System and method for recording and storing telephone call information

• US 20010040942A1
• Filed: 06/08/2001
• Published: 11/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nice Systems Incorporated (Nice Ltd)
• Original Assignee: Dictaphone Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Richter, John E., Glowny, David A., Ni, Phil Min
• Granted Patent: US 6,728,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 31/00 Arrangements for the associated working of recording or reproducing apparatus with related apparatus with cameras or projectors G03B31/00 ; recording/reproducing of music for electrophonic musical instruments G10H1/0033; automatic arrangements for answering calls or for recording messages for absent subscribers H04M1/64; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with dictation recording and playback systems H04M11/10; connection of TV recorder with other related apparatus, e.g. TV camera or receiver, in which the TV signal is significantly involved H04N, e.g. H04N23/00, H04N5/765; combination of radio or TV with other apparatus, e.g. with vehicles H05K11/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/301 Management of recordings
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2281 Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/36 Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring a telephone switching environment. In a preferred embodiment the system and method identify telephone call segments that relate to one telephone call and construct a data representation of a lifetime of the telephone call, using data regarding telephony events associated with the telephone call segments of the telephone call. The system and method are also capable of using the data representation to display a graphical representation of a lifetime of a telephone call.

Claims

1. A system for recording information regarding telephone calls comprising one or more segments, comprising:

(a) a first memory having one or more locations storing audio data regarding telephone call segments relating to one or more telephone calls;

(b) a second memory having one or more locations storing data regarding telephony events associated with the telephone call segments; and

(c) a processor programmed to identify telephone call segments that relate to one telephone call and to construct a data representation of a lifetime of the telephone call, using data regarding telephony events associated with the telephone call segments of the telephone call.

2. The system of

claim 1

wherein the data representation comprises

(i) a list of participants in the telephone call,

(ii) a list of telephony events regarding the call,

(iii) a list containing the time each telephony event occurred, and

(iv) the start and end time of the call.

3. The system of

claim 1

wherein the data representation comprises, for each segment of the call, the location of the stored audio data of that segment.

4. The system of

claim 1

wherein the first memory and the second memory are the same device.

5. The system of

claim 1

wherein the processor is comprised of a plurality of physically separated components.

6. The system of

claim 2

wherein the data representation further comprises the start time, end time, and duration of each telephone call.

7. The system of

claim 3

wherein the data representation further comprises the start time, end time, and duration of each recorded segment.

8. The system of

claim 3

wherein the location of the stored audio data of each segment comprises the location of a .WAV file containing the audio data.

9. The system of

claim 8

wherein the data representation further comprises the offset within the .WAV file to the start of the stored audio data.

10. The system of

claim 1

wherein the data regarding telephony events is received from a plurality of sources connected to a telephone switching environment.

11. The system of

claim 10

wherein at least one of the sources is a real-time link and at least one of the sources is not a real-time link.

12. The system of

claim 10

wherein at least one of the sources is a CTI link and at least one of the sources is an SMDR link.

13. The system of

claim 1

further comprising display software that uses said data representation to display a graphical representation of said telephone call.

14. The system of

claim 2

further comprising display software that uses said data representation to display a graphical representation of said telephone call.

15. The system of

claim 14

wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of each segment of the call.

16. The system of

claim 14

wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of the length of time of each segment of the call.

17. The system of

claim 13

wherein the display software further displays a table comprising data from the data representation.

18. A method for recording information regarding telephone calls comprising one or more segments, comprising:

(a) receiving audio data regarding one or more telephone call segments relating to one or more telephone calls, and data regarding telephony events associated with said telephone call segments;

(b) storing the received audio data regarding telephone call segments;

(c) storing the received data regarding telephony events associated with said telephone call segments;

(d) identifying telephone call segments that relate to one telephone call; and

(e) constructing a data representation of a lifetime of the telephone call using data regarding telephony events associated with the telephone call segments of the telephone call.

19. The method of

claim 18

wherein the data representation comprises

(i) a list of participants in the telephone call,

(ii) a list of telephony events regarding the call,

(iii) a list containing the time each telephony event occurred, and

(iv) the start and end time of the call.

20. The method of

claim 18

wherein the data representation comprises, for each segment of the call, the location of the stored audio data of that segment.

21. The method of

claim 18

wherein the received audio data and the data regarding telephony events is stored in the same memory.

22. The method of

claim 18

wherein the data representation is constructed by a plurality of physically separated processors.

23. The method of

claim 19

wherein the data representation further comprises the start time, end time, and duration of each telephone call.

24. The method of

claim 20

wherein the data representation further comprises the start time, end time, and duration of each recorded segment.

25. The method of

claim 20

wherein the location of the stored audio data of each segment comprises the location of a .WAV file containing the audio data.

26. The method of

claim 25

wherein the data representation further comprises the offset within the .WAV file to the start of the stored audio data.

27. The method of

claim 18

wherein the data regarding telephony events is received from a plurality of sources connected to a telephone switching environment.

28. The method of

claim 27

wherein at least one of the sources is a real-time link and at least one of the sources is not a real-time link.

29. The method of

claim 27

wherein at least one of the sources is a CTI link and at least one of the sources is an SMDR link.

30. The method of

claim 18

further comprising the step of using said data representation to display a graphical representation of said telephone call.

31. The method of

claim 19

further comprising the step of using said data representation to display a graphical representation of said telephone call.

32. The method of

claim 31

wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of each segment of the call.

33. The method of

claim 31

wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of the length of time of each segment of the call.

34. The method of

claim 30

further comprising the step of displaying a table comprising data from the data representation.