several interfaces on the operator terminal 20 in order to equip the system2 with the functionality to provide guidance. The first interface is an interface with respect to the front-end application. The primary front-end interface is an enhanced directory assistance system. From the point of view of the enhanced directory assistance system, it is desirable for the customer service representative of caller 4 to be able to obtain tutorial functions by a simple combination of keystrokes in exactly the same way that they obtain any other enhanced directory assistance system2 feature. When the customer service representative receives a call requesting directions, the agent will request the "From" and "To" menus where the operator is presented with the location. By utilizing this interface via the application protocol interface structure, the instructional software may be accessed by other applications in the future.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, caller 4 has the ability to view the same menu as the customer service representative. In this case, caller 4 is given the same ability To enter "From" and "To", thereby eliminating the need for a real operator. In such a configuration, caller 4 is prompted to enter the travel location via SMS, voice recognition, WAP, or any other means compatible with system 2.

The second application protocol interface is associated with the address application. Some callers requesting directions will know the name of their destination but not their exact address. In this case, the agent needs To determine the address of the destination and then populate the "To" field of the directions with that address. The address application is preferably operated by the enhanced directory assistance system2, but may also allow the destination address to be obtained using other sources, such as the directions and mapping database 15.

The third interface defined with respect to the process is for the drawing vendor. Here, the customer service representative obtains From/To data From the caller and enters the data into the agent program 19 at the operator terminal 20. The agent 19 in turn passes the information to an enhanced services instruction module 21 (if the drawing is being processed internally), or via the internet or some other connection means to a drawing software vendor (not shown) where the information is processed. The drawing software either returns an error message (corresponding to an event such as an address not found; finding multiple departure addresses, etc.); or successfully find the indicated location and return the map, directions, travel distance and time estimates. The agent 19 uses the returned information to verify that a location that can be considered correct has been returned or to ask the caller for additional information. An example of an interface used in this application is the Mapquest ® data interface for its drawing software, however, the use of Mapquest drawing software is only one example of a drawing application software, and the agent 19 architecture may alternatively use other drawing software, whether internal or external.

Another interface defined with respect to the process is the interface of the output driver. The purpose of this embodiment is to have the option of sending the instructions to the caller by a number of different techniques. In addition to the text-to-speech (TTS) delivery capability of switch/VRU 12 or VRU/ASR68, Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), email, voicemail, and Weber are potential mechanisms for delivering directions to callers. To take advantage of all of these functions, the output of the agent 19 may be converted to a standard format, which in turn may be passed to a number of different output drivers.

It should be noted that although the agent program 19 and operator terminal 20 are depicted as being manipulated by an agent or customer service representative, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. It is also within the contemplation of the invention to use the automation terminal alone or in combination with the automation/operation terminal.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1-5, a Wide Area Network (WAN)25 is configured to couple all of the operator terminals 20 with the systems 2 and 2'. This includes connections between geographical locations so that operator terminals 20 located at the call center can be connected to switches 12 located at other remote locations. As previously described and discussed in more detail below, since primary call center 16 may route calls to remote operator terminals 20 ', these operator terminals 20' must be able to communicate back to originating switch 12 in order to route directions to the appropriate caller 4. WAN 25 is configured to forward directing packet 50 to the appropriate switch 12 for completing the call of caller 4, as described in more detail below.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1-5, customer data 18 is coupled to agent 19 and is configured to store information related to caller 4. The information is organized in customer database 18 in the form of a list table 52A. As discussed below, the information stored in customer database 18 is used to assist the enhanced services guidance module in processing the guidance information and agent 19 when generating guidance package 50. This information is also used for other purposes such as billing, advertising and other related information. The details stored in customer database 18 are more fully described below in the description of listing table 52A.

In one embodiment of the invention, customer database 18 stores branded audio messages associated with service provider 26 of caller 4 so that when caller 4 accesses system2, operator terminal 20 retrieves the audio welcome message and plays it to caller 4. In another embodiment of the present invention, the audio welcome message may be retrieved and played at call center 16 or switch 12.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1-5, mapping and directions database 15 is coupled to enhanced services directions module 21 and is configured to hold directions information for later access by caller 4. When caller 4 calls system2 with respect to the saved directions, enhanced services directions module 21 accesses the saved directions for populating the appropriate fields in directions packet 50.

It should be noted that although the mapping and tutorial database 15 is illustrated as being coupled to the enhanced services tutorial module 21, this is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. For example, alternatively, mapping and directions database 15 may be directly coupled (not shown) with agent 19, switch 12, and/or customer database 18, such that system2 may provide caller 4 with an automated option to return stored directions without slowing or interfering with the operation of enhanced services directions module 21. Any structure that retains the directions and accesses the stored directions in a similar enhanced directory assistance system is within the contemplation of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in addition to maintaining directions about individual callers 4, mapping and directions database 15 also maintains geocoded information relating to all destination locations for use by enhanced services directions module 21. The geocoding of the database allows the database to assign a location to each entry in the database. The location may take the form of latitude/longitude, zip code, zip +4(zip +4), or any method that allows the database to determine physical locations and distances relative to other locations. The directions and mapping database 15 maintains a list of all destinations in a designated area (e.g., continental united states region) and a geographic code for each entry so that the database 15 can generate destination locations for any location for use by the enhanced services directions module 21.

In one embodiment of the present invention, advertisement database 66 is coupled to advertisement hint module 27 and is configured to hold advertisement parameters for populating the appropriate fields of instructional packet 50. This information is organized in the form of advertiser location business module table 80.

The mapping and guidance database 15 (fig. 1-5), the customer database (fig. 1-5), and the advertisement database 66 (fig. 4 and 5) are preferably any known database system that can be programmed to store all of the necessary information. For example, customer database 18 may maintain any number of lists, including (but not limited to): a directory listing of wireline telephone calls, a listing of caller 4's originating service provider 26, and other listings such as providers of goods and services. The mapping and guidance database 15 may hold any number of lists, including (but not limited to): destination location, street address, latitude/longitude coordinates of the destination, mapping information and route lookup codes, and saved directions. The advertisement database 66 may support data fields including (but not limited to): business type, place of business, and advertising parameters. Databases 15, 18, and 66 preferably support a plurality of database tables for a large number of listings and multimedia data associated with individual destinations or callers.

Databases 15, 18, and 66 may be based on any known database software and any known database format. The hardware structure of databases 15, 18, and 66 may be any hardware platform capable of supporting the number of callers 4 and the entries in their respective database tables. Thus, databases 15, 18, and 66 may be maintained on any device capable of storing this information.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that although databases 15, 18, and 66 are shown as a single unit, databases 15, 16, and 66 are not limited to these configurations. The databases 15, 18 and 66 may be comprised of a plurality of hardware units, i.e., central processing units and/or storage devices such as CD-ROMs, hard disk drives, tape drives, etc., that are capable of communicating with each other via transmission links. Additionally, although only specific tables and fields within databases 15, 18, and 66 are discussed in detail, the present invention is not limited to the schema of the tables within databases 15, 18, and 66. According to one embodiment of the invention, each database in system2 or 2 ', such as databases 15, 18, and 66 and 15', 18 ', and 66', respectively, holds the same information. In an alternative embodiment, databases 15, 18, and 66 may also take the form of distributed databases. For example, users located primarily on the west coast may be supported by a portion of the databases, databases 15 ', 18 ', and 66 ' located in california, while users located primarily on the east coast may access a portion of the databases, such as databases 15, 18, and 66 located in new york.

