Abstract: There is disclosed an ACD management information system which tracks attendant work performance without regard to the actual station at which the attendant is operating. The system also monitors non-ACD work states and provides individualized status reports based upon temporarily stored limit criteria. A real time display of system performance is provided to a supervisor in a manner which allows for immediate rearrangement of the system without resort to other data. The displayed data includes split handling information, and call abandon information, trunk busy information and work state information.

Abstract: Microcomputers are typically designed having a cycle time during which peripheral devices are accessed. This cycle is subdivided such that during a device access certain signals sequentially are activated to control the flow of data to or from the device over a set of special purpose leads. There is disclosed an arrangement for use when the device cannot respond within the allotted cycle for controlling the device access so that multiple successive cycles are used for a single device access. In this manner the microcomputer's speed is independent from the device response speed.

Abstract: A touch sensitive device is arranged with substantially parallel surfaces which are at least partially transparent to light. A flexible membrane is supported above the top surface of the screen and when the overlay is flexed into contact with the screen, light which had passed through the screen, is trapped between the screen surfaces by total internal reflection. The edges of the screen are fitted with light detectors for gathering the trapped light. Using this arrangement positional determination of one or more screen touches is possible.

Abstract: High density time division busses suffer from many problems, one of which is that impedance discontinuities cause signal reflections to occur along the bus. These reflections, in turn, affect the settling time and noise margins of the bus and thus reduce the time "window" in which valid signals may be received. There is disclosed a transmission bus structure which allows for bidirectional, multi-port operation by using current drivers instead of the traditional voltage drivers for placing data signals on the bus. The transmission bus is designed in a manner which allows transmission and reception from a single clock on the same clock edge thereby substantially increasing the time allowed for transmission response and also simplifying the clock distribution requirements.

Abstract: There is disclosed an automated hardware inventory system for remote identification of system circuits. The system includes a central processing unit for addressing circuits over a bidirectional communication bus. A memory device and control circuitry is affixed to each circuit for the storage of information to identify each said circuit when addressed by the central processing unit. The identity information includes the vintage of the circuit.

Abstract: There is disclosed a spelling correction arrangement for use in directory lookup applications. The arrangement corrects errors by finding the name in the directory that most closely resembles the name requested by the user. The arrangement is based on a recursive routine that continually subdivides the problem of finding a given name in a given directory into smaller subproblems in which shorter names are to be found in smaller directories. Multiple spelling errors are easily accommodated since the technique uses the given directory of names to limit the search. The technique allows the algorithm to find the closest name in the directory without actually considering the vast majority of the names that appear in the directory.

Abstract: There is disclosed a combined business communication system and an ACD system where each station in the system is available to handle, on a per call basis, either ACD or regular incoming calls. The system is arranged to accept from any user at any station an ID uniquely associated with that user. The ID in turn then controls the ACD system to direct calls to the user in accordance with the ID information without regard to the station location of that user. Calls between system users are completed either in accordance with station identification numbers or in accordance with the ID number of the desired user.

Abstract: When a standard business office communication system is combined with ACD features, it is necessary to design the system to accommodate a variety of operational modes. Two such modes are handset operation, where a station user talks and listens via a conventional hand-held instrument, and headset operation where the user has an earphone and mouthpiece supported by the head. In headset operation, the station is made to appear off-hook permanently and incoming calls are signaled by a short burst of audio tone followed by an automatic connection to the called party. In handset operation, ringing signals must be applied to the station, and these signals continue until the incoming call is answered by a subsequent off-hook condition of the station. The disclosed arrangement allows each station to operate in either mode on a per call basis.

Abstract: A snap-together housing is disclosed having a single fastener holding the multi-part housing together. The housing has a base, around which upper and lower panels fit in a clamshell arrangement. The wrap-around panels provide design contours and are the color bearing elements of the housing. Easy installation is achieved by a tab positioned at the rear of the lower panel which allows the lower panel to rotate upward around the base. A tab on the inner front surface of the lower panel engages a detent on the front of the base thereby preventing the lower panel from rotating downward without first being laterally separated from the base. The upper panel, held in position by a single fastener, interlocks with the front surface of the lower panel to prevent the lateral separation.

