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Fonality Awarded Patents

25-Apr-2013 | Source : | Visits : 6772
DALLAS - Fonality, the only provider of business phone systems and contact center solutions dedicated to serving small and midsize businesses, today announced in a press release that it has been awarded two additional patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office. One is for universal queuing for inbound communications; the other is for a system for distributed communication control. The two patents are the second and third assigned to Fonality, which is the assignee in nine additional applications before the Patent Office.

“Fonality is about innovation, and there is no more definitive recognition of innovation than a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office,” said David Scult, CEO of Fonality. “We’re pleased by the awarding of these two new patents and await action on the nine remaining applications assigned to Fonality that remain on file with the Patent Office.”

“Universal Queuing for Inbound Communications” was issued Patent No. 8379832 on February 19. The invention helps direct inbound communications received by a communication server. It reviews the status of one or more agents over a plurality of communication types to determine the available agents. It reviews profiles to assess the applicability of agents to receive the communication, even whether an agent’s profile allows the handling of more than one inbound communication at a time. Based on that information, the system selects an appropriate agent to receive the communication.

“While the above described system indicates a call center environment focused on voice calls, the agent may also be available through other communication mechanisms, such as e-mail or chat/instant messaging,” according to the patent application filed in 2007, which goes on to say, “there is a need for a system that maximizes productivity of agents given a plurality of different types of communication mechanisms.”

The patent award comes less than two months after another that was assigned to Fonality. “System and Method for Distributed Communication Control within an Enterprise” was issued Patent No. 8341535 and was granted, records show, on December 25, 2012.

According to the 2008 patent application, “Conventional software applications are directed only to monitoring the status of phone calls. Other communication means, such as chat, cannot be monitored via these conventional software applications. Furthermore, these systems do not provide mechanisms whereby different users are granted different rights to monitor other users in an automated manner.” It goes on to say, “many individuals work at least part time out of the office, either from home or from the ‘road.’ While conventional software applications may allow for monitoring of local users, these software applications cannot be applied to monitoring remote users.”

According to the patent application, the technology works like this: “A communication user interface is provided on a client device associated with an individual. The communication user interface comprises a plurality of selectable communication control operations configured to provide control over communications of users within an enterprise. A selection of one of the plurality of communication control operations is received from the individual. Permissions associated with the individual are reviewed to determine if the individual is allowed to perform the communication control operation. If the individual is allowed, the communication control operation is performed. If the individual is not allowed, a denial indicator may be provided.”

Fonality’s first patent, issued in January 2012, is for “Intelligence Presence Management in a Communication Routing System.” That invention governs the routing of inbound communications based on a user’s profile and presence.
 
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