As shown in fig. 8, a standard directions and mapping database table 72 is provided in the directions and directions database 15 for each destination served. The table 72 may be generated from a commercially available database. Indeed, in one embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the functionality of the directions and mapping database 15 to provide well-known destinations to the enhanced services directions module 21 may be purchased outside of third party vendors. Regardless of where the guideline and mapping database table 72 is stored (either by an external third party guideline mapping vendor in the internal mapping and guidance database 15, or on the common system2 database combining the functionality of the mapping and guidance database 15, the customer database 18, and the advertisement database 66), however, the guideline and mapping database table 72 outlines the necessary basic fields to provide the enhanced services guidance module 21 with the information necessary to generate the guidance instructions for the guidance package 50. Any such table that works with a similar enhanced directory assistance system is within the contemplation of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the guideline and mapping database table 72 contains several fields, including (but not limited to): name or identifier (e.g., name of person or business), street address, city, state, zip code attach (4 digits), country, geographic location or geocode (latitude/longitude), and mapping code. It should be noted that this list is merely for purposes of organizing the information contained in the guide and mapping database table 72 in a searchable format, and that some of the fields in the guide and mapping database table 72 may be used by the mapping and guide database 15, but this is in no way meant as a limitation on the scope of the present invention. Depending on the method used by the enhanced services guidance module 21 to generate guidance, the operating system2 may require a variety of additional information, or may even require less information. Any field that can be used to save and organize destinations in the guideline and mapping database table 72 that facilitates the operation of any similar system2 is within the contemplation of the present invention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 9, list table 52A represents the organizational structure of the information stored in customer database 18 to store a list or information associated with each caller 4 and to obtain codes for directions on frequent flyers to use. List Table 52A information includes (but is not limited to): a calling phone number field, a name field, a directory listing name field, a qualifying location field, a company field, a wireless carrier field, a billing information field, a special feature code field, a data type field, a data source field, an NPA/NXX wireless field, a device capability field, a preferred destination field, a recent destination field, an alternate destination field, a wireless phone number field, an e-mail address field, a rate plan field, a license plate field, and other codes used by agent 19 in system2 to populate the various fields of guidance packet 50. List table 52A represents the host caller 4 table in system2 and includes any additional lists of special instructional information, including information that populates advertisement hint module 27.

As shown in fig. 9, the calling telephone number field of list table 52A identifies the telephone number of caller 4, such as a cellular telephone or landline number. The name field represents the actual name of the user or caller. The directory listing name field represents the caller's select list name. For example, the field may hold the actual name of caller 4, a nickname or an alias selected by caller 4. The home address field of list table 52A contains one or more addresses, including one or more of the following fields: street address 1, street address 2, city, state, country, zip code and zip +4 address for user or caller 4.

As shown in FIG. 9, the defined location field identifies a preferred location or combination of locations for caller 4. For example, a user who is NYC-based while having a New Jersey area code on their wireless device may use the NYC, New Jersey, NY Metro area, or some other destination as a location. The symbol may be used in conjunction with the ad-on-demand module 27 to schedule an ad based on a location.

As shown in fig. 9, the company field of list table 52A identifies the company that caller 4 is working with. The wireless telephone number field identifies one or more wireless telephone numbers of caller 4 associated with a physical location, such as an address provided in the address field. The email address field identifies one or more email addresses of caller 4. The wireless carrier field of listing table 52A identifies the service provider 26 of caller 4. This information can be used with the ad reminder feature as well as billing and other related features.

As shown in fig. 9, the billing information field of list table 52A contains information specific to caller 4 that supports billing functions. This field provides system2 with specific billing instructions for caller 4, including service provider information and special service subscriptions. For example, caller 4 may choose to incur each referral charge, or alternatively, caller 4 may choose a monthly flat billing rate.

As shown in fig. 9, the numeric type field of listing table 52A identifies the type of wireless device listed in the caller listing table. This field may be used to determine the ability of caller 4 to receive directions or advertising prompts. Given the capabilities of the various wireless devices available on the market, system2 may adjust the format of the transmission directions in order to provide the best possible result to caller 4.

As shown in fig. 9, the data source field of listing table 52A identifies the data source that generated the listing of caller 4 records. This field provides information to system2 identifying the source of the caller 4 record list, e.g., an individual, a service provider or any other entity that supplies data contained in customer database 18, e.g., a third party, and may be used with features such as advertising hints or with bonuses or incentives.

As shown in fig. 9, the NPA/NXX wireless field of list table 52A identifies whether caller 4 is using a wireless device or a landline device. This field may be used to turn on or off certain features that are applicable only to wireless telephones or land-based telephones. For example, as described above, in the case of caller 4 placing a call from a landline telephone, this field may assist or even replace the function of location database 60 so that the "starting location" of the directions may be automatically directed to enhanced services directions module 21. This is merely an example of how the NPA/NXX radio field list may be used with the operation of system2 and is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 9, the latest destination field of list table 52A is used to hold the latest destination for which caller 4 has requested guidance from system 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the alternate destination field of list table 52A is used to hold any alternate destination or alternate route information related to the guidance caller 4 requests from the system. As shown in fig. 9, the preferred destination field of list table 52A is used to hold destination information relating to destinations frequently used by caller 4. This may include commuting destinations (work) or other regularly visited locations. This feature of maintaining a preferred destination is particularly beneficial in system2 when used with traffic information, as described below. The latest destination field, the alternate destination field, and the preferred destination field hold the destination information in a sublist table identifying "To" and "From" information, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 10.

It is important to note that as shown in FIG. 9, and as described in more detail in FIG. 10, the most recent destination field, alternate route field, and preferred destination field in the listing table 52A do not hold the directions themselves, but rather hold destination information for use by the enhanced services directions module 21, or code for obtaining stored directions that are held in the directions and mapping database 15.

The device capabilities field of list table 52 identifies the capabilities of caller 4's device. In addition to standard voice capabilities, these capabilities may include: SMA, WAP, iMode, etc.

The special features field of listing table 52A identifies any special requirements caller 4 may require. This field is used when providing guidance, and when advertisement hint module 27 is selecting the appropriate advertisement hint for caller 4. This field may be used to make the instructions and prompts more appropriate for the particular needs of caller 4, such as a spanish speaking caller or a hearing impaired caller, and so forth. For example, if caller 4 seeks directions and fills in the special requirement field with a Spanish-speaking code, along that route advertising hints module 27 will only use Spanish-speaking advertisers. This field may be populated automatically by using a defined dial-string, as described above, or by caller 4 specifically requesting the use of a special requirements field.

The license plate field of listing table 52A contains the license plate of the primary vehicle associated with the user of caller 4. This information can be used to associate the user with one or more vehicles with which they can travel.

Finally, the rate plan field of listing table 52A contains the rate plan for caller 4. This information is used to determine events such as whether to apply for roaming charges, whether to apply for long distance charges, and the number of minutes per month associated with the instructional plan.

