CA2102862A1 - Control device for the network of a telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A control device (10) for the network (14) of a telephone switching system (12) having a device (18) for routing calls received from the network (14) being definable by the user at the location of the control device (10), and a device (34, 36, 22, and 24) responsive to the routing device (18) for switching calls received from the routing device (18) in the telephone system (12).

Description

~o 21~8~2 BAC2~GROUND OF~ lrHE .II~VENTIQ~i The pre~ent invention relat~a to control devlce~ for q ~lephon~ ~w~ t~hing ~ystem.

In the past, tel~phone switchlng ~ycatem6 havs been kno~vn which have a ~witch, such as an Automatic Call Di~tr4~utor ~A~D), ~or routing inaoming tel~phone ~all~
from zl nekwv~k o~ th~ system to ag0nts ~or handling the ~alls . Howev~r, the opexa'c4 on o~ ~uch swit~hes ha~ be~n aonventLonally esta~liRh~d }~y the manu~actur~r of the sys~m, and doe$ not provid~ suf~icient ~l~xibility to porInit the user to fully ~ont~ol the routing o~ the . .
incoming tel~phone call~ at the location o~ ~he u~e~, ~uch a~ a call cent~r.

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SUMMARY O.~ ~H.E_INVENTION

A principal feature o~ ths p~e~ent invention iB the provi0ion of a control device ~or the netwo~k of a telaphone switching sy~tem.

The con~rol device of the present invention compri~es, mean0 for routing call~ received from ~hs :
n~work, and me~ns ~e~pon~ive to th~ rou~ing mean~ :Eor ~witahing call~ receiv~d ~rom the ~outin~ me~n6 in the ~ol0phone ~ystem.

A i~atur~ o~ ~e inve~tlon ls that th~ oper~tion of the rout~ng mean~ iB definable by th~ u3er at the location o~ th~ control d~vie~

Another ~atur~ of the invention is tha~ the op~r~tlon o~ th~ swltch~ng m~n~ 1~ al90 de~inable ~y the u~r a~ the loc~tion o~ th~ control ~evice.

Another f~ture of th~ pres~nt invention is that th~
control device co~pri~ a ~uitable co~puter, a~d the user may p~ogxam both th~ routing me~3 and 6witching m~an~ in ~ ~mpli~1~d ~anner to ~o~trol the routing o~ incoming t~lephon~ a~lls ~g de~ired by th~ u~er ~t the location o~
tho con~rol d~vice.

2~2~2 Y~t anot~er ~eature of ~he inv~ntion is that th~
~evlce may include ~ hos~ computer which is under aontrol o~ th~ user ~ the location of ~he aontrol device.

Still another fe~ture of the inven~ion i3 ~hat lncoming aall~ from th~ n~twork ar~ und~r control by the u~r at ~he lo~tion o~ the control ~evice.

Another featur~ of the invention i5 ~hat th~ routing ~e~ns has a plurality of location~ for select.lng th~
routing of the ~alls.

~ et another ~atur~ of th~ inventio~ is ~hat the routing m~ane may tirect incomln~ calls ~o an intercept group ~or di~po~ition o the aalls.

A urther eatur~ o~ the invention i~ that tho in~o~o~pt ~roup ha~ a plurall~y of loaation~ which may be utlll2~d ~o ~e~lne di~er0nt routing o the ~all~.

Anoth~r ~a~ure o~ the lnvention i~ ~hat ~he in~æreept group ~lrects call~ ~o a pl~rality o ~ifferent lntara~pt ~ or~ for diaposition of the call~ i~ the ~vent o~ ~ ~ault ~ondition. -~.

~ ~eatu~e of th~ inventlon i~ that ~hq aontrol devic~
has an applicatlon hav~ng a plur lity o~ ~apar~te .

2~B2g62 lo~at~on~, and that the routing meAn~ dir~ct~ in~o~ing call~ to the loe~tion o the appliaation.

Another $eature of ~he inv~n~ion i~ tha~ the ~ppllcation directs the incoming calls to a plurality of applicat~on vect4r~ $or ~iepo~ition of th~ call~. -Yet another ~edture of the invention læ that the ~pplicat~on ~ector~ may dir~ct the i~coming calls ~o one ~r mo~e agent g~oupa for h~Adling ~y one or more a~ent~
~o&lated with th~ ~g~nt ~roups.

