초록 ▼

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle mounted directional microphone assembly for use in hands-free cellular telecommunications. The microphone assembly is comprised of a case and a removable directional microphone module. The case is adapted to mount and lock the module in a plurality of

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle mounted directional microphone assembly for use in hands-free cellular telecommunications. The microphone assembly is comprised of a case and a removable directional microphone module. The case is adapted to mount and lock the module in a plurality of different orientations, thereby enabling the assembly to accommodate various mounting arrangements within the vehicle. The module is releasable, however, from its locked position to permit re-orientation of the microphone with respect to the case, if desired. The module is also completely removable from the case to permit mounting of the module within the vehicle in mounting arrangements independent of the case.

대표청구항 ▼

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle mounted directional microphone assembly for use in hands-free cellular telecommunications. The microphone assembly is comprised of a case and a removable directional microphone module. The case is adapted to mount and lock the module in a plurality of

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle mounted directional microphone assembly for use in hands-free cellular telecommunications. The microphone assembly is comprised of a case and a removable directional microphone module. The case is adapted to mount and lock the module in a plurality of different orientations, thereby enabling the assembly to accommodate various mounting arrangements within the vehicle. The module is releasable, however, from its locked position to permit re-orientation of the microphone with respect to the case, if desired. The module is also completely removable from the case to permit mounting of the module within the vehicle in mounting arrangements independent of the case. agents further defines a preemption threshold; and the method further comprising in response to another request being enqueued in the request queue of the one of the found agents at a priority that exceeds by the preemption threshold the priority at which the request that is being processed was enqueued when it was removed from the request queues, preempting the processing of the request that is being processed by processing of the other request. 5. The method of claim 2 further comprising: in response to one of the found agents processing the request, removing the request from all of the request queues. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein: each of the plurality of agents is one of (a) a different single one human agent, (b) a different single one service circuit, and (c) a different single one function. 7. The method of claim 2 wherein: each rule definition further defines a priority of the corresponding rule; and enqueuing comprises enqueuing the request in the request queue of each one of the found agents at the priority of the rule that led to the finding of the one agent. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein: at least one rule definition further defines a function for changing the priority of the corresponding rule over time; and enqueuing further comprises over time changing the priority of the request in the request queue of each one of the agents found by the at least one rule according to the function of the rule definition of the at least one rule, and requeuing the request in the request queue of each one of the agents found by the at least one rule according to the changed priority of the request in that request queue. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein: the rule definition that led to the finding of the found agents further defines a preemption threshold; and the method further comprises one of the found agents removing the request from its request queue and processing the request, and in response to another request being enqueued in the request queue of the one of the found agents at a priority that exceeds by the preemption threshold the priority at which the request that is being processed was enqueued, preempting the processing of the request that is being processed by processing of the other request. 10. The method of claim 2 wherein: the rule definition of at least one of the rules further defines a coverage path of the one rule; and enqueuing comprises estimating a minimum in-queue waiting time for the request in the request queues of the agents found by the one rule; in response to an estimated minimum in-queue waiting time not exceeding a threshold, enqueuing the request in the request queues of the agents found by the one rule; and in response to the estimated minimum in-queue waiting time exceeding the threshold, enqueuing the request in the request queues of at least one agent, other than the found agents, identified by the coverage path of the one rule. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is a call. 12. An apparatus that performs the method of claims 1 or 2 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 3 or 4 or 11. 13. A computer readable medium containing software which, when executed in a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of claim 1 or 2 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 3 or 4 or 11. 14. An apparatus for distributing requests among agents for processing the requests, comprising: means for determining attributes of an individual request; means for defining a plurality of request queues each corresponding to a different individual single one of a plurality of agents for enqueuing requests, each individual single one of the plurality of agents having its own dedicated said request queue, and each individual single one of the plurality of agents for processing only requests enqueued by its said own request queue; means for storing a plurality of rule definitions each defining a correspondence between at least one request attribute and at least one individual single agent who individually has skills needed for processing a request having the at least one request attribute; means responsive to the individual request having at least one determined request attribute, for individually finding from the rules definitions at least one individual single agent that corresponds to the at least one determined request attribute; and means responsive to the finding of the at least one individual single agent, for enqueuing the individual request in the dedicated request queue of each one of the found individual single agents. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein: the means for finding comprise means for storing a plurality of agent definitions, each agent definition corresponding and dedicated to a different individual single one of the plurality of agents and defining attributes of the corresponding individual single one of the plurality of the agents; means responsive to a request having at least one determined request attribute, for finding from the rules definitions at least one agent attribute that corresponds to the at least one determined request attribute; and means responsive to finding at least one agent attribute, for individually finding from the agent definitions at least one individual single agent among the plurality of the agents that corresponds to the found resource attribute. 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein: each rule definition further defines an initial priority of the corresponding rule, a function for changing the priority of the corresponding rule over time, and a coverage path of the corresponding rule; and the enqueuing means comprise means for estimating a minimum in-queue waiting time for the request in the request queues of the agents found by a rule, means responsive to the estimated minimum in-queue waiting time not exceeding a threshold, for enqueuing the request in the request queue of an agent found by the rule at the initial priority of the rule, and responsive to the estimated minimum in-queue waiting time exceeding the threshold, for enqueuing the request in the request queue of an agent identified by the coverage path of the rule, and means for changing over time the priority of the request in the request queue in which it is enqueued according to the function of the rule definition of the rule, and for re-queuing the request in the request queue in which it is enqueued according to the changed priority of the request in the request queue in which it is enqueued; and the apparatus further comprising means responsive to one of the found agents processing the request, for removing the request from all of the request queues. 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the rule definition that led to the finding of the found agents further defines a preemption threshold; and the apparatus further comprising means responsive to another request being enqueued in the request queue of the one of the found agents at a priority that exceeds by the preemption threshold the priority at which the request that is being processed was enqueued when it was removed from the request queues, for preempting the processing of the request that is being processed by processing of the other request. 18. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising: means responsive to one of the found agents processing the request, for removing the request from all of the request queues. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising: means for receiving the requests for processing; the plurality of agents for processing the requests; and means for connecting the received requests to the agents. 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the requests comprise calls. 21. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein: each of the plurality of agents is one of (a) a different single one human agent, (b) a different single one service circuit, and (c) a different single one function. 22. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein: each rule d