It should be noted that although customer database 18 stores its stored information in list table 52A for fixed callers 4, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the invention, particularly for first-time callers, non-subscribing callers or rarely-calling callers. For example, by autonomously generating a list of new callers 4 in customer database 18, the same features allowed for or offered to fixed callers 4 may also be offered to the first time callers, all of which are listed above, including (but not limited to) special advertising fields, general advertising fields and special services may be used. Any system that uses a database for both fixed callers 4 and first-time callers 4 that operate in a similar manner is within the contemplation of the present invention.

It should be noted that although the field descriptions discussed above are for customer database 18, customer database 18' preferably operates under a substantially similar field structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1-5, enhanced services guide module 21 provides system2 with a means to send guidance to the caller by populating the guide/drawing field 56 of the guide packet 50 illustrated in fig. 7. The tutoring unit is contained in an enhanced service tutoring module 21 used by the agent 19 running on the operator terminal 20 and allows the customer service representative to retrieve the tutorials and to transfer the retrieved tutorials to the caller 4. The tutorial feature in the enhanced services tutorial module 21 may be a separate unit configured to compute tutorials based on origin and destination addresses, or other criteria currently known in the industry. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the enhanced services directory module 21 may be connected via a communication channel, such as the Internet, to a remote directory computation unit operated by a third party, such as a remote directory computation unit available from MAPPQUEST ®.

After the enhanced services direction module 21 generates the direction, the direction information is sent to the agent 19, at which point the necessary code is embedded in the direction packet 50, and the direction packet 50 is sent to the switch/VRU 12 so that the switch 12 can provide the direction to the caller 4. In addition, when generating directions, enhanced services directions module 21 may also store directions in mapping and directions database 15 for future access by caller 4 in the event that caller 4 disconnects or is using directions on long trips where it is not possible to maintain a connected state at all times. In this case, when caller 4 reconnects, enhanced services guidance module 21 obtains the saved guidance from mapping and guidance database 15, rather than recalculating the guidance from scratch.

It should be noted that the enhanced services guide module 21 may support other functions (not shown) in addition to guide generation capabilities. For example, restaurant reservations may be integrated into the enhanced service guide module 21 used by the agent program 19 running on the operator terminal 20 that provides the system2 with the ability to reliably make reservations and provide callers with introductions regarding restaurants. The service is activated when a restaurant or other related service provider, such as a preparation party, activates the predetermined service at the enhanced service guide module 21 of the system 2. Ideally, these additional features are used with businesses that have already prompted advertisements in system2 so that system2 can use the information in advertisement database 66 for these additional services, although this is not required.

The reservation feature in the enhanced services guidance module 21 may be a separate unit configured to arrange for reservations based on the latest information received from participating restaurants, or other criteria currently known in the industry. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the enhanced service guide module 21 may be connected to a remote reservation service system operated by a third party through a communication channel, such as the internet.

The referral may be provided when the restaurant or restaurant referral service decides to place its information in the enhanced service guide module 21 of the system 2.

In another example, where the system2 is provided with the capability to provide movie information and ticketing, movie tickets and schedule software may be incorporated into the enhanced service guide module 21 for use by the agent 19 running on the operator terminal 20. These services are activated when a movie theater, theater or other related commercial establishment, or movie information provider provides information to the system 2.

In another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the system2 may maintain a connection with a traffic vendor 43. The traffic vendor 43 is preferably a third party vendor that may provide frequently updated traffic information to the system2 in a format compatible with and compatible with the geocoding listings for the system2 (e.g., the geocoding listings shown in table 72 of FIG. 8) stored in the mapping and guidance database 15. However, this configuration is only an example and is not meant to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Any form of traffic information supplied from an external source or even from an internal system2 source in the location of the traffic vendor 43 for use with a similar enhanced directory assistance system is within the contemplation of the present invention.

In another embodiment of the invention, the system stores the traffic data in a traffic database 45, as shown in fig. 3, regardless of which service provides the traffic information to the system 2. The information in this database is used by the enhanced services guidance module 21 to cross-cite the guidance requested by caller 4 to provide traffic information along with the guidance data. This information is embedded by the enhanced services guidance module 21 in the communication field 57 of the guidance packet 50.

It should be noted that the functionality may be independently directed to providing the traffic services provided by the traffic vendor 43, the traffic database 45 of the system2 and the enhanced services direction module 21. For example, if caller 4 wishes to request traffic information relating to their daily commute, they may not need the instructional portion of the information. Thus, agent 19 and enhanced service guide module 21 may provide, based on instructions from caller 4, only information relating to the route provided by caller 4, or information relating to a route determined from the preferred destination field of caller 4 in list table 52A. Regardless of the guidance provided, any application of the traffic vendor 43 in conjunction with the traffic database 45 and similar enhanced directory assistance systems is within the contemplation of the present invention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 11, ad placement business module table 80 represents an organization of listings associated with advertisers in ad database 66. The information contained in table 80 is used by advertisement hint module 27 and with enhanced service guide module 21 to attach the correct advertisement hint to the guidance provided by system2 to caller 4. Although in the present embodiment, ad placement business module table 80 is maintained in database 66, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, ad location business module table 80 may be located in the same physical database as listing table 52A. For ease of illustrating the salient features of the present invention, ad location business module table 80 is located within advertisement database 66, however, any system that utilizes similar fields in the database to target the directing request caller 4 for advertising prompts is within contemplation of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 11, ad placement business module table 80 is comprised of several fields that allow ad hint module 27 to search advertisement database 66 for appropriate advertisers and accompanying ad hints stored in the ad compliance storage module 13). These fields include (but are not limited to): a name of the business; a street name; a type of enterprise including SIC code and customer code; a relationship status; location parameters including geographic location and designated route data; including, but not limited to, hours of operation, days of work, distance radius (geographic distance radius and by route representation), and the type of customer in the wind.

As shown in FIG. 11, the business name field indicates the name of the advertiser's business. The address field includes the address of the advertising enterprise, including fields for street 1, street 2, city, state, zip +4, country and latitude/longitude. This field may be used to populate an advertising prompt with the business address to assist caller 4 in locating a location, and may also be used by enhanced services directions module 21 to populate destination information in the directions generation process.

As shown in fig. 11, the enterprise type field is subdivided into a SIC code field and a customer code field. The SIC code field gives standard information about businesses so that when searching advertisement database 66, advertisement prompt module 27 may find a particular type of business based on the destination to which caller 4 is directed regarding its request to make the prompt appropriate for individual caller 4. For example, if caller 4 requests directions to a hardware store, and advertisement database 66 holds other advertising hardware stores near the requested store, advertisement hint module 27 may send an advertisement hint in the directions alerting caller 4 that another hardware store exists in the area.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 11, the client business type field in ad placement business module table 80 is used by ad prompt module 27 to deliver targeted ad prompts in the direction of caller 4 requests. However, unlike SIC codes, customer codes allow advertisers to better manipulate when to select their tips. For example, if caller 4 requests a movie theater and a restaurant advertiser is located nearby, the restaurant code may use the client code even though the behaviors are different, so that their advertising hints may be delivered even when caller 4 requests about other types of businesses.

It should be noted that although SCI code and client code are described for use with advertising hints, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Any enhanced directory assistance system utilizing SIC codes and client enterprise type codes for advertising is within the contemplation of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the relationship status field is used by the advertisement hint module 27 of the system2 to save the status of the advertiser's account. For example, advertisement hint module 27 may choose to only deliver advertisements from "active" advertisers with directions.