A fur~her ~e~ture of the inventlon 1~ that the int~rcept veator~ may direct inco~ing aalls to one or mo~e - ~-~
of th~ lo~ati~ns o~ khe appli~ation ~or ~i~position o~ the A ~eatu~e of th~ invent~on i~ that the routing meAn~
may re~u~t in~orlnat~on r~lating to an inco,~in~ call ~rom the ne~work.

S~ nothe~ f eatu~e o~ the in~ention i~ th~t ~he routiny me~an~ m~y in~orm the hog~ comp~er th~t an lnaomlng c~ll h~ bean re~eived.
. .
A ~ature o~ th~ ~nventlon i~ ~hat th~ ~outing me~n~
m~y r~qu~st ~he ho3t ~omputer for inform~tion.

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-Anoth~r f~at~re o~ the invention i5 that the ho~t~omputer may r~u~s~ the ~o~tlng means or in~ormation from th~ network related to tho inoo~ing c~ll.
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A ~urther f~ku~ o~ the invention i3 that the `~
routing ~e~ns may roque~t the host aomput:er to handle th~ ~ -~outing of ~n incoming call.

Still Another ~sature of the inv0ntlon i5 that th~
hos~ aomput~r may route the incoming call# to one or more Dcation~ of the appliaation.

fea~ure o~ the in~ntion i~ ~hat the us~
~ln~ the working rel~lon~hip between the ~outin~ means, ~ltch~ng me~n~, an~ ~he host computer.

Yet another ~oatu~e of th~ inv0ntion i~ that control of th~ ~e~ice may be de ine~ ~y the user ~y a high level progr~mmi~g langu~ge for ~he ~e~pective compute~

~ fu~th~r ~eature of the i~vention i ~ha~ ~he routing of the ~llo i~ predic~te~ u~on inform~tion a~Roai~ted w~th ~he ~ncom~ng ~all and ~h~ designGtion of the t~lephon0 nu~o~ which ha~ b~en called1 -~ hu~, a fe~ture of ~he i v~ntion 16 ~hat the user may '.~
,: ~

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2 ~ 2 austom ~ef ~ no the control ~evlc~ in a simpli~ied manner for a particular type of U8e!.

Fur~her ~eaturss w~ 11 be~oma more fully apparent in the followlng de~cription of th~ ~odimant~ of th~
invention, ~nd ~ro~n the ~ppended cl~ims .

21~23~2 @~B~N_R_ In the dr~awin~:

Fig. 1 iQ a ~ ck dl~slr~m o~ a control device or the n~twork o~ a ~elephone sw~tch~n~ system; ~nd Fig. 2 is another block diagram of the control devi~e o~ ~he pre5~nt inv~ntion.

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DEscRIp?IoN OF THE_PR~FERRED E~Q~ NTS

Referring now to Fig. l, there iB 6hown ~ control d~3vice generally ~lgnated 10 ~o~ a telephone swi~hing ~ystem generally de~ignate~ 1~ . The telephone ~ystem 12 has a ne~wor~ 14 which i~ connected to a ~s~itah~ng ~y~tem 16, ~uch as an Automatic ~ll Distributor ~ACD) 17, includ~d in the control device 10.

~ he control devi~e 10 ha~ ~ routing v~ator or s~rip~
~B to r~cai~e incoming calls ~rom a trunk 20 connected to the network 14 o~ th~ t~lephone ~y~tem. The routing ve~tor -~8 ~ay rou~e ~all~ ~o an ~pplication ~ whi~h in turn --d~re~t~ th~ calls to ~n appli~ati~n vsctor 24. For purposo~ of thi~ appl~cation~ a v~c~o~ is oon~i~ered to b~ :
on~ o~ more.~takom~nt~ or in~tr~tion~ ln th~ program ~or ~ comput~r or ~m~lar d~vic~. Th~ applla~tion v~a~or 24 routo~ thH c~lls from th~ appl~aat~on ~2 to one or mor~ ;
~gon~ ~roup~ 26 ~or handling ~y one o~ more agents A~ ~
a~oc~t~d w~th th~ ~gent group~ 26. -As ~hown, th~ routing vector 18 is al~o aon~ected to a ho~t computer 2e which may proae6s call~ ~oming into ~ha A~D. ~h~ host comp~tbr ~ may dir~t th~ incoming call~ to tha ~ppl~oatio~ 22, a~ w111 be ~e~n below.

