United States Patent [w]
Kocis et al.
[54] TELEPHONE CUSTOMER SUPPORT UTILITY
[75] Inventors: Thomas J. Kocis; Mark Larson, both of Austin; Charles W. Morrison, Terrell; Stephen K. Smith, Spicewood, all of Tex.
[73] Assignee: Dell U.SA., L.P., Round Rock, Tex.
[21] Appl. No.: 699,845
[22] Filed: Aug. 20, 1996
[51] Int. CI.6 H04M 11/00; G06F 11/00
[52] U.S. CI 379/93.31; 379/93.31;
379/93.28; 379/93.37; 395/183.01; 395/183.03;
395/183.22
[58] Field of Search 379/90.01, 93.01,
379/93.26, 93.28, 93.31, 93.37, 106.01, 102.01, 102.02, 102.03, 93.27, 93.23; 395/183.01-183.22
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,889,062 6/1975 Epstein 379/93.37
4,356,545 10/1982 West 395/183.22
4,425,625 1/1984 Seligman et al 379/93.31
4,823,343 4/1989 Takahashi 395/183.22
5,367,667 11/1994 Wahlquist et al 395/183.08
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[ii] Patent Number: 5,854,828 [45] Date of Patent: Dec. 29, 1998
5,428,608 6/1995 Freeman et al 379/93.28
5,455,933 10/1995 Schieve et al 395/183.03
5,522,089 5/1996 Kinkinis et al 379/93.23
5,553,123 9/1996 Chan et al 379/102.03
5,678,002 10/1997 Faucett et al 395/183.01
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Newton's Telecom Dictionary, p. 36, Nov. 1994.
Primary Examiner—Curtis A. Kuntz
Assistant Examiner—George Eng
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Haynes and Boone, L.L.P.
[57] ABSTRACT
A telephonic customer support utility for providing diagnostic support of a customer computer including encoding an operational status of a customer's computer to produce audible tones on a speaker corresponding to the encoded status for transmission on a standard telephone line via a standard telephone of the encoded operational status to a remote support computer, the remote support computer having a receiver electrically connected to receive the tones transmitted on the telephone line. The received tones are decoded by a decoder of the remote support computer to determine the operational status of the customer's computer, which status is displayed on a display of the remote support computer for analysis by a customer support technicians.
16 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
