Abstract: A computer-implemented method for generating and sending a machine processable form of a logical query, comprising: providing, on a display device of a computing device, two or more shapes that can be manipulated by a user to form a diagram representing a logical query, wherein the two or more shapes correspond to respective data sets; for each shape of the two or more shapes, determining, by the computing device, one or more highest intersection cardinality regions within the shape; based on the one or more highest intersection cardinality regions, generating, by the computing device, a machine processable form of the logical query; and sending, by the computing device, the machine processable form of the logical query to a query processing engine.

Abstract: A method of operating a telephony system for determining whether a telephone call made to a call destination terminal is a live call which is answered by a live person and not by an answering machine, the system performing steps comprising detecting that the telephone call has been answered and that the call is in progress transmitting one or more voice messages in a transmitted signal to the call destination terminal analyzing a received signal from the call destination terminal to detect voice signals, and determining whether or not the telephone call is a live call by applying test criteria to relative timing of events in the received signal and transmitted signal, the test criteria being based on an expected pattern of speech and silence representative of normal conversation.

Abstract: A method of operating a telephony system for determining whether a telephone call made to a call destination terminal is a live call which is answered by a live person and not by an answering machine, the system performing steps comprising detecting that the telephone call has been answered and that the call is in progress transmitting one or more voice messages in a transmitted signal to the call destination terminal analyzing a received signal from the call destination terminal to detect voice signals, and determining whether or not the telephone call is a live call by applying test criteria to relative timing of events in the received signal and transmitted signal, the test criteria being based on an expected pattern of speech and silence representative of normal conversation.

Abstract: A call centre includes a plurality of agent workstations, each agent workstation comprising means for entering information obtained from a telephone respondent in response to questions prompted by a script displayed on the display of the workstation, and means for producing status signals indicative of the progression of the agent through the script. A predictive dialling system receives status signals from each agent station and predicts from the status signals and statistical information regarding the number of calls previously made, how many new calls should be dialled to enable agents who have finished their previous call by the time the calls are answered to take the new calls.