~h~ AC~ o~ th~ aon~rol device 10 may aomprise a 21~2~2 ~uitable computer 30 o~ Central Pro~e~ging Unit (CPU) h~vlng a ~ndom acaess momory ~RAM) and Read Only Memory ~ROM) for p~o~s~1ng lnformation related to the incomln~
t~lephone call~, ~nd rout~ the incoming telephone calls.
A~ w111 ~e ~een b~low, the routing v~Cto~ 1~, ag w~ll as th~ application 22 and application vector 24, may be controlled ~y the user ~t the loc~tion o~ the control d~v~ce 10, by programming th~ ~omputer 30 with hi~h l~vel statements in a high level langu~ge for the ~omputer 30 to make aontrol of the control d~vlce 10 relatively ~imple to define.
.":, With re~oren~e to Flg. ~, an in~omlng call ~ro~ th63 n~work 14 18 pr~sent~ to the ~ontrol device l0 on a ~unk group 2 of ~ trunk graup 32 having a pl~rality of æ~parat~ lo~At~on~ ~or proae~sing the Oall6 aæ d~ ed by thQ uæ~r ~-hro~gh suitable programming of the devic~ l0. Aæ
~hown, th~ trunk group ~ is progra~med to direct the c~
to ~ou~1ng Vector 3 o~ the routing v~cto~ 1~ having a plursllty of possible locatlon3. I~ ~his ~as~, th~ c~ll i6 pr~nte~ to routing v~t~r 3~ as d~fin~d in the trunk group 3~.

~hs rout~ng vector 3 then exeaut~ a ~e~ie~ o~ ~ :
d~lned 3t~p9 whi~h i~ aacompli~he~ by pr~vious programming of th~ compllt~r 30. ~u~h steps may iII~lud~ a ~mp to an lnter~ep~ group 34 in the a~e oE a ~ult ::

2 L~2~6~

condition, with ~he interc~p~ ~roup 3~ having a plur~llty o~ ~eparate loca~ions a& d~fined by programming the aomputer 30. ~h~ intercept group 3~ dir~cts ~alls to an a~sociated in~raept vector 36 having a plur~lity o~
~p~ra~e location~, wlth the in~e~¢~pt veotor 3~ ~eing ba~ed upon t~ group ~nd interaept cla~s o the call. The ~ntercept v~a~or ~6 then a~eum~s control o~ the call. In the ~peclfic exampl~ shown, the routing vector 3 jump~ to intercept group IN~tA~ID NUMBER. ~he IN~IALID NUM3ER group and ~he call~ assigned interc~p~ cl~ tran31ate to lnte~cept vector 1.

In ~nother ca6e, ~h~ ~outing vector 1~ may direct ~he call~ te the ~pplicat~on 2~ havin~ a ~lural$ty o~ ~epar~e locat~on~ which ~re dR~ned by the user through prevlous programm1n~ o4 th~ compute~ 30. A~ ~how~, the routing ve~tor 1R tran6~er0 th~ call~ to ~pplic~tion 22 ~hich i~
turn ~OU~6 the eall to an applica~lon veek4r 24 having a pluralit~ of lo~ation6, a~ter whi~h ~he ~ppllcation vec~or 24 ~umes control o~ tho 4a11s. ~n turn, the a~pl~-catios ve~tor ~4 ~ay direct ~he aall to one or more o~ the agent group~ 26 for han~ling o~ the call ~y one or ~ore ~gents Aq as~ocia~ed wi~h th~ ag~t groups ~, If de i~od, on~ or .
mor~ lo~tlo~s o the inter~pt vec~or 3~ may tran~fer ~he call~ ~o one or more locatlon~ o~ the ap~lication 2~ which ul~imately direct~ the call to the ~ppll~ation veetor 24 and th~ agent ~roup~ 2~.

2~ ~862 In a preferre~ form, each trunk ~0 i~ a~6igned to sn lnt~rc~pt cl~s~ and may poin~ ~o the ~ame o~ different rout~g VeC~Of6 1~. The interaept ve¢tor 36 utilized in th~ c~6~ o~ a f~ilure may usuall~ csnQtitute an anneuncement.or record~d ~one~ a~ d~fi~e~ by ~he u~er~
Al~o, the applica~ion vector 24 may include an ~nnounaement, an~ ultimately dir~ct6 th~ to the agent group 26.

