timeout pattern

We have an IVR phone system that receives calls from customers. They elect to make a payment then key in their credit card number. The IVR calls our middleware (BizTalk) which then makes the payment request to the bank via a web service call.

The problem is that the bank's web service has a timeout of 3 minutes but our IVR must timeout after 30 seconds - at which point the caller is routed to a human service rep.

If we timeout we will not be able to let customer know whether the payment has been successful. We could tell them it failed then follow up with a cancellation request to the bank but this seems a little pessimistic.

I guess this is a common problem and there will be an elegant design pattern to solve it - but I haven't found it yet! I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Tha开发者_JS百科nks

Rob.

1) Start playing the music, classical or depended on region of client, nationality, culture. It will help, I think.

2) Call back to him/her if it is not expensive. Ask about this and do it anyway.