WO1989003146A1 - Systeme de commande de communications par ligne telephonique - Google Patents

Systeme de commande de communications par ligne telephonique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1989003146A1
WO1989003146A1 PCT/US1988/003223 US8803223W WO8903146A1 WO 1989003146 A1 WO1989003146 A1 WO 1989003146A1 US 8803223 W US8803223 W US 8803223W WO 8903146 A1 WO8903146 A1 WO 8903146A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
line
station
attendant
signal
stations
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1988/003223
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
John Richard Prohs
Charles Garvis Atkins
Nicholas Efthyvoulos
Phillip Edward Sandilands
Michael Retus Scheid
Original Assignee
Ambassador College
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ambassador College filed Critical Ambassador College
Priority to AU25389/88A priority Critical patent/AU626812B2/en
Publication of WO1989003146A1 publication Critical patent/WO1989003146A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
    • H04M3/5125—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with remote located operators
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
    • H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
    • H04M3/5175—Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Definitions

  • This invention relates to telephone communicatio control systems.
  • T area code "800" is used in the United States for su toll-free telephone numbers.
  • this typically entails having a servi attendant elicit the caller's name and address and so kind of ordering information for goods or services a then provide information such as price and delivery inform tion.
  • the organiz tion is providing "help" to a customer concerning use the organization's goods or services, including goods su as retail computer programs and services such as repair maintenance services under a warranty.
  • non-commerci public broadcasting stations which solicit contributio from the viewing public to defray the cost of providi the broadcast services.
  • stations recei volunteer help from a large group of people who serve as an attendant staff to service incoming calls.
  • the public broadcasting station shows not only the persons who encourage viewers to call, but also the staff of service attendants who occupy desks on a stage and use telephone station sets specifically dedicated for use by the attendants in servicing incoming calls.
  • This invention provides a novel and advantageous system for meeting the need to facilitate handling multiple calls entering the system in an efficient way.
  • the invention may be defined in various terms.
  • a telecommunications control system for accepting a plurality of multi-purpose stations for use as attendant stations in an attendant service complex to service calls directed to the system from originating stations.
  • This system comprises a first plurality of connection controllers.
  • Each connection controller in this first plurality of connection controllers provides for cooperating with a respective one of a plurality of multi-purpose stations in defining opposite ends qf a call connection path.
  • Each of these connection controllers has controllable switching means for opening the call connection path and releasing the respective multi-purpose station.
  • the system includes means for providing securit against use of any of the multi-purpose stations withi the attendant service complex by an unauthorized person.
  • the security-providing means includes means for controllin the switching means to open the call connection path an release the multi-purpose station.
  • This system furthe includes a second plurality of connection controllers. Each connection controller in this second plurality o connection controllers provides for cooperating with respective one of a plurality of originating stations i defining opposite ends of a call connection path.
  • Thi system further includes controllable inter-connectio means arranged between the first and second plurality o connection controllers, and includes means for controllin the inter-connection means such that incoming calls fro originating stations are extended to multi-purpose station that have been accepted as attendant stations.
  • the system does not place any constraint on where the multi-purpose stations are to be located.
  • the first plurality of connection controllers are connected to outgoing lines connected to the public switched network, whereby the multi-purpose stations can be located in homes.
  • the security-providing feature of the above-described system is particularly advantageous.
  • the security-providing means includes means for receiving a security clearance signal via the call connection path to a multi-purpose station.
  • the system has automatic dialing circuitry used to originate calls to multi-purpose stations.
  • the authorized person uses the station keypad to input a code defining the security clearance signal which is transmitted in DTMF (dual tone multi frequency) signal form to the system.
  • the preferred embodiment includes means for receiving the security clearance signal and converting it to a logic signal. The logic signal cooperates with a timing means in the system. If such logic signal is not defined within a predetermined timing interval, the system automatically releases the multi-purpose station so that it will not be accepted for use as an attendant station in the attendant service complex.
  • the system includes connec ⁇ tion controllers arranged into a first plurality and a second plurality, with the first plurality providing for cooperating with multi-purpose stations and with the second plurality cooperating with originating stations.
  • Controll- able inter-connection means are arranged between the first and second plurality of connection controllers.
  • the system for networking includes means for controlling the inter-connection means such that incoming calls from originating stations are extended to multi-purpose stations that have been networked for use as attendant stations with such controlling means including means for causing a plurality of incoming calls to be extended to the same multi-purpose station during an interval throughout which the multi-purpose station remains networked as an attendant station.
  • This highly advantageous feature significantly reduces overhead time. Particularly when incoming traffic is high, it is highly desirable to extend one incomin call after another to an attendant station with minimu interruption.
  • a relatively large amount of time is required t carry out a call connection operation.
  • An amount of tim in the order of 10 seconds or more is quite significant i this context, particularly when considered in light of high volume traffic where it is desirable to completely service the calls within an average time span in the order of a couple of minutes.
  • the presently preferred embodiment of this invention is operable in traffic volume dependent modes, and includes means operative during one such mode to release a multi-purpose station, then respond to. a request to establish a call connection path for an incoming call by originating a call to, and re-establishing the previously released multi ⁇ purpose station as an attendant station, and then substan ⁇ tially simultaneously complying with the request in extending the incoming call to the re-established attendant station.
  • Usage charges for both outgoing and incoming lines are reduced because of this feature.
  • the reduction in usage charges is a function of the average duration of a call compared to the average duration between calls.
  • usage charges for the expensive incoming lines such as "800" lines are reduced.
  • the system comprises computer processing means and call extending means.
  • the computer processing means includes means providing digitally coded commands to the call extending means and the call extending means includes means providing status data to the computer processing means so that the call extending means provides for extending incoming calls for answer and service by a group of service attendants in accord with an allocation of tasks determined by the digitally coded commands.
  • the system further includes display means and manual input means for use by a supervisor in interactively controlling the computer processing means.
  • the computer processing means is continually responsive to status data provided by the call extending means to generate on the display means a human-readable, continually updated status report by which the supervisor may be prompted to use the manual input means to enter supervisory commands.
  • the computer processing means is responsive to such manually entered supervisory commands to provide digitally coded commands to cause a reallocation of tasks.
  • FIG. 1 is an overall general functional block diagra of a system embodying preferred features of the inventio to provide for interactively supervising a co puter-con trolled sub-system to allocate tasks in a network fo servicing incoming calls;
  • FIG. 2 is an annotated map indicating a representa tive, geographically-dispersed configuration of a syste embodying a preferred feature of the invention whereby th public switched network is used to extend calls to multi purpose stations located in various parts of the Unite States;
  • FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating modular organization of electronic equipment incorporate in the preferred embodiment
  • FIG. 4 shows mechanical features of the modula damio
  • FIG. 5 is a block and schematic diagram of a bus controller incorporated in each of a series of rows of line connection sub-system rack mounted in a cabinet i the preferred embodiment;
  • FIG. 6 is a block and schematic diagram of circuitr included on a communications card used in the preferre embodiment
  • FIG.- 7 is a block and schematic diagram of circuitr for a supervisory station connection controller ' include on a monitor card used in the preferred embodiment
  • FIG. 8 is a block and schematic diagram of sequencin circuitry for the monitor card
  • FIG. 9 is a block and schematic diagram of command decoding circuitry for the monitor card
  • FIG. 10 is a block and schematic diagram of a circui arrangement that is replicated on an audio message car used in the preferred embodiment for generating and trans mitting messages
  • FIG. 11 is a block and schematic diagram of a circuit arrangement, similar in most respects to that of FIG. 10, and having additional circuitry used for digitizing an audio message and storing the digitized message in a RAM
  • FIG. 12 is a block and schematic diagram of command- decoding circuitry for the audio message card;
  • FIG. 13 is a block and schematic diagram of circuitry on the audio message card for providing status data
  • FIG. 14 is a general functional block diagram of a line card used in the present invention for each pair of incoming and outgoing telephone lines;
  • FIG. 15 is a block and schematic diagram of a portion of the line card, and shows circuitry for a pair of connec ⁇ tion controllers and an inter-connection switch;
  • FIG. 16 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows circuitry for implement ⁇ ing an audio interface incorporating audio selection swit ⁇ ches;
  • FIG. 17 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows circuitry for controlling audio selection switches
  • FIG. 18 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows sequencing circuitry for the connection controller for the outgoing line
  • FIG. 19 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows sequencing circuitry for the connection controller for the incoming- line;
  • FIG. 20 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows circuitry for DTMF number generation and in-band signal decoding;
  • FIG. 21 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows command-decoding cir ⁇ cuitry
  • FIG. 22 is a block and schematic diagram of another portion of the line card, and shows circuitry for providing status data
  • FIG. 23 shows a representative displayed status report for a supervisor at a supervisory console
  • FIG. 24 shows a top portion of a displayed status report, in which a pull-down menu appears as a result of the selection of "Change";
  • FIG. 25 is related to FIG. 24, and shows a pull-out menu resulting from a selection of "Call" from the pull ⁇ down menu;
  • FIG. 26 shows another representative displayed status report, in which a pull-down menu appears as a result of the selection of "Info"
  • FIG. 27 is related to FIG. 26, and shows a portion of the displayed status report in which the supervisor is being prompted to confirm a change in a phone number;
  • FIG. 28 shows a top portion of a displayed status report, in which a pull-down menu appears as a result of the selection of "Shifts";
  • FIG. 29 comprises FIGS. 29A and 29B, and is a general flow chart of overall operations involved in one of three processes carried out by a supervisory computer in the presently preferred embodiment, each of the three processes operating independently of one another; the process o FIG. 29 being for communications between the supervisor computer and a controlling computer incorporated in th presently preferred embodiment;
  • FIG. 30 is a general flow chart of overall operations involved in a second of the three processes carried out b the supervisory computer, the process of FIG. 30 being fo real-time timing and for automatic functions;
  • FIG. 31 is a general flow chart of overall operations involved in the third of the three processes carried ou by the supervisory computer, the process of FIG. 31 being for the user interface;
  • FIG. 32 comprises FIGS. 32A and 32B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations involved in the process of FIG. 31 with respect to processing a user command to send to the controlling computer;
  • FIG. 33 comprises FIGS. 33A and 33B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations involved in the process of FIG. 31 with respect to processing a system configuration command;
  • FIG. 34 comprises FIGS. 34A and 34B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations involved in the process of FIG. 31 with respect to processing shift and operator commands;
  • FIG. 35 is a general flow chart of overall operations involved in a main, outer loop carried out by the controlling computer;
  • FIG. 36 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 35, in particular operations for processing commands from the supervisory computer;
  • FIG. 37 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 36, in particular operations for servicing incoming telephone number commands;
  • FIG. 38 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 36, in particular operations for servicing line control commands;
  • FIG. 39 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 38, in particular operations for servicing a call-attendant command;
  • FIG. 40 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 38, in particular operations for servicing a disconnect-attendant command
  • FIG. 41 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 36, in particular operations for servicing monitor control commands;
  • FIG. 42 ⁇ omprises FIGS. 42A and 42B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 36, in particular operations for servicing a configuration command;
  • FIG. 43 is a more detailed flow ⁇ hart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 36, in particular operations for servicing help and emergency commands;
  • FIG. 44 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 43, in particular operations for transferring an in ⁇ oming caller;
  • FIG. 45 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 35, in particular operations for scanning for line card status changes;
  • FIG. 46 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 35, in particular operations for the processing of status changes;
  • FIG. 47 comprises FIGS. 47A and 47B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 46, in particular operations for processing of status changes;
  • FIG. 48 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 47A, in particular operations carried out upon determining that the outgoing line is back on hook;
  • FIG. 49 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 47A, in particular operations for processing of DTMF status changes;
  • FIG. 50 is a more detailed flow chart of ⁇ ertain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in parti ⁇ ular operations to servi ⁇ e a DTMF help request;
  • FIG. 51 is a more detailed flow chart of ⁇ ertain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in parti ⁇ ular operations to servi ⁇ e a DTMF ⁇ ancel request;
  • FIG. 52 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in particular operations to service a DTMF emergency request;
  • FIG. 53 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in particular operations carried out if an attendant refuses calls;
  • FIG. 54 is a more detailed flow chart of ⁇ ertain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in particular operations to service a DTMF activation or another call;
  • FIG. 55 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 49, in particular operations to service a DTMF response from an emergency attendant;
  • FIG. 56 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 47B, in particular operations carried out if an incoming caller has hung up;
  • FIG. 57 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 56, in particular operations involved when a transfer has- been attempted;
  • FIG. 58 is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 56, in particular operations involved other than when a transfer has been attempted;
  • FIG. 59 is a more detailed flow ' chart of certain operations generally referred to in FIG. 47B, in particular operations carried out if an attendant has hung up;
  • FIG. 60 comprises FIGS. 60A and 60B, and is a more detailed flow chart of certain operations generally ref rred to in FIG. 59, in parti ⁇ ular operations involved when a transfer has been attempted;
  • FIG. 61 ⁇ omprises FIGS. 61A and 61B, and is a more detailed flow ⁇ hart of ⁇ ertain operations generally referre to in FIG. 59, in particular operations involved othe than when a transfer has been attempted; and
  • FIG. 62 is a more detailed flow chart of certai operations generally referred to in FIG. 46, in particula operations for dumping an internal line database to th supervisory computer.
  • FIG. 1 shows, in general blo ⁇ k diagram form, major functionalelements ofaninteractively-supervised, computer- controlled system IA organized in accord with the presently preferred embodiment of this invention.
  • System IA provides for allocating tasks in a network for servicing incoming ⁇ alls arriving on a plurality of incoming telephone lines IB such as incoming line 1B-1.
  • System IA comprises a line conne ⁇ tion sub-system IC arranged between in ⁇ oming telephone lines IB and a plurality of outgoing telephone lines ID su ⁇ h as line 1D-1.
  • System IA further ⁇ omprises- a ⁇ omputer pro ⁇ essing sub-system IE whi ⁇ h digitally ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ates with line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub ⁇ system IC.
  • computer processing sub-system IE provides • digitally coded commands and receives status data.
  • line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system I ⁇ ooperates with ⁇ omputer pro ⁇ essing sub-system IE an operates under its control to provide a call extendin controller 2A (FIG. 2) capable of operating on an autonomou basis to extend incoming calls for answer and service by group of people working as service attendants in ac ⁇ or with an allo ⁇ ation of tasks determined by the digitall ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands.
  • System IA further includes a display means such a a video display terminal IF and manual input means such a a mouse IG for use by a person designated as a superviso in interactively controlling computer processing sub-syste IE.
  • a keyboard IH is part of video display terminal IF and may also be used by a supervisor wlio prefers to ente supervisory commands by keyboard entry rather than throug mouse IG.
  • a supervisory station II is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted via a monito phone line U to line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system IC to provid an audio link that the supervisor uses to ⁇ onfer with a in ⁇ o ing ⁇ aller, with one or more servi ⁇ e attendants, or wit an in ⁇ oming ⁇ aller and a servi ⁇ e attendant simultaneously.
  • supervisory station II is a ⁇ onventional tou ⁇ h-tone dial telephone instrument with a mi ⁇ rophone an speaker for optional hands-free talking and listening; on of numerous alternatives involves using a headset as super visory station II.
  • supervisory statio II, video display terminal IF, and mouse IG provide supervisory ⁇ onsole generally indi ⁇ ated as IK.
  • Computer pro ⁇ essing sub-system IE is ⁇ ontinuall responsive to status data provided by line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub system IC to generate on video display terminal IF a human readable, ⁇ ontinually updated status report by whi ⁇ h th supervisor may be prompted to use mouse IG to enter super visory ⁇ ommands.
  • Computer pro ⁇ sing sub-system IE i responsive to su ⁇ h manually entered supervisory ⁇ ommand to provide digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands to ⁇ ause a re-allo ⁇ atio of tasks, as explained more fully below with referen ⁇ e t more detailed drawings ⁇ on ⁇ erning the ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion and opera tion of system IA.
  • One of the advantages of the present invention is that the above-des ⁇ ribed major fun ⁇ tional elements and th manner in which they ⁇ ooperate are su ⁇ h that system IA ⁇ a be set up in any of a variety of ⁇ onfigurations to sui the needs of any parti ⁇ ular organization and fa ⁇ ilitat the handling of multiple in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls in an effi ⁇ ien way.
  • th fun ⁇ tions it performs divide in a general way into fun ⁇ tions relating to ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ating with and ⁇ ontrolling line ⁇ onnec- tion sub-system IC whereby in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls ⁇ an be autonomousl extended, and into functions relating to communi ⁇ ating wit and ⁇ ontrolling video display terminal IF whereby human readable status reports ⁇ an be displayed and the superviso ⁇ an intera ⁇ tively exer ⁇ ise human ⁇ ontrol over system func tions.
  • a suitable, and presently preferred, configuratio of ⁇ omputer pro ⁇ essing sub-system IE entails two physi ⁇ ally separate mi ⁇ ropro ⁇ essor- ⁇ ontrolled ⁇ omputers of the kind ⁇ ommonly des ⁇ ribed as personal ⁇ omputers, and a data ⁇ om- muni ⁇ ation link between the two personal computers.
  • one of these personal computers is referred to as a controll ⁇ ing ⁇ omputer, and the other as a supervisory ⁇ omputer.
  • the ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer operates under software ⁇ ontrol to ⁇ ooperate with line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system IC to define ⁇ all extending ⁇ ontroller 2A (FIG. 2) whi ⁇ h extends in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls to servi ⁇ e attendants on an autonomously operating basis.
  • ⁇ ontrol to ⁇ ooperate with line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system IC to define ⁇ all extending ⁇ ontroller 2A (FIG. 2)
  • ⁇ h extends in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls to servi ⁇ e attendants on an autonomously operating basis.
  • FIG. 2 With referen ⁇ e to FIG. 2, there will now be described a representative overall system configuration, set up for an organization having facilities in Dallas, Texas and an office in Chicago, Illinois.
  • FIG. 2 takes advantage of particularly preferred features of a system embodying the invention, whereby the ' incoming lines and the outgoing lines are conne ⁇ ted to the published swit ⁇ hed network. Be ⁇ ause the in ⁇ oming lines are ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the published swit ⁇ hed network, through a ⁇ entral offi ⁇ e 2B near the Dallas fa ⁇ ilities, a ⁇ aller ⁇ an originate an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all to the system from any arbitrary lo ⁇ ation, e.g., New York City as indi ⁇ ated in FIG.
  • one of the part-time staff of at-home service attendants can answer and service calls extended by system IA through the public switched network to Seattle, Washington, as indicated in FIG. 2. Because of the three- hour difference between the time zones for the East Coast and the West Coast, it often will be desirable to take this time difference into ac ⁇ ount in forming a shift of at-home servi ⁇ e attendants. Thus, when a high volume of in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls are likely to be pla ⁇ ed from lo ⁇ ations in the East Coast in the early morning there, say between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., it is more desirable for the staff of at-home servi ⁇ e attendants to be sele ⁇ ted from residents along the East Coast.