A~ ~hown in Flgs. l and 2, the rou~in~ ve~to~ 18 iG
~onne~ted ~o the ho~t comput~r 2~, and in~4rme the ho~t ~mputer ~8 o~ ~n incolning c ll. The routing vector 18 may . .
re~u~t info~ma~lon aoncern1ng th~ call ~rom tho ho~t ~omputor 28, and tho ho~t comput~r 2~ may ro~u~st ln~ormation conaerning th~ ~all ~rom ~h~ routlng vector lB
whirh is ohtaLnetl by the routing vecte~ 1~ from th~
network 14, whlch information 19 supplied by the ~outing v~tor 18 ~o ~he host computer ~8. Al~o, ths application ~ec~Q~ 18 may ~equest the host coTnpute~ 2B to rou'ce a - ~ --givon c~ll d~pendirlg upon thQ na~ure of ~he call, a~
do$ined by th~ ueer, an~ the host aomputer~ 2~ may diIeot -~
thr~ calls ~o the appllcation 2~ ~or ultimat~ di~po~ition a~ ~h~ a~a~t g~up ~6.
~' ~he routl ng o~ ~all6 i~ d~Eisled by in~rmation suppl ie~ ~y the n~tw~k 14 wh~ah may ~e a Trunk Sroup ~ ~2362 whiah i~ ~h~ numher o~ the inbound trunk group on which tho call was pre~ent~d, an Intern~l D~rectory Number (DID) to whlch tha ~all ~hould b~ pr~e~nted, a Dialed Number Identification ~ervice ~DNIS) whieh ident~fiqe the called numbar, or an Automa~ic Number Identifiaat:iOn (ANI~ which co~pri~e~ an ar~a c~e, an ~r~a aode + exchange code, or an a~e~ ~od~ + exahan~e code ~ station adclres~ . Thus, the control dev~c~ 10 routes the cal}s using t;h~s infor~ation ag~ociated with a~ SnCOming call f~ routlng by the ACD or ho3t oomputar 2a.

In ~c~or~nce w1th th~ preC~nt invention, ~he AC~
p~ovide~ an interaction with the n~two~k 14 o~ the telephone 8y5tem 12 for improved handling of the incoming call~. wh~n a valid aall ha~ been r~ived ~y ~h~ routing v~ator 1~, th~ ~out~ng vecto~ 1~ retri~v~s in~o~ma~ion concern~ng the aall ~rom the ne~wo~k 14 which i~ ~oll~o~ed by the trunk ZO. The routing Y~CtO~ 18 ls re~ponsible for ~ny e~ror handling durS ng aollection o$ digit~ ~rom the ne~work 14. ~ach trunk group 32 has a rou~ing voc:to~ 18 ~nd ~out~ class assignet to it.

Th~ rou~l~g veotor 18, th~ int~rcept group 34, ~he lnt~rcept vecto~ 36, tho appli~atlon 2~, and the applic~t1on vector 22 e~entially ~e~ve a~ d~fferent ~w~t~h~s ~o dl~e~t calls ~n the ACD. ~hus, in ac~o~dana~
with the p~esent inventlon, th~ u~e~ may define the

3 6 2 ~: lnteraction o~ th~se 6witch~g alone, or ln co~bination wlth th~ ho6t computer 28 ln a 3implif~ed manner through u~e of the hlgh lev~l statement~ in progr~in~ th~ -~
comput~ 30, ~ will h~ ~een in the Ex~mples ~elo~.
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' ' '` ' ' 2 ~ 6 2 `:
EX~PLE I

The ~ollowing 1.~ a ~imple exa~ple o a call being routed, a0 programmed by tha ~ollowing statements ~o~ the computer 30, o~ a call bein~ rou~ed b~ed upon ~he A~I
~ollect~d from the network 1~. ~o check i~3 being made h~re on wheth~ th~ network ~nfo~ation i~ col:Lected ~ucces~ully. In this ca~, if th~ network in~ormation r~trieval fails or the ANI t~an~lation a.ilæ, the ROUTE
~RANSLA~ION will make use of the de~ault rout~n~
in~orm~tion estahli~h~d at lhe point the ~e~or wa6 a~c~6~, i.e., ~he trunk g~oup'~ routin~ informa~ion, (1) ~ETRI~VE NETWORK
t2) INFORM ROS~ ON ~RRIVAL
~3~ TR~LA~E ANI
~4) RO~TE TRANS~ATION

lS

2 ~ 6 2 EX~E ,~;

~ he following i~ an example o~ a rout~ on DNI9 with ~he ~ equired Indicator~ being cheoked. rrhe de~ault routirl~ infor~ation was es~ablish~d prioF to ~he A~tivatlon o~ th~ rout~ ng v~otor 18 and i~ th~t of the ~runk group 3 2 .

upon entry, the t~unk 20 i~ requested to RETRIEVE the network in o~matlon. If ~ ~ailure occur6 while retrievLng th~ network information, ~ontrol i~ passed to the ~:
~ n~aept vector 36 a~60ci~t~ with the intercept group Invalid Pro~edure Rnd th~ call'6 int~rcept cla~e.