Abstract: There is disclosed an office communication system adapted to handle both bursty and continuous data transmission over a single transmission facility to a central switching network. A programmable station controller is used at each station location to interface a number of transmission inputs to the single communication link. The programmable station controller is arranged to statistically multiplex the inputs associated with the bursty data while allowing the continuous data to pass on dedicate time slots. Transmission compatibility between the types of data transmission received from the bursty and continuous data inputs is assured by subdividing the transmission on the single link into frames having four time slots. A fixed number of time slots of each frame are assigned by a central controller to active ones of the continuous data inputs while other time slots of each frame are assigned to the multiplexed bursty data inputs.

Abstract: A graphic display terminal is arranged to receive from a sending source drawing instructions containing the description of a display character. The terminal, under control independent from the sending source, interprets each received drawing instruction into a particular picture description bit pattern tailored to the characteristics of the terminal display device. The interpreted bits are then stored in a graphic repertory for subsequent retrievel under control of code received from the sending source. In this manner dynamically redefinable character sets may be created and used without regard to a particular terminal implementation.

Abstract: An interactive graphics transmission system for use, illustratively, in video teleconferencing is described which advantageously reduces the amount of transmission bandwidth and user effort required to transmit changing graphical information. This is accomplished by first transmitting a full image of the graphic followed only by the changes which a conferee makes to that graphic. Those changes are determined by sensing the tilt of a light pen and the location of its tip, which is closest to the graphic, as a conferee manipulates the pen to change the graphic. The tilt of the pen primarily determines the mode in which the light pen is used. The mode information, in conjunction with the location of the pen's tip, is used to generate an instruction which specifies the way in which the graphic is to be changed, e.g., whether information is to be added to, deleted from or emphasized in a graphic. In addition, the location of the pen's tip specifies the address of that portion of the graphic that is to be changed.

Abstract: An ac plasma panel is arranged with selective row and column shifting capability. Shifting in both the horizontal and vertical directions is accomplished by arranging for display site discharge transportation under control of eight control conductors with four conductors serving the horizontal direction and four conductors serving the vertical direction. The eight control conductors are used to provide sustain pulses for the ON display sites, and, using the same conductors, an out-of-phase pulse is used to freeze any of the display sites in any row or column while allowing display site transfer to occur selectively in any other row or column.

Abstract: A communication system is arranged having a special hold mode (called parkhold) where a station may place any conference connection associated with that station in the parkhold mode. Any station in the system may, by transmitting a certain signal, become connected to any parked conference without regard to whether that staton has an appearance of the parked line. Selectivity is provided in that each conference is parked on a separate link and the recall signal identifies the link of any particular parked conference. This arrangement can be used for call transfer, meet-me-conferencing as well as for allowing mobility between stations in retrieving a call from the parkhold mode.

Abstract: To substantially increase the bandwidth of a random access memory (RAM), a shift register is disposed within the memory array such that the shift register lies parallel to the word lines and is connected to at least individual ones of the bit lines contained within the array. Separate high-speed serial input and output lines are provided by the shift register. These lines are in addition to and operate independently of the slower speed input and output lines normally provided by the RAM. Through this arrangement, a row of data can be transferred to and from the memory array at a rate substantially faster than the single-bit access rate of the RAM.

Abstract: A communication conferencing arrangement is disclosed which relies upon the use of a plus/minus (+/-) nonlocking button followed by the operation of a button associated with any other line appearing at the station. If the operated line button is associated with a currently active line that line will be removed from the conference. If, however, the operated button is associated with a nonactive line (held or idle) then that line will be added, in conference fashion, with the communication leads of the enabling station. Provision is made to allow any number of added connections up to a preset maximum number at any station.