  • modems are provided to ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ate data over the republic ⁇ swit ⁇ hed network between call extending controller 2A located in Dallas and supervisory console IK located in Chicago. Further with respect to overall operation of system
  • IA it is highly desirable for it to provide features making efficient use of the investment made in the system and in leasing telephone lines, and to minimize telephone usage charges, both with respe ⁇ t to usage ⁇ harges for the in ⁇ oming lines that are toll free only to the originating parties, and with respe ⁇ t to usage ⁇ harges for the outgoing lines.
  • System IA has su ⁇ h preferred auto ati ⁇ dialing features as dis- ⁇ losed in more detail below, and has further novel and advantageous features relating to a ⁇ epting multi-purpose stations into the network or complex of attendant service stations, and relating to performing this function in a highly automated way.
  • system IA provides automatic message transmitting features, whereby service attendants upon answering the call automatically pla ⁇ ed by the system are greeted with a pre-re ⁇ orded message, alerting them that the ⁇ all being answered is one from the system, and thereby prompting the entry of a ⁇ ode defining a se ⁇ urity ⁇ learan ⁇ e signal whi ⁇ h is transmitted in DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequen ⁇ y) signal form to system IA.
  • DTMF Dual Tone Multi Frequen ⁇ y
  • System IA provides for transmitting numerous other messages under various ⁇ ircumstan ⁇ es, su ⁇ h as at the end of a shift; for transmitting musi ⁇ , for example, while a servi ⁇ e attendant is waiting to have an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all extended; and for transmitting a prompt tone to the servi ⁇ e attendant just before an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all is to be extended.
  • FIG. 3 system IA will now be des ⁇ ribed at a more detailed blo ⁇ k diagram level.
  • various matters con ⁇ erning the ⁇ oristru ⁇ tion of this spe ⁇ ifi ⁇ embodimen are referen ⁇ ed in FIG. 3 in general terms.
  • One su ⁇ h matte ⁇ on ⁇ erns a matrix of line ⁇ ards referen ⁇ ed in FIG. 3 i general terms as line ⁇ ard 3A(0,1) through line ⁇ ard 3A(M,N) , where M stands for row and N stands for ⁇ olumn.
  • a spe ⁇ ifi ⁇ embodiment parti ⁇ ularly suitable for handling a high volume of in ⁇ oming traffi ⁇ , there are 105 line ⁇ ards arranged in seven rows (0..6) and fifteen ⁇ olumns (1..15).
  • the line ⁇ ards form part of line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub ⁇ system IC that is appropriately ⁇ hara ⁇ terized as a hardware sub-system.
  • sub-system IC in ⁇ ludes a separate row bus ⁇ orresponding to ea ⁇ h row of line ⁇ ards, in ⁇ luding row (0) bus, row (1) bus, and row (M) bus.
  • Sub-system IC further in ⁇ ludes a separate bus ⁇ ontroller ⁇ orresponding to ea ⁇ h row bus, in ⁇ luding bus ⁇ ontroller (0) , bus ⁇ ontroller (1) , and bus ⁇ ontroller (M) .
  • Sub-system IC further includes a system bus, and a plurality of system cards.
  • the specifi ⁇ embodiment has the ⁇ apa ⁇ ity to re ⁇ eive up to seven different system ⁇ ards, in ⁇ luding su ⁇ h system ⁇ ards as may be provided in future expansion to provide special functions that may be desired.
  • One of the system cards that is used in this specifi ⁇ embodiment is a SYS. CARD 0, which is also referred to as ⁇ om uni ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B.
  • FIG. 3 also shows a ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C which communi ⁇ ates with line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system IC through ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B.
  • Communi ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B has an asyn- ⁇ hronous ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ations interfa ⁇ e for ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ating with ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • FIG. 3 also shows supervisory ⁇ onsole IK as ⁇ omprising a remote supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D and supervisory station II.
  • a modem phone line 3E ⁇ on- ne ⁇ ts remote supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • Controlling ⁇ omputer 3C has an internal modem whi ⁇ h is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted via modem phone line 3E to a remote modem within remote supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D.
  • SYS. CARD 1 also referred to as monitor card 3F
  • monitor card 3F Another one of the system ⁇ ards, viz, SYS. CARD 2
  • audio message ⁇ ard 3G provides ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry used in automati ⁇ message transmitting features of system IA.
  • Ea ⁇ h line ⁇ ard has an in ⁇ oming line interfa ⁇ e, an outgoing line interfa ⁇ e, and a row bus interfa ⁇ e.
  • Line ⁇ ard 3A(0,1) has its in ⁇ oming line interfa ⁇ e ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to in ⁇ oming line 1B-1, and has its outgoing line interfa ⁇ e ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to outgoing line 1D-1.
  • any line card can be referred to as line card 3A(i,j) , and in ac ⁇ ord with su ⁇ h general terminology, su ⁇ h line ⁇ ard 3A(i,j) has its in ⁇ oming line interfa ⁇ e ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to in ⁇ oming line 1B- [(i*15)+j] and its outgoing line interfa ⁇ e ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to outgoing line lD-[(i*15)+j] .
  • Ea ⁇ h of the line ⁇ ards along a row has its row bus interfa ⁇ e ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the parti ⁇ ular row bus of row bus (0) through row bus (M) that ⁇ orresponds to that row. All the bus ⁇ ontrollers and all the system ⁇ ards ⁇ onne ⁇ t directly to the system bus.
  • FIG. 4 shows the line cards in place within a cabi ⁇ net 4A that is a standard size cabinet for housing- rack- mounted printed circuit boards.
  • cabinet 4A there are seven backplane or motherboards 4B-0 through 4B-M, each extending a ⁇ ross the width of ⁇ abinet 4A.
  • each line ⁇ ard has an edge ⁇ onnector for conne ⁇ tion to a mating, verti ⁇ ally oriented ⁇ onne ⁇ tor on su ⁇ h a motherboard.
  • the fifteen line cards of each row are horizontally spa ⁇ ed apart within ⁇ abinet 4A.
  • Ea ⁇ h motherboard has, in addition to the fifteen ⁇ onne ⁇ tors for a row of line cards, another conne ⁇ tor for a system ⁇ ard. As indi ⁇ ated above, ea ⁇ h system ⁇ ard ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ⁇ ates with the system bus. Ea ⁇ h motherboard also supports ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry (FIG. 5) for implementing the fun ⁇ tions of th bus ⁇ ontroller for the ⁇ orresponding row.
  • This representative human-readable status report has a format suitable for presentation on a standard 25-line monochrome display, but preferably is displayed on a color display so that easily remembered color codes can fa ⁇ ilitate prompting of the supervisor.
  • the top line of the displayed status report is referred to herein as a main menu sele ⁇ tion line.
  • Any item on the main menu selection line ⁇ an be sele ⁇ ted by the supervisor by moving mouse IG so as to position a mouse ⁇ ursor to the desired item and ⁇ li ⁇ king a button on the mouse.
  • Some of the main menu items have asso ⁇ iated sub-menus (not shown in FIG. 23) , ea ⁇ h of whi ⁇ h presents sub-sele ⁇ tions in a pull-down menu upon selection of a main menu item. Further, some sub-selections on certain pull-down menus have associated options that are presented as a pull-out menu as explained more fully below.
  • the main menu items appearing on the representative displayed status report of FIG. 23 are "Change,” "Info,” “Shifts,” “Symbols,” “Numbers,” and "Monitor.”
  • This global information includes the current date and time and information con ⁇ erning a "shift”; i.e. , informa ⁇ tion identifying, as a group, the people who are serving as servi ⁇ e attendants, and statisti ⁇ al information ("Total ⁇ alls" and "Total Drops") concerning the performance of the system.
  • Beneath the global information area is a legend line showing six items, viz, "Dialing,” “Not Ready,” “Ready,” “WATS Call,” “Made Busy,” and “Forward.” Each of these items is displayed with a color- ⁇ oded box to aid the super- visor in interpreting ⁇ olor ⁇ oding of the displayed status report.
  • Each of the elements in the matrix display area comprises a box and an optional line card number.
  • Ea ⁇ h box provides status information ⁇ on ⁇ erning a ⁇ orresponding line ⁇ ard; preferably this is provided by ⁇ olor ⁇ oding the boxes.
  • ea ⁇ h box is shaded for the ⁇ olor blue, this being the ⁇ olor used to indi ⁇ ate a line ⁇ ard ⁇ ondition in whi ⁇ h there is no attendant on line, and software has made the line ⁇ ard idle by "busying" its in ⁇ oming line.
  • Other ⁇ olors, not shown in FIG. 23, are: bright red to indicate that the attendant is not ready to service an incoming call; yellow to indicate that the attendant is waiting for an incoming call; green to indicate that the attendant is servicing an incoming call; and grey to indicate that, during a parti ⁇ ular mode, referred to hereafter as ⁇ all forward mode, the attendant is not on line.
  • One box at a time is surrounded by a frame that serves as a display pointer to a line ⁇ ard.
  • the display pointer happens to be .framing the box numbered "77.”
  • the supervisor ⁇ an issue supervisory ⁇ ommands targeted to affe ⁇ t the line ⁇ ard that has a line ⁇ ard ID of "77.”
  • the supervisor wants to issue super ⁇ visory ⁇ ommands targeted to affe ⁇ t a different line ⁇ ard, the supervisor ⁇ an move mouse IG to position the mouse cursor at the desired box, then ⁇ li ⁇ k the mouse button, and the display pointer will jump to the sele ⁇ ted box.
  • the supervisor desires to erase the line ⁇ ard I numbers that appear in this displayed report, the superviso ⁇ an position the mouse ⁇ ursor to the "Numbers" item on th main menu sele ⁇ tion line, then ⁇ li ⁇ k the mouse ⁇ urso button, and the line ⁇ ard ID numbers will be erased.
  • the "Numbers" item on the main menu selection line constitutes a toggle-type selection; i.e., suc ⁇ essive sele ⁇ tions of this item toggles the numbers on and off.
  • the supervisor desires to be prompted by symbols instead of ⁇ olor ⁇ oding (as when a mono ⁇ hrome display is being used) , the supervisor ⁇ an position the mouse cursor to the "Symbols" item on the main menu selection line, then cli ⁇ k the mouse button, and status-representing symbols will repla ⁇ e the ⁇ olor- ⁇ oded boxes in the matrix and in the legend line.
  • the "Symbols” item is a toggle.
  • Another toggle item is the "Monitor” item. Su ⁇ cessive selections of this item toggle between an incoming line monitor and an outgoing line monitor.
  • FIGS. 5 and 6 there will now be described ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry involved in ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ating digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands and status data, and audio, between ⁇ ontroll ⁇ ing ⁇ omputer 3C and sub-system IC.
  • FIG. 5 shows circuitry for implementing a bus controller; as stated above, ea ⁇ h motherboard has su ⁇ h a bus ⁇ ontroller.
  • FIG. 6 shows cir- ⁇ uitry for implementing ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B.
  • Ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller has essentially the same ⁇ onstruc- tion, and, for generality of reference, cir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 5 is identified therein as "BUS CONTROLLER (I)." This circuitry is conne ⁇ ted between the system bus and row bus (I.) .
  • the system bus has 42 parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors. Six of these parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors are referred to as an Audio Bus whi ⁇ h provides for propagating signals identified as Message 1, Message 2, Message 3, Message 4, Music, and Monitor Audio. The purposes of these signals have been generally des ⁇ ribed above as part of the general overview of the system and various features it provides in ⁇ luding automatic message transmission features, etc.
  • Each row bus has six ⁇ orresponding parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors, and ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller dire ⁇ tly ⁇ onne ⁇ ts together the Audio Bus portion of the system bus and the Audio Bus portion of the row bus. This is indi ⁇ ated in FIG. 5 by the line labelled "Audio Bus" that extends between the lines labelled "SYSTEM BUS" and
  • ROW BUS (I) The number of parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors in the Audio Bus is indi ⁇ ated in FIG. 5 by a slash and the number 6 next to the slash. This symbology of a slash and an adja ⁇ nt number is used throughout the drawings to indi ⁇ ate the number of parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors that are represented as a single line.
  • Eight other parallel ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors of the system bus provide for propagating a Command Word.
  • a fun ⁇ tional blo ⁇ k 5A is used to indi ⁇ ate that eight parallel S ⁇ hmitt trigger drivers are in ⁇ luded in ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller for ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ating each such Command Word to the ⁇ orresponding row bus.
  • a tri-state bus driver 5B is in ⁇ luded in each bus controller for sele ⁇ tively ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ating a Status Word from the corresponding row bus to the system bus.
  • Row Sele ⁇ t Bus whi ⁇ h provides fo propagating a one-out-of-eight sele ⁇ tion signal.
  • ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller has a row addres sele ⁇ tor 5C ⁇ omprising a group of terminal pairs wit whi ⁇ h a jumper 5D is used to ⁇ onfigure a row address.
  • a jumper 5D is used to ⁇ onfigure a row address.
  • ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors of the system bus provide for propagating a Card Sele ⁇ t Nibble.
  • a de ⁇ oder 5E is in ⁇ luded in ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller for de ⁇ oding the Card Sele ⁇ t Nibble.
  • De ⁇ oder 5E has an enable input ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the output of an AND gate 5F. If the output of AND gate 5F is true, and a Card Sele ⁇ t Nibble is applied to de ⁇ oder 5E, then one of sixteen Card Sele ⁇ t signals will be true.
  • a Card Sele ⁇ t 0 signal sele ⁇ ts a system ⁇ ard within a row. Ea ⁇ h of the remaining fifteen su ⁇ h ⁇ ard sele ⁇ t signals sele ⁇ ts a line ⁇ ard within a row.
  • One other ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor of the system bus provides for propagating a Row Bus Disable Flag produ ⁇ ed by a retrig- gerable one-shot 5G in response to manual a ⁇ tuation of a row servi ⁇ e swit ⁇ h 5H.
  • Ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller has a S ⁇ hmitt trigger driver 51 for propagating this ⁇ lo ⁇ k signal to the ⁇ orresponding ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor of the row bus.
  • the Prompt Tone signal is used for the purpose, generally des ⁇ ribed within the general overview of the system, of prompting a servi ⁇ e attendant to be prepared to servi ⁇ e an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all; the Prompt Tone signal is automati ⁇ ally transmitted over an outgoing line just before an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all is extended for answer and servi ⁇ e by the servi ⁇ e attendant.
  • the Prompt Tone signal has a frequen ⁇ y of 400 Hz.
  • Ea ⁇ h bus ⁇ ontroller has a S ⁇ hmitt trigger driver 5J for propagat ⁇ ing this Prompt Tone signal to the ⁇ orresponding conductor of the row bus.
  • One other condu ⁇ tor of the system bus provides for propagating a Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe signal.
  • Each bus controller has a Schmitt trigger driver 5K for propagat- ing this strobe signal to a ⁇ orresponding ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor of the row bus.
  • ⁇ ommunications card 3B includes a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) 6A having an ⁇ r S In" input for receiving serial input data (from controlling computer 3C) and having an "S Out” output for transmitting serial output data (to controlling computer 3C) .
  • a baud rate generator 6B and a ⁇ rystal 6C tuned to 1.8432 MHz ⁇ coperate to provide an input ⁇ ontrol signal to UART 6A to set its baud rate.
  • UART 6A performs a serial-to-parallel ⁇ onversion fun ⁇ tion su ⁇ h that ea ⁇ h group of eight su ⁇ essive bits of a byte are ⁇ onverted to parallel format and applied to an eight- ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor signal path 6A-0.
  • UART 6A performs a parallel-to-serial ⁇ onversion function su ⁇ h that ea ⁇ h eight-bit Status Word it re ⁇ eives in parallel from the system bus via a signal path 6A-I is ⁇ onverted to serial form for transmission to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • Communi ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B further in ⁇ ludes an 8-bit address lat ⁇ h 6D, an 8-bit ⁇ o mand word latch 6E, and a 3 x 8 decoder 6F that are arranged to respond to the parallel output of UART 6A; and further includes a divider 6G tha performs a frequency dividing function in response to a output of generator 6B to produce the Prompt Tone at approx imately 400 Hz; and further includes a crystal- ⁇ ontrolle ⁇ lo ⁇ k sour ⁇ e 6H for producing the 3.579 MHz Clock. Th output of de ⁇ oder 6F is ⁇ onnected to the row select bu condu ⁇ tors of the system bus.
  • lat ⁇ h 6D The four least signifi ⁇ an bit positions of lat ⁇ h 6D provide the Card Sele ⁇ t Nibbl to the system bus. ""- The 8-bit output of lat ⁇ h 6E provide the Command Word to the system bus. The Prompt Tone and the 3.579 Mhz Clock are applied to the system bus.
  • the digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands that ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues to sub-system IC are re ⁇ eived in serial form by UART 6A.
  • These digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands in ⁇ lude ⁇ ommands having a two-byte format, one byte defining a ⁇ ard address and another byte defining a Command Word.
  • the most sig ⁇ nificant nibble of the addressing byte is, after it is lat ⁇ hed within part of address lat ⁇ h 6D, decoded by decoder 6F so that only a selected condu ⁇ tor of the eight- ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor row sele ⁇ t bus propagates a true signal whereas the remain ⁇ ing ⁇ ondu ⁇ tors propagate a false signal.
  • decoder 6F there are seven rows in this embodiment, three addressing bits suffi ⁇ e to identify a row.
  • the most signifi ⁇ ant bit of a group of eight bits transmitted from ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C may be ⁇ oded to distinguish an address from a Command Word.
  • Row Sele ⁇ t 0 (FIG. 5) will be true.
  • jumper 5D ⁇ onne ⁇ ts a terminal pair of row address sele ⁇ tor 5C su ⁇ h that the true ⁇ ondition of Row Sele ⁇ t 0 ⁇ auses the output of AND gate 5F to be ⁇ o e true (if the row has not been disabled for servi ⁇ e via a ⁇ tuation of row servi ⁇ e swit ⁇ h 5H) .
  • decoder 5E is enabled to decode the Card Select Nibble provided by part of latch 6D (FIG. 6) .
  • the Card Select Nibble will cause de ⁇ oder 5E to for ⁇ e the Card Sele ⁇ t 1 signal to be true, and to for ⁇ e the Card Sele ⁇ t 0 signal and ea ⁇ h of Card Sele ⁇ t 2 through Card Sele ⁇ t 15 signals to be false.
  • the digitally coded status data that controlling computer 3C receives from line conne ⁇ tion sub-system IC are transmitted in serial form by UART 6A. The signal flow in this dire ⁇ tion pro ⁇ eeds from a row bus to a tri- state bus driver 5B within the ⁇ orresponding bus ⁇ ontroller.
  • the output of AND gate 5F is applied to an enable input of tri-state bus driver 5B to perform the same kind of sele ⁇ tion fun ⁇ tion as has been des ⁇ ribed above, whereby only one row bus at a time is sele ⁇ ted to provide a Status Word to the system bus.
  • UART 6A on ⁇ ommuni ⁇ ations ⁇ ard 3B serializes the Status Word it re ⁇ eives from the system bus, and trans ⁇ mits it as its serial data output to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • Monitor ⁇ ard 3F defines, among other things, th interfa ⁇ e between line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion sub-system IC and super ⁇ visory station II; i.e., monitor phone line 1J has one of its ends ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to monitor ⁇ ard 3F as shown in FIG. 7, and has its opposite end ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to supervisory station II.