On a ~uac~f~l netwo~k data q~lle~ion, th~ vec~or I~FORM~ the host ao~put~r 28 o~ the call '8 ~rrival and ~RAN6LA~E~ th~ DN~a to i~ routing inform~ion. If th~
tr~n~latlon ~ , the ve~or ~cript ~OUTEs ~he ~11 bas~d upon ~ha ~itial tr~n~latio~ o~ the trunk g~o~p infor~ation.
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On ~ ~uoce~ul D~I~ translation, the veckor ~cript ~;
cheok~ lf ANI i ~equi~ed ~or the ~N~S numb~r. T$ it is reslulr~d, th~ ~ar~pt R~QU~T~ th~ m th~ netwo~k 14.
the ANI request ~a~ 15/ the a~ er~t ~o ~he ~n~ ept v~ctor 36 ~peclfied ~y th~ call ~nt~cept cla~
and the ~ntera~pt ç3rollp 3~ Invalid Num~er.

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21~2~2 Upon eithqr ~I not r~c~uired or ouccee0~ul ANI
r~t.~i~val, the c~ll is routed ba~ed upon the ~NIS route ~ran~ lation .

( 1 ) RET~iIEVE NE~wOREt INFOI~IATION
( 2 ) IF RE5ULT 1~ !3UI:~CESS 1;;0 TO d~
E~P'r IN~IALID_PROCEDUR
( 4 ) INFO~ H(:~S'r OU AR.RIVAL
t 5 ~ TR~9LATE DN I B
6 ) IF R13 SU~T EQ ~;VCCESS GO TO
t 7 ) ROUTE 'rRA~S~ATION
( B ) IP' A~I IND EO ANI NOT_RESQUIRE5~ GO'rO 12 t ~ ) REl;~lJESq! ~E~dOR~ ANI_IND
~10 ) IF RICSUI.T NE F~IL GO~l!O 12 ~11 ) IN~EE~C: P~ I~V~LhID_NU~3ElR
~12 ) ROU~E ~ElAN9~ATIC)N

~1~2~62 E~LPLE III

In the followin~ example, 1~ ~he ve~tor scrip~ 18 is unahle ~o ~trl~o ~he n~twork in~or~a~sn ~nd tran31at~
the AN~ into ~outiny ~n~o~mation, the ~all i~ kreated with inte~capt h~ndling. I~ the c~ ANI is colleat~d and tran~let~d succe~sfull~, the v~tor ~aript checke if the ~NI is flagged a~ b~in~ a candidate for host ~hoet eomput~r 28) routlng, If not, tho ~cript infor~3 the host o~ the ~rriv~l an~ route~ tha call ba~ed upon ~-h~ ANI
tr~nslation.

I~ kh~ ANI i~ f lagg~d a~ pre~rring h~t routlng, the ho~ provl~d with a call ~rrlval indicat~on ~nd RE~UEB~ for in~tructlon. ~h~ ~rec~or waits 2 seconds for a host ~oute.

~ f ~he host fail~ to re~pon~ or the ~essage i~ un~le to b~ ~ran~ltt~d to the ~o~t, the call i8 ~outed based upon the previ~uÆ ANI t~n~latio~

If t~e host re~pond~ ~ithin ~.h~ Z ~cond~, the vect~r ~ -~tr~n61~tes" th~ ho~t p~ovid~d ro~tin~ ~norm~tion and the :
~ubsequ~n~ ROU~E TRANSL~IO~ ~akes ~ o~ the h~
provldad routin~ ln~r~ation ~4 route the c~ll, .
' 2~02'~2 (1) R~TRIEVE N~TWORK INFoRM~lIoN
~) IF ?~E9ULT ~ 9~CCE~5 GO~O 4 (3) IN~CEPT INVALID_NUM~?R

(4) TRA~SLA~E ANI
~5) IF RESU~ EQ 5U~CE5S GOTO 7 (6) INTERCEPT I~VA~ NUMBER
(7) IF HOST_ROU~E_PRE~ERRED En YES GOTO 10 ~) INFO~M ~OS~ ON ARRIVAL
(9) GO TO 11 (1~) REQUE8~ HO~ IN~RUCTION ON ARRIVAL 2 S~CONDS
~11) ROU~ TRA~SLA~ION -Thu~, a prog~a?m Oæ sim~ ied for~ may ~e program~ed by the u~r through use o the 0tatement~ by ~he u~er at th~ loc~tlon of the cont~ol devlce 1~.
.
The ~oregoln~ d~tailr~ dooo~ip~ion ha~ be~n giv~n for cl~rn~3~ o~ u~d~r~t~nding only, and nv unnecesg~ry llml~-a~cion~ ~hould b~ und~rstood th~e~rom, se modi~ication~ W~ll be obv~ou~ to tho~e ~killed in the art .

