Patents by Inventor Richard McDuff

Richard McDuff has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20040218750
    Abstract: A desktop telephony application program enables a call center agent to handle calls. The application program may be interfaced with an answering service. The answering service acts as an application program interface (API) to a computer/telephony interface server and a call distributor. The application program produces a user interface that enables the agent to indicate when the agent is going on break and the type of break that the agent is taking. Additional functional elements are provided in the user interface to enable the agent to update status information regarding the current state of the agent. The application program may also provide phone books that hold phone numbers grouped by different logical grouping criteria.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Publication date: November 4, 2004
    Applicant: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Wesley Atkinson, Richard McDuff
  • Patent number: 6782087
    Abstract: A desktop telephony application program enables a call center agent to handle calls. The application program may be interfaced with an answering service. The answering service acts as an application program interface (API) to a computer/telephony interface server and a call distributor. The application program produces a user interface that enables the agent to indicate when the agent is going on break and the type of break that the agent is taking. Additional functional elements are provided in the user interface to enable the agent to update status information regarding the current state of the agent. The application program may also provide phone books that hold phone numbers grouped by different logical grouping criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2004
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Wesley Atkinson, Richard McDuff
  • Patent number: 6658106
    Abstract: A desktop telephony application program enables a call center agent to handle calls. The application program may be interfaced with an answering service. The answering service acts as an application program interface (API) to a computer/telephony interface server and a call distributor. The application program produces a user interface that enables the agent to indicate when the agent is going on break and the type of break that the agent is taking. Additional functional elements are provided in the user interface to enable the agent to update status information regarding the current state of the agent. The application program may also provide phone books that hold phone numbers grouped by different logical grouping criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Inventors: Wesley Atkinson, Richard McDuff
  • Patent number: 6490350
    Abstract: An automated monitoring system monitors telephone resources in a call center. The call center may include agent stations at which agents are stationed to handle calls. A monitoring server monitors calling activity by the agents to maintain state information about the agents and to gather statistics about the calling activity of the agents. These statistics are forwarded to a client program run on a workstation or other type of computer system. The client program provides a graphical user interface and depicts the state information about the agents as part of the interface. The graphical user interface may also display statistics regarding the calling activity of agents, agent supervisors, business clients of the call center, and the call center in aggregate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Richard McDuff, Wesley Jon Atkinson, Donald L. Ravenscroft, Gopi Shankar, Craig Kaley, Craig Alan Baxter
  • Patent number: 6466663
    Abstract: A monitoring system monitors calling activity within a call center. The monitoring system includes a client program that may be run on a workstation. The client program displays a graphical user interface that contains status information about agents in the call center and statistics regarding calling activity within the call center. The graphical user interface may depict a physical layout of all or a portion of the call center. Information about agents, supervisors, and business clients may be obtained from the graphical user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Inventors: Don Ravenscroft, Wesley Jon Atkinson, Richard McDuff, Gopi Shankar, Craig Kaley, Craig Alan Baxter
  • Publication number: 20010012356
    Abstract: An automated monitoring system monitors telephone resources in a call center. The call center may include agent stations at which agents are stationed to handle calls. A monitoring server monitors calling activity by the agents to maintain state information about the agents and to gather statistics about the calling activity of the agents. These statistics are forwarded to a client program run on a workstation or other type of computer system. The client program provides a graphical user interface and depicts the state information about the agents as part of the interface. The graphical user interface may also display statistics regarding the calling activity of agents, agent supervisors, business clients of the call center, and the call center in aggregate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Publication date: August 9, 2001
    Inventors: RICHARD MCDUFF, WESLEY JON ATKINSON, DONALD L. RAVENSCROFT, GOPI SHANKAR, CRAIG KALEY, CRAIG ALAN BAXTER
  • Patent number: 6192121
    Abstract: An application program interface (API) provides an interface for application programs to communicate with a telephony server. The telephony server generates events regarding calling activity within a call center. The API receives these events and forwards them to the application programs. The API may be run on an agent workstation along with application programs. The applications register with the API to identify what types of events are of interest to the application program. The API receives the events from the telephony server and distributes the events according to the registrations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Wesley Atkinson, Richard McDuff, Craig Baxter