A system for presenting a recorded message on behalf of an agent receiving a
call
at an agent station in a call center, the agent station having a telephony interface
for receiving calls and a personal computer with a video display unit (PC/VDU),
has a telephony switching apparatus enhanced by a computer-telephony integration
(CTI) processor, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system executing a voice treatment
option (VTO) software, coupled to the telephony switching apparatus and the CTI
processor; and a data repository having recorded messages stored on behalf of the
agent and accessible to the CTI processor. The CTI processor routes incoming calls
to the telephony interface for the agent, uses data associated with the calls for
selecting appropriate recorded messages, and causes, by controlling the IVR, a
retrieved recorded message to be played to a caller upon the agent picking up the
routed call. The system is useful with both conventional telephone systems and
data network telephony, such as over the Internet.