  • Monitor card 3F includes command-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry (shown in FIG. 9) for producing various logi ⁇ signals, some of whi ⁇ h ⁇ ause logic and sequencing ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry o monitor ⁇ ard (shown in FIG. 8) to produ ⁇ e other logi signals in a predetermined se uen ⁇ e.
  • i includes ' three decoders 9A, 9B, and 9C, and a Schmit trigger driver 9D.
  • the input to driver 9D is a Card Sele ⁇ signal re ⁇ eived from row bus (1) .
  • monitor ⁇ ard 3F o ⁇ upies the system slot of row 1 of sub-system IC.
  • cir ⁇ uit 9D enables de ⁇ oders 9A, 9B, and 9C to produ ⁇ e a valid de ⁇ oded output in response to the Command Word being propagated to monitor ⁇ ard 3F fro ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C via the system bus, S ⁇ hmitt trigge drivers 5A (FIG. 5) , and row bus (1) .
  • the circuitry depicted in FIG. 9 also includes a
  • Cir ⁇ uit 9E provides for buffering the 3.579 MHz ⁇ lo ⁇ k.
  • Cir ⁇ uit 9F provides for buffering a Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe. As shown in FIG.
  • ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry 7 of the supervisory station ⁇ onne ⁇ tion ⁇ ontroller in ⁇ ludes an in ⁇ omingtransient- surge suppressor 7A conne ⁇ ted a ⁇ ross monitor phone line LT, Tip and Ring lines, and a diode bridge 7B ⁇ onne ⁇ ted between monitor phone line 1J and the Tip and Ring lines to ensure ⁇ orre ⁇ t polarity for DC potential of the Tip line relative to the Ring line.
  • Cir ⁇ uitry 7 further in ⁇ ludes a transformer 7C having a ⁇ apa ⁇ itor 7D ⁇ onne ⁇ ted in parallel with its primary winding, a zener diode 7E, a hook swit ⁇ h simulating ⁇ on- trollable swit ⁇ h 7F, whi ⁇ h is a relay. While swit ⁇ h 7F is ⁇ losed and DC loop ⁇ urrent flows through it, such DC loop ⁇ urrent flows from the Tip line, through the primary winding of transformer 7C, through zener diode 7E, through the ⁇ losed swit ⁇ h 7F, to the Ring line. While su ⁇ h loop ⁇ urrent flows, a voltage is developed across zener diode 7E.
  • loop- ⁇ urrent dete ⁇ ting ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 7G is connected to be respon ⁇ sive to the voltage developed across zener diode 7E, and includes a switching transistor that is on only while loop current is flowing.
  • Circuitry7 further in ⁇ ludes a ground-start simulating ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ h 7H that, like hook swit ⁇ h simulating ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ h 7F, is a relay.
  • Cir ⁇ uitry 7 further provides for sensing and dete ⁇ ting a ringing signal.
  • a ringing-signal dete ⁇ ting ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 71 has its input AC ⁇ oupled a ⁇ ross the Tip and Ring lines, and has a swit ⁇ hing transistor that is on if a ringing signal is present.
  • the ⁇ ontrollable ' swit ⁇ hes of ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry 7 operate in a ⁇ ord with logi ⁇ signals, the values of whi ⁇ h are determined by ⁇ ommands that are issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • One of the logi ⁇ signals produ ⁇ ed by the sequen ⁇ ing ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry depi ⁇ ted in FIG. 8 is identified in FIG. 8 as "CTL 90— Line Conne ⁇ t Control.”
  • This CTL 90 signal is applied as the control input to hook switch simulating switch 7F shown in FIG. 7, as indicated by the reference to "CTL 90 — Line Connect Control" adjacent the line leading to switch 7F.
  • Control applies to a signal that has either a true value to es- tablish a ⁇ ontrol ⁇ ondition or a false value to establish an opposite ⁇ ontrol ⁇ ondition.
  • Strobe applies to a signal having a pulse format for initiating or terminat- ing an operation.
  • Status Bit applies to a signal ⁇ ontaining information to be provided to controlling computer 3C is a part of a group defining a Status Word. Further with respe ⁇ t to logi ⁇ signal notation, the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry shown throughout the drawings uses "positive logi ⁇ ⁇ ontrol.” For example, a true logi ⁇ level for the CTL 90 ⁇ ontrol signal ⁇ auses the swit ⁇ h it ⁇ ontrols, viz, swit ⁇ h 7F, to close; otherwise the switch 7F is open. In addition to the Line Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CT).
  • CT Line Conne ⁇ t Control signal
  • a Ground Line Control signal (CTL 86) is produ ⁇ ed by the sequencing cir ⁇ uitry depicted in FIG. and used to control cir ⁇ uitry 7. More parti ⁇ ularly, thi CTL 86 signal is used to ⁇ ontrol ground start simulatin swit ⁇ h 7H.
  • a CK signal (CTL 80) is a buffered ⁇ lo ⁇ k signa provided by driver 9E (FIG. 9) , and is applied as a trigge input to each of two retriggerable one-shots 7J and 7K.
  • One-shot 7J responds to loop-current detecting cir ⁇ uit 7 to produ ⁇ e a Line Current status Bit signal (STA 8) .
  • One shot 7K responds to ringing-signal dete ⁇ ting ⁇ ircuit 71 t produce a Ring Detect Status signal (STA 9) .
  • the se ⁇ ondary winding of transformer 7C is ⁇ onne ⁇ te to a ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ h 7L that defines a ⁇ ontrollabl inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tion means arranged between the ⁇ onnectio controller circuitry 7 and a condu ⁇ tor of the Audio Bu used for propagating a Monitor Audio Signal (AUD 4) .
  • Controllable swit ⁇ h 7L is a field effe ⁇ t transistor (FET) a suitable alternative is a relay.
  • FET field effe ⁇ t transistor
  • Controllable swit ⁇ h 7 is ⁇ losed while an Audio Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 91) is true; otherwise it is open.
  • the logic level of th Audio Connect Control signal is determined by cir ⁇ uitr depi ⁇ ted in FIG. 8 in a ⁇ ord with signals produ ⁇ ed by th ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 9.
  • a ⁇ ir ⁇ uit node is defined where ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ 7L and the se ⁇ ondary winding of transformer 7C are inter ⁇ on ne ⁇ ted.
  • Four other ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ hes 7M, 7N, 70, an 7P are also ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to that circuit node. In operatio of system IA, no more than one of these four switches i closed at any one time.
  • swit ⁇ h 7M is ⁇ losed and the output of a DTMF generator 7Q is ⁇ oupled throug swit ⁇ h 7M so as to dial a telephone number at whi ⁇ h th remote supervisor ⁇ an be rea ⁇ hed.
  • Swit ⁇ hes 7N, 70, and 7P provide swit ⁇ hing ⁇ ontrol for propagating, respe ⁇ tively, Message 1 Audio (AUD 6) ,
  • a DTMF re ⁇ eiver 7R has its input ⁇ apa ⁇ itively con- ne ⁇ ted to the above-mentioned node to whi ⁇ h the foregoing numerous swit ⁇ hes are ⁇ onne ⁇ ted; receiver 7R provides for detection of in-band signals used in the operation of system IA.
  • a decoder 7S responds to the parallel output signal of re ⁇ eiver 7R to produ ⁇ e eight different strobe signals that are identified in FIG. 7.
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry depi ⁇ ted in FIG. 7 further in ⁇ ludes ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry for defining the information ⁇ ontent of a Status
  • de ⁇ oder 9C forces the Status A Control signal (CTL 78) to be true.
  • multiplexer 7T propagates signals from its "A" data inputs to Bits 4-7 of the Status Word. Its "A" inputs in ⁇ lude Ground Return, i.e., a false logi ⁇ value; the Audio Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 91) ; an On-Hook Timer Status Bit signal (STA 10) ; and the Line Current Status Bit signal (STA 8) .
  • de ⁇ oder 9C When ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommand to obtain Status B data from monitor ⁇ ard 3F, de ⁇ oder 9C for ⁇ es the Status B Control signal (CTL 77) to be true.
  • multiplexer 7T propagates signals from its "B" data inputs to Bits 4-7 of the Status Word. Its "B" inputs include Ground Return; the Line Connect Control signal (CTL 90) ; and the Ring Detect Status signal (STA 9) .
  • One of the "B" inputs is a spare.
  • latch 7U has an enable input that responds to the Status A Control signal (CTL 78) .
  • CTL 78 Status A Control signal
  • de ⁇ oder 9C for ⁇ es the Status A Control signal (CTL 78) to be true.
  • lat ⁇ h 7U propagates signals from its data inputs to Bits 0-3 of the Status Word. Its data inputs are the four parallel output signals of re ⁇ eiver 7R, i.e., the CTL 82, CTL 83, CTL 84, and CTL 85 signals.
  • Lat ⁇ h 7U ⁇ opies these signals when ⁇ ever receiver 7R forces a DTMF Data Valid Control signal (CTL 81) to become true.
  • the circuitry depicted therein is generally related to sequencing fun ⁇ tions, a representative example of whi ⁇ h has been generally des ⁇ ribed above ⁇ on ⁇ erning the sequen ⁇ e of operations involved in going off-hook and dialing the supervisor.
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 8 in ⁇ ludes a busy line flip flop 8A that, like other flip flops and other bit-storing devi ⁇ es des ⁇ ribed below, has a Q output and a Q output. In the ⁇ ase of flip flop 8A, only the Q output is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to other ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry.
  • flip flop 8A While flip flop 8A is in its set state, its Q output produ ⁇ es a true logi ⁇ level signal, and its Q output produ ⁇ es a false logi ⁇ level signal. While in its reset state, its Q output is false and its Q output is true.
  • Flip flop 8A is set by a Busy Line Control signal (CTL 60) , and is reset by an Un-Busy Line Control signal (CTL 59) .
  • CTL 60 Busy Line Control signal
  • CTL 59 Un-Busy Line Control signal
  • the Q output of flip flop 8A is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to one input of a two-input OR gate 8B, the output of whi ⁇ h produ ⁇ es the Ground Line Control signal (CTL 86) for ⁇ on ⁇ trolling ground start simulating swit ⁇ h 7H (FIG. 7) .
  • CTL 86 Ground Line Control signal
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 8 further in ⁇ ludes a gate 8C that produ ⁇ es a signal to set a phone line flip flop 8D if an Off-Hook And Dial Control signal (CTL 57) is true and an On-Hook Timer Status Bit signal (STA 10) is false.
  • the Off-Hook And Dial Control signal is produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oder 9A (FIG. 9) in response to digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • the On-Hook Timer Status Bit signal is produ ⁇ ed by an on-hook timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8E.
  • Phone line flip flop 8D is reset when the output of an OR gate 8F is true; this o ⁇ urs if either an On-Hook Control signal (CTL 58) or an A ⁇ tivate Timer End Strobe signal (STB 23) be ⁇ omes true.
  • the On-Hook Control signal is produ ⁇ ed by the decoder 9A - (FIG. 9) in response to digitally coded ⁇ ommands issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • the A ⁇ tivate Timer End Strobe signal is produ ⁇ ed by a timer-end one- shot ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8G.
  • Fig. 8 further in ⁇ ludes a dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8H that has a trigger input and a clear input.
  • disconne ⁇ t timer 8H initiates a sequen ⁇ e of operations involved in playing amessage (messag 2) to the supervisor and then terminating the ⁇ all ⁇ onne ⁇ tio path between supervisory station II and monitor ⁇ ard 3F.
  • Message 2 in this embodiment has a duration of approximatel ten se ⁇ onds, and is ⁇ y ⁇ li ⁇ ally generated.
  • disconne ⁇ timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8H provides a timing interval having a maximu duration of twi ⁇ e the length of the message, i.e., twent se ⁇ onds.
  • the trigger input of dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8H i ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the Q output of flip flop 8D.
  • a false-to true transition in the signal produced by the Q output o flip flop 8D triggers dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8H to star to define its timing interval. During this timing interval the Q output of dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t timer 8H is true.
  • OR gate 81 This for ⁇ es the output signal of an OR gate 81 to remain true; it ha been true be ⁇ ause the signal produ ⁇ ed by the Q output o flip flop 8D had been true until dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t timer 8H was triggered.
  • the output signal of OR gate 81 is the Lin Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 90) that ⁇ ontrols hook-switc simulating switch 7F (Fig. 7) .
  • CTL 90 Lin Conne ⁇ t Control signal
  • hook switch 7F con ⁇ tinues to simulate an off-hook condition while the timin interval defined by disconne ⁇ t timer 8H is in progress.
  • a message 2 flip flop 8 is enabled to respond to the Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe signal (STB 13) whi ⁇ h is applied to its toggle input.
  • STB 13 Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe signal
  • message 2 flip flop 8J ⁇ hanges state.
  • the output signa it produ ⁇ es, a Message 2 Control signal (CTL 89) , ⁇ ontrol swit ⁇ h 70 (FIG.
  • dial tone one-shot 8K The output of dial tone one-shot 8K is conne ⁇ ted to one of the inputs of OR gate 8B.
  • CTL 86 Ground Line Control signal
  • dial tone one-shot defines a 0.5 se ⁇ ond pulse for this purpose.
  • Delay one-shot 8L is triggered by the true-to-false transition in the pulse signal produ ⁇ ed by dial tone one- shot 8K and defines a delay period suffi ⁇ iently long to allow for the sour ⁇ e of dial tone to rea ⁇ t and to provide the dial tone. Suitably, this delay period is one se ⁇ ond.
  • the true-to-false transition in the signal produ ⁇ ed by delay one-shot 8L triggers dial one-shot 8M to for ⁇ e a DTMF Dial Control signal (CTL 87) to be ⁇ o e true.
  • This CTL 87 signal is ⁇ oupled through diodes to R4 and C_ inputs of DTMF generator 7Q.
  • This CTL 87 signal also controls swit ⁇ h 7M (FIG. 7) so that the automati ⁇ telephone number dialing output signal of DTMF generator 7Q is gated throughby the supervisory station ⁇ onne ⁇ tion ⁇ ontroller cir ⁇ cuitry 7.
  • the timing interval defined by dial one-shot 8M is two seconds. This is long enough for as many as twenty-one digits to be produced as the telephon number to be dialled to reach supervisory station II.
  • the true-to-false transition in the CTL 87 signal triggers a ⁇ tivate timer ⁇ ircuit 8N to start defining a verification timing interval, preferably having a maximum duration of 30 seconds.
  • the Q output of a ⁇ tivate timer 8N produ ⁇ es a Message 1 Control signal (CTL 88) .
  • This CTL 88 signal ⁇ ontrols swit ⁇ h 7N (FIG. 7) to provide for sele ⁇ tively gating Message 1 Audio (AUD 6) for transmission by the system.
  • AUD 6 Message 1 Audio
  • Activate timer cir ⁇ uit 8N has a ⁇ lear input that responds to a DTMF Strobe 0 Key Strobe Signal (STB 20) .
  • This strobe signal is produced by decoder 7S (FIG. 7) in response to detection of an in-band signal by DTMF receiver 7R; this strobe signal is normally false, and defines a true pulse if a se ⁇ urity- ⁇ learance signal is provided.
  • This strobe signal is also applied to a disable input of an activate abort one-shot 80 which has its trigger input conne ⁇ ted to the Q output of a ⁇ tivate timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8N and whi ⁇ h produ ⁇ es a System Initialize Strobe signal (STB 30) .
  • the STB 20 signal ⁇ lears timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8N and at the same time disables one-shot 80 from being triggered. If timer ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 8N ⁇ ompletes timing out the maximum time it allots, then the true-to-false transition in the signal it provides on its Q output triggers one-shot 80, thereby ⁇ ausing a true pulse to be defined in the STB 30 signal.
  • the o ⁇ urren ⁇ e of a true pulse in the STB 30 signal in effe ⁇ t, aborts this sequen ⁇ e of events involved in pla ⁇ ing a ⁇ all to a super ⁇ visor. It does so by resetting all timers, one-shots, and flip flops on monitor ⁇ ard 3F.
  • This same resetting function is subject to software control. That is, controlling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand for monitor ⁇ ard 3F to perform this resetting function; this command causes decoder 9A
  • the circuitry of FIG. 8 further includes an AND gate 8P, an audio conne ⁇ t flip flop 8Q, an OR gate 8R, and a message 3 flip flop 8S.
  • AND gate 8P produ ⁇ es a signal to ⁇ ontrol the ⁇ lear input of disconnect timer 8H, in response to two signals, viz, the STB 13 signal and the CTL 89 signal.
  • Audio conne ⁇ t flip flop 8Q has a set input that responds to an Audio On Control signal (CTL 68) produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oder 9B (FIG. 9) in response to digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • CTL 68 Audio On Control signal
  • de ⁇ oder 9B de ⁇ oder 9B
  • the output of flip flop 8Q produces the Audio Connect Control signal (CTL 91) that controls inter-conne ⁇ tion swit ⁇ h 7L (FIG. 7) .
  • OR gate 8R the signal it produ ⁇ es is applied to the reset input of flip flop 8Q; this signal is true if and only if any one of four signals applied to OR gate 8R is true.
  • One of- these four signals is an Audio Off Control signal (CTL 69) that is produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oder 9B (FIG. 9) in response to digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • CTL 88 Message 1 Control signal
  • CTL 89 Message 2 Control signal
  • Another of these four signals is the Message 3 Control signal (CTL 92) produced by message 3 flip flop 8S.
  • Message 3 flip flop 8S its state is controlled by signals (CTL 61 and CTL 62) that are produced by decoder 9A (FIG. 9) in response to digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • Message 3 flip flop 8S produ ⁇ es the CTL 92 signal that ⁇ ontrols swit ⁇ h 7P (FIG. 7) to provide for sele ⁇ tively gating Message 3 Audio (AUD 8) for transmission by the system.
  • audio message ⁇ ard 3G ⁇ ooperates with ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C via row bus (2) , the system bus, and ⁇ ommuni ⁇ a ⁇ tions ⁇ ard 3B to re ⁇ eive digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands and to provide status data.
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry on audio message ⁇ ard 3G for de ⁇ oding digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands is shown in FIG. 12.
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry on audio message ⁇ ard 3G for applying status data to the status bus is shown in FIG. 13.
  • FIG. 10 shows such a circuit arrange ⁇ ment, and sets out references in general terms such as "Channel i.” It should be understood that this cir ⁇ uit arrangement is repli ⁇ ated three times su ⁇ h that there are in the preferred embodiment a Channel 1, a Channel 2, and a Channel 3.
  • Another message, viz. Message 4 is generated by a ⁇ ir ⁇ uit arrangement, shown in FIG. 11, that, in most respe ⁇ ts ex ⁇ ept those spe ⁇ ifi ⁇ ally des ⁇ ribed, is identi ⁇ al to the ⁇ ir ⁇ uit arrangement of FIG. 10.
  • spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor 10C is an OKI 6258 Solid State Re ⁇ order Spee ⁇ h Pro ⁇ essor integrated ⁇ ir ⁇ uit ⁇ hip. It handles analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog ⁇ onver ⁇ sion, and operates in cooperation, with a ⁇ rystal 10D, tuned to 4 MHz in this embodiment.
