VIDEO AND VOICE COMMUNICATION ROUTING NETWORK

• US 20080025493A1
• Filed: 07/11/2007
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Paras & Associates
• Original Assignee: Paras & Associates
• Inventors: Otake, Raymond N., Paras, Melinda
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/50 Telephonic communication in combination with video communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5125 with remote located operators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

An IP-based call center is able to route video and audio calls. The call routing is skills-based, and can be configured to give preference first to representatives or agents associated with an entity, and then to representatives or agents within a network associated with that entity. If no representative is available in-house or in-network, the call can be transferred to an external representative or agent. In other embodiments, an entity can configure prioritized layers for routing calls, in order to favor specific service providers.

Claims

1. A method of routing calls across a network, comprising:

receiving a call from a requestor, the call requiring a particular skill;

routing the call to a representative of an entity if the representative of the entity has that particular skill and is available to take the call;

if a representative of the entity is not available to take the call, routing the call to a representative of a network associated with the entity if the representative of the network has that particular skill and is available to take the call; and

if a representative of the entity and a representative of the network are not available to take the call, routing the call to an out-of-network representative if the out-of-network representative has that particular skill is available to take the call.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the particular skill is the ability to speak a specified language.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the call requires a plurality of skills.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the representative is an interpreter.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the call is one of an audio call, a video call, or a combination thereof.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the routing steps are done using an Internet protocol (IP) based routing system.

7. A method of routing calls across a network, comprising:

receiving a call from a requestor, the call requiring a particular skill;

routing the call to a local representative if the local representative has that particular skill and is available to take the call;

if a local representative is not available to take the call, routing the call to a first external layer representative associated with the entity if the first external layer representative of the network has that particular skill and is available to take the call;

if a first external layer representative is not available to take the call, routing the call successive external layer representatives if the successive external layer representatives have that particular skill and are available to take the call; and

if successive external layer representatives are not able and available to take the call, routing the call to an out-of-network representative if the out-of-network representative has that particular skill is available to take the call.

8. A system for routing calls relating to an entity, the system operable to:

a call receiving device operable to receive a call from a requester, the call requiring a particular skill; and

a call router operable to route the call to a representative of the entity if the representative of the entity has that particular skill and is available to take the call,

wherein if a representative of the entity is not available to take the call, the call router is operable to route the call to a representative of a network associated with the entity if the representative of the network has that particular skill is available to take the call, and

wherein if a representative of the entity and a representative of the network are not available to take the call, the call router is further operable to route the call to an out-of-network representative if the out-of-network representative has that particular skill is available to take the call.

9. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

the particular skill is the ability to speak a specified language.

10. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

the call requires a plurality of skills.

11. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

the representative is an interpreter.

12. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

the call is one of an audio call, a video call, or a combination thereof.

13. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

the system is an IP-based routing system.

14. A computer program product embedded in a computer readable medium for routing calls relating to an entity, comprising:

computer program code for receiving a call from a requestor, the call requiring a particular skill;

computer program code for routing the call to a representative of the entity if the representative of the entity has that particular skill and is available to take the call;

computer program code for routing the call to a representative of a network associated with the entity if the representative of the network has that particular skill is available to take the call when a representative of the entity is not available to take the call; and

computer program code for routing the call to an out-of-network representative if the out-of-network representative has that particular skill is available to take the call when a representative of the entity and a representative of the network are not available to take the call.

15. A computer program product according to claim 14, wherein:

the particular skill is the ability to speak a specified language.

16. A computer program product according to claim 14, wherein:

the call requires a plurality of skills.

17. A computer program product according to claim 14, wherein:

the representative is an interpreter.

18. A computer program product according to claim 14, wherein:

the call is one of an audio call, a video call, and a combination thereof.

19. A computer program product according to claim 14, wherein:

computer program code for routing call includes code for routing the call using an IP-based routing system.