Integrating enterprise and provider contact center resources to handle workload on-demand

• US 20060041444A1
• Filed: 08/23/2004
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Flores, Romelia H., Salcido, Jason A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,746,998 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.50
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales

Abstract

A method for handling contact center requests can include the step of identifying a contact center request and a resource type to handle the request, where a resource of the resource type can be selected from a multitude of contact center resources. The contact center resources can include at least one enterprise resource and at least one provider resource. The request can be handled using the selected resource.

Claims

1. A method for handling contact center requests comprising the steps of:

identifying a contact center request;

ascertaining a resource type to handle the request;

selecting a resource of the resource type from a plurality of contact center resources, wherein said plurality of contact center resources includes at least one enterprise resource and at least one provider resource; and

handling the request using the selected resource.

2. The method of claim 1, said selecting step further comprising the steps of:

determining if an enterprise resource is available to handle the request; and

automatically selecting a provider resource of the resource type to handle the request when no enterprise resource of the resource type is available.

3. The method of claim 2, said determining step further comprising the steps of:

estimating a wait time before an enterprise resource is available to handle the request; and

comparing the estimated wait time to a previously established threshold, wherein availability of the enterprise resource is based at least in part upon the comparing step.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource type is a human being, and wherein the plurality of contact center resources include a plurality of human agents.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each enterprise resource of the resource type is part of a dedicated staff employed by an enterprise affiliated with a call center to which the request was directed, and wherein the provider resource of the resource type is part of a staff of outsourced agents not directly employed by the enterprise.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the enterprise resource and the provider resource utilize a common contact center infrastructure when handling the request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

conveying data between the selected resource and the common contact center infrastructure and an interaction interface used by the selected resource, wherein the interaction interface is a standardized interface for communicating with the contact center infrastructure.

8. A resource management system for managing workflow in a contact center comprising:

an enterprise network comprising a plurality of dedicated contact center resources for handling requests;

an outsourced network comprising a plurality of resources for handling requests, wherein the outsourced network resources handle requests for a plurality of different contact centers including the contact center associated with the enterprise network;

a resource router configured to receive contact center requests, to automatically select resources from among enterprise network resources and outsourced network resources, and to utilize the selected resources to handle the received contact center requests.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the resource router dynamically selects resources based upon an availability of enterprise network resources.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the resource router utilizes enterprise network resources to handle requests when the availability is above a previously established threshold, and wherein the resource router utilizes outsourced resources to handle requests when the availability is below a previously established threshold.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the resource router routes a percentage of received contact center requests to the enterprise network resources and routes a percentage of received contact center requests to the outsourced network resources in accordance with a previously established router configuration.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein a plurality of configurations are established for the system, wherein one of the configurations is selectively activated based upon at least one of a time of day, a day of the week, and a contact center season.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the resource management system further comprises:

a contact center infrastructure comprising hardware and software for handling contact center requests, wherein the contact center infrastructure is accessible by enterprise network resources and outsourced network resources.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the contact center infrastructure includes a contact center interaction system configured as a standardized interface to the hardware and software of the contact center infrastructure for enterprise network resources and outsourced network resources.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein enterprise network resources and outsourced network resources interact with the contact center infrastructure via a standardized interaction interface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein outsourced network resources access the contact center infrastructure via an outsource infrastructure, wherein the interaction interface is an integrated component of the outsource infrastructure.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the resource selected by the resource router includes a human agent, wherein a real-time communication link is established between a requesting source and the human agent, and wherein the human agent utilizes a computing device to access the contact center infrastructure while communicatively linked to the requesting source.

18. A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

identifying a contact center request;

ascertaining at least one resource type to handle the request;

for each resource type, selecting a resource of the resource type from a plurality of contact center resources, wherein said plurality of contact center resources include at least one enterprise resource and at least one provider resource; and

handling the request using the selected resources, wherein at least one of the selected resources is a human agent.

19. The machine-readable storage of claim 18, said selecting step further comprising the steps of:

determining if an enterprise resource is available to handle the request; and

automatically selecting a provider resource of the resource type to handle the request when no enterprise resource of the resource type is available.

20. The machine-readable storage of claim 18, wherein enterprise resources and functionally equivalent provider resources utilize a common contact center infrastructure when handling the request.