  • a buffer amplifier is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted between the output of low pass filter 10E and swit ⁇ h 10B.
  • Another output of .spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IOC is "Play Mon”; the signal that it produces is a Play-Back Status Bit. This signal is buffered and applied to an LED 10F. This and two other LED's shown in FIG. 10 are mounted on the audio message ⁇ ard 3G so as to provide an indi ⁇ ation to maintenan ⁇ e personnel for use in servi ⁇ ing the system.
  • Another output of spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IOC is "Rec Mon”; the signal it produces is a Record Status Bit.
  • Another output is "OVF(FST)"; the signal it produces is an Overload Status Bit.
  • Another set of outputs of spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IOC are ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to a 19- ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor address bus used to propagate addressing signals to a message memory array generally indi ⁇ ated at 10G.
  • Eight ROM ⁇ hips are arranged in parallel to define this message memory array.
  • One at a time of these eight ROM ⁇ hips is sele ⁇ ted by a one-out-of-eight sele ⁇ t signal produ ⁇ ed by a de ⁇ oder 10H.
  • the sele ⁇ ted ROM chip responds to the addressing signal provided by speech processor IOC to apply an eight bit byte to a data bus ⁇ onne ⁇ ting the output to the ROM ⁇ hips to a data input of spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IOC.
  • De ⁇ oder 10H de ⁇ odes a three-bit wide signal produ ⁇ ed by a lat ⁇ h 101.
  • the input signals applied to lat ⁇ h 101 are three parallel bits supplied as part of a ⁇ ommand wor issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C, and a ⁇ ontrol signa for lat ⁇ h ⁇ ontrol whi ⁇ h is produ ⁇ ed by ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ odin ⁇ ircuitry shown in FIG. 12.
  • Spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IOC re ⁇ eives three ⁇ ontrol signals dire ⁇ tly from the ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry of FIG.
  • Spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor IO re ⁇ eives another ⁇ ontrol signal from the output of an O gate 10J whi ⁇ h responds to a Start/Stop Control signal an a Restart Strobe signal.
  • the Start/Stop Control signal is produ ⁇ ed by the ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 12.
  • the Restart Strobe signal is produ ⁇ ed by a one-shot 10K that is triggered by a signal produ ⁇ ed by one-shot 10L.
  • the ⁇ ircuitry shown in FIG. 10 represents one of three cir ⁇ uit arrangements having identi ⁇ al ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion for handling a respe ⁇ tive one of three messages the system ' automati ⁇ ally generates and transmits.
  • the following ⁇ ross-referen ⁇ e table provides information about how the ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 12 is inter ⁇ on- ne ⁇ ted to these three ⁇ ir ⁇ uit arrangements, whi ⁇ h are referred to .in the table as Channel 1, Channel 2, and Channel 3.
  • FIG. 11 As to the fourth kind of message that the system automati ⁇ ally generates and transmits, referen ⁇ e is made to FIG. 11.
  • the referen ⁇ e numbers used in FIG. 11 are correlated with those used in FIG. 10 so as to indicate cir ⁇ uit elements that are identi ⁇ al.
  • audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 11A (FIG. 11) has the same ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion and operation as audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 10A (FIG. 10) .
  • message memory array 11G in ⁇ ludes a RAM; i.e., it is written into as well as read from during normal operation of the system in ⁇ ontrast to the all-ROM ⁇ onfiguration of message memory array 10G (FIG. 10) .
  • additional outputs of spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ esso 11C are used in the ⁇ ir ⁇ uit arrangement of FIG. 11; these are the CAS and RAS outputs that are ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to ⁇ or ⁇ responding inputs of a four megabyte RAM ⁇ hip 11M of message memory array 11G.
  • the CA1 input is connected to the Q 2 output of latch 111 (this being the most significant bit of the three bit positions of the latch) ;
  • the CA2 input is connected to the output of an AND gate UN, and
  • the CA3 input is connected to the output of an AND gate 110.
  • AND gate UN has two inputs, one conne ⁇ ted to the most signifi ⁇ ant of these three bit positions ( 2 ) , and the other ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the next most signifi ⁇ ant bit position (Q_) .
  • AND gate 110 has two inputs, one ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the most signifi ⁇ ant of these bit positions (Q 2 ) , and the other ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the least signifi ⁇ ant bit position (Q 0 ) .
  • the remaining differen ⁇ es involve additional ⁇ ir ⁇ uits for switchably applying an audio signal to speech processor 11C so that such audio signal ⁇ an be digitized and stored in the message memory array 11G.
  • the additional ⁇ ir ⁇ uits are an audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop IIP, a swit ⁇ h 11Q ⁇ ontrolled by flip flop IIP, a buffer amplifier 11R through whi ⁇ h the audio signal propagates to swit ⁇ h 11Q and, while swit ⁇ h 11Q is ⁇ losed, through a low pass filter IIS to an input of spee ⁇ h pro ⁇ essor 11C.
  • the ⁇ ommand-de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry for audio monitor ⁇ ard includes four decoder ⁇ ir ⁇ uits 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D, ea ⁇ h of whi ⁇ h is enabled by a pair of enabling signals to de ⁇ ode Bits 0-3 of the ⁇ ommand word re ⁇ eived via the ⁇ ommand word bus portion of the system bus.
  • One of the enabling signals is produ ⁇ ed by a Schmitt trigger driver cir ⁇ uit 12E that responds to the Card Select signal.
  • Another decoding circuit 12F provides four enabling signals, one for each decoder 12A-12D.
  • Decoder 12F while enabled by the Card Select signal, decodes Bits 4-6 of the ⁇ ommand word.
  • the ⁇ ircuitry shown therein provides for communi ⁇ ating status data from audio message card 3G to the status bus so that the status data can propagate to controlling computer 3C.
  • This circuitry includes four tri-state bus drivers 13 , 13B, 13C, and 13D. Having completed the description of the constru ⁇ tion of the various cir ⁇ uit arrangements of the three system ⁇ ards, there will now be des ⁇ ribed, with referen ⁇ e to FIGS. 14-22, the ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion of a line ⁇ ard.
  • this spe ⁇ ifi ⁇ .embodiment of the present invention has 105 line ⁇ ards, every one of whi ⁇ h has the same ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion.
  • This modular arrangement is advantageous in numerous respects, particularly for flexibility in configuring a system. Any one of the line cards can be removed from the rack that houses line connection sub-system IC, for main- tenance or the like without necessitating a system shut down. Further-, the modular arrangement is advantageous wit respect to system expansion; as indicated above, a variet of provisions have been made to facilitate any such syste expansion.
  • each line .card defines a module having its ow hardware sequen ⁇ ing ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry su ⁇ h that a sufficient numbe of sequencing functions are ⁇ ontrolled at the line ⁇ ar level to provide for autonomous operation of ⁇ all extendin operations.
  • each line car can continue to operate to extend a sequence of incomin ⁇ alls.
  • FIG. 14 The Tip and Ring lines of an incomin phone line are connected to an incoming line connection controller 14A.
  • ea ⁇ h su ⁇ in ⁇ oming phone line is suitably connected to the output of a conventional voice frequen ⁇ y repeater VFR (not shown) .
  • FIG. 14 also shows the Tip and Ring lines of a outgoing phone line and an outgoing line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion ⁇ on ⁇ troller 14B that is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the outgoing phone line.
  • An audio sele ⁇ tor inter-connection switch 14C is arrange between controllers 14A and 14B. (Circuitry for lin conne ⁇ tion ⁇ ontrollers 14A and 14B and ⁇ ircuitry for inter connection switch 14C are shown in FIG. 15.)
  • Switch 14C is connected to a row bus interface whic includes an audio interface 14D, a de ⁇ oder for ⁇ ommands an spe ⁇ ial function inputs 14E, and a tri-state bus drive 14F.
  • Circuitry for audio interface 14D is shown in FIG. 16.
  • Command-decoding circuitry 14E is shown in FIG. 21.
  • Tri-state bus driver circuitry 14F for providing statu data is shown in FIG. 22.
  • FIG. 14 indicates, beneath the row bus interface, lines labeled "Audio I/O" and "Digital I/O For Command An Status" whi ⁇ h ⁇ onne ⁇ t to the row bus.
  • FIG. 14 shows, above the row bus interfa ⁇ e, lines ⁇ onne ⁇ ting the row bu interfa ⁇ e to ea ⁇ h of the remaining fun ⁇ tional blo ⁇ ks o 1 the line card.
  • a traffi ⁇ mode ⁇ ontroller 14G a DTMF number generator and register 14H, and in-band signal de ⁇ oder and sour ⁇ e dis ⁇ riminator 141, and a broadcast mode 5 controller 14 .
  • Cir ⁇ uitry for DTMF generation and de ⁇ oding is shown in FIG. 20.
  • Circuitry generally indi ⁇ ated at 14A in FIG. 15 performs fun ⁇ tions for a station connection controller for cooperating with an originating station to form opposite ends of a ⁇ all connection path.
  • This circuitry is implemented bythe same components arranged 5 in the same way as the cir ⁇ uitry for supervisory station ⁇ onnection controller 7 (FIG. 7).
  • Circuitry generall indicated at 14B in FIG. 15 performs functions for a station conne ⁇ tion ⁇ ontroller for ⁇ ooperating with a multi-purpose station to form opposite ends of a ⁇ all ⁇ onne ⁇ tion path.
  • Inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tio swit ⁇ h 14C is implemented by a FET swit ⁇ h just as swit ⁇ 7L (FIG. 7) is, within monitor card 3F.
  • controller 14A it includes ⁇ ontrollabl swit ⁇ hes and ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry for produ ⁇ ing signals representin ⁇ onditions of operation of ⁇ ontroller 14A.
  • the ⁇ ontrollabl swit ⁇ hes are 'an - in ⁇ oming line ground-start simulatin swit ⁇ h 15A, and an in ⁇ oming line hook-swit ⁇ h simulatin
  • controller 14A for producin the ⁇ ondition-representing signals in ⁇ ludes a one-sho 15C, and two retriggerable one-shots 15D and 15E.
  • One shot 15D produ ⁇ es an In ⁇ oming Line Current Status Bi signal (STA 2) , and is responsive to a ⁇ urrent dete ⁇
  • STA 2 In ⁇ oming Line Current Status Bi signal
  • One-shot 15E is responsive to a ring dete ⁇ t ⁇ ir ⁇ uit that is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted in the same way that ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 71 (FIG. 7) is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted within the supervisory station connection controller 7. Thus, the STA 3 status bit signal it produces is true while a ring signal is being detected.
  • One-shot 15C produ ⁇ es an In ⁇ oming Line Current Termination Strobe signal (STB 0) , and is triggered by the STA 2 status bit signal produ ⁇ ed by one-shot 15D.
  • the ⁇ ontroller 14B it in ⁇ ludes ⁇ ontrollable swit ⁇ hes and circuitry for producing signals representing conditions of operation of controller 14B.
  • the controll ⁇ able switches are an outgoing line hook-switch simulating switch 15F, and an outgoing line ground-start simulating switch 15G.
  • One-shot 15H produ ⁇ es an Outgoing Line Ring Dete ⁇ t Status Bit signal (STA 0) , and is responsive to a ring detect circuit that is connected in the same way that cir ⁇ uit 71 (FIG.
  • One-shot 151 produces an Outgoing Line Current Status Bit signal (STA 1) , and is responsive to a current detect ⁇ ir ⁇ uit that is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted in the same wa that ⁇ ir ⁇ uit 7G (FIG. 7) is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted within the supervisor station connection controller 7.
  • STA 1 status bit signal it produ ⁇ es is true while opposite ends of a call connection path are completed; in other words, a called party such as an attendant is off-hook and hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h 15B is simulating an off-hook ⁇ ondition.
  • inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tion swit ⁇ h 14C it is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted between ⁇ ontroller 14A and 14B.
  • One end of swit ⁇ h 14C is also ⁇ onnected to a condu ⁇ tor used to propagate an In ⁇ oming Line Audio signal (AUD 1) .
  • the opposite end of swit ⁇ h 14C is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to a conductor used to propagate an Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • AUD 1 In ⁇ oming Line Audio signal
  • AUD 0 Outgoing Line Audio signal
  • Ea ⁇ h of switches 16A - 16C has one end conne ⁇ ted to the ⁇ ondu ⁇ tor used to propagate the In ⁇ oming Line Audio signal (AUD 1) .
  • the Incoming Line Audio signal (AUD 1) can be any one of three signals depending upon which one, if any, of swit ⁇ hes 16A - 16C is ⁇ losed.
  • the In ⁇ oming Line Audio signal (AUD 1) will be the Message 4 Audio signal (AUD 9) if swit ⁇ h 16A is ⁇ losed; the Musi ⁇ Audio signal (AUD 5) if swit ⁇ h 16B is ⁇ losed; the Monitor Audio signal (AUD 4) if swit ⁇ h 16C is ⁇ losed.
  • Ea ⁇ h of swit ⁇ hes 16D - 16K has one end ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the ⁇ onductor used to propagate the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) ⁇ an be any one of eight signals depending upon whi ⁇ h one, if any, of swit ⁇ hes 16D - 16K is ⁇ losed.
  • the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) will be the Monitor Audio signal (AUD 4) if swit ⁇ h 16D is closed; the Music Audio signal (AUD 5) if switch 16E is closed; the Message 4 Audio signal (AUD 9) if switch 16F is ⁇ losed; the Message 3 Audio signal (AUD 8) if switch 16G is closed; the Message 2 Audio " signal (AUD 7) if switch 16H is closed; the Message 1 Audio signal (AUD 6) if switch 161 is closed; the Prompt Tone Audio (AUD 3) if switch 16 is closed; the DTMF Dial Audio signal (AUD 2) if switch 16K is closed.
  • Resistors are indicated in FIG. 16 in series with individual controllable swit ⁇ hes; these resistors provide for individually adjusting the sound level of ea ⁇ h of the various audio signals and, therefore, implement the audio interfa ⁇ e fun ⁇ tion indi ⁇ ated in blo ⁇ k 14D (FIG. 14) .
  • a message 4 flip flop 17F produces a signal that is switched through an option switch 17G.
  • one of two signals is maintained at the false logical level by virtue of a resistor and the other of the two signals is the same as the signal produced by Message 4 flip flop 17F.
  • One of these two signals is an Outgoing Line Message 4 Control signal (CTL 45) that controls switch 16F (FIG. 16) .
  • the other of these two signals is an Incoming Line Message 4 Control signal (CTL 46) that controls switch 16A (FIG. 16) .
  • a message 3 flip flop 17H is set by a signal produced by an OR gate 171, and is reset by a signal produced by an OR gate 17J, and produces a Message 3 Control signal (CTL 47) which, when true, causes swit ⁇ h 16G (FIG. 16) to ⁇ lose to propagate the -Message 3 Audio signal (AUD 8) as the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • CTL 47 Message 3 Control signal
  • the CTL 47 signal is also applied to one of the inputs of a NOR gate 17K.
  • the signal NOR gate 17K produ ⁇ es is an Outgoing Line Music Control signal (CTL 40) . It is true if and only if every one of the signals applied to its inputs is false. Thus, while the CTL 47 signal is true, thereby causing the Message 3 audio signal to be propagated, the CTL 40 signal is false. While the CTL 40 signal is false, swit ⁇ h 16E (FIG. 16) is open, preventing musi ⁇ audio from being propagated as the Outgoing Line Audio signal.
  • the Music Audio signal constitutes the default Outgoing Line Audio signal. This is so because if none of the other possible audio signals have been selected, whereby every input signal to NOR gate 17K is false, then the Musi ⁇ Audio signal propagates as the Outgoing Line Audio signal.
  • the ⁇ ontrol ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 17 further in ⁇ ludes AND gates 17L and 17M, and a NOR gate 17N;
  • the input signals for AND gate 17L are supplied by the Q output of flip flop 17A and the Q output of flip flop 17B.
  • the signal AND gate 17L produ ⁇ es is an Outgoing Line Monitor Control signal (CTL 41) whi ⁇ h, while true, ⁇ auses swit ⁇ h 16D (FIG. 16) to ⁇ lose to enable the supervisor to ⁇ onfer with a servi ⁇ e attendant whose multi-purpose station is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the line ⁇ ard outgoing line.
  • the input signals for AND gate 17M are supplied by the Q output of flip flop 17A and the Q output of flip flop 17B.
  • the signal AND gate 17M produ ⁇ es is an In ⁇ oming Line Monitor Control signal (CTL 42) whi ⁇ h, while true, ⁇ auses swit ⁇ h 16C (FIG. 16) to ⁇ lose to enable the super- visor to ⁇ onfer with a ⁇ alling party whose originating station is conne ⁇ ted to the line ⁇ ard in ⁇ oming line.
  • the CTL 42 signal is also applied as one of the input signals to NOR gate 17N.
  • the signal NOR gate 17N produ ⁇ es is a Incoming Line Music Control signal (CTL 43) .
  • FIG. 18 has the ' same ⁇ onstru ⁇ tion and operation as one-shot 8K (FIG. 8) . Similar referen ⁇ e numbers are used in FIG. 8 and FIG. 18 for other su ⁇ h similar ⁇ ir ⁇ uits (18E, 18G, 18H, 181, 18J, 18L, 18M, 18N, and 180).
  • on-hook timer 18E like on-hook timer 8E, the signal i produces is an On-Hook Timer Status Bit (STA 5 in the case of on-hook timer 18E) .
  • this signal is also referred to as an On-Hook Strobe signal (STB 2) .
  • the sequencing cir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 18 further in ⁇ ludes an off-hook flip flop 18R and an on-hook flip flop 18S.
  • Flip flops 18R and 18S provide for keeping tra ⁇ k of th penden ⁇ y of de ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands, until sequen ⁇ es of operatio for these ⁇ ommands have been exe ⁇ uted.
  • on-hook timer 18 forces the STB 2 signal true temporarily, and this reset on-hook flip flop 18S.
  • timer end one-shot 18G for ⁇ es the STB 1 signal true temporarily this resets off-hook flip flop 18R.
  • the sequencing cir ⁇ uitry of FIG. 18 further in ⁇ ludes an outgoing line ⁇ onnect flip flop 18T.
  • Flip flop 18T is set by a signal produced by an OR gate 18U, and is reset by a signal produced by an OR gate 18V.
  • One of the signals supplied as an input to OR gate 18V is produced by a NOR gate 18W.
  • the arrangement of flip flop 18S, NOR gate 18W, and OR gate 18V defines the ⁇ onditions under whi ⁇ h flip flop 1ST will be reset.
  • the ⁇ ircuitry which defines the conditions for setting it are OR gate 18U, an OR gate 18X, a NOR gate 18Y, and flip flop 18R.
  • flip flop 18T When flip flop 18T changes state from its reset state to its set state, this initiates a sequence of timing operations in automati ⁇ ally placing an outgoing call to a multi-purpose station, and verifying that the person who answers the ⁇ all at the multi-purpose station is authorized to be a servi ⁇ e attendant.
