DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S Pub. No. 2017/0099323 A1 to Sandgren in view of U.S Pub. No. 2012/0027194 A1 to Deshpande et al. (hereinafter “Deshpande”).
Regarding claim 1, Sandgren teaches a method performed by a central server associated with a contact center service (Fig. 3 and paragraph [0030]; the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session), comprising:
receiving queue-related data from a survivability server (the backup B2BUA 122N) associated with the contact center service (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session);
establishing a reconnection between a device of the end user and the contact center service (Fig.3, paragraphs [0044] and [0049]; communication session is reestablished between the communication devices 101A and 101N with the backup B2BUA 122N sequenced into the communication session in step 320); and
placing the end user at a position in a queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
However, Sandgren does not explicitly teach identifying an end user based on the queue-related data.
Deshpande discloses identifying an end user based on the queue-related data (paragraph [0020]; requesting the reference number from the customer to identify and verify the re-connected customer call. The IVR system options provided to the customer may comprise the option of directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call, or the option of following the normal IVR system option flow).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to modify Sandgren’s teaching with a feature of identifying an end user based on the queue-related data as taught by Deshpande in order to provide an option to a user directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call (paragraph [0020]; Deshpande).
Regarding claim 2, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, wherein establishing the reconnection between the device of the end user and the contact center service comprises: sending a session initiation protocol (SIP) re-invite message to the device of the end user to modify a first connection between the device of the end user and the survivability server to become a second connection between the device of the end user and the central server (Fig.3 and paragraphs [0040]-[0041]; a SIP in-dialog message would include a SIP re-INVITE, a SIP INVITE/HOLD, a SIP RINGING, a SIP PRAK, a SIP NOTIFY, a SIP REFER, a SIP UPDATE, a SIP MESSAGE, a SIP 200 OK, a SIP ACK and/or the like. For example, the user of the communication device 101A may have pushed a button to put a voice call on hold, which results in a SIP INVITE/HOLD in-dialog message being sent in step 306).
Regarding claim 3, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
notifying the end user of a reconnection event (paragraphs [0039], [0044] and [0049]; receiving the SIP NOTIFY/PUBLISH message in step 308, the backup B2BUA 122N sends a SIP INVITE with Replaces Header to reestablish the communication session to both the communication devices 101A and 101N in steps 316 and 318).
Regarding claim 4, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a contact center request from a new end user; and placing the new end user at a tail of the queue (paragraphs [0032] and [0041]- [0042]; the sequenced applications 122A-122N, the IVR system 223 the queue(s) 224, and the session reestablishment modules 225A-225B are stored-program-controlled entities).
Regarding claim 5, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, wherein establishing the reconnection between the device of the end user and the contact center service (Fig. 3 and paragraph [0030]; the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session), comprises:
receiving a contact center request from the device of the end user (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122);
determining that the queue-related data includes data related to the end user (Fig. 3 and paragraph [0030]; the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session); and establishing the reconnection based on determining that the queue-related data includes the data related to the end user (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session).
Regarding claim 6, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the queue includes another end user, and wherein placing the end user at the position in the queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data comprises: determining that the queue-related data does not includes data related to the another end user (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session); and
in response to determining that the queue-related data does not includes data related to the another end user, placing the end user ahead of the another end user in the queue (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session).
Regarding claim 7, Sandgren teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting an indication to the survivability server that the contact center service is transitioning from a survivability mode to a normal mode, wherein the queue-related data is received based on the indication (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 8, Sandgren teaches a system, comprising:
one or more memories (Fig.3 and paragraph [0032]; FIG. 3 and the processes described herein by executing program instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as a memory or disk); and
one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to execute instructions of a central server associated with a contact center service and stored in the one or more memories to (Fig.3 and paragraph [0032]; FIG. 3 and the processes described herein by executing program instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as a memory or disk):
receive queue-related data from a survivability server associated with the contact center service (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session);
establish a reconnection between a device of the end user and the contact center service (Fig.3, paragraphs [0044] and [0049]; communication session is reestablished between the communication devices 101A and 101N with the backup B2BUA 122N sequenced into the communication session in step 320); and
place the end user at a position in a queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
However, Sandgren does not explicitly teach identify an end user based on the queue-related data.
Deshpande discloses identify an end user based on the queue-related data (paragraph [0020]; requesting the reference number from the customer to identify and verify the re-connected customer call. The IVR system options provided to the customer may comprise the option of directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call, or the option of following the normal IVR system option flow).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to modify Sandgren’s teaching with a feature of identify an end user based on the queue-related data as taught by Deshpande in order to provide an option to a user directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call (paragraph [0020]; Deshpande).
Regarding claim 9, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8,
wherein the queue-related data includes a position of the end user in a queue associated with the survivability server at a time that the contact center service is transitioned from a survivability mode and a normal mode (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session),
wherein first contact center requests received by the contact center service in the survivability mode are queued at the survivability server, and wherein second contact center requests received by the contact center service in the normal mode are queued at the central server (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 10, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8, wherein a session initiation protocol (SIP) re-invite is used to reconnect the device of the end user to the contact center service (Fig.3 and paragraphs [0040]-[0041]; a SIP in-dialog message would include a SIP re-INVITE, a SIP INVITE/HOLD, a SIP RINGING, a SIP PRAK, a SIP NOTIFY, a SIP REFER, a SIP UPDATE, a SIP MESSAGE, a SIP 200 OK, a SIP ACK and/or the like. For example, the user of the communication device 101A may have pushed a button to put a voice call on hold, which results in a SIP INVITE/HOLD in-dialog message being sent in step 306).
