1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for scheduling an appointment in a communications network, such as a packet network, e.g., a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet networks and circuit-switched networks. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Exemplary packet networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) network.
Small to mid-sized business owners are increasingly employing packet networks, e.g., VoIP networks, to utilize alternative business class telephony applications, such as IP Centrex. At present, however, enterprise customers are not able to designate call treatment preferences that can be configured into service logic that processes incoming calls for handling appointment scheduling.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus that enables and enterprise owner to define incoming call service logic for handling appointment scheduling.