As shown in fig. 11, the location parameter field includes two subfields: a geographic location field and a designated route field. As shown in FIGS. 1-5, advertising hints module 27 uses the geographic location field of the ad location business module table 80 to determine whether a given advertiser is in close proximity to a set of given directions that system2 provides to caller 4 such that the particular advertiser's advertising hints should be added to the directions. Additionally, if caller 4 should request directions about the advertiser according to the advertisement hint, the geographic location field can be used directly to populate the necessary information in enhanced services directions module 21.

As shown in fig. 11, the specified route field is used in a similar manner as the geographic location field. The designated route field is used by advertisement hint module 27 to determine whether a particular advertiser is located in close proximity to caller 4 based on the guidance provided by system 2. However, unlike the geographic location field, the ad prompt module 27 uses the specified route field when the advertiser is actually located along the route provided in the directions by the system2, as opposed to using only physical location. Thus, if a particular advertiser is located along the route, caller 4 is not even required to make additional movements in order to pass by or reach the advertiser's business.

Although in the above described embodiment the geographical location field and the route designation field are primarily used by the advertising hints module 27, this is in no way meant to limit the scope of the invention. Any enhanced directory assistance system that uses similar business location fields for generating instructional and targeted advertising is within the contemplation of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 11, the ad parameter fields include (but are not limited to): a working time field; a working time field; a distance radius field (based on geographic location or preferred route); and a client type field. In general, the advertisement parameter field is used by advertisement hint module 27 to better target advertisements to caller 4.

As shown in FIG. 11, the on-time field is used by advertisement hint module 27 to issue appropriate advertisement hints based on-time. For example, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, a breakfast restaurant advertiser with information stored in the ad database 66 may want their prompt to be used only between 7 am and 12 pm for callers 4 passing near their location. This is but one example of how the work time field may be used and the present invention contemplates that there are variations of using the work time field.

As shown in FIG. 11, the weekday field is similar in operation to the hours of operation field and is used by advertisers having listings in the advertiser database 66 when they wish their prompts to be sent to callers on certain days. For example, if the advertised breakfast restaurant described above is not open on monday, they may wish to play the advertising hints only on tuesday-sunday.

As shown in FIG. 11, the distance radius field is used by advertisers to determine how close caller 4 is required to pass before their advertising hints are suitable for being played. For example, an advertised breakfast restaurant may only wish to advertise to a requesting instructor caller 4 who passes within 5 miles of its location. On the other hand, a large business such as a casino may wish to send their prompts to any callers 4 who are passing within 50 miles of their location. The distance radius field consists of two subfields: geographic location and designated route.

This feature allows advertisers to better direct their prompts to callers 4 who are actually interested in transferring their request guidance. This feature is particularly suitable for smaller advertisers with limited advertising budgets, with larger radius advertising coverage presumably being more costly.

As shown in FIG. 11, the customer type field allows an advertiser to target a particular type of caller. For example, the customer type field may direct the system2 to send only a prompt for a particular advertiser to a male. Other designations may also be used, such as age group, type of car that caller 4 is driving, type of directions caller 4 generally requests. Information about caller 4 may come from an external source or information about caller 4 may be populated with information in customer database 18, assuming caller 4 has a list in customer database 18. The incoming dial-string may also be based on the extent to which the system2 can correlate the number from which the call is made to the personal qualities.

In one embodiment of the present invention, advertisement hint module 27 provides advertisement hint identification data that is to be included in a specified field, such as advertisement hint code field 58 of the instructional packet 50 shown in FIG. 7. As previously described, instructional packet 50 prompts switch 12 with commands to activate the appropriate advertising hints stored in advertising hints storage module 13. Advertisement hint module 27 and agent 19 together generate the guidance package 50 of fig. 7. Coaching packet 50 provides information to switch 12 to generate an advertising cue based on advertising cue code field 58 of coaching packet 50 identified by switch 12.

It should be noted that although advertisement hint module 27 is illustrated in fig. 4 and 5 as a separate module, this is not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, the advertisement hint module may be in the form of a physically separate unit (as shown) or in the form of a functional module of the agent 19. Any advertising hints module for use with an enhanced directory assistance system for delivering targeted advertising hints is within the contemplation of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 12, advertisement hint module 27 includes an advertisement hint processing module 94, an override module 96, and a guide data table 98. In another embodiment of the present invention, advertisement cue processing module 94 and override module 96 reside on switch 12, or reside on a processor such as: ACD (automatic call distribution), PBX (private branch exchange), standalone VRU/ASR, application software, and the like.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the instructional packet 50 may be, for example: any combination of hardware and software, such as ACD, PBX, standalone VRU (voice response unit)/ASR (advanced speech recognition), application software, etc., is used to generate advertising hints according to advertising hints code field 58 in the instructional packet 50.

To properly populate advertisement hint code field 58 of the instructional packet 50 as shown in fig. 7, advertisement hint module 27 and agent program 19 together examine the retrieved listing in the ad placement business module table 80 and/or advertisement database 66 illustrated in fig. 11. Ad reminder module 27 populates some fields in guidance data table 98 with the retrieved list. The remaining fields in the tutorial data table 98 may be populated from the ad database 66 and/or the agent program 19 may populate the remaining fields in the tutorial data table 98A with information from other sources, such as the listings table 52A stored in the customer database 18 shown in fig. 9.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 13, the instructional data table 98 includes, but is not limited to, 5 fields 60A-60E. Advertisement hint module 27 uses advertisement hint processing module 94, override module 96, and advertisement data table 98 to determine the appropriate information for populating advertisement hint code field 58, as well as other fields, of instructional packet 50.

As shown in fig. 13, these fields include: a caller dialed number field 60A, a data type field 60B, a requested direction field 60C, a preferred language field 60D and other data fields 60E. These fields are populated from data contained in the listing table 52A (fig. 9) and/or the customer database 18 (fig. 1-5), the enhanced services directions module 21 (fig. 1-5), the mapping and directions database 15 (fig. 1-5), the advertisement hints module 27 (fig. 4-5), the advertisement database 66 (fig. 4-5) and from information contained in the agent program 19 running on the operator terminal 20.

Caller dialed number field 60A contains information that may be used by advertisement prompt module 27 to identify the number dialed by caller 4, the service provider of caller 4, originating switch 12, and the area of guided call delivery determined by NPA/NXX for the call. This information may be contained by any source that records the incoming caller 4 number, such as list table 52A of customer database 18 or incoming caller information list 70.

Data type field 60B informs advertising hints module 27 of the type of directions and/or the type of data requested by caller 4, such as directions, traditional directory assistance, movies, restaurants, categories, and/or other commercial searches. The information used to populate the data type field 60B is obtained from the list table 52A and/or database 18 and from the agent 19.

Requested directions field 60C contains information used by advertisement hint module 27 as cross-index information for use by advertisement hint processing module 94 in determining whether caller 4 is passing near one of the advertisers listed in advertiser database 66. The information for populating the requested direction field 60C is obtained by the agent 19 on the operator terminal 20 or directly from the enhanced service direction module 21.

Preferred language field 60D contains information used by advertisement prompt module 27 to indicate the preferred language of caller 4. This information is used to ensure that the correct language of the end prompt can be used. The data used to populate preferred language field 60D is obtained from operator terminal 20, from the special services field of listing table 52A of customer database 18, or from any of the other modules described above that can determine the preferred language of caller 4. One possible implementation would be to populate the preferred language field 60D based on the number dialed by caller 4; however, this is not the only possible implementation.