Regarding claim 11, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8, wherein to establish the reconnection between the device of the end user and the contact center service comprises to: receive a contact center request from the device of the end user; and establish the reconnection based on a determination that the queue-related data includes the data related to the end user Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 12, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the instructions to place the end user at the position in the queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data comprises to: determine whether to place the end user ahead of another user already in the queue based on whether the queue-related data includes data related to the another user (paragraphs [0029]- [0032]; the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session).
Regarding claim 13, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memories to:
receive, from a new end user, a contact center request to connect to the contact center service; and determining a position of the new end user in the queue based on whether the new end user is associated with prioritized routing (paragraphs [0024] and [0030]-[0032]; when a communication message from the communication device 101A is received by the session manager 120 (e.g., a SIP INVITE), the session manager 120 routes the message to the sequenced application 122. The sequenced application 122 then routes the message back to the session manager 120. The session manager 120 in turn sends the message to the communication device 101N).
Regarding claim 14, Sandgren teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the queue-related data are received based on an indication to transition the contact center service from a survivability mode to a normal mode (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 15, Sandgren teaches one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations performed by a central server associated with a contact center service (Fig. 3 and paragraph [0030]; the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session), the operations comprising:
receiving queue-related data from a survivability server associated with the contact center service (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031] and [0049]; The session reestablishment module 225 then sends the SIP INVITE with Replaces Header of steps 316 and 318. The session reestablishment module 225 also notifies the backup B2BUA 122N so that the backup B2BUA can take over the session);
establishing a reconnection between a device of the end user and the contact center service (Fig.3, paragraphs [0044] and [0049]; communication session is reestablished between the communication devices 101A and 101N with the backup B2BUA 122N sequenced into the communication session in step 320); and
placing the end user at a position in a queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
However, Sandgren does not explicitly teach identifying an end user based on the queue-related data.
Deshpande discloses identifying an end user based on the queue-related data (paragraph [0020]; requesting the reference number from the customer to identify and verify the re-connected customer call. The IVR system options provided to the customer may comprise the option of directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call, or the option of following the normal IVR system option flow).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to modify Sandgren’s teaching with a feature of identifying an end user based on the queue-related data as taught by Deshpande in order to provide an option to a user directly jumping to the last saved option of the abruptly disconnected call (paragraph [0020]; Deshpande).
Regarding claim 16, Sandgren teaches the one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein establishing the reconnection between the device of the end user and the contact center service comprises: establishing the reconnection based on a contact center request received from the device of the end user (Fig.3, paragraphs [0044] and [0049]; communication session is reestablished between the communication devices 101A and 101N with the backup B2BUA 122N sequenced into the communication session in step 320).
Regarding claim 17, Sandgren teaches the one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the queue includes another end user, and wherein placing the end user at the position in the queue associated with the central server based on the queue-related data comprises: placing the end user ahead of the another end user in the queue based on a determination that the queue-related data does not include data related to the another end user (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 18, Sandgren teaches the one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the position is determined based on whether the queue-related data indicates that the end user is associated with prioritized routing (paragraphs [0024] and [0030]-[0032]; when a communication message from the communication device 101A is received by the session manager 120 (e.g., a SIP INVITE), the session manager 120 routes the message to the sequenced application 122. The sequenced application 122 then routes the message back to the session manager 120. The session manager 120 in turn sends the message to the communication device 101N).
Regarding claim 19, Sandgren teaches the one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting a request to the central server for the queue-related data (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Regarding claim 20, Sandgren teaches the one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 19, wherein the request for the queue-related data comprises an indication that the central server is available (Fig. 3, paragraphs [0030]- [0031]; The queues 224 may be any hardware/software that is used to hold calls. For example, the queues 224 may be contact center queues 224 for holding call that are waiting to be serviced by a contact center agent. The queue 224 may be the communication device 101 that is involved in the communication session. The session reestablishment module 225 can be or may include any hardware/software that is a common process for use by sequenced applications 122 to manage failover of sequenced application 122. Each sequenced application 122 calls the session reestablishment module to expedite transfer of a filed sequenced application 122).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S Patent No. 10,367,856 B2 to Shukla et al. discloses Systems and methods for failover recovery of multimedia communication sessions are disclosed. A system may store active session information received from a first session initiation protocol (SIP) server in a data store. The active session information includes information for an active session between a first user agent and a second user agent The system may further determine that the first SIP server is not available and provide the active session information associated with the first SIP server to a second SIP server (Abstract).
U.S Pub. No. 20150006741 A1 to Narayanan discloses various solutions are provided to preserve features during failover e.g., when one server previously providing one or more features to endpoints in a communication session fails and is replaced by a survivable server and preserve dialog information during failover (paragraph [0005]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKELAW A TESHALE whose telephone number is (571)270-5302. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am -6pm.
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AKELAW TESHALE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2694
/AKELAW TESHALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694