Abstract: A telephone system provides dynamic inbound/outbound call management for a telemarketing campaign to automatically initiate outbound telephone calls for outbound agents, with outbound agents redesignated as inbound agents to answer inbound calls as needed according to at least one threshold of number or duration of waiting calls or number or duration of waiting inbound agents. Each agent's work area includes a telephone station having a display and an input device. The telephone stations are coupled to a server via a network, and the telephone system includes appointment and calendar functions with pop-up menus. The server is also coupled to an automatic dialer and to a private branch exchange. When the server assigns an outbound call to an outbound agent, the server sends information about the party called to the outbound agent's telephone station for display simultaneous with connecting the called party to the outbound agent.

Abstract: A predictive dialing system automatically initiates a series of live telephone calls for its agents. Each agent's work area includes a telephone set including a headset for establishing a voice communications channel between the agent and a customer. The agent's work area also includes a computer terminal having a display device and an input device. The computer terminals are coupled to a server computer via a network. The server computer is also coupled to an automatic dialer and to a private branch exchange. When the server assigns a call to a agent, it sends information about the party called to the agent's display terminal. The agent enters data into the input device while talking to the called party. The system allows the agent to control all telephone functions from the display terminal input device, including volume adjustment, mute and unmute, release and disconnect.