Finally, the other information field 60E contains information used by the advertisement cue module 27 to identify any other information from a source such as the listings table 52A of the customer database 18 or the ad location business module table 80 of the advertisement database 66 that may be used in selecting advertisement cues.

Fields 60A-60E of advertisement hint module 27 are only one example for providing possible fields and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Any field that may be used in the advertisement hint module 27 to allow advertising hints for targeted third party advertisements and other such applications is within the contemplation of the present invention.

Although the present invention contemplates that any of the information in these fields and modules may be used in any order, one possible method of selecting an advertising hint is outlined below.

As shown in FIG. 14, at step 900, advertisement hint module 27 reviews the instructional information generated by enhanced services instructional module 21, and gathers the necessary information to determine whether the delivery of the advertisement hint is appropriate for the particular caller 4. This is done based on the requested direction, caller 4 information from listing table 52A stored in database 18, and advertisement information from ad location enterprise module table 80 of advertisement database 66. Any other information from any other available source in system2, such as incoming caller identification list 70 as illustrated in fig. 6, may be used by advertisement hint module 27 to determine the appropriateness of an advertisement for a particular caller 4.

Subsequently, at step 902, advertising hints processing module 94 looks at advertising placement business module table 80 to cross-index caller 4 information against advertising parameters to determine whether any particular advertising hints are valid and appropriate for caller 4. If so, at least one advertisement hint will be selected. If none of the advertisers meet the criteria for sending a reminder to caller 4, then advertisement reminder processing module 94 may choose not to use the reminder at all, or choose to use the reminder of the promotional system2 itself, such as a new feature advertisement.

Subsequently, at step 904, advertisement hint processing module 94 checks override module 66 to determine if any advertisement hint override functionality is present. Information regarding the override module 96 comes from both the list table 52A of the customer database 18 and the internal system2 settings. For example, the override module 96 may utilize the system2 settings, e.g., no advertisement alerts between 3 and 4 am, when the system is updated. In these cases, override module 96 may command cancellation of the advertising hints if caller 4 contacts system2 between 3 and 4 am, even if advertising hints processing module 94 determines that an appropriate advertising hint exists.

Another example of the functionality of override module 96 is to set a default reminder based on the day. For example, entertainment alerts are set to active only on weekends, whereas business alerts are active only on weekdays. Another feature of the override module 96 is to cross-index other services provided by the system2 during peak hours and during off-peak hours. For example, on saturday or sunday, when caller 4 asks for restaurant information, a cross-indexing service with respect to the predetermined service may be implemented. Override module 96 may require that the ad hint processing module further reference the advertiser location business module table 80 in the client code field in order to correctly cross-reference the service, or alternatively the system may command cross-referencing in the absence of any additional instructions from the advertiser.

It should be noted that the functionality of override module 96 may be used to modify or add advertising hints. Examples of functionality beyond module 96 are too numerous to fully illustrate, but it should be noted that any ability to modify, add or delete ad hint codes based on information from table 80 is within the contemplation of the present invention.

At step 906, advertisement hint processing module 94 reviews instructional data table 98 to determine an advertisement hint based on the information fields contained therein.

Subsequently, at step 908, the ad hint processing module 94 of the ad hint module 27 uses the logic of the agent 19 to determine which information should be used to populate the ad hint code field 58 of the instructional packet 50. One example of this logic is that ad hint module 27 first looks at the location or ad parameter fields of ad location enterprise module table 80 of ad database 66.

At step 910, ad hint processing module 94 looks to override module 96 to see if there are any additions, modifications, or other instructions to add to or subtract from the ad hint found in the ad parameter field described above. Subsequently, at step 912, advertisement hint processing module 94 looks at the guideline data table 98 to see if there are any instructions added, modified, or otherwise added to or subtracted from the advertisement hint decisions made above. Finally, at step 914, when an appropriate advertising hint is selected, advertising hints module 27 populates the advertising hints field 58 of the guideline packet 50 as shown in FIG. 7.

It should be noted that switch/VRU 12 may transmit instructions and advertising hints stored in advertising hints module 13 in a variety of formats, including (but not limited to): text-to-speech (TTS), Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), email, voicemail, and fax. In the case where caller 4 receives instructions in a format other than text-to-speech, the advertising prompts are defaulted to take the same format.

Unlike the prior art, the present invention dynamically changes the advertising prompts to tailor a particular message to caller 4 based on the information obtained through the call. Such a determination may be based on caller-4-specific instructions, third party instructions, other information contained in listing table 52A of customer database 18, override module 96, and/or possible fields 60A-60E of instructional data table 98.

After generating the guidance/mapping, traffic and/or advertising information according to the above-described process, agent 19 then generates guidance packets 50 in one embodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, advertisement hint module 27 or some other application may generate instruction packet 50; however, for the present embodiment, agent 19 forms a guidance packet 50. As described above, and as illustrated in FIG. 7, the instructional packet 50 is comprised of a plurality of data fields. These data fields may include, but are not limited to, the caller's originating telephone number field 54, a guide mapping field 56, a traffic volume field 57, and an advertisement cue code field 58.

The agent 19 on the operation terminal 20 forms the guide packet 50 by using information from the traffic database 45 populated by the incoming caller identification table 70, the list table 52A of the customer database 18, the enhanced service guide module 21, the advertisement hint module 27, and the traffic vendor 43 as illustrated in fig. 6. This information is then organized and used to populate the fields of the guide packet 50.

Originating telephone number field 54 is the originating telephone number of caller 4. Instructional drawing field 56 is the instructional and drawing information requested by caller 4 for use by switch/VRU 12. This information is provided to the operation terminal 20 by the enhanced service guide module 21. In the event that the system2 is operating the traffic database 45, the enhanced service guide module 21 populates the traffic field 57 based on information obtained from the traffic database 45. Advertisement hint code field 58 of instructional packet 50 contains information regarding which advertisement hint to retrieve, use, and play with respect to caller 4.

When combined, caller's originating telephone number field 54, tutorial field 56, traffic field 57 and advertising hints code field 58 contain all the information needed to deliver tutorial and traffic reports to caller 4 and deliver the relevant advertising hints.

An agent 19 supported by one of the operation terminals 20 communicates with the combination of the systems 2, 2' via the operation terminal 20 of any of the switches 12 via a wide area network 25 (WAN). WAN 25 allows a customer service representative at operator terminal 20 to transmit instructional packets 50 from operator terminal 20 to any switch 12. In the event that the agent 19 fails to successfully deliver the coaching packet 50 for any reason, including (but not limited to) unavailability of the WAN 25 or rejection of the coaching packet 50, the agent 19 may initiate call completion by utilizing in-band signaling, such as DTMF. This allows agent 19 to place the caller on soft hold and transmit the destination number to switch 12 over the same trunk. Switch 12 then accepts the number, hands the call to call center 16, and initiates the direction transfer as described below.