  • the details of this sequen ⁇ e are des ⁇ ribed below as part of a des ⁇ ription of operation in response to a digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommand issued by ⁇ ontroll ⁇ ing ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • an Outgoing Line Ground Control signal (CTL 51) , produ ⁇ ed by dial tone one-shot 18K, is temporarily forced true, and this causes ground start simulating switch 15G to close temporarily.
  • an Outgoing Line Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 55) , produ ⁇ ed by OR gate 181, is for ⁇ ed true, and this ⁇ auses hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h 15F (FIG. 15) to ⁇ lose. With swit ⁇ h 15F closed, and switch 15G temporarily closed, dial tone will appear on the outgoing line. Then, automatic dialing can pro ⁇ eed.
  • dial one-shot 18M temporarily for ⁇ es tru the DTMF Dial Control signal (CTL 52) . While the CTL 52 signal is true, swit ⁇ h 16K (FIG. 16) is ⁇ losed and propagate the DTMF Dial Audio signal (AUD 2) as the Outgoing Lin Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • Th In ⁇ oming Line Busy Control signal (CTL 48) ⁇ ontrols groun start simulating swit ⁇ h 15A (FIG. 15) .
  • An invertor 19 responds to the CTL 48 signal and produ ⁇ es an In ⁇ omin Line A ⁇ tive Status Bit signal (STA 4) .
  • STA 4 In ⁇ omin Line A ⁇ tive Status Bit signal
  • STB 0 th In ⁇ oming Line Current Termination Strobe signal
  • STB 0 tha is produ ⁇ ed by one-shot 15C (FIG. 15) .
  • the resettin of flip flop 19A this is ⁇ ontrolled by a signal produ ⁇ e by an OR gate 19E.
  • a prompt tone one-shot 19F produ ⁇ es a Prompt Ton Control signal (CTL 49) on its Q output.
  • This CTL 49 signa ⁇ ontrols swit ⁇ h 16J (FIG. 16) , and is one of the signal that, as shown in FIG. 17, is applied to OR gate 17E to rese audio connect flip flop 17C.
  • the Q output of one-shot 19 produces a signal that triggers an end tone one-shot 19G.
  • a Prompt Tone End Strobe signal (STB 4) is produced b one-shot 19G; it is one of the signals that is applied t OR gate 17D (FIG. 17) to provide for setting audio ⁇ onne ⁇ flip flop 17C.
  • the STB 4 signal is also applied to a se input of an in ⁇ oming line ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 19H that produ ⁇ e an In ⁇ oming Line Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 50) .
  • CT 50 ⁇ ontrols hook-switch simulating swit ⁇ h 15B (FIG. 15) .
  • the reset input of flip flop 19H " ⁇ re ⁇ eives a signa produ ⁇ ed by an OR gate 191.
  • One of the signals applied t OR gate 191 is the In ⁇ oming Line Current Termination Strobe signal (STB 0) , whi ⁇ h is produced by one-shot 15C (FIG. 15) .
  • the prompt tone is propagated out via the outgoing line before inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ - tion swit ⁇ h 14C is ⁇ losed. While a line ⁇ ard is operated in the forward mode, the line ⁇ ard is ⁇ ontrolled so as to disconne ⁇ t the multi-purpose station between incoming ⁇ alls and to re-establish the multi-purpose station as a network station as part of the sequen ⁇ e of operations for responding to an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all.
  • a forward mode flip flop 19J produ ⁇ es a signal tha is applied to a disable input of prompt tone one-shot 19F.
  • An AND gate 19K produ ⁇ es a signal that is applied to trigger input of prompt tone one-shot 19F.
  • the signals applied to AND gate 19K are the Outgoing Line Curren Status Bit (STA 1) and the In ⁇ oming Line Ring Dete ⁇ t signa (STA 3) is true.
  • STA 1 signal is produced by one sho 151 (FIG. 15) , and is true while a call ⁇ onne ⁇ tion path i ⁇ ompleted at both ends between the system and the multi purpose station (i.e., the attendant is on line).
  • the ST 3 signal is produ ⁇ ed by one-shot 15E (FIG. 15) , and be ⁇ ome true when a ring signal is dete ⁇ ted, thereby indi ⁇ ating a in ⁇ oming ⁇ all needs servi ⁇ e.
  • forward mode flip flop 19J While forward mode flip flop 19J is in its set state, prompt tone flip flop 19F is disabled from responding t the signal applied to its trigger input.
  • the set input o forward mode flip flop 19J is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the output of gate 19L.
  • the signal that gate 19L produ ⁇ es is true whil the STA 1 signal is false and. the STA 3 signal is true.
  • the STA 3 signal is, as shown i FIG. 18, one of the signals applied to OR gate 18X. Whe the STA 3 signal is for ⁇ ed true by dete ⁇ tion of the ringin signal, this sets outgoing line connect flip flop 1ST, an thereby initiates a timing sequence to call the attendant.
  • While forward mode flip flop 19J is in its rese state, one-shot 19F is not disabled, and it responds to th trigger signal produ ⁇ ed by an AND gate 19K.
  • one shot 19F responds to the trigger signal, it produ ⁇ es pulse in the Prompt Tone Control signal (CTL 49) .
  • Thi causes switch 16J (FIG. 16) to close temporarily so tha the Prompt Tone Audio signal (AUD 3) propagates as th Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • This ⁇ ircuitry forms part of th cir ⁇ uitry of functional block 141 (FIG. 14) , and include a decoder 20A, a DTMF generator 20B, and a DTMF re ⁇ eive 20C.
  • DTMF generator 20B stores a sele ⁇ ted telephone numbe used in placing a call to a multi-purpose station.
  • DTM receiver 20C provides for receiving and decoding in-ban signals for security and other purposes.
  • DTMF receive 20C receives the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) , an produces a signal on a data valid output when it detect the presence of a touch tone pair constituting an in-ban signal. This output signal is applied to a gate 20D tha produces a DTMF Data Valid Control signal (CTL 35) t control an enable input of decoder 20A.
  • Gate 20D als responds to an Internal DTMF Mute Control signal (CTL 33) that is produ ⁇ ed by an AND gate 20E.
  • the CTL 33 signal is one of the signals provided to OR gate 17E (FIG. 17) to ⁇ ause audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 17C to reset.
  • gate 20D enables de ⁇ oder 20A to de ⁇ ode a four-bit parallel ⁇ oded signal produ ⁇ ed by re ⁇ eiver 20C.
  • the individual signals forming this coded signal are a DTMF Bus Bit 3 signal (CTL 36) ; a DTMF Bus Bit 2 signal (CTL 37) ; a DTMF Bus Bit 1 signal (CTL 38) ; and a DTMF Bus Bit 0 signal (CTL 39) .
  • Decoder 20A produces the following signals: a DTMF D Key Strobe (STB 5) ; a DTMF 1 Key Strobe (STB 6) ; a DTMF 2 Key Strobe (STB 7) ; a DTMF 3 Key Strobe (STB 8) ; a DTMF 8 Key Strobe (STB 9) ; a DTMF 9 Key Strobe (STB 10) ; a DTMF 0 Key Strobe (STB 11) ; AND a DTMF * Key Strobe (STB 12) .
  • the "D" key is provided on some spe ⁇ ial 4- ⁇ olumn tou ⁇ h tone keypads.
  • the STB 5 signal relates to this key; it is provided for future expansion and is not used in system IA.
  • the STB 6 strobe signal is one of the signals provided to OR gate 171 (FIG. 17) to ⁇ ause message 3 flip flop 17H to set.
  • the STB 7 strobe signal is one of the signals provided to OR gate 17E (FIG. 16) to ⁇ ause audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 17F to reset.
  • the STB 8 strobe signal and the STB 10 signal are among the signals provided to OR gate 17D (FIG. 17) to ⁇ ause audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 17F to set.
  • the STB 9 strobe signal is one of the signals provided to OR gate 18V (FIG. 18) to ⁇ ause outgoing line ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 1ST to reset.
  • the STB 11 strobe signal is provided to numerous ⁇ ir ⁇ uits.
  • the STB 11 strobe signal is one of the signals provided to OR gate 191 (FIG. 19) to reset in ⁇ oming line flip flop 19H; it is provided to the reset input of forward mod flip flop 19J; and it is one of the signals provided to O gate 19E to reset hardware-busy flip flop 19A.
  • OR gate 191 FPGA 191
  • the cir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 20 further in ⁇ ludes retriggerable one-shot 2OF that produ ⁇ es an External DTM Mute Control signal (CTL 34) .
  • One-shot 20F is clock trig gered under control of signals provided by the ESt outpu of receiver 20C and by a delay one-shot 20G.
  • One-shot 2O is disabled from responding to clo ⁇ k triggering while th signal produ ⁇ ed by one-shot 20G is true.
  • the CTL 34 signal is one of th signals provided to OR gate 17E to ⁇ ause audio ⁇ onne ⁇ flip flop 17C to reset.
  • Such resetting of flip flop 17 is part of an operation to provide source discrimination More particularly, when a false-to-true transition oc ⁇ ur in a signal produ ⁇ ed by DTMF re ⁇ eiver 20C, thereby indi ⁇ atin that an in-band signal is present in the AUD 0 signal, i is initially ambiguous whether the sour ⁇ e of this in-ban signal is a multi-purpose station or an originating station.
  • be ⁇ ause of the operation of one-shots 20G and 2O in response to re ⁇ eiver 20C and be ⁇ ause of the resultin operation of resetting of audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 17C inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tion switch 14C opens. Continued detection o the in-band signal after switch 14C opens cannot be at tributed to an originating station.
  • the cir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 20 further in ⁇ ludes DTMF Test Mode flip flop 2OH, and an OR gate 201.
  • the output of flip flop 2OH produ ⁇ es a signal that is provide to AND gate 20E.
  • AND gate 20E produ ⁇ es the Internal Mut Control signal (CTL 33) , and ⁇ auses it to be true if both the signal it re ⁇ eives from flip flop 2OH and a signal it re ⁇ eives from a Mute output of generator 2OB are true.
  • CTL 33 Internal Mut Control signal
  • the CTL 33 signal when true, causes audio conne ⁇ t flip flop 17C to reset, thereby opening inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tion swit ⁇ h 14C.
  • One of the advantageous features resulting from the in-band signal de ⁇ oding is that an attendant can cause an in ⁇ oming ⁇ all to be dis ⁇ onnected while the attendant remains on line to the system.
  • the resulting in-band signal is de ⁇ oded by DTMF re ⁇ eiver 20C and de ⁇ oder 20A to for ⁇ e the STB 11 signal true.
  • This ⁇ ommand- de ⁇ oding ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry in ⁇ ludes four de ⁇ oder ⁇ ir ⁇ uits 21A, 2IB, 21C, and 2ID, ea ⁇ h of whi ⁇ h is enabled by a pair of enabling signals to de ⁇ ode Bits 0-3 of the ⁇ ommand word received via the command word bus portion of the row bus for the row in which the line card is used.
  • One of the enabling signals is produ ⁇ ed by a S ⁇ hmitt trigger drive cir ⁇ uit 21E that responds to the Card Select signal.
  • Cir ⁇ uitry shown in FIG. 21 further in ⁇ ludes three S ⁇ hmitt trigger driver ⁇ ir ⁇ uits 2IF, 21G, and 21H, and a ⁇ apa ⁇ itor 211.
  • Cir ⁇ uit 2IF provides buffering o the ⁇ lo ⁇ k signal for the line ⁇ ard; its output signal i the CK signal (CTL 32) .
  • Cir ⁇ uit 21G provides buffering o the Message 2 Start/Stop strobe signal for the line ⁇ ard; its output signal is the Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe signa (STB 13) .
  • Cir ⁇ uit 21H provides buffering of the Prompt Ton signal for the line card, and capa ⁇ itor 211 provides DC isolation for the Prompt Tone signal (AUD 3) .
  • This ⁇ ircuitry includes a four-bit lat ⁇ h and tri-state bus driver 22A, a tri-state bus driver and multi ⁇ plexer 22B, and a gate 22C.
  • Driver 22A and multiplexer 22B are arranged and operate in almost the same way as lat ⁇ h 7U and multiplexer 7T (FIG. 7) are arranged and operate to provide status data from monitor ⁇ ard 3F.
  • Multiplexer 22B has an "A Enable” ⁇ ontrol input and a "B Enable” ⁇ ontrol input that re ⁇ eive, respe ⁇ tively, a Status A Control signal (CTL 22) and a Status B Control signal (CTL 4) .
  • CTL 22 Status A Control signal
  • CTL 4 Status B Control signal
  • These ⁇ ontrol signals are produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oders 21C and 21A (FIG. 21) in response to digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands issued by controlling computer 3C, as explained more fully below.
  • the Command Word is lat ⁇ hed into lat ⁇ h 6E, applied to the system bus, and applied to every row bus by its corresponding bus ' controller.
  • the addressing byte is latched into latch 6D, then decoded to select a row and a line card within a row, with the result that a Card Select signal (FIGS. 5 and 21) for the addressed line card will be forced true.
  • Driver 21E (FIG. 21) of the addressed line card enables de ⁇ oders 21A - 2ID to de ⁇ ode the Command Word re ⁇ eived from the row bus.
  • Ea ⁇ h of de ⁇ oders 21A - 21D has eight outputs, some of whi ⁇ h provide spares for system expansion. As to the outputs of de ⁇ oder 21A that are used in system IA, one of these produces a Message 4 On Control signal (CTL 0) . When controlling computer 3C issues a digital ⁇ ommand to for ⁇ e the CTL 0 signal true, this results in setting message 4 flip flop 17F. Depending upon the position of option swit ⁇ h 17G, this results in either the Outgoing Line Message 4 Control signal (CTL 45) or the In ⁇ oming Line Message 4 Control signal (CTL 46) being forced true.
  • CTL 45 Outgoing Line Message 4 Control signal
  • CTL 46 In ⁇ oming Line Message 4 Control signal
  • switch 16F closes, so that the Message 4 Audio signal is gated through to the outgoing line. If the CTL 46 signal is true, then switch 16A closes, so that the Message 4 Audio signal is gated through to the in ⁇ oming line.
  • de ⁇ oder 21A produ ⁇ es a Message 4 Off Control signal (CTL 1) .
  • CTL 1 Message 4 Off Control signal
  • CTL 45 the Outgoing Line Message 4 Control signal
  • CTL 46 the In ⁇ oming Line Message 4 Control signal
  • de ⁇ oder 21A produ ⁇ es a DTMF Test Mode On Control signal (CTL 2) .
  • CTL 2 DTMF Test Mode On Control signal
  • de ⁇ oder 21A produ ⁇ es a DTMF Test Mode Off Control signal (CTL 3) .
  • CTL 3 DTMF Test Mode Off Control signal
  • de ⁇ oder 21A produ ⁇ e a Status B Control signal (CTL 4) .
  • the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry tha responds to this ⁇ ontrol signal also responds to a Statu A Control signal (CTL 22) produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oder 21C.
  • CTL 22 Statu A Control signal
  • Whe ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ omman to obtain Status A data from an addressed line ⁇ ard, de ⁇ ode 21C for ⁇ es the Status A Control signal (CTL 22) true.
  • multiplexer 22B propagates, signals from its "A" data inputs to Bits 4-7 of. the Status Bus.
  • latch 22A has an enable input tha responds to the- Status A Control signal (CTL 22) .
  • CTL 22 Status A Control signal
  • Whe controlling ' ⁇ omputer 3C issues a digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ omman to obtain Status A data from monitor ⁇ ard 3F, de ⁇ oder 21 for ⁇ es the Status A Control signal (CTL 22) true.
  • lat ⁇ h 22A propagates signals from its data input to Bits 0-3 of the Status Bus. Its data inputs are th four parallel output signals of re ⁇ eiver 20A, i.e., th CTL 36, CTL 37, CTL 38, and CTL 39 signals.
  • Lat ⁇ h 22 ⁇ opies these signals whenever the output signal of gat 22C is forced true by the DTMF Data Valid Control signa (CTL 35) being true while the Status A Control signal (CT 22) is false.
  • decoder 21A produces a Hardware Un-Busy Control signal (CTL 5) .
  • Some of the line card ⁇ ircuitry that is ⁇ ontrolled by this ⁇ ontrol signal is also ⁇ ontrolled by an Un-Busy In ⁇ oming Line Control signal (CTL 11) produ ⁇ ed by de ⁇ oder 2IB. In fact, one command of the ⁇ ommand repertory for ⁇ es each of the CTL 5 and CTL 11 signals true.
  • This command is issued to change the mode of the line card to the call forward mode when the line card is in an idle condition.
  • the CTL 5 signal is forced true, this ensures that incoming line hardware busy flip flop 19A is in its reset state. This is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to cause ground start simulating switch 15A to be open.
  • the CTL 11 signal forced true, this ensures that incoming line software busy flip flop 19C is in its reset state.
  • the CTL 48 signal must be false, thereby ensuring that ground start simulating switch 15A is open.
  • CTL 8 System Initialize Control signal
  • CTL 9 Outgoing Line Off Hook & Dial Control signal
  • the STA 1 signal being false indicates that no call is in progress on the outgoing line.- ⁇
  • the STA 5 signal being false indicates that a minimum threshold time period has passed since outgoing hook-switch 15F opened, thereby providing a basis for distinguishing a hook-switch flash within a single call from the termination of one call and the start of another.
  • the pulse in the CTL 51 signal temporarily closes outgoing line ground-start switch 15G for approximately one-half second to stimulate generation of dial tone.
  • the pulse in the STB 3 signal forces OR gate 17E to reset audio connect flip flop 17C. This ensures that the Audio Connect Control signal (CTL 44) is false, and thereby ensures that inter-conne ⁇ tion switch 14C is open while a call is being placed via the outgoing line.
  • CTL 44 Audio Connect Control signal
  • its true-to-false transition triggers delay one-shot 18L to allow sufficient time to ensure that dial tone is provided.
  • a true-to-false transition in the signal it produces triggers dial one-shot 18M.
  • the signal one-shot 18Mproduces is a DTMF Dial Control signal (CTL 52) . It is coupled through diodes to the 4 and C_ inputs of generator 2OB. These inputs in combination correspond to the "#" symbol; the parallel signals coupled through the diodes initiate the dialing, which is completed before the end of the ap ⁇ proximately two-second long delay provided by one-shot 18M.
  • the true-to-false transition in the CTL 52 signal also triggers activate timer 18N to initiate its timing interval of up to a maximum of 30 seconds.
  • the signal produced by the Q output of activate timer 18N is the Message 1 Control signal (CTL 53) that controls switch 161. While the CTL 53 signal is true, switch 161 is closed, and the Message 1 Audio signal (AUD 6) is applied to the outgoing line.
  • CTL 53 signal is also applied to the trigger inputs of timer end one-shot 18G and activate abort one-shot 180c
  • the true-to-fals ⁇ transition in the CTL 53 signal always triggers (regardless of whether it occurs at the end of the maximum time-out period of 30 seconds or before) timer end one-shot 18G.
  • STB 1 Activate Timer End Strobe signal
  • the true-to-false transition in the CTL 53 signal triggers activate abort one-shot 180 only if the STB 11 signal has remained false throughout the full 30 seconds, and according ⁇ ly has not disabled activate abort one-shot 180.
  • decoder 2IB On another one of its outputs, decoder 2IB produces an Outgoing Line On Hook Control signal (CTL 10) .
