Method and apparatus for assigning priorities by applying dynamically-changeable business rules

• US 20040057570A1
• Filed: 09/24/2002
• Published: 03/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Firstpoint Contact Technologies, LLC (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Firstpoint Contact Technologies, LLC (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Inventors: Shambaugh, Craig R., Dezonno, Anthony J., Sumner, Roger A., Beckstrom, Robert P., Michelson, Mark J., Power, Mark J., Hodson, Jeffrey D., Bonifazi, Carlo
• Granted Patent: US 7,492,888 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/408 Customer-specific call routing plans
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/22 Automatic class or number identification arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5235 Dependent on call type or called number [DNIS]

Abstract

A novel method and apparatus which in one embodiment provides for prioritizing and presenting calls routed from callers through a communication network to an agent station having an associated agent, where the calls are based on voice-dialog communication and/or text-dialog communication. The method includes the steps of receiving a call from the communication network, determining a contact evaluation parameter associated with the call, and applying one or more selected business rules to the contact evaluation parameter to generate a priority value corresponding to the call. The call is assigned the priority value and is routed to a selected agent station. The call is displayed with an indication of its assigned priority value so that the agent may service the calls in priority order.

Claims

1. In a transaction processing system, a method for prioritizing and presenting calls routed from callers through a communication network to an agent station having an associated agent, the incoming calls based on voice-dialog communication and/or text-dialog communication, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a call from the communication network;

determining at least one contact evaluation parameter associated with the call;

applying one or more selected business rules to the contact evaluation parameter to generate a priority value corresponding to the call;

assigning the priority value to the call; and

displaying an indication of each of the calls based on the assigned priority value.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the call is processed to assign the priority value before it is routed to a selected agent station.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the call is processed to assign the priority value after it is routed to a selected agent station.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the contact evaluation parameter is derived from information obtained from a database, the database being accessed based upon an identification of the call.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the database is accessed by an index or pointer derived from data contained in a DNIS or an ANI field associated with the incoming call.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein the information obtained from the database is selected from the group consisting of customer name, product identification, sales order history, sales volume of ordered merchandise, dollar value of ordered merchandise, customer payment history, and customer payment delinquency history.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the contact evaluation parameter corresponds to a geographical location associated with an origin of the call.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the geographical location of origination of the call is determined based on area code information contained in a DNIS or an ANI field associated with the call.

9. The method according to claim 4 wherein the contact evaluation parameter is based on a time that the call is received.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein if the call is a voice-based communication, the contact evaluation parameter is set to voice-priority, and the business rule applied specifies that the call is assigned a priority value greater than all calls having a contact evaluation parameter other than voice-priority.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein if the call is a text-based communication, the contact evaluation parameter is set to text-priority, and the business rule applied specifies that the call is assigned a priority value greater than all calls having a contact evaluation parameter other than text-priority.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein if the call is a voice-based communication, the contact evaluation parameter is set to voice-priority, and the business rule. applied specifies that the call is, assigned a priority value based upon a chronological time that the call was received.

13. The method according to claim 10 wherein the business rule applied further specifies that the call is assigned a priority value based upon a chronological time that the incoming call was received.

14. The method according to claim 6 wherein the contact evaluation parameter corresponds to the customer name and the selected business rule compares the customer name to a VIP (very important persons) list to generate the priority value.

15. The method according to claim 7 wherein the selected business rule compares the geographical location of an origination of the call with a list of prioritized geographical locations to generate the priority value.

16. The method according to claim 9 wherein the priority value generated is based upon a time that the call is received relative to a close-of-business time relative to the caller.

17. The method according to claim 16 wherein the priority value assigned to the call is increased in priority if the time of receipt of the call is within a predetermined period of time of the close-of-business time.

18. The method according to claim 6 wherein the contact evaluation parameter corresponds to the sales order history and the selected business rule assigns a priority value proportional to a caller purchase amount.

19. The method according to claim 6 wherein the contact evaluation parameter corresponds to the customer payment delinquency history and the selected business rule assigns a priority value inversely proportional to a delinquent amount associated with the caller.

20. The method according to claim 1 wherein the content of the call is analyzed.

21. The method according to claim 20 wherein analyzing the content of the call includes generating a list of key words based on the content of the incoming call.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of applying the selected business rule further includes the step of comparing the generated list of keywords with a master key word list to generate a priority value.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the master keyword list is universal and is applicable to a plurality of callers.

24. The method according to claim 1 wherein if the call is a text-based communication, the text of the call is analyzed.

25. The method according to claim 1 wherein if the call is a voice-based communication, a speech-recognition processor converts the speech to text, and the converted text of the incoming call is analyzed.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the priority values assigned to the calls are dynamically reassigned.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the priority values are reassigned in real time in response to real-world events.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the priority values are reassigned by changing the business rules, adding business rules, or by modifying the contact evaluation parameter.

29. A transaction processing system for prioritizing and presenting calls routed from callers through a communication network to an agent station having an associated agent, the calls based on voice-dialog communication and/or text-dialog communication comprising:

means for receiving a call from the communication network;

means for determining a contact evaluation parameter associated with the call;

means for applying one or more selected business rules to the contact evaluation parameter to generate a priority value corresponding to the call;

means for assigning the priority value to the call; and

means for displaying an indication of each of the calls based on the assigned priority value.

30. The method according to claim 29 wherein if the call is a voice-based communication, the contact evaluation parameter is set to voice-priority, and the business rule applied specifies that the call is assigned a priority value greater than all calls having a contact evaluation parameter other than voice-priority.

31. The method according to claim 29 wherein if the call is a text-based communication, the contact evaluation parameter is set to text-priority, and the business rule applied specifies that the call is assigned a priority value greater than all calls having a contact evaluation parameter other than text-priority.

32. The method according to claim 29 wherein the contact evaluation parameter is derived from information obtained from a database, the database being accessed based upon an identification of the call.

33. The method according to claim 32 wherein the database is accessed by an index or pointer derived from data contained in a DNIS or an ANI field associated with the incoming call.

34. A transaction processing system configured to prioritize and present calls routed from a caller through a communication network to an agent station having an associated agent, the calls based on voice-dialog communication and/or text-dialog communication, the system comprising:

at least one communication processor operatively incorporated into or coupled to the transaction processing system to facilitate sending and receiving the voice-dialog communication and text-dialog communication between the caller and the agent to determine;

a contact evaluation parameter associated with the call and applying one or more selected business rules to the contact evaluation parameter to generate a priority value corresponding to the call and to assign the priority value to the call; and

a plurality of agent stations operatively coupled to the communication processor, each agent terminal having a display screen to display a list of pending calls and to display on the display screen an indication of each of the calls based on the assigned priority value so that the agent services the calls in priority order.

35. A computer readable memory or data storage means encoded with data representing a computer program for a transaction processing system, the system configured to prioritize and present calls routed from callers through a communication network to an agent station having an associated agent, the calls based on voice-dialog communication and/or text-dialog communication, the computer readable memory or data storage means comprising:

means for receiving an incoming call from the communication network;

means for determining a contact evaluation parameter associated with the call;

means for applying one or more selected business rules to the contact evaluation parameter to generate a priority value corresponding to the call;

means for assigning the priority value to the call; and

means for displaying an indication of each of the calls based on the assigned priority value.