With respect to the signaling and trunking architecture, the communication link between switch 12 and primary call center 16 (or call center 16'), and the communication link between switch 12 and Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8, may be implemented to release link trunks. In this embodiment of the invention, the communication link is released immediately once the instructional data is transmitted to the destination end of the link. Release link trunk technology is known in the art and allows for the elimination of resources at a destination device by using a predetermined signaling sequence recognized by the destination device as a release link signal. Additionally, in another embodiment of the present invention, the communication link between switch 12 and Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 may be implemented as multi-frequency MF signaling. One possible example of MF signaling is the feature set-D (FG-D) link, which is common in the industry.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the communication link between switch 12 and Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 may be implemented as SS 7. SS7 is one type of out-of-band signaling known in the art. In another embodiment of the invention, the link between switch 12 and MSC 8 may be implemented as DTMF signaling. DTMF is an in-band signaling. All these signalling options are known in the art and are only meant to be possible embodiments of the invention and should not be seen as limitations to the possible options by means of which the communication link of the invention can be implemented.

As part of the instruction delivery process, switch 12 has the ability to select the best trunk group for delivering instructions to caller 4. For example, if switch 12 has a direct connection with service provider 26 of caller 4, the call will be completed through that link.

In the case where switch 12 does not have a direct connection to the service provider of caller 4, the direction transfer would be through PSTN 10. This allows switch 12 to select the most cost effective method of delivering the directions to caller 4. Thus, if a direct connection exists, the preferred route for the call should pass through the link. In the event that such a direct connection is not available or not present, an alternative route such as a connection to the PSTN may be used.

Guide the operation

The function of real-time tutoring is illustrated in flow charts in fig. 15, 16 and 17. The functional design includes a description of how the system handles the following: (1) caller 4 specifically requests tutoring, (2) caller 4 requests tutoring assistance and then requires tutoring, (3) caller 4 calls directory assistance again due to a drop while listening to tutoring, (4) caller 4 receives incorrect tutoring and (5) caller 4 requires different or alternative tutoring. All of these cases start with the caller placing a directory assistance call, such as 411, 555-. It should be noted that other aspects such as special features will be described along with the basic tutorial request, including (but not limited to) traffic requests, close to features, roadside services and advertising functions, but in any of the above scenarios involving tutoring, special features of the system2 are available.

As shown in the flow chart of fig. 15, first caller 4 calls system2 at step 100. The method of accessing the system2 may be by any known dialing means such as an "800" number, NPA. nxx. xxxx number or NPA-555-xxxx, but may also be a shortened number with informative features such as "411", "555", etc. Preferably, access to system2 is arranged so that the access numbers dialed by callers 4 are nationwide, so that callers 4 do not have to be concerned with unique access numbers depending on their location, or whether they are accessing system2 via wireless or wired devices.

At step 102, Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 identifies the manner in which caller 4 belonging to 2 (i.e., the request for communication assistance) dials and transmits the call to switch 12 along with the originating telephone number of caller 4. When the call is received from the MSC, the switch 12 tracks the call details.

Although not shown, the signaling method of the present invention may be implemented using the methods and apparatus described in U.S. application serial No.09/449126 (application 1999, 11/24), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Another feature of switch 12 is its ability to recognize and translate dialed number strings, allowing system2 to provide agent services to multiple customers. When the appropriate number is dialed, the MSC is configured to recognize the dialed number string belonging to the communication assistance system and method and to route the inbound call to the switch 12. If desired, MSC 8 may convert the user's dial string (e.g., #555) into a sequence of digits recognized by system2 before sending the call to switch 12.

This translation allows different service carriers to access the services provided by the present invention using either a universal access number or a different user dial-string. For example, two carriers decide to use different dial-strings (i.e., cellular telephone carrier A may support passing the dial-string^*5 access system2 and cellular telephone carrier B may access the service using dial-string 411), each carrier's Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 may or may not choose to convert the dial-string before sending the call to switch 12. When an inbound call is received, switch 12 may also convert the MSC 8 dial-string and route the call to the callerA call centre 16. The number sent by switch 12 allows system2 to identify the particular MSC from which the dial-string was received and the actual MSC dial-string so that the components of system2 can determine which service is needed and where the inbound call originated. The call may also originate from a wireline carrier as shown in fig. 1. Although not shown, the call may also originate from a VoIP (voice over IP) carrier.

For example, switch 12 may convert Mobile Switching Center (MSC)8 dial string 411 to any 4-digit number (the string length is merely an example and may be modified), such as 9605. This four digit string is used to populate caller dialed number field 60A in advertising data table 98 as shown in fig. 13, and caller 4 dialed number field in incoming caller identification record 70 as shown in fig. 6. The converted digit string is referred to as a Direct Inbound Dialing (DID) number. Each switch 12 has multiple DID numbers to identify caller 4 requests for different services and their calling location.

Another feature with this technique is to provide a separate dial-string to the system2 as an indicator of preferred language information. For example, if a dial-string such as npa.555.1818 is used, after converting the MSC dial-string, the switch 12 automatically sends a spanish language preference indicator in the incoming caller identification record 70 so that the primary call center 16 sends the call to the appropriate operator terminal, e.g., a spanish speaking operator. Advantageously, spanish speaking operators may be located remotely from the system2 and may route calls handled by them to a remote call center 16' as described above with reference to fig. 1-5, via the call center 16.

It should be noted that the above example of a call signaling method is only one example of call routing and caller 4 identification and is not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. Any such signaling method protocol capable of carrying calls between MSC 8 and switch 12 is within the contemplation of the present invention.

Switch 12 routes the call to primary call center 16 at step 104. To accomplish this task. Switch 12 uses the pertinent information described in more detail above to generate an incoming caller identification record 70 as shown in fig. 6 and select a direct trunk to reach call center 16. The structure for carrying calls between switch 12 and primary call center 16 is preferably a drop link trunk structure as described in detail above. Although not discussed herein, any relaying and/or signaling structure may be used to route the call from switch 12 to call center 16. The switch 12 may also connect the call to the call center 16 via the public switched telephone network PSTN 10 (i.e., using an 800 number or a direct dial number).

Subsequently, when a call is received from caller 4, primary call center 16 notifies available operator terminals 20 with appropriate technicians that an inbound request has arrived, if necessary, and sends the call to the operator terminals 20, step 106. When establishing a link between caller 4 and operator terminal 20, primary call center 16 establishes a voice and communication link from the caller to a customer service representative. The two-way voice communication is sent directly from caller 4 through main call center 16 to operator terminal 20 having an attached telephone communication device. The data communication, which may include any information contained in the incoming caller identification record 70 (i.e., the number dialed by caller 4 (DID), the preferred language code, the caller's originating telephone number and the caller service provider fields), is communicated from the primary call center 16 to the operator terminal 20 through a Computer Telephony Interface (CTI) 29. the CTI 29 employed between the primary call center 16 and the operator terminal 20 is used to communicate information necessary for the customer service representative and agent program 19 to process and complete the call.

Using this link, the agent asks caller 4 for information about the service they are requesting. Caller 4 provides the necessary information. In addition to the instructional services described herein, the system2 may also provide conventional directory assistance and enhanced wireless directory assistance.

At step 108, agent 19 determines whether caller 4 ANI is identified (i.e., based on the list maintained in list table 52 of customer database 18). If a saved list exists, this information is made accessible to the operator terminal 20, and if a saved list does not exist, the customer service representative must manually obtain all the information. In either case, at step 108, the customer service representative enters into agent 19 at the operator terminal the to and from information provided manually by caller 4 or obtained from the information contained in list table 52A.