  • CTL 10 Outgoing Line On Hook Control signal
  • This signal sets flip flop 18S, which remains in its set state until completion of execution of operations required by this command.
  • ⁇ onsider a situation prevailing at the end of a shift. If any attendant from the shift is ⁇ ontinuing to • ⁇ onfer with an in ⁇ oming ⁇ aller, it is desirable to await the end of that ⁇ onversation before terminating the ⁇ all ⁇ onne ⁇ tion path to that atten ⁇ dant.
  • the STA 2 signal be ⁇ omes false.
  • be ⁇ ause flip flop 18S is set (therefore the signal produ ⁇ ed by its Q output is false) , and the STA 2 signal is false, NOR gate 18W produces a true signal, causing OR gate 18V to reset outgoing line connect flip flop 18T.
  • This sequence entails playing message 2 within the overall time alloted by disconne ⁇ t timer 18H, and, finally, . when the CTL 55 signal be ⁇ omes false at the end of message 2, it causes hook-switch simulating switch 15F to simulate an on-hook condition.
  • disconnect timer 18H enables message 2 flip flop 18J to be toggled by the next ensuing false-to-true transition in the Message 2 Start/Stop Strobe signal (STB 13), which is produced by driver cir ⁇ uit 21G.
  • the signal produced by message 2 flip flop 18J is the Message 2 Control signal (CTL 54) . While the CTL 54 signal is true, switch 16H is closed and propagates the Message 2 Audio signal (AUD 7) as the Outgoing Line Audio signal (AUD 0) .
  • the next false-to-true transition in the STB 13 signal causes AND gate 18P to clear disconne ⁇ t timer 18H and simultaneously toggles message 2 flip flop 18J.
  • de ⁇ oder 21B produ ⁇ es a Busy Incoming Line Control signal (CTL 12) .
  • Controlling computer 3C issues this command to exercise software ⁇ ontrol over the incoming line; more particularly, when this command- is decoded, incoming line software busy flip flop 19C is set. While flip flop 19C is set, the CTL 48 signal produced by OR gate 19B must be true, and a ⁇ ordingly ground start simulating swit ⁇ h 15A must be ⁇ losed.
  • Controlling ⁇ omputer 3C exer ⁇ ises this software control as part of a software sequence for loading a phone number and placing a call to the multi-purpose station identified by that phone number.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand to ⁇ ause de ⁇ oder 2ID to for ⁇ e the Phone Number Memory Strobe Control signal (CTL 30) true. While true, the CTL 30 signal for ⁇ es OR gate 201 to provide a memory strobe to DTMF generator 20B. Further as part of this software sequen ⁇ e, controlling computer 3C issues a series of commands to load a phone number. Ea ⁇ h of the commands in this series ⁇ auses ea ⁇ h of de ⁇ oders 21C and 21D to for ⁇ e true one of the signals it produ ⁇ es.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a command to force both the DTMF Number Dial R3 Control signal (CTL 18) and the DTMF Number Dial C3 Control signal (CTL 26) true. More generally, to load any digit, controlling computer 3C issues a command to cause decoders 21C and 21D to force one of the CTL 16, CTL 17, CTL 18, and CTL 19 signals true, and one of the CTL 24, CTL 25, CTL 26, and CTL 27 signals true. After issuing this series of commands to load the series of digits of the phone number into DTMF generator 20B, controlling computer 3C issues the command that causes decoder 2IB to initiate the off-hook and dial sequence that begins with the CTL 9 signal becoming true.
  • Controlling computer 3C relentlessly monitors the status of each line card by issuing commands to retrieve status A and status B words. This relentless monitoring is a process that is independent of, and in parallel with, the above-described sequence of operation. Based on the retrieved status data, controlling computer 3C communi ⁇ ates via modem phone line 3E with supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D to provide data used to update the displayed status report.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C finds that transition has oc ⁇ urred from one of three signals being true, that one being the CTL 48 signal, to all three signals being true, the three being the CTL 48, CTL 55, and STA 1 signals, then ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends data to super- visory ⁇ omputer 3D to ⁇ ause the ⁇ olor for the ⁇ orresponding line ⁇ ard to ⁇ hange from blue to magenta.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C re ⁇ ognizes the o ⁇ urren ⁇ e of the en ⁇ oded se ⁇ urity- ⁇ learan ⁇ e signal (i.e.., the parallel bits of CTL 36 - CTL 39) . After this is re ⁇ ognized, ⁇ on ⁇ trolling computer 3C issues the command to cause the CTL 11 signal true. This resets flip flop 19C.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C monitors the STA 1 and the CTL 55 signals. If transitions occur in these signals (from true to false) , then controlling computer 3C in ⁇ rements its ⁇ ount of tries, and, if the in ⁇ remented ⁇ ount is less than a pre-set number, initiates another try to ⁇ omplete a ⁇ all ' with an attendant.
  • de ⁇ oder 21B produces an Outgoing Line Fast Disconne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 13), and an Outgoing Line Fast Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 14) .
  • CTL 13 an Outgoing Line Fast Disconne ⁇ t Control signal
  • CTL 14 an Outgoing Line Fast Conne ⁇ t Control signal
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand to monitor the in ⁇ oming line by causing decoders 21C and 21D to force the CTL 21 and CTL 28 signals true.
  • the CTL 21 signal while true, resets monitor side flip flop 17B (FIG. 17).
  • the CTL 28 signal while true. sets monitor flip flop 17A (FIG. 17) ' .
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C issues a command to ⁇ ause de ⁇ oder 21A to for ⁇ e the CTL 2 signal true. This sets flip flop 2OH and this in turn disables the internal mute so as to allow DTMF de ⁇ oder 20A to de ⁇ ode internally generated DTMF signals.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand to ⁇ ause decoders 21C and 2ID to force the CTL 16- and CTL 25 signals true so as to simulate a digit "2" at the input of DTMF generator 2OB.
  • DTMF generator 2OB produces a DTMF signal corresponding to the digit "2.”
  • This DTMF signal is re ⁇ eived via re ⁇ eiver 20C, and is decoded by decoder 20A so that the STB 7 signal becomes true.
  • the STB 7 signal causes OR gate 17E to reset audio connect flip flop 17C, thereby opening inter- connection swit ⁇ h 14C.
  • the supervisor can confer with the incoming caller, and the attendant on the outgoing line has been isolated from the incoming line.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand to cause decoder 21B to force the CTL 13 signal true.
  • This causes OR gate 18V to reset outgoing line connect flip flop 1ST.
  • This causes disconnect timer 18H to initiate the sequence of operations described above for playing message 2 and then dis ⁇ onne ⁇ ting the ⁇ all ⁇ onnection path to the attendant.
  • Controlling computer 3C monitors status data, as des ⁇ ribed above, to determine that the dis ⁇ onne ⁇ tion has o ⁇ urred and that suffi ⁇ ient time has passed to go off hook and dial. This determination is based on monitoring three signals: the on-hook timer status signal (STA 5) ; the STA 1 signal; and the CTL 55 signal.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C proceeds to download a phone number by the series of ⁇ ommands des ⁇ ribed above. This downloaded .phone number identifies the telephone of a transferee attendant.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a ⁇ ommand to ⁇ ause de ⁇ oder 2IB to for ⁇ e the Outgoing Line Fast Conne ⁇ t Control signal (CTL 14) true. While true, the CTL 14 signal ⁇ auses OR gates 18X and 18U to set flip flop 18T. This initiates the hardware sequen ⁇ e of pla ⁇ ing the ⁇ all to the transferee attendant.
  • the CTL 14 signal ⁇ auses OR gate 171 to set message 3 flip flop 17H to for ⁇ e the CTL 47 signal true.
  • a ⁇ tivate timer 18N does not respond to triggering in this transfer sequen ⁇ e.
  • the messag ' e 1 ⁇ ontrol signal CTL 53
  • neither one-shot 18G nor one-shot 180 is triggered.
  • the STB 10 signal When the security-verification signal for a transferee attendant is received, the STB 10 signal is forced true, and this ⁇ auses OR gate 17J to reset flip flop 17H. As a result, the CTL 47 signal returns to its normal false value. Simul ⁇ taneously, the STB 10 signal ⁇ auses AND gate 17D to set audio ⁇ onne ⁇ t flip flop 17C.
  • the call on the incoming line is conne ⁇ ted through inter- ⁇ onne ⁇ tion swit ⁇ h 14C to the outgoing line ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the transferee's multi-purpose station, and the monitor audio is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to the in ⁇ oming line.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a command to for ⁇ e the CTL 20 signal true. This sets monitor side flip flop 17B.
  • De ⁇ oder 21D also produ ⁇ es aMonitor Off Control signal (CTL 29) in response to a digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommand issued by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • CTL 29 aMonitor Off Control signal
  • the CTL 29 signal has two functions. One of these functions is to reset monitor flip flop 17A. While monitor flip flop 17A is in its reset state, AND gates 17L and 17M force the CTL 41 and CTL 42 signals false, so that both switch 16C and switch 16D are open, whereby neither the incoming line to the parti ⁇ ular line ⁇ ard, nor the outgoing line from the par ⁇ ti ⁇ ular line ⁇ ard is ⁇ onne ⁇ ted to supervisory station II.
  • the se ⁇ ond fun ⁇ tion of the CTL 29 signal is to ⁇ ause OR gate 17D to set audio ⁇ onnect flip flop 17C.
  • This function is involved when a supervisor has completed a conversation with an incoming caller while inter-conne ⁇ tion swit ⁇ h 14C is open.
  • the Monitor Off Control signal is re ⁇ eived, it for ⁇ es inter- ⁇ onnection switch 14C to close, so that the incoming caller can resume conferring with an attendant.
  • FIGS. 24 to 28 other representative human-readable status reports that are displayed to the supervisor on the s ⁇ reen of video display terminal IF.
  • the triangular-shaped mouse ⁇ ursor appears in the main menu sele ⁇ tion line, next to the "Change" menu item.
  • the supervisor has selected this item on the main menu sele ⁇ tion line by moving mouse IG to position the mouse cursor next to the "Change” item and cli ⁇ king the button on the mouse.
  • the "Change” item is highlighted to indi ⁇ ate that it has been sele ⁇ ted; the highlighting is indi ⁇ ated in FIG. 24 by a single-line box surrounding the "Change" item.
  • FIG. 24 there appears in FIG. 24 a pull ⁇ down menu, whi ⁇ h is associated with this selected main menu item and which is surrounded by a double-line box.
  • This pull-down menu presents the following six sub-selec ⁇ tions: “Call”; “Disconne ⁇ t”; “Busy WATS”; “Unbusy WATS”; “Initialize”; and “Configure.”
  • the presentation of these six sub-sele ⁇ tions prompts the supervisor to pro ⁇ eed to a step to select one of these six sub-selections by ap- musculartely positioning the mouse cursor, and then ⁇ li ⁇ king the mouse button.
  • FIG. 25 shows the top of the displayed status report after the supervisor has sele ⁇ ted the "Call" sub-sele ⁇ tion.
  • the "Call" sub-selection is highlighted; this is indicated in FIG. 25 by a single- line box surrounding the "Call" sub-selection.
  • a pull-out menu whi ⁇ h is asso ⁇ iated with the "Call" sub-sele ⁇ tion and whi ⁇ h is surrounded by a single-line box.
  • This pull-out menu presents the following four options: "All”; “Random”; "Line 77”; and “Can ⁇ el.”
  • the presentation of these four options prompts the supervisor to pro ⁇ eed to a step to sele ⁇ t one of these options.
  • the supervisor By sele ⁇ ting the "All” option, the supervisor ⁇ ompletes the steps of entering a supervisory ⁇ ommand to cause every line card to execute the sequence of operations, under control of controlling computer 3C, involved in placing a call to an attendant who will answer and service calls via the respective line card.
  • the "Random” option enables the supervisor to position the mouse cursor to any arbitrary one of the matrix of 105 line card representing elements, click the mouse button and thereby identify that line card for use in placing a call to an attendant.
  • line ⁇ ard 77 happens to be the current line card. That is, it is the line card ⁇ orresponding to the box framed by the display pointer (FIG. 23) at the time the supervisor sele ⁇ ted the "Call" item on the main menu.
  • any line ⁇ ard ⁇ an similarly be the ⁇ urrent line card and be so indicated as part of this pull-out menu.
  • the sele ⁇ tion of this option ⁇ ompletes the steps for entering a supervisory ⁇ ommand to ⁇ ause the ⁇ urrent line ⁇ ard to exe ⁇ ute the sequen ⁇ e of operations involved in pla ⁇ ing a ⁇ all to an attendant.
  • the "Can ⁇ el” option is ⁇ hosen if for example the supervisor had erron ⁇ eously sele ⁇ ted the "Call" sub-sele ⁇ tion or the "Change" item. It is also ⁇ hosen when the supervisor has entered the last of a series of ⁇ ommands from the random sele ⁇ tion.
  • the pull-out menu that appears to the right of the
  • this sub-sele ⁇ tion has an asso ⁇ iated sub ⁇ menu (not separately shown) for prompting the supervisor to complete the steps involved in entering a ⁇ hange con ⁇ figuration command.
  • the options of this sub-menu are to change parameters that are global to the system, so there is no need for an additional pull-out menu to prompt for line card identification. These global or system level parameters in ⁇ lude ringthrough time, ringthrough length, number of retries, and an emergen ⁇ y telephone number.
  • a ringthrough is a period during the day for whi ⁇ h it is proje ⁇ ted that in ⁇ oming traffi ⁇ will be relatively high so that it is desirable to have attendants on line and ready to answer and servi ⁇ e in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls immediately.
  • in ⁇ oming traffi ⁇ volume will vary in a somewhat ⁇ y ⁇ lical basis during the day: that is, there will be a period of low-volume incoming traffi ⁇ ; followed by periods in whi ⁇ h in ⁇ oming traffi ⁇ rises rapidly, then remains high for awhile, then tri ⁇ kles down to a low .volume; then the ⁇ y ⁇ le will repeat again albeit not ne ⁇ essarily with a fixed period.
  • the in ⁇ oming traffi ⁇ ⁇ an generally be predi ⁇ ted within reasonable limits.
  • the proje ⁇ ted ringthrough times ⁇ an be stored in re ⁇ ords on disk and loaded into supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D.
  • these re ⁇ ords spe ⁇ ify a real time used in determining when to start a ring- through, and an interval used in determining when to end the ringthrough.
  • the supervisor ⁇ an issue a supervisory ⁇ ommand to override any proje ⁇ ted value.
  • FIG. 26 is somewhat similar to FIG. 23 in that it shows an entire representative displayed status report.
  • the boxes rep ⁇ resenting the line ⁇ ards are shaded to indi ⁇ ate- various ⁇ olors representing different status ⁇ onditions for dif ⁇ ferent line cards.
  • FIG. 26 shows a pull-down menu that is associated with the "Info" item of the main menu line. This pull-down menu is surrounded by a double- line box and presents information about the current line card, which happens to be line ⁇ ard 77 in this example.
  • FIG. 27 is related to FIG. 26, and shows a portion of the displayed status report in which the supervisor is being prompted to confirm a change in a phone number.
  • This prompt appears as a result of the supervisor having first ⁇ li ⁇ ked on "Phone,” and having then entered a phone number by keyboard entry.
  • an attendant who had been s ⁇ heduled to answer and servi ⁇ e ⁇ alls from one multi-purpose station, for example at home, can answer and service calls from another station, for example, the phone at the home of someone the attendant is visiting that day. ⁇
  • FIG. 28 shows a top portion of a displayed status report, in which a pull-down menu appears as a result of the selection of "Shift" ' from the main menu selection line.
  • the sub-selections available are: "Load Shift Disk”; "Cancel Operator”; and "Cancel Aux Operator.”
  • the shift disk is a conventional floppy disk, pre-recorded with all necessary data for a series of shifts for a week. This data include name, phone number, and a Boolean field indicating the attendant either to be a primary attendant assigned to a particular line card or to be an auxiliary attendant to be in a pool available to be called if the need arises.
  • the above-described displayed status reports are generated by supervisory computer 3D under program control, based in part on status data provided to supervisory computer 3D from controlling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • ea ⁇ h of supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D and ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C is a personal ⁇ omputer.
  • Ea ⁇ h uses a ⁇ onventional disk operating system for performing a variety of low level fun ⁇ tions under control of an application program.
  • the application programs for supervisory computer 3D and controlling computer 3C may be written in any of numerous suitable languages.
  • PASCAL-language declarations set out constants that, in the application program for supervisory computer 3D, are referred to in operations to communi ⁇ ate supervisory ⁇ ommands from supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C:
  • ALL_LINES $7Fj ⁇ For commands on all lines.
  • LINECTRL_PREFIX $A0; ⁇ High 4-bits of line- cont. ⁇ md.
  • DISCONN_OPER_CMD $A2, ⁇ Dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t operator(s) .
  • BUSY_CALLER_CMD $A3, ⁇ Make ⁇ aller side(s>-busy.
  • UNBUSY_CALLER_CMD $A4 ⁇ Make ⁇ aller side(s) unbusy.
  • MONITOR__CALLER_CMD $B0; ⁇ Monitor the caller side.
  • PARAM_PREFIX $C0 ⁇ High 4-bits of parameter cmd.
  • SET_NPA_CMD $C2 ⁇ Set the lo ⁇ al area ⁇ ode.
  • EMERHELP_PREFIX $D0; ⁇ High 4-bits of emer/help cmd.
  • EMER SERVICED CMD $D2; ⁇ Signal the emer as servi ⁇ ed. ⁇ For the status. ⁇
  • supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether any supervisory ⁇ ommand is to be sent to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • Blo ⁇ k 29A is in a ⁇ ord with a ⁇ onvention used throughout the flow ⁇ harts in whi ⁇ h a diamond-shaped blo ⁇ k indi ⁇ ates a control structure for controlling the flow of operations.
  • a corresponding programming control structure is an "if-then-else" control structure.
  • supervisory commands the programming of supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D in ⁇ ludes ⁇ onventional mouse driver programming and asso ⁇ iated programming that provides for determining when and whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ ommand has been entered by the supervisor.
  • conventional circular queue managing programming is included to provide a list of entered supervisory commands and to provide head and tail pointers to the list. If the tail pointer exceeds the head pointer by more than one (modulo the number of ⁇ ells provided by the ⁇ ir ⁇ ular queue) then there are supervisory ⁇ ommands waiting in the queue to be sent to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C.
  • supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether a "no a ⁇ knowledge" has been returned and, if so, re-enters blo ⁇ k 29B.
  • PASCAL-language de ⁇ larations set out ⁇ onstants that, in the appli ⁇ ation program for supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D, are referred to in operations to re ⁇ eive status data from ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C:
  • ⁇ S_CANCEL 48; ⁇ The help or emer request is ⁇ an ⁇ elled.
  • ⁇ S EFERRED 64; ⁇ The emergency call has been trans ⁇ ferred. ⁇
  • the flow returns to blo ⁇ k 29A. Otherwise, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29F in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D gets a status pa ⁇ ket or an a ⁇ knowledge pa ⁇ ket from ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C. Next, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29G, in whi ⁇ h super ⁇ visory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether a status pa ⁇ ket has been re ⁇ eived. If not, the flow returns to blo ⁇ k 29A.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29H, in whi ⁇ h super ⁇ visory ⁇ omputer 3D updates the displayed status report in a ⁇ ord with the data provided by ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C in the re ⁇ eived status pa ⁇ ket.
