Telephone call processing in an interactive voice response call management system

• US 20030026409A1
• Filed: 07/31/2001
• Published: 02/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacific Bell Telephone Company (AT&T, Inc.), SBC Services, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.), SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bushey, Robert R., Martin, John Mills, Bowen, Yanira Marbella, Lawrence, Ruth Elaine, Simon, Rachel Beth, Quackenbush, Denise
• Granted Patent: US 7,065,201 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals

Abstract

The present invention relates to a customer call routing menu employing an interactive voice response system (IVR) to process a call in a customer service center. The menu messages are provided in terms of customer tasks to be performed, rather than in terms of corporate units. Further, the menu messages are arranged and played to the caller in the order of the most frequently requested tasks and include terminology commonly used by customers.

Claims

1. A method of processing a telephone call placed to an interactive voice response system of a customer service center of a telecommunications carrier, comprising:

receiving a call from a caller;

presenting a sequence of menu messages to the caller that represent caller tasks, the sequence of menu messages being arranged in an order so that more frequently requested tasks are played to the caller before less frequently requested tasks are played to the caller;

prompting the caller to select from one of the menu messages; and

routing the call in accordance with the caller'"'"'s selection.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises presenting a main menu to the caller and at least one sub-menu to the caller.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the menu messages is associated with a customer bill or payment.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the menu messages is associated with adding, changing, or removing an optional service.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the menu messages is associated with opening or closing an account.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the menu messages is associated with moving or reconnecting telephone service.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the menu messages is associated with obtaining information about telephone services.

8. A method of processing a telephone call placed to an interactive voice response system of a customer service center of a telecommunications carrier, comprising:

receiving a call from a caller;

presenting a sequence of main menu messages to the caller, at least one of the menu messages representing groups of customer tasks;

prompting the caller to select from one of the main menu messages;

presenting a sequence of sub-menu messages to the caller;

prompting the caller to select from one of the sub-menu messages;

routing the call in accordance with the caller'"'"'s selection.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the sequence of main menu messages are arranged in an order so that more frequently requested tasks are played to the caller before less frequently requested tasks are played to the caller.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the sequence of sub-menu messages are arranged in an order so that more frequently requested tasks are played to the caller before less frequently requested tasks are played to the caller.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the sub-menu messages represents groups of customer tasks.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the main menu messages is associated with a customer bill or payment.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the main menu messages is associated with adding, changing, or removing an optional service.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the main menu messages is associated with opening or closing an account.

15. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the main menu messages is associated with moving or reconnecting telephone service.

16. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the main menu messages is associated with obtaining information about telephone services.

17. A telecommunications system for receiving telephone calls at a customer service center, said telecommunications system comprising:

an interactive voice response unit that provides at least one menu of messages representing customer tasks requested by customers, said at least one menu being arranged in an order so that more frequently requested tasks are played to the caller before less frequently requested tasks are played to the caller,

wherein the caller is prompted to select a menu message and the call is routed in accordance with the caller'"'"'s selection.

18. The telecommunications system according to claim 17, wherein the selection of a menu message by a caller causes a sub-menu to be presented to the caller, the sub-menu comprising a sequence of menu messages.

19. The telecommunications system according to claim 17, wherein the selection of a menu message by a caller causes the call to be transferred to a customer service representative.

20. A computer readable medium for storing a computer program that processes a telephone call in an interactive voice response system, said medium comprising:

a presenting source code segment that presents a sequence of menu messages to the caller that represent caller tasks, said sequence of menu messages being arranged in an order so that more frequently requested tasks are played to the caller before less frequently requested tasks are played to the caller;

a prompting source code segment that prompts the caller to select from one of said menu messages; and

a routing source code segment that routes the call in accordance with the caller'"'"'s selection.

21. The computer readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the presenting source code segment presents a main menu to the caller and at least one sub-menu to the caller.

22. The computer readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the presenting source code segment presents a sub-menu to the caller in response to the routing code segment routing the call in accordance with the caller'"'"'s selection from the main menu.

23. The computer readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the routing source code segment transfers the caller to a customer service representative.

24. The computer readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the presenting source code segment presents at least one sub-menu to the caller in response to the caller'"'"'s selection from another sub-menu.