Patents by Inventor William K. McCormick

William K. McCormick 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).

  • Automation of telephone operator assistance calls
    Patent number: 5185781
    Abstract: This invention relates to methods and apparatus for automatically processing operator assistance calls. A caller is connected to an automated operator position. The automated position has speech recognition facilities to replace those of an operator, has announcement capabilities to replace those of an operator, and has control apparatus for transmitting and receiving the same set of messages transmitted and received by an operator position. Advantageously, the operator assistance switch has the same interface to an automated position as to an operator position and interacts with the two identically. Since the capabilities of the automated position are limited by its program, the automated position switches a call to an automated position when a situation occurs for which it has not been programmed. Advantageously, a switch need not be specially programmed to communicate with an automated position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1993
    Assignee: AT&T Bell Laboratories
    Inventors: Douglas C. Dowden, Richard W. Hemmeter, Diane E. Herr, William K. McCormick, Robert Petrelli, Richard J. Piereth, Samuel M. Salchenberger, Chander S. Sehgal, Mahendra K. Verma
  • Automation of telephone operator assistance calls
    Patent number: 5181237
    Abstract: This invention relates to methods and apparatus for automatically processing operator assistance calls. A caller is connected to an automated operator position. The automated position has speech recognition facilities to replace those of an operator, has announcement capabilities to replace those of an operator, and has control apparatus for transmitting and receiving the same set of messages transmitted and received by an operator position. Advantageously, the operator assistance switch has the same interface to an automated position as to an operator position and interacts with the two identically. Since the capabilities of the automated position are limited by its program, the automated position switches a call to an automated position when a situation occurs for which it has not been programmed. Advantageously, a switch need not be specially programmed to communicate with an automated position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 19, 1993
    Assignee: AT&T Bell Laboratories
    Inventors: Douglas C. Dowden, Richard W. Hemmeter, Diane E. Herr, William K. McCormick, Robert Petrelli, Richard J. Piereth, Samuel M. Salchenberger, Chander S. Sehgal, Mahendra K. Verma