  • the ⁇ olors of the boxes are ' ⁇ ontrolled by s ⁇ reen attribute bytes stored in the s ⁇ reen buffer.
  • PASCAL-language ⁇ onstant de ⁇ larations apply to these attribute bytes:
  • supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D makes appropriate changes in emergency and help queues, these being first- in, first-out variable length lists kept in memory.
  • controlling ⁇ omputer 3D in block 29J makes appro ⁇ priate changes to a database it maintains for statistical purposes.
  • This database comprises records in which are kept various statistics such as number of calls, number of dropped calls and the like.
  • Type OpStat_Type array[l..105] of re ⁇ ord op_ ⁇ alls, ⁇ ⁇ alls per ringthrough op_drops, ⁇ drops per ringthrough last_stat, ⁇ last status, re ⁇ orded for later ⁇ omparis in ⁇ omputing length of ⁇ all oper_s ⁇ nd, ⁇ time of re ⁇ eipt of last status-se ⁇ s oper_time, ⁇ time of re ⁇ eipt of last status-hrs/mins oper_dofw ⁇ time of re ⁇ eipt of last status-day of wk.
  • n Integer; u end;
  • the operations depi ⁇ ted in FIG.29B relate to automati ⁇ features for originating ⁇ alls to auxiliary operators when the need arises to do so.
  • data are 5 pre-re ⁇ orded on a shift disk to provide the names, phone numbers, and other information concerning persons who have been scheduled to serve as either ' primary attendants or in a pool of auxiliary attendants.
  • the memory _ of supervisory computer 3D there is produced in the memory _ of supervisory computer 3D a list of entries.
  • Ea ⁇ h su ⁇ h entry in ⁇ ludes a name, a phone number, a designation as to primary attendant or auxiliary attendant, and a designa ⁇ tion as to active or inactive.
  • an attendant is scheduled to be a primary attendant, 5 but either does not respond when called, or refuses ⁇ alls, it is desirable to repla ⁇ e that attendant with an auxiliary attendant on an automati ⁇ basis without requiring interven ⁇ tion by the supervisor.
  • the operations relating to this automatic feature 0 involve, as indicated in block 29K, determining whether an attendant has refused calls.
  • a person can, while on line to the system, use the touch tone keypad on the multi-purpose station to initiate the genera- 5 tion of a predetermined in-band signal.
  • supervisory computer 3D can proceed to perform appropriate functions without manual intervention by the supervisor. If an attendant did not refuse calls, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29L. In blo ⁇ k 29L, supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether an attendant did not answer. If an attendant did not answer, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29M in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D updates the list to mark the attendant's entry to indi ⁇ ate the attendant is absent.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 29K to blo ⁇ k 29N in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer updates the list to mark the attendant's entry to indi ⁇ ate the attendant has refused ⁇ alls.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 290 in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D determines whether any auxiliary attendants are available to replace a candidate attendant. If not, the flow proceeds to block 29P in which supervisory computer 3D updates the list to mark the attendant's entry to indicate the attendant is ina ⁇ tive.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 29Q, in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D updates the list by replacing the attendant's entry with an available auxiliary attendant's entry.
  • the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 29R, in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D marks the auxiliary attendant's entry to indicate that the attendant is no longer available in the pool.
  • the flow proceeds to block 29S, in which supervisory computer 3D determines whether further processing is needed with respect to status data for other line cards reported in the status packet being pro ⁇ essed. If so, the flow loops ba ⁇ k to re-enter blo ⁇ k 29K; otherwise, it loops ba ⁇ k to re-enter - blo ⁇ k 29A.
  • supervisory computer 3D determines whether the time or date has changed (i.e. by a sufficient increment, whi ⁇ h for real-time clock purposes is one second) . If not, the flow loops ba ⁇ k to re-enter blo ⁇ k 30A. This loop has the ⁇ hara ⁇ teris- ti ⁇ s of a "repeat-until" programming ⁇ ontrol stru ⁇ ture.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 3OB in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D causes a new time and, if necessary, a new date to be displayed (see FIG. 23, e.g., for the location within the displayed status report where date and time are displayed) .
  • the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 30C in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether a ringthrough is in progress. If not, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 30D where supervisory computer 3D determines whether 15 se ⁇ onds or less time
  • block 3OH the flow proceeds to block 3OH then loops back to re-enter block 30A; otherwise, the flow loops back directly.
  • the ring ⁇ through is star-ted by placing calls to all attendants in a shift for the ringthrough.
  • blo ⁇ k 301 in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D determines whether the time has arrived to end the ringthrough. If not, the flow loops ba ⁇ k to re-enter blo ⁇ k 30A. If it has, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to a blo ⁇ k 30J in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D ends the ringthrough by ⁇ ooperating with ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C to dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t all the attendants, then proceeds to block 3OK in which supervisory computer 3D finds and sets the next shift and ringthrough time and then loops back to re-enter block 30A.
  • supervisory computer 3D determines whether the super ⁇ visor has issued a request, through either the keyboard or the mouse.
  • ⁇ onventional mouse driver programming is in ⁇ luded within the software for supervisory computer 3D.
  • supervisory computer 3D makes the determination whether a request is pending. If no request is pending, the flow loops back to re-enter block 31A. This loop has the ⁇ hara ⁇ teristics of a "repeat-until" programming control stru ⁇ ture.
  • the flow proceeds through a series of test blocks that correspond to a programming "case" control structure within a loop such that the flow re-enters block 31A.
  • the flow proceeds from block 31B to block 3IC.
  • the display pointer des ⁇ ribed above with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 23 indi ⁇ ates to the supervisor whi ⁇ h line ⁇ ard is providing monitor audio to supervisory Station II. A variable keeps track of which one of the line cards is being monitored.
  • the supervisor wants to change the line ⁇ ard being monitored from a first line ⁇ ard to a se ⁇ ond line ⁇ ard
  • the supervisor moves the mouse to position the mouse cursor so that it is placed next to the box for the second- line card, and then cli ⁇ ks the mouse button.
  • This ⁇ onstitutes a request to whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D responds by updating the above-mentioned variable to identify the second line card, and by repositioning the display pointer, and so forth, to change the line card being monitored.
  • Supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D further responds to the request by sending supervisory ⁇ ommands to ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C to ⁇ ause it to send digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommands to the first and se ⁇ ond line cards to disable the monitor audio on the first line card and to enable it on the se ⁇ ond line ⁇ ard.
  • the flow proceeds from block 3ID to block 3IE.
  • the operations of block 3IE are described below with reference to FIG. 32.
  • the flow proceeds from block 3IF to block 31G.
  • the operations of bl ⁇ k 31G are des ⁇ ribed below with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 33.
  • FIGS. 32A and 32B there will now be described the operations for processing a supervisory command to be sent to controlling computer 3C. These operations begin in block 32A, are entered from blo ⁇ k 3ID (FIG. 31) , and exit to blo ⁇ k 31A (FIG. 31) . The flow proceeds through a series of test blocks that correspond to a programming "case" control structure.
  • FIG. 32A shows that, in the ⁇ ase of a command to initialize one or more lines, the flow proceeds from block 32A to blo ⁇ k 32B, in which at least one line card is initialized.
  • supervisory computer 3D For each line card that is initialized during block 32B, supervisory computer 3D sends supervisory commands to controlling computer 3C, and it in turn sends digitally coded commands to the line card to be decoded by decoders 21A-21D des ⁇ ribed above. " These initialization ⁇ ommands pla ⁇ e the line ⁇ ard in a predetermined state, in whi ⁇ h both the ⁇ ir ⁇ uitry for the in ⁇ oming line station connection controller and the cir ⁇ uitry for the outgoing line ' station ⁇ onne ⁇ tion ⁇ on ⁇ troller are off hook and busy. Further, status re ⁇ ords maintained in a status file in ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C are set to ⁇ orrespond to this predetermined state.
  • the flow proceeds from block 32G to block 32H, and, if all lines are to be dis ⁇ onne ⁇ ted, through blo ⁇ ks 321 and 32J. If one or more but not all the lines are to be dis ⁇ onne ⁇ ted, the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 32H to blo ⁇ k 32K.
  • "Dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t" is one of the sub- sele ⁇ tions available beneath the "Change" main menu item.
  • supervisory computer 3D and controlling computer 3C cooperate to cause the circuitry for the station connection controller for the outgoing line to disconne ⁇ t the atten- dant. If all attendants have been so dis ⁇ onne ⁇ ted, in block 32J, supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D finds and sets the next shift and ringthrough time.
  • supervisory computer 3D and controlling computer 3C cooperate to cause the circuitry for the outgoing line station connection controller to go off hook and dial an attendant and retry if necessary until a security verification signal is received. If all • lines are to be called, the flow proceeds from block 32M to block 320, in which supervisory computer 3D determines whether shift data have been downloaded. If not, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 32P, in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D downloads shift data for this ringthrough.
  • the main menu line in ⁇ ludes items for "Symbols,” and for “Numbers,” and for “Monitor.”
  • These ⁇ onfiguration ⁇ ommands affe ⁇ t the displayed status report and are involved in the operations depi ⁇ ted in FIG. 33A.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 33A to blo ⁇ k 33B, in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D deter ⁇ mines whether line numbers are presently visible. If they are, supervisory computer 3D enters block 33C in which it causes the line numbers to be erased from the displayed status report.
  • supervisory computer 3D enters block 33D and causes the line numbers to be displayed as part of the displayed status report.
  • the flow proceeds from blo ⁇ k 33E to blo ⁇ k 33F.
  • supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether symbols are ⁇ urrently being displayed, and, if they are, enters blo ⁇ k 33G in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D writes to the screen buffer to redraw the screen using color boxes for the displayed status report. If not, supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D enters blo ⁇ k 33H and redraws the displayed status report using symbols, instead of ⁇ olored boxes.
  • supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D enters blo ⁇ k 33L, in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D and controlling computer 3C cooperate to cause the monitor audio to be conne ⁇ ted to the ⁇ aller side of the line.
  • the ⁇ onfiguration commands involved in the operations depicted in FIG. 33B are those associated with the sub-menu presented upon clicking on "Configure" (FIG. 24) .
  • the flow proceeds from block 33M to block 33N, in whi ⁇ h the ringthrough length may be set within limits between one and thirty minutes, as determined by the supervisor's entry of the value using the mouse.
  • the flow proceeds from block 330 to blo ⁇ k 33P, in whi ⁇ h the ringthrough time is set to a time within limits between one and thirty minutes, as determined by the supervisor's entry of the time using the mouse.
  • the flow proceeds from block 33Q to block 33R, in which the telephone number for an emergency operator, keyed in by the supervisor using the keyboard, is sent to controlling computer 3C.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 33S to blo ⁇ k 33T in whi ⁇ h the number of retries is set to a number within limits between one and five times, as determined by the supervisor's entry of the number using the mouse.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 34D in whi ⁇ h supervisory computer 3D causes an ' error message to be displayed and then loops ba ⁇ k to re-enter blo ⁇ k 34B. A ⁇ ordingly, a looping a ⁇ tion o ⁇ urs until su ⁇ h time as the ⁇ orre ⁇ t disk is pla ⁇ ed in the disk drive. Eventually when a shift disk is found present in blo ⁇ k 31C so that flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 34C, super ⁇ visory ⁇ omputer 3D gets a list of shifts on the disk, and in blo ⁇ k 34E reads ea ⁇ h shift so listed from the disk.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 34J in whi ⁇ h supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D determines whether an auxiliary attendant is available to repla ⁇ e the attendant being ⁇ an ⁇ elled. It makes this determination on the basis of referen ⁇ e to the list of pooled auxiliary attendants. If so, flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 3 K in which the attendant is replaced with an auxiliary attendant. Then in block 34L, supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D marks its re ⁇ ords to indi ⁇ ate the auxiliary attendant is no longer available to be assigned to another line ⁇ ard. In other words, the auxiliary attendant is deleted from the pool.
  • supervisory computer 3D marks its record for that attendant as being inactive; if not, supervisory computer 3D marks the record for attendant as being active. These occur -in blocks 34T and 34U, respectively.
  • the flow proceeds from block 34V to blocks 34W and 34X, in which the supervisor selects the attendant and then enters the telephone number.
  • controlling computer 3C in responding to supervisory commands sent to it from supervisory computer 3D and in cooperating with supervisory computer 3D to control line ⁇ onne ⁇ tion ⁇ ontrol system IC.
  • FIG. 35 shows a flow chart for the overall outer loop of operations carried out by controlling computer 3C.
  • controlling computer 3C initializes itself. Following initialization, controll ⁇ ing computer 3C enters its main outer loop which begins in block 35B, in which controlling computer 3C reads commands from, and writes status data to, supervisory computer 3D via modem. Following block 35B, controlling computer 3C enters block 35C to determine whether an incoming command has arrived. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 35D, in whi ⁇ h the ⁇ ommand from supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D is pro ⁇ essed. The operations involved in blo ⁇ k 35D are des ⁇ ribed below with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 36.
  • the operations involved in block 35E are des ⁇ ribed below with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 45.
  • the flow proceeds to block 35F, in which ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C processes status changes and sends them to supervisory computer 3D.
  • the operations involved in blo ⁇ k 35F are des ⁇ ribed below with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 46.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C maintains an array of database records, with each database record in the array containing numerous fields of data relating to a respective line card.
  • State_Type (N0_CARD, ⁇ There is no card present.
  • IDLE ⁇ Waiting for ⁇ onne ⁇ t signal. DIALING, ⁇ Waiting for operator response READY, ⁇ Waiting for in ⁇ oming ⁇ all.
  • C_I_P ⁇ Call in progress. NOT_READY, ⁇ Waiting for att. a ⁇ tivation.
  • CIP_HU ⁇ Attendant hung up on ⁇ all progress. ⁇
  • Req_Type (NONE> ⁇ No emergen ⁇ y or help reque pending. ⁇
  • TNum_Type string [14]
  • Line_RecType re ⁇ ord state : State_Type; ⁇ The state of the card. status : Status_Type; ⁇ The sub-state of the card. waiting, ⁇ For one more scan for status. busy.
  • Line is hardware or softwa busied.
  • ⁇ req Req_Type ⁇ Any help/emer requests pendin tnum TNu Type; ⁇ The telephone number. retries, ⁇ Number retry attempts on t card.
  • Lines Type arra [1..MAX_LINES] of Line_Re ⁇ Type;
  • Changer_RecType record line no. ⁇ Line number of change, 0 change. ⁇ new_a, ⁇ The new status byte A. new__b : Integer; ⁇ The new status byte B. end; Var
  • Cur_Mon_Line Integer; ⁇ The line we are currently monito ing. ⁇
  • Lo ⁇ al_Area_Code ⁇ The local area code.
  • Emer_Tele_Num Num_Type; ⁇ The emergency transfer number.
  • Noof_Retries Integer; ⁇ Retry attendant how many times Lines : Lines_Type; ⁇ The line database.
  • Changer_InBuf ⁇ The buffer from Scanner to Cha ger. ⁇
  • the foregoing declarations define the fields and the possible values for each field.
  • the possible values for the state field are those listed in parentheses in the declaration of "State Type"; that is, the possible values are NO_CARD or CALL or TFER_CALL.
  • the possible values for the status field are those listed within parentheses in the declaration of "Status Type”; that is, HUNG_UP through TFERRED.
  • the possible values for each of the waiting field, the busy field, the calling field, and the sw_busy field are Boolean; that is, either true or false.
  • the possible values for the req field are those listed within parentheses in the declaration of "Req Iype"; that is, NONE or EMER or HELP.
  • the possible values for the tnum field include any string up to fourteen chara ⁇ ters long.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 39B in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C disconnects the current attendant, if any, with an HW_0N_H00K command, (which corresponds to CTL 10 in FIG. 21) .
  • HW_0N_H00K command which corresponds to CTL 10 in FIG. 21
  • the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 39C, in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C determines whether there is a phone number for this line. If so, controlling computer 3C downloads the telephone number in block 39D, then in block 39E issues an HW_OFF_HOOK_DIAL command (which., cor ⁇ responds to CTL 9 in FIG. 21) to cause the line card to place a call.
  • HW_OFF_HOOK_DIAL command which., cor ⁇ responds to CTL 9 in FIG. 21
  • the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 39F, in which controlling computer 3C sets the ⁇ alling field of the database record for the line card to true.
  • blo ⁇ k 40C sets the ⁇ alling field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line card to false.
  • FIG. 41 there will now be described the operations for servicing supervisory commands to ⁇ ontrol monitor audio. These operations begin in blo ⁇ k 41A, are entered from blo ⁇ k 36E (FIG. 36) and exit to blo ⁇ k 35E (FIG. 35) .
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the supervisory command requires monitoring a different line card. If so, the flow proceeds to block 4IB, in which controlling computer 3C issues a HW_MON_OFF command (which corresponds to CTL 29 in FIG.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether to monitor the attendant side of the line ⁇ ard. If the attendant side of the line ⁇ ard is to be monitored, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 4ID, in which controlling computer 3C issues a HW_MON_OPER ⁇ ommand (whi ⁇ h ⁇ orresponds to CTL 20 and CTL 28 in FIG. 21) to ⁇ ause the line ⁇ ard to ⁇ onne ⁇ t the monitor audio to the attendant side of the line ⁇ ard.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a HW_MON__CALLER command (which corresponds to CTL 21 and CTL 28 in FIG. 21) to monitor the caller side of the line ⁇ ard.
  • HW_MON__CALLER command which corresponds to CTL 21 and CTL 28 in FIG. 21
  • controlling computer 3C updates variables to refle ⁇ t whi ⁇ h line ⁇ ard is the ⁇ urrent line ⁇ ard for monitoring and whi ⁇ h side of the line ⁇ ard is being monitored.
  • FIGS. 42A and 42B there will now be des ⁇ ribed the operations for servicing configuration commands. These operations begin in block 42A, are entered from blo ⁇ k 36G (FIG.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 42E to blo ⁇ k 42F, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sets the lo ⁇ al area ⁇ ode.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 42G to blo ⁇ k 42H, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sets digits to exit the lo ⁇ al PBX to a ⁇ ess outside lines.
  • the flow proceeds from block 421 to block 42J, in which controlling computer 3C puts the number of retries in the internal queue for transmis ⁇ sion to supervisory computer 3D.
  • the flow proceeds from block 42K to block 42L, in which controlling computer 3C puts the emergency transfer number in the internal transmission queue.
  • the flow proceeds from block 42M to block 42N, in which controlling computer 3C puts the local area code in the internal transmission queue.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 420 to blo ⁇ k 42P, in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C puts the local exit code in the internal transmission queue.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sets the request field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard to no request pending; turns monitor off to re ⁇ onne ⁇ t the audio; monitors the ⁇ urrent side of the ⁇ urrent line ⁇ ard; and unbusies the line ⁇ ard so that ⁇ alls ⁇ an now be re ⁇ eived.
