Telephone call on hold service for a party placed on hold by another party
Patent 5875231 Issued on February 23, 1999. Estimated Expiration Date: 
July 26, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
July 26, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesElectronic audio communications system with voice command features Voice directed communications system platform Communications marketing system Patent #: 5557658 InventorsApplicationNo. 686780 filed on 07/26/1996US Classes:379/67.1, AUDIO MESSAGE STORAGE, RETRIEVAL, OR SYNTHESIS379/76, Announcement selection or replacement379/77, Control by generated tone379/88.01, Voice activation or recognition379/88.11, Display of message related information379/209.01, Repetitive call attempts (e.g., camp-on-busy, retry)379/210.01, Reserved call (e.g., return call, call back, scheduled call, reestablished call)379/393Hold circuitExaminersPrimary: Tsang, FanAssistant: Hoosain, Allan Attorney, Agent or FirmInternational ClassesH04M 001/64H04M 003/42 AbstractAn on hold telephony service that allows a party placed on hold, if he is a subscriber to the service, to also place the call on hold and then hang up. The on hold service can be implemented on a central office switch or an enhanced services platform connected to the switch. The on hold service is accessed by the party placed on hold, i.e., subscriber, through a transfer function that causes the call to be maintained by the on hold service. When the party who originally placed the call on hold returns to the call, the on hold service informs him that the service will then call the subscriber so that both parties can be reconnected. | |