Claims (35)

What is claimed is:

1. A control device for the network of a telephone switching system, comprising:
means for routing calls received from the network being definable by the user at the location of use of the control device; and means responsive to the routing means for switching calls received from the routing means in the telephone system.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the routing means defines a plurality of separate locations to which the calls may be switched.

3. The device of claim 1 including a host computer, and means for selecting the path of routing either by the routing means and switching means or by the host computer.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the routing means comprises a plurality of routing vectors.

5. The device of claim 1 including means for receiving calls from the network and directing the calls to separate locations of the routing means.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein the receiving and directing means comprises a trunk group for directing calls from the network to a plurality of locations in the routing means.

7. The device of claim 5 wherein the receiving and directing means has a plurality of independent locations for receiving and directing calls from the network to the routing means.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the switching means includes at least a pair of switching devices to receive and process different classes of calls.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein one of the switching devices comprises an application having a plurality of independent locations to receive and direct calls received from the routing means.

10. The device of claim 9 including a plurality of application vector having a plurality of locations to receive and direct calls from the application.

11. The device of claim 10 including at least one agent group to handle incoming calls for at least one agent from the application vector.

12. The device of claim 8 wherein one of the switching devices comprises an intercept group having a plurality of separate locations to receive and direct calls from the routing means.

13. The device of claim 12 including a plurality of independent intercept vectors to receive and direct calls from the intercept group.

14. The device of claim 13 wherein the intercept vectors direct calls to a second switching device comprising an application having a plurality of separate locations to direct incoming calls.

15. The device of claim 1 wherein the routing means includes means for requesting and receiving information related to incoming calls from the network.

16. The device of claim 1 including a host computer and in which the routing means includes means for notifying the host computer of an incoming call.

17. The device of claim 16 wherein the host computer requests the routing means to request information relating to the incoming calls from the network and supply the information to the host computer.

18. The device of claim 1 including a host computer, and in which the routing means requests the host computer to direct incoming calls.

19. The device of claim 18 wherein the host computer requests the routing means for information relating to the calls.

20. The device of claim 18 wherein the host computer directs the calls to a plurality of locations of the switching means.

21. The device of claim 1 wherein the switching means is definable by the user at the location of the control device.

22. The device of claim 1 including a host computer which provides the routing means with information for routing the incoming calls.

23. The device of claim 1 wherein the control device comprises a computer, and in which the routing means is programmable by the user to define the routing of incoming calls.

24. The device of claim 1 wherein the control device comprises a computer, and in which the switching means is programmable by the user to define the switching of incoming calls.

25. The device of claim 1 wherein the routing of calls by the device is based upon a plurality of different sets of data associated with an incoming call.

26. A control device for the network of a telephone switching system, comprising:

a trunk group for selecting the routing of incoming calls from the network at a plurality of locations of the trunk group;

a routing vector for receiving calls at a plurality of locations from the trunk group, and routing the calls to a plurality of locations of an intercept group or a plurality of locations of an application;

means for directing calls from the intercept group to a plurality of locating of an interceptor vector;

means for directing calls in the application to a plurality of locations in an application vector; and means for directing calls from the application vector to at least one agent group for handling by at least one agent associated with the agent group.

27. The device of claim 26 wherein the intercept vector assumes control of processing of the incoming call.

28. The device of claim 26 wherein the application vector assumes control of the processing of the incoming calls.

29. The device of claim 26 wherein the intercept vector has at least one location for directing incoming calls to the application.

30. The device of claim 26 including a host computer for handling incoming calls.

31. The device of claim 30 wherein the routing vector notifies the host computer of the incoming calls.

32. The device of claim 30 wherein the routing vector transfers control of switching of the incoming calls to the host computer.

33. The device of claim 32 wherein the host computer directs the incoming calls to the application.

34. The device of claim 30 wherein the routing vector supplies information from the network related to an incoming call to the host computer.

35. The device of claim 30 wherein the host computer supplies the routing vector with information related to an incoming call.