  • controlling computer 3C disables the monitor on the current line card.
  • controlling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the monitor to the ⁇ aller side of the transferring line ⁇ ard.
  • the flow proceeds to block 44F, in which controlling ⁇ omputer 3C dis ⁇ onne ⁇ ts the audio between a ⁇ aller and the attendant.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 44G, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether an attendant is present on this line. (The attendant may have hung up.) Controlling ⁇ omputer 3C makes this determination on the basis of status data returned from the line ⁇ ard. If the attendant is still on line, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 44H, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW_FLASH_DISCONN ⁇ ommand (whi ⁇ h corresponds to CTL 13 in FIG.
  • controll ⁇ ing computer 3C determines whether status A or status B data have changed or if it is waiting to get status data from the line card. As soon as the status A and status B data have been retrieved from the line ⁇ ard and it is found that a ⁇ hange has o ⁇ urred, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C in blo ⁇ k 45D re ⁇ ords the status ⁇ hange for further pro ⁇ essing. Following block 45D or if no change occurred to status A or status B data, the flow proceeds to block 45E, in which controlling computer advances to the next line card to scan.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 46E to blo ⁇ k 46F, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether one row of line ⁇ ards has been ⁇ ompletely s ⁇ anned and if the time has ⁇ ome to transmit information to supervisory computer 3D. If so,, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 46G, in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C copies the internal status buffer into the transmit queue.
  • FIGS. 47A and 47B there will now be described the operations for pro ⁇ essing ⁇ hanges from a s ⁇ anned line card.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 471 to blo ⁇ k 47 , in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C processes the line going busy by reporting this information to. the supervisory computer and assigns a true value to the busy field of the database record for the line card.
  • the flow proceeds from block 47K to block 47L, in which con ⁇ trolling computer 3C processes the line card going unbusy by sending the appropriate information to supervisory computer 3D and assigns a false value to the busy field for the database record for this line card.
  • controlling computer 3C finds the attendant-present status change by monitoring to detect a ⁇ hange in the status return of operator ⁇ urrent (o ⁇ ) whi ⁇ h is indi ⁇ ated by a ⁇ hange in binary value of the STA 1 signal (FIG. 22).
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C finds a ⁇ hange in status in the Off-Hook-to- attendant status (oh) by monitoring for a ⁇ hange in the binary value of the CTL 55 signal (FIG. 22) .
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the waiting field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard is true and if the operator ⁇ urrent is not equal to the On- Hook status; and, if so, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C in blo ⁇ k 47C assigns the true value, to the waiting field. If not, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 47U, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether attendant ⁇ urrent is now present. It makes this determination on the basis of the STA 1 signal (FIG. 22) that is returned as part of a status word from the line ⁇ ard.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C performs operations o ⁇ asioned by the atten ⁇ dant's having hung up, as described below with reference to FIG. 59.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the status field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard for use in later ⁇ o parison operations, and assigns a false value to the waiting field.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C issues a HW_FLASH_CONNECT command (whi ⁇ h ⁇ orresponds to CTL 14 in FIG. 21) to ⁇ ause the line ⁇ ard to pla ⁇ e a ⁇ all to the emergen ⁇ y telephone number.
  • the state field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard is CALL
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 48E to blo ⁇ k 48F, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the status field of the database re ⁇ ord of the line. card to IDLE.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the line card is present, whether there is a phone number for this line card to dial, and whether this line card is in use (as indicated by the Boolean value of the calling field of the database record for the line card) . If so, the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 48H, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ ompares the number of retries that have been made against the global parameter appli ⁇ able to the number of retries to make.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C in blo ⁇ k 481 downloads the telephone number, and in blo ⁇ k 48J issues a HW_OFF_HOOK_DIAL ⁇ ommand to cause the line ⁇ ard to place the call.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C finds in block 48H that the maximum number of retries have already been made, the flow proceeds to blo ⁇ k 48K, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ntrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends informa- tion to supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D as to the la ⁇ k of an attendant, and assigns a false value to the ⁇ alling field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard, so as to indi ⁇ ate it is unused.
  • FIG. 49 there will now be described the operations carried out in block 47H (FIG. 47) , to process DTMF status.
  • the flow proceeds from block 49A to block 49B, in which controlling computer 3C services the DTMF HELP request in accord with operations described below with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 50.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether any help or emergency request is pending, and whether there is no caller. If so, the flow proceeds from block 50E to block 50F, and then to block 50G; other- wise, the flow proceeds directly to block 50G.
  • controlling computer 3C issues the ⁇ ommand to software busy .the in ⁇ oming line to the line card and assigns a true value to the sw_busy field of the database record for the line card.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the status field for the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard is DIALING.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a DTMF CANCEL command in test mode so as to re ⁇ onne ⁇ t the audio.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C reports data to super ⁇ visory ⁇ omputer 3D to alert it of the pending help request.
  • FIG. 51 there will now be des ⁇ ribed the operations ⁇ arried out in blo ⁇ k 49D (FIG. 49) .
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether an attendant is on-line.
  • controlling computer 3C issues the command to software unbusy the incoming line for the line card and assigns a false value to the sw_busy field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends data to supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D as to the ⁇ an ⁇ ella- tion.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether an attendant is on-line. If so, the flow proceeds to block 52B, in which controlling computer 3C determines whether there is a help request currently pending. If so, the flow proceeds to block 52C, in which controlling computer 3C issues a DTMF CANCEL ⁇ ommand in test mode so as to re ⁇ onne ⁇ t the audio. Otherwise, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 52D, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether a ⁇ aller is on-line.
  • controlling computer 3C issues the ⁇ ommand to software busy the in ⁇ oming line for the line ⁇ ard and assigns a true value to the sw_busy field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 52F, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends informa- tion to supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D as to the emergen ⁇ y request.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ an ⁇ els the help/emergen ⁇ y request to super- visory ⁇ omputer 3D.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends information to supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D as to the attendant having refused ⁇ alls.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C updates the states/status fields of the database record for the line card to CALL/IDLE.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the state field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard is CALL.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 53G in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontroll ⁇ ing computer 3C determines whether an attendant is on ⁇ line. If so, the flow proceeds to block 53H, in which controlling computer 3C determines whether there is a pending help or emergen ⁇ y request, and whether no ⁇ aller is on-line. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 531, and then to blo ⁇ k 53 ; otherwise, the flow pro ⁇ eeds dire ⁇ tly to blo ⁇ k 53J. In blo ⁇ k 531, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues the ⁇ ommand to busy the in ⁇ oming line for the line ⁇ ard.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C sends informa ⁇ tion to supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D as to the attendant having refused ⁇ alls.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the status field in the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard to IDLE.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether there is a pending help or emergen ⁇ y request. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 53M, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C sends information to supervisory computer 3D to can ⁇ el the help/emergen ⁇ y requests.
  • ⁇ ontroll ⁇ ing ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the state is TFER_CALL. If it is, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to bio ⁇ k 54B, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ on ⁇ trolling ⁇ omputer issues the digitally ⁇ oded command to cause the line card to busy out the caller side of the line.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ an ⁇ els the emergen ⁇ y request to the supervisory ⁇ omputer.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the state/status in its internal re ⁇ ords to CALL/HUNG_UP.
  • controlling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the line card outgoing station conne ⁇ tion con ⁇ troller is off-hook and not in a two se ⁇ ond delay. If it is, the flow proceeds to block 54F, in which controlling computer 3C issues the command to hang up the attendant with a HW_ON_HOOK command.
  • block 54G in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C determines whether the state is CALL.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the status is DIALING. If it is, the flow proceeds to block 541, in which controlling ⁇ omputer 3C resets the "try again" variable to initialize it for retry ⁇ ounts in the future.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues the digitally ⁇ oded ⁇ ommand to unbusy the in ⁇ oming line by sending the HW_SW_COND_UNBUSY ⁇ ommand.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer- 3C updates the status re ⁇ ord for the respe ⁇ tive line ⁇ ard by setting the status to READY. If in blo ⁇ k 54H ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C deter ⁇ mines that the status is not DIALING, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 54L, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the status is either NOT_READY or C_I_P. If it is in either status, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 54M, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the status re ⁇ ord to indi ⁇ ate that this line ⁇ ard is READY.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the state is CALL. If so, the flow proceeds to block 56D, in which controlling computer 3C performs operations described below with reference to FIG. 58.
  • controll- ing ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW_BUSY ⁇ aller ⁇ ommand to the line ⁇ ard to busy out the in ⁇ oming line.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ an ⁇ els the pending emergen ⁇ y request in the supervisory ⁇ omputer 3D.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the status is WAIT_NOOP or HUNG_UP. If it is, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 57D, in which controlling computer 3C determines whether the two-second on-hook delay is in progress. If it is, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to,blo ⁇ k 57E, in which controlling computer 3C updates its internal re ⁇ ords for state/status to CALL/HUNG_UP.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether the status is neither WAIT_NOOP nor HUNG_UP. If during block 57C controlling computer 3C determines that the status is neither WAIT_NOOP nor HUNG_UP, the flow proceeds to block 57H, in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C determines whether the line card is off-hook to the attendant. If it is, the flow proceeds to block 571, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the state/status fields of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard to CALL/HUNG_UP. Next, in blo ⁇ k 57J, ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C issues a HW_0N_H00K command to cause disconne ⁇ tion of the attendant.
  • controlling computer 3C determines that the line card is not off-hook to the attendant, the flow proceeds to block 57K, in which controlling computer 3C changes the state/status fields of the database record for the line card to CALL/IDLE.
  • controlling computer 3C proceeds to recall the attendant in ac ⁇ ord with the operations des ⁇ ribed above with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 48.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 58C, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues an HW_BUSY_CALLER ⁇ ommand to busy out the in ⁇ oming line on the line ⁇ ard and then proceeds to blo ⁇ k 58D, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrplling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the status field of the database re ⁇ ord for this line ⁇ ard to N0T_READY.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 58E, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C determines whether an attendant has his station conne ⁇ ted to the outgoing line for the line ⁇ ard. If not, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 58F, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues an HW_BUSY__CALLER ⁇ ommand so as to busy out the in ⁇ oming line for the line ⁇ ard.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the attendant has hung up. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 58H, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the status field of the database re ⁇ ord for this line ⁇ ard to HUNG_UP.
  • controlling computer 3C issues an HW_0N_H00K command so as to disconnect the outgoing line.
  • controlling computer 3C determines that the attendant has not hung up, the- flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 58 , in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C ⁇ hanges the status field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard to IDLE.
  • bio ⁇ k 58K ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C pro ⁇ eeds to re ⁇ all an attendant in a ⁇ ord with the- operations described above with reference to FIG. 48.
  • controlling computer-3C determines that an atten- dant has hung up during a transfer (the state being TFER_CALL) .
  • the status is WAIT_NOOP
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 60A to block 6OB in which controlling computer 3C determines whether the two-se ⁇ ond delay is in progress. If not, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 60C, in whi ⁇ h controlling computer 3C changes the status field for the database record for the line card to IDLE.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer ' 3C performs the.
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 60P in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h for the outgoing line is off- hook. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 60Q; otherwise, it pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 60R. In blo ⁇ k 60Q, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard so that the state/status fields are marked CALL/HUNG_UP. Next, in blo ⁇ k 60S, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW__0N_H00K command to disconne ⁇ t the attendant.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard so that the state/status fields are marked CALL/IDLE.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C performs the operations required to re ⁇ all the attendant in accordance with the flow described above with reference to FIG. 48.
  • FIGS. 61A and 6IB there will now be described the operations carried out when an attendant has hung up on a normal call. These operations begin in block 61A, are entered from block 59C (FIG. 59), and exit to block 47(Y) .
  • the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 61D ' to blo ⁇ k 61E, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether a help or emergen ⁇ y request is pending. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds from blo ⁇ k 61F to blo ⁇ k 61G; otherwise, it pro ⁇ eeds dire ⁇ tly to blo ⁇ k 61G. In blo ⁇ k 61F, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW_BUSY_CALLER ⁇ ommand to busy out the in ⁇ oming line to the line ⁇ ard.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h for the outgoing line is o f-hook. If so, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ ks 61H and 611; otherwise, it pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 61J and 61K.
  • ⁇ ontrolling computer 3C updates the database record for the line card so that the status field is marked HUNG_UP.
  • controlling computer 3C issues a HW__ON_HOOK command to put the outgoing line back on-hook.
  • controlling computer 3C updates the database record for.the line card so that the status field is marked IDLE.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C performs the operations requiredto re ⁇ all the attendant, in a ⁇ ord with the flow des ⁇ ribed above with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 48.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether a help or emergency request is pending. If either is pending, the flow proceeds to block 6IN, in which controlling computer 3C determines whether -the hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h for the outgoing line is off- hook. If it is, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 610; otherwise, it proceeds to block 61P. In block 610, controlling computer 3C updates the database record for the line card so that the status field is marked CIP_HU.
  • controlling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard so that the status field is marked CIP_I. If in blo ⁇ k 61M ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines that there is neither a help nor emergen ⁇ y request pending, the flow 'pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ k 61Q, in whi ⁇ h ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW_BUSY_CALLER ⁇ ommand to busy out the in ⁇ oming line. Next, in blo ⁇ k 61R, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a DTMF ACTIVATE ⁇ ommand in test mode to drop the ⁇ aller.
  • ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C determines whether the hook swit ⁇ h simulating swit ⁇ h for the outgoing line is off-hook. If it is, the flow pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ ks 61T and 61U; otherwise, it pro ⁇ eeds to blo ⁇ ks 61V and 61W. In blo ⁇ k 61T, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C updates the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard so that the status field is marked HUNG_UP. Next, in blo ⁇ k 61V, ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C issues a HW_0N_H00K command to put the outgoing line back on-hook.
  • controlling computer 3C updates the database record for the line card so that the status field is marked IDLE.
  • ⁇ ontroll ⁇ ing computer 3C performs the operations required to re ⁇ all the attendant in accord with the flow described above with referen ⁇ e to FIG. 48.
  • controlling computer 3C determines whether all line ⁇ ards have been s ⁇ anned at least once. If so, the flow proceeds to block 62B, -in which ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer 3C fills the buffer to transmit the status of the line ⁇ ards, any help or emergen ⁇ y re- quests, and the ⁇ urrent line ⁇ ard and the ⁇ urrent side of the current line card.
  • controlling computer 3C puts the buffer into the queue to transmit to supervisory computer 3D.
  • the overall system provides means for sensing many possible events and ⁇ ir ⁇ umstan ⁇ es, for re ⁇ ognizing the o ⁇ currence or existence of combinations of su ⁇ h events and ⁇ ir ⁇ umstan ⁇ es, and for determining how to pro ⁇ eed, either on a fully autonomous basis or under control of supervisory commands entered by the supervisor, so that ensuing operations flow in a branch appropriate for the prevailing circumstan ⁇ es.
  • the telephone number for the attendant's multi-purpose station is provided in one of two ways:
  • the supervisor enters the telephone number manually, or 2.
  • the telephone number is loaded into the system from a shift disk.
  • the supervisor enters the supervisory command to activate the line card, such that it can be used to respond to in ⁇ oming ⁇ alls.
  • C. The supervisory ⁇ omputer sends the telephone number for the line ⁇ ard to the ⁇ o trolling ⁇ omputer.
  • the ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer stores the number in the tnum field of the database re ⁇ ord for the line ⁇ ard.
  • the supervisory ⁇ omputer sends to the ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer the supervisory ⁇ ommand to ⁇ all the attendant.
  • the ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer sends the ⁇ ommands to the line ⁇ ard to software busy the in ⁇ oming line and to dis ⁇ onne ⁇ t the attendant, if any (see FIG. 39) .
  • the line ⁇ ard hardware re ⁇ ords the re ⁇ eipt of the ⁇ ommands and, if there is a ⁇ all in progress, defers exe ⁇ uting the ⁇ ommands, and then performs the ⁇ ommands when there is no longer a ⁇ all in progress (see FIGS. 18 and 19) .
  • the ⁇ ontrolling ⁇ omputer downloads the telephone number to the line ⁇ ard and ⁇ ommands the line ⁇ ard to go off hook and dial the number (see FIG. 39) .
  • the line ⁇ ard hardware re ⁇ ords the re ⁇ eipt of the off hook and dial command, and if there is a call in progress, defers executing the command until there is no longer a ⁇ all in progress (see FIG. 18) .
  • b. Musi ⁇ is played to the attendant.
  • Software senses the a ⁇ tivation from the

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système de commande de télécommunications pour accepter une pluralité de postes à usage multiple utilisés comme postes d'opérateurs (1D-1) dans un centre d'opérateurs qui assurent la gestion d'appels arrivant au système et provenant de postes (1B-1). Ce système comprend un sous-système de connexion de lignes (1C) ayant une première pluralité de dispositifs de commande de connexion. Chaque dispositif de commande de connexion dans cette première pluralité de dispositifs de commande de connexion coopère avec un poste respectif parmi la pluralité de postes à usage multiple pour définir les extrémités opposées d'un chemin de connexion d'appels. Chacun de ces dispositifs de commande de connexion possède des moyens de commutation commandables pour ouvrir le chemin de connexion de l'appel et libérer le poste respectif à usage multiple. Le système offre une sécurité contre l'utilisation de tout poste à usage multiple dans le centre d'opérateurs par une personne non autorisée. Le sous-système de connexion de ligne comprend en outre une seconde pluralité de dispositifs de commande de connexion. Chaque dispositif de commande de connexion de cette seconde pluralité permet la coopération avec un poste de la pluralité de postes de départ pour définir les extrémités opposées d'un chemin de connexion d'appels. Une interconnexion commandable est agencée entre la première pluralité et la seconde pluralité de dispositifs de commande de connexion et comprend un système permettant de commander le système d'interconnexion de sorte que les appels arrivant provenant des postes de départ sont passés aux postes à usage multiple qui ont été acceptés comme postes opérateurs. La commande du système d'interconnexion s'effectue par un sous-système de traitement par ordinateur (1E) qui prévoit la supervision du système à partir d'une console de supervision (1K).
PCT/US1988/003223 1987-10-05 1988-09-16 Systeme de commande de communications par ligne telephonique WO1989003146A1 (fr)

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AU25389/88A AU626812B2 (en) 1987-10-05 1988-09-16 Telephone line communications control system

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US106,726 1987-10-05

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Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0429770A2 (fr) * 1989-11-27 1991-06-05 Teloquent Communications Corporation Système de distribution d'appel automatique sans commutateur
EP0429770A3 (en) * 1989-11-27 1993-03-10 Unifi Communications Corporation Switchless automatic call distribution system
US5271058A (en) * 1989-11-27 1993-12-14 Unifi Communications Corporation Switchless automatic call distribution system used with a combination of networks
US5274700A (en) * 1989-11-27 1993-12-28 Unifi Communications Corporation Methods of automatically rerouting an incoming telephone call placed over a network
US5991390A (en) * 1995-03-28 1999-11-23 British Telecommunications Public Limited Company Method and apparatus for teleworking from remote terminals

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA1310390C (fr) 1992-11-17
EP0383790A4 (en) 1992-09-23
EP0383790A1 (fr) 1990-08-29

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