Method and system for telephone wait user interface selection

• US 20050152531A1
• Filed: 01/12/2004
• Published: 07/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Waters, Timothy Moffett, Gusler, Carl Phillip, Schatz, Harry, Hamilton, Rick Allen II
• Granted Patent: US 7,092,510 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/266.10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4285 Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold, e.g. Music On Hold

Abstract

In the method of the present invention, a customer of a service provider would be placed in hold while waiting to speak to a customer service representative. The method and system of the invention would recognize the telephone number of the caller using a “caller ID” system. If this call is the first time the caller has ever called, the caller would be presented with an audible listing of listening choices that would include but not be limited to the latest news, the weather (of the caller'"'"'s location), financial headlines, or a selection of music stations (via cable radio, for example). The caller would then speak or type his/her preference into the keypad and the selection would be played. If the caller does not like the selection, the caller can then speak another selection or type the new selection as many times as the caller prefers. The caller selection is recorded in a caller preference database. Finally, when the same customer calls one or more additional times, the system would retain the caller'"'"'s number and preferred listening selection, based on caller ID value. The listening selection would automatically be played on subsequent calls.

Claims

1. A method for providing listening activity for a caller placed in a hold queue during a telephone call comprising the steps of:

creating a caller preference database containing a listing of different callers and the listening preference of each caller;

identifying the telephone number of the call;

determining whether the identified telephone number is in a caller database containing caller telephone number and listening preferences corresponding to each telephone number contained in the database;

playing a listening activity in the receiver of the caller based on the caller selection.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said playing step, the step of:

presenting the caller with a set of listening options from which to choose; and

recording the caller selection in the caller database.

3. The method as described in claim 2 wherein said listening options presenting step is perform when there is a determination that the caller telephone number is not is the caller database.

4. The method as described in claim 2 wherein said recording step further comprises the steps of creating a record for each identified telephone number, the record comprising fields for the telephone number area code, the telephone number and a preferred listening option.

5. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising after there has been a determination that the identified number is currently contained in the database, the steps of:

receiving a prompt from the caller to change the current listening selection of the caller;

presenting the set of listening options to the caller; and

recording the new selection by the caller in the database for that caller telephone number.

6. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said identifying step, the steps of:

determining whether it is necessary to place the caller in a hold queue;

when the determination is that it is necessary to place the caller in the hold queue, determining the average hold time for a caller in the queue; and

determining whether the caller desires to hear a listening option while in the queue.

7. The method as described in claim 6 further comprising when there is a determination that the caller desires to hear listening options the identifying, determining and playing steps of claim 1.

11. The computer program product as described in claim 2 wherein said recording instructions further comprise instructions for creating a record for each identified telephone number, the record comprising fields for the telephone number area code, the telephone number and a preferred listening option.

8. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for providing listening activity for a caller placed in a hold queue during a telephone call comprising of:

instructions for identifying the telephone number of the call;

instructions for determining whether the identified telephone number is in a caller database containing caller telephone number and listening preferences corresponding to each telephone number contained in the database;

instructions for playing a listening activity in the receiver of the caller based on the caller selection.

9. The computer program product as described in claim 8 further comprising before said playing instructions, instructions for:

presenting the caller with a set of listening options from which to choose; and

recording the caller selection in the caller database.

10. The computer program product as described in claim 9 wherein said listening options presenting instructions are executed when there is a determination that the caller telephone number is not is the caller database.

12. The computer program product as described in claim 8 further comprising after there has been a determination that the identified number is currently contained in the database, instructions for:

receiving a prompt from the caller to change the current listening selection of the caller;

presenting the set of listening options to the caller; and

recording the new selection by the caller in the database for that caller telephone number.

13. The computer program product as described in claim 8 further comprising before said identifying instructions:

instructions for determining whether it is necessary to place the caller in a hold queue;

instructions for when the determination is that it is necessary to place the caller in the hold queue, determining the average hold time for a caller in the queue; and

instructions for determining whether the caller desires to hear a listening option while in the queue.

14. The computer program product as described in claim 13 further comprising when there is a determination that the caller desires to hear listening options the identifying, determining and playing instructions of claim 9.

15. A method for creating a caller preference database for use in determining the listening preference of a caller comprising the steps of:

receiving a call;

identifying the telephone number of the call;

creating a record for each identified telephone number, the record comprising fields for the telephone number area code, the telephone number and the listening preference of the caller;

recording a listening option selected by the caller in the caller listening preference field of the created record;

storing the record in the caller record in the database; and

repeating above said steps for each newly identified caller telephone number.

16. The method as described in claim 15 further comprising the step of creating a set of sub-directories in the caller database base on the area code of the caller telephone number.

17. The method as described in claim 16 further comprises the step of creating a sub-directory record for the area code and a pointer in each record for an identified telephone number that points to the record of the corresponding area code.