Abstract: An agent at home (12) is enabled to receive a call from a customer (14), originally directed to a transaction-processing center (16), by first identifying, at an exchange (20) of a public switched telephone network (22), the identity of the transaction-processing center and the agent(s) designated to receive calls directed to that center. Once the agent (12) has been identified, the call is routed from a first local exchange carrier central office (18) serving the customer to a local exchange carrier central office (26) serving the agent and then to the agent across a combined voice and data line (44). Upon receipt of the call, the agent simultaneously establishes a data link with the transaction-processing center so as to complete a transaction for the customer.

Abstract: Each of the inputs of an analog multiplexer are connected to a plurality of capacitive keyswitches and a reference capacitor. At the first multiplexer scan position, the reference capacitor is charged through a charging resistor and when a predetermined voltage is reached a threshold amplifier is caused to respond. The time period required to charge the reference capacitor is stored and compared with the time period required to charge each of the keyswitches. A control signal is generated in response to this comparison providing a signal representative of the capacitive value of the keyswitch in relation to the reference capacitor and thus the operative condition of the keyswitch.