It should be noted here that if system2 is running their automated location positioning program via location database 60 as described above, incoming caller identification record 70 will have an additional field that provides the operator terminal 20 with the exact location of caller 4, thereby eliminating the need for caller 4 to provide information verbally. This is particularly useful in situations where caller 4 is lost and is unable to provide "from" information.

Additionally, the feature of automatically ascertaining the location of caller 4 via location database 60 is particularly useful in situations where caller 4 is seeking coaching via mobile phone contact system2 during driving. In this case, caller 4 may not know their exact location or which exact intersections they have crossed. In this way, system2, utilizing the functionality of location database 60, is able to not only obtain directions about callers 4, but is also able to use their exact location so that callers 4 do not miss any significant turns or other directions. In fact, for a system2 that tracks caller 4 such that when caller 4 is using system2 for long distance travel guidance, system2 will be able to calculate the travel of caller 4 and inform caller 4 of upcoming turns is within contemplation of the present invention.

Additionally, it should be noted that in some cases, caller 4 does not know "to" or destination information, but only the name, in which case the customer service representative may access an internal standard directory assistance database (which may or may not be the same as the tutorial database) of system2 in order to obtain "to" information about the tutorial.

Other features of the system2 employed at this stage also include a "close to" function. This service allows callers 4 to contact system2 and ask for the type of store or service provider that is closest to their current location. For example, the caller may ask the nearest grocery store, gas station, or location of a major highway. This option is particularly useful for people who travel. This feature also facilitates cross-referencing with advertisement cue module 27, which module 27 may strategically insert advertisements into the guidance based on the proximity of the advertiser with respect to the guidance route given as discussed in more detail below at step 118.

Another feature of the system2 is to provide personal traffic information. The service uses the preferred destination fields of the list table 52A that includes the person's "normal" commute origin and destination. When caller 4 contacts system2, they can obtain an indication of any traffic problems on their route, based on their current location and the normal commute route, and if they do encounter a problem, an alternative route to their destination. Details of generating and transmitting traffic information are discussed below.

Another special feature of the system2 is the provision of roadside assistance services. This service, which utilizes the location of caller 4 in the event of an emergency, is particularly useful where system2 is employing automatic location identification and location database 60 to identify the nearest trailer company or other form of assistance.

The above list of system2 features is not exhaustive and provides a few examples.

Subsequently, at step 110, the customer service representative enters or confirms the "to" and "from" information in the agent 19, which is directed to the enhanced services guide module 21.

Subsequently, at step 112, the enhanced services guidance module 21 retrieves the information stored in the guidance and mapping database table 72 in the mapping and guidance database 15 to generate guidance and mapping information for the desired location. These directions may be based solely on the information provided by the "to" and "from" information, or may be modified by the list table 52A information of caller 4 if agent 19 provides any of caller 4 list table 52A information.

At step 114, the enhanced services guidance module 21 saves the guidance in the guidance and mapping database 15 for a prescribed period of time. It should be noted that the stored instructions (for retrieval by caller 4) need not be stored in mapping and instruction database 15, but may instead be stored in any database having the ability to store instructions in system2, including, but not limited to, customer database 18 or enhanced services instruction module 21 itself.

It should be noted that in addition to generating the guidance, the enhanced service guidance module 21 may also generate traffic information at this same stage if the traffic vendor 43 and the traffic database 45 are started in the system 2. Indeed, at this stage, where caller 4 requests only traffic information about the regular commute destination, enhanced service guide module 21 may only generate traffic information.

Subsequently, at step 116, enhanced services direct module 21 contacts advertisement hint module 27 to determine whether any advertisement hints are appropriate for caller 4.

At step 118, advertisement hint module 27 searches the fields of advertisement position business module table 80 of advertisement database 66 for an advertisement hint appropriate for caller 4. For example, ad prompt module 27 searches the ad parameter fields of ad placement business module table 80 to determine if it is the proper time of day, day of the week, etc. In addition, advertisement hint module 27 searches the radius field to determine whether the advertiser's business is close enough to the guideline to activate an advertisement hint. Advertisement cue processing module 94 finally aggregates a list of ad cues stored in advertisement cue storage module 13 that are appropriate for the particular instruction requested by caller 4. A more detailed description of the selection process is contained in the previous description of advertisement reminder module 27.

If no applicable advertising hints are found, the system2 proceeds to step 120 where the enhanced services tutorial module 21 passes the tutorial and/or mapping information and/or traffic information back to the agent 19 on the operator terminal 20 so that the agent can fill in the necessary fields of the tutorial packet 50 at step 120.

At step 122, the operator terminal forwards the instruction packet 50 to the switch/VRU 12, and the switch/VRU 12 reconverts and transmits the instruction, traffic information or drawing information, or any combination thereof, to the caller 4.

However, if advertisement hint module 27 finds at least one suitable advertisement hint at step 118, system2 proceeds to step 124.

In step 124, advertisement hint module 27 generates a list of all relevant hints and checks their applicability.

At step 126, the system2 determines whether one or more prompts are to be added to the instructional information. This determination can be made in several ways. One way of determining this is by the ad prompt processing module 94 making the determination based on a random selection or based on a priority code stored in the ad placement enterprise module table 80. On the other hand, the cues may be selected according to a least used cycle, such that the longer a particular cue is used the previous time, the more likely it is that the particular cue will be used the next time.

The selection may also be made by the agent 19 at the operator terminal 20 by using similar procedures as described above, or may be done manually by a customer service representative.

It should be noted that if caller 4 requests a "close to" function, such as directions to the nearest gas station, agent 19 provides all of the nearest gas stations to the customer service representative according to mapping and directions database 15, but also all of the advertised gas stations stored in advertisement database 66, presumably overlapping in part. In this case, the advertised gasoline station may be highlighted so that when agent 19 or a customer service representative finally fills the field in guidance package 50, the preference for "close to" information can go to paging advertisements with system 2.

If no applicable prompts are found at step 126, the call goes to 122. However, assuming that an applicable reminder is found, at step 128, regardless of the method used to select the advertising reminder, once the enhanced services guidance module receives/generates the guidance, mapping information, traffic information and/or advertising reminder information, the enhanced services guidance module 21 proceeds to step 122 and sends the information to the agent 19 on the operator terminal 20 to generate the guidance package 50.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in alternative flow chart 16, caller 4 may specifically require guidance regarding a preferred destination, such as a work or commute destination. In this case, certain steps may be bypassed, speeding up the process of providing information to caller 4.

Steps 200,202, 204 and 206 are mirror images of steps 100,102, 104 and 106, respectively, however, when caller 4 requests their commuting traffic report (either manually by a customer service representative or via an automated numeric/keyboard response request) at step 208, the call is passed directly to agent 19 to determine whether caller 4's ANI is identified from list table 52A. If not, caller 4 is directed to a customer service representative at operator terminal 20 to manually enter "to" and "from" information and to make an entry in list table 52A for that caller 4 for future use at step 210.

If agent 19 identifies the ANI of caller 4 from list table 52A, then agent retrieves the preferred destination information from the preferred destination field at step 212. This information is sent directly to the enhanced services guidance module 21. Regardless of the identification of the ANI of caller 4, enhanced services guidance module 21 retrieves traffic information for the caller-specified route from traffic database 45 at step 214. The enhanced services directions module 21 may also prepare directions at this point if requested, or provide advertising directions (from advertising directions module 27).

