Importance

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Abstract

It is known in the prior art to, when a telephone customer is unavailable to take a call, page the customer, thereby notifying the customer that a telephone call is waiting. The customer may then call in to a meet-me bridge to be connected to the incoming telephone call. However, if the customer does not respond to the page in time, prior art systems provide for the calling party's call to be routed to an alternate destination, e.g., a voice messaging system. The calling party's telephone call is thereby considered completed. If the customer thereafter becomes available, the customer is not connected to the caller's telephone call even if the caller is still connected to the alternate destination. In accordance with the principles of the invention, this problem is overcome by, in response to receipt of the telephone call from the customer, a) disconnecting the caller's telephone call from the alternate destination and b) connecting the caller's telephone call with the customer's call substantially contemporaneous with receipt of the customer's call.

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First Claim