Optimal call speed for call center agents

• US 20070121893A1
• Filed: 11/29/2005
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jain, Mukul, Kumar, Sanjeev, Patel, Labhesh, Khouri, Joseph, Chahrouri, Gebran
• Granted Patent: US 7,864,944 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.20
• 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 2203/2061 Language aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• 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 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

A system and method for handling a call from a caller to a call center includes an automatic call distributor (ACD) to receive the call and to route the call to an agent. A module operates to compute a rate of speech of the caller, and a display graphically displays the rate of speech of the caller to the agent during the call session. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A system for handling a call from a caller to a call center comprising:

an automatic call distributor (ACD) to receive the call and to route the call to an agent; and

a module that operates to compute a rate of speech of the caller;

a display to graphically display the rate of speech of the caller to the agent.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the module computes the rate of speech of the caller from a media stream of the call received by the ACD.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the ACD includes an interactive voice response (IVR) system that prompts the caller to select an optimal rate of speech, the optimal rate of speech being displayed to the agent on the display.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the module is further operable to compute a rate of speech of the agent.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the display comprises graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer associated with the agent, the GUI including a feedback indicator field that graphically display the rate of speech of the caller versus the rate of speech of the agent.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a database coupled with the ACD to store the rate of speech of the caller computed by the module.

7. A system for handling a call from a caller to a call center comprising:

means for receiving the call and for routing the call to an agent;

means for computing a rate of speech of the caller; and

means for displaying the rate of speech of the caller to the agent.

8. A system for servicing a call from a caller to a contact center comprising:

an automatic call distributor (ACD) to receive the call and to route the call to one of a plurality of agents; and

a memory, coupled with the ACD, that stores a rate of speech for each of the plurality of agents, the memory also storing information associated with the caller that includes an optimal listening speed (OLS) of the caller;

wherein the ACD operates to route the call to the one of the plurality of agents by accessing the memory and matching the OLS of the caller to the rate of speech of the one of the agents.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the rate of speech for each of the plurality of agents comprises a range of speaking rates.

10. The system of claim 8 further comprising:

a module coupled with the ACD to compute the OLS of the caller.

11. The system of claim 8 further comprising:

a display to graphically display the OLS of the caller to the agent.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the display comprises graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer associated with the agent, the GUI including a feedback indicator field that graphically display the OLS of the caller versus the rate of speech of the agent.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the GUI is programmed to display a suggested rate of speech for a text selected by the one of the agents.

14. A computer-automated method of servicing a caller at a call center comprising:

prompting the caller to select an optimal listening speed (OLS) for a call session with an agent; and

displaying the OLS to the agent during the call session.

15. The computer-automated method of claim 14 further comprising:

computing a rate of speech of the agent; and

displaying to the agent the rate of speech of the agent versus the OLS.

16. A computer-automated method of servicing a caller at a call center comprising:

accessing a database to retrieve an optimal listening speed (OLS) associated with the caller;

displaying the OLS to an agent during the call session.

17. The computer-automated method of claim 16 further comprising:

computing a rate of speech of the agent; and

displaying to the agent the rate of speech of the agent versus the OLS.

18. The computer-automated method of claim 16 further comprising:

routing the caller to a next available agent in a group of agents each having a rate of speech that matches the OLS of the caller.

19. A computer-automated method of servicing a caller at a call center comprising:

computing an optimal listening speed (OLS) for the caller; and

displaying the OLS to an agent during the call session.

20. The computer-automated method of claim 19 further comprising:

computing a rate of speech of the agent; and

displaying to the agent the rate of speech of the agent versus the OLS.

21. The computer-automated method of claim 19 further comprising:

storing the OLS of the caller in a database.

22. The computer-automated method of claim 19 further comprising:

routing the caller to a next available agent in a group of agents each having a rate of speech that matches the OLS of the caller.

23. A computer-automated method of servicing a caller at a call center comprising:

accessing a database to retrieve an optimal listening speed (OLS) associated with the caller;

displaying the OLS to an agent at the start of a call session with the caller;

computing a new OLS for the caller during the call session; and

updating the database with the new OLS.