In step 216, the enhanced services guidance module 21 compares the generated guidance with the traffic information. If there is a situation where any traffic along the calculated route is under strain, the enhanced services guidance module 21 will attempt to recalculate the guidance, thereby avoiding a traffic accident. At step 218, the provided information is entered into the guidance packet 50 by the agent and transmitted to the switch/VRU 12. Switch 12 communicates the traffic information to caller 4 at step 220.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in figure 17, the system is shown as being provided in an enhanced directory assistance service. These services include not only tutorials, but also standard directory assistance functions, such as looking up telephone numbers. Additionally, in areas where directions are distributed, errors may result in caller 4 disconnecting system2 from caller 4 seeking alternative directions or from caller 4 receiving incorrect directions. System2 can handle all of these issues in a dynamic cross-working manner as illustrated in fig. 17, which is a flow diagram of a call with respect to system2 in the case of opening the option of caller 4 to the full functionality of enhanced directory assistance system 2. However, due to the complexity of the flow diagram in fig. 17, these steps are described below in a simplified format. All features and modules are assumed to operate in the same manner as described above.

Steps 300, 302, 304 and 306 reflect steps 100, 102, 104 and 106. In step 306, the call center 16 sends the call to the operation terminal 20. Caller 4 is now provided with several options described below in subroutines 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800.

If caller 4 selects caller request guidance subroutine 400, the call is sent to a customer service representative at operator terminal 20. At step 402, location information of caller 4 is retrieved using any of the methods described above. Caller 4 is asked to recite their destination at step 404. If caller 4 does not know the destination, only the name or telephone number, caller 4 is directed to step 502 in subroutine 500. If caller 4 knows the destination at step 406, the customer service representative enters it into agent 19.

In step 408, system2 determines whether to accept the entered address. If not, the system proceeds to step 409 where the customer service representative looks up the effective address in step 409 (if a new address is found, the call proceeds to step 408, if no new address is found, the call proceeds to step 502). If the address is accepted, the call proceeds to step 410, where the customer service representative verifies the request at step 410.

The call (i.e., the coaching packet) is then transmitted to the switch/VRU 12 at step 412. At step 414, the transfer conducts and terminates the call (unless caller 4 requests alternative directions according to subroutine 800 described below).

If caller 4 initially requires standard directory assistance from system2, but then requires guidance regarding the location, subroutine 500 follows. At step 502, the customer service representative looks up the number of requested lists from the database in system 2. Caller 4 requests guidance regarding the location at step 504. At step 506, the data already present on the screen regarding the destination is combined with the start point information provided by one of the methods described above.

Subroutine 500 then mirrors subroutine 400. Specifically, steps 508, 510, 512, and 514 mirror steps 408, 410, 412, and 414, respectively.

If caller 4 contacts system2 and notifies the customer service representative at step 306 that the previously received directions are incorrect, the call proceeds to subroutine 600. At step 602, the customer service representative, based on caller 4's ANI, roots the directions to caller 4 from mapping and directions database 15 (or any database being used by system2 in accordance with any alternative database structure). At step 604, the customer service representative provides a refund and other assistance to caller 4.

Subsequently, at step 606, the customer service representative verifies the data with respect to caller 4. At step 608, the customer service representative reviews the data with respect to the system. If the information is not correct, the call is directed to step 409/509 in the other subroutine. However, if the directions are correct, but the caller is in error in following the directions, the call proceeds to step 610 where the customer service representative notifies caller 4 that the directions are correct. If caller 4 wishes to contact the destination by telephone at step 612, the customer service representative retrieves the telephone number of the destination and contacts caller 4 with the destination at step 614.

If caller 4 contacts system2 and notifies the customer service representative (or presses the automatic bypass previously described) at step 306 that the call is disconnected (either intentionally or accidentally during long trips or the cellular signal is lost), the call enters subroutine 700. At step 702, the customer service representative or VRU/ASR roots the saved directions from the mapping and guidance database 15. From step 702, the call is directed to step 410/510 of the subroutine previously described.

Thus, the end of subroutines 400, 500, 600 and 700 are terminated with caller 4, connected to switch 12, receiving the requested direction (at step 414/514). But at intermediate step 310, if for any reason the caller is disconnected or disconnected, but needs to reconnect to system2, caller 4 is directed to step 300. Note that in alternative embodiments, the reconnection with respect to the saved instructions may be accomplished in several ways. For example, caller 4 may be reconnected by a customer service representative, or caller 4 may use an access code such as "# 4" to directly connect switch/VRU 12, switch/VRU 12 maintaining the function of returning their save directions directly to caller 4.

If caller 4 is satisfied with the tutorial, the caller disconnects from system2 at step 312.

In another embodiment of the present invention, if caller 4 receives directions but wishes to obtain an alternate route, the call leaves step 414/514 and enters subroutine 800. At step 802, switch/VRU 12 provides caller 4 with the option of switching back to operator terminal 20 and a customer service representative. At step 804, system2 records the ANI transfer.

Subsequently, at step 806, the customer service representative is presented with the previous start/end point on the operator terminal 20. Caller 4 is then provided with three options: 1) callers want to connect their destination telephonically (step 808), 2) callers ask for alternative directions for the same start/end point (step 810) or 3) callers want directions for a new start/end point (step 814).

If caller 4 selects step 808 to make a telephone contact, the call goes to step 612 of subroutine 600. If caller 4 selects step 810 to obtain alternative directions, the call goes to step 812 where the customer service representative retrieves the alternative directions generated by enhanced services guidance module 21 at step 812. From step 812, the call is connected to step 410, ending the call. If caller 4 selects step 814, the call proceeds to step 816 and the customer service representative enters a new start/end point into agent 19 at step 816. From step 816, the call is directed to step 408 of subroutine 400.

It should be noted that the dynamic example of how system2 operates is only one example of one possible method of interaction between the various functions of system 2. In particular, it should be recognized that the automated operator terminal 20 or keypad response may be substituted for the customer service representative throughout the process. However, any similar enhanced directory assistance system using similar modules and similar operating systems is within contemplation of the subject invention.

While the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. An enhanced directory assistance system for providing directory information to a plurality of callers, the system comprising:

a telephone switch for receiving calls from a plurality of callers wishing to receive directions;

providing the location of said caller in a call session to an automatic location system of said telephone exchange; and

an enhanced services directions module that receives destination and start location information provided by the caller and provides directions to the caller based on the provided information.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mapping and directions database coupled to the enhanced services directions module that stores information used to formulate directions.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the mapping and directions database is located geographically remote from the enhanced directory assistance system.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an agent that provides the guidance packets formed by the enhanced services guidance module to the telephony switch.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a traffic database coupled to said enhanced services guidance module, providing traffic information corresponding to routes required by each of said callers.

6. The system of claim 7, further comprising a traffic information seller coupled to the traffic database that provides the traffic database with up-to-date traffic information for the geographic area covered by the system.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an advertisement hint module that generates an advertisement hint code corresponding to the advertising content provided to the plurality of callers.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an advertisement database coupled to the advertisement hint module that stores the advertisement content.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the advertising content is a voice message.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the advertising content is a multimedia message.