Methods, systems, and computer program products for rule-based direction of customer service calls

• US 20080118052A1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Narayanan, Shankaran, Torab, Homayoun, Houmaidi, Mounire El
• Granted Patent: US 8,223,953 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.11
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/408 Customer-specific call routing plans
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2227 Quality of service monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

Directing customer service calls based upon one or more rules incorporating customer information, network status information, service status information, or various combinations thereof. An incoming service call, and a customer identifier for the incoming service call are received. The customer identifier is used to obtain customer information. Network status information is obtained, or service status information is obtained, or network status information and service status information are obtained. One or more rules are retrieved. The one or more retrieved rules are applied to at least one of the obtained network status information or the obtained service status information to automatically direct the incoming call to a help desk agent selected from a plurality of help desk agents.

Claims

1. A method for directing customer service calls based upon one or more rules incorporating customer information, network status information, service status information, or various combinations thereof, the method comprising:

receiving an incoming service call and a customer identifier for the incoming service call;

obtaining customer information using the customer identifier;

obtaining network status information or service status information or both;

retrieving one or more rules;

applying the one or more retrieved rules to at least one of the obtained network status information or the obtained service status information to automatically direct the incoming service call to a help desk agent selected from a plurality of help desk agents.

2. The method of claim 1 further including obtaining diagnostic information pertaining to a customer problem, wherein the one or more rules specify service call mapping to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents based upon the diagnostic information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more rules specify automatically directing the incoming service call to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents so as to reduce total customer wait time.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer having a greater number of previous service calls relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer who has a high customer importance level relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls, and wherein the customer importance level is determined by one or more of a customer spending level and customer membership in a rewards program.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more rules include a set of emergency redirect rules that are dynamically modified if one or more new help desk agents are to be added, or if one or more help desk agents are not accessible due to a hardware failure, a software failure, a natural disaster, or political unrest.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more rules specify routing of an incoming service call based upon one or more factors including any of:

(a) time of receipt of a customer service call, (b) current waiting times for each of a plurality of help desk agents, (c) average waiting times for each of a plurality of call centers at which help desk agents are available, (d) the customer identifier, (e) a customer'"'"'s service history including the number of times a customer has placed a service call within a given time period, or the number of previous service calls pertaining to the same problem as the present service call, or both, (f) a customer satisfaction parameter indicative of a customer satisfaction level relative to other customers, (g) a business level parameter indicative of a customer importance level to a business providing service support relative to customer importance levels of other customers, (h) available help desk agent capacity at each of a plurality of call centers, (i) execution of a remote diagnostics program for diagnosing customer premises equipment, (j) a call center data map that identifies center-specific information, (k) past performance of specific help desk agents or call centers in solving specific problems, (l) current active calls at each of a plurality of call centers, (m) geographic location or time zone for each of a plurality of call centers, (n) areas of expertise for each of a plurality of help desk agents or call centers, (o) one or more rules that are defined by a customer service provider, or (p) various combinations thereof.

8. A computer program product for directing customer service calls based upon one or more rules incorporating customer information, network status information, service status information, or various combinations thereof, the computer program product comprising a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for facilitating a method comprising:

receiving an incoming service call and a customer identifier for the incoming service call;

obtaining customer information using the customer identifier;

obtaining network status information or service status information or both;

retrieving one or more rules;

applying the one or more retrieved rules to at least one of the obtained network status information or the obtained service status information to automatically direct the incoming service call to a help desk agent selected from a plurality of help desk agents.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 further including instructions for obtaining diagnostic information pertaining to a customer problem, wherein the one or more rules specify service call mapping to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents based upon the diagnostic information.

10. The computer program product of claim 8 further including instructions wherein the one or more rules specify automatically directing the incoming service call to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents so as to reduce total customer wait time.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 further including instructions wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer having a greater number of previous service calls relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 further including instructions wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer who has a high customer importance level relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls, and wherein the customer importance level is determined by one or more of a customer spending level and customer membership in a rewards program.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising instructions wherein the one or more rules include a set of emergency redirect rules that are dynamically modified if one or more new help desk agents are to be added, or if one or more help desk agents are not accessible due to a hardware failure, a software failure, a natural disaster, or political unrest.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising instructions wherein the one or more rules specify routing of an incoming service call based upon one or more factors including any of:

(a) time of receipt of a customer service call, (b) current waiting times for each of a plurality of help desk agents, (c) average waiting times for each of a plurality of call centers at which help desk agents are available, (d) the customer identifier, (e) a customer'"'"'s service history including the number of times a customer has placed a service call within a given time period, or the number of previous service calls pertaining to the same problem as the present service call, or both, (f) a customer satisfaction parameter indicative of a customer satisfaction level relative to other customers, (g) a business level parameter indicative of a customer importance level to a business providing service support relative to customer importance levels of other customers, (h) available help desk agent capacity at each of a plurality of call centers, (i) execution of a remote diagnostics program for diagnosing customer premises equipment 115, (j) a call center data map that identifies center-specific information, (k) past performance of specific help desk agents or call centers in solving specific problems, (l) current active calls at each of a plurality of call centers, (m) geographic location or time zone for each of a plurality of call centers, (n) areas of expertise for each of a plurality of help desk agents or call centers, (o) one or more rules that are defined by a customer service provider, or (p) various combinations thereof.

15. A system for directing customer service calls based upon one or more rules incorporating customer information, network status information, service status information, or various combinations thereof;

the system including;

a rules application server;

a call direction mechanism operatively coupled to the rules application server and capable of receiving an incoming service call and a customer identifier for the incoming service call;

a rules database, a customer information database, and at least one of a network status information database or a service status information database, all being operatively coupled to the rules application server;

wherein the rules application server obtains customer information from the customer information database using the customer identifier, and obtains network status information from the network status information database, or obtains service status information from the service status information database, or obtains network status information from the network status information database and service status information from the service status information database;

and wherein the rules application server retrieves one or more rules from the rules database and applies one or more retrieved rules to at least one of the obtained network status information or the obtained service status information to control the call direction mechanism to automatically direct the incoming call to a help desk agent selected from a plurality of help desk agents.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the rules application server obtains diagnostic information pertaining to a customer problem, and wherein the one or more rules specify service call mapping to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents based upon the diagnostic information.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more rules specify automatically directing the incoming service call to a help desk agent selected from the plurality of help desk agents so as to reduce total customer wait time.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer having a greater number of previous service calls relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more rules assign a higher priority to the incoming service call if the call is from a customer who has a high customer importance level relative to other customers, and a lower priority to other incoming service calls, wherein the higher priority incoming service call is directed to a help desk agent more rapidly than the lower priority incoming service calls, and wherein the customer importance level is determined by one or more of a customer spending level and customer membership in a rewards program.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more rules include a set of emergency redirect rules that are dynamically modified if one or more new help desk agents are to be added, or if one or more help desk agents are not accessible due to a hardware failure, a software failure, a natural disaster, or political unrest.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more rules specify routing of an incoming service call based upon one or more factors including any of:

(a) time of receipt of a customer service call, (b) current waiting times for each of a plurality of help desk agents, (c) average waiting times for each of a plurality of call centers at which help desk agents are available, (d) the customer identifier, (e) a customer'"'"'s service history including the number of times a customer has placed a service call within a given time period, or the number of previous service calls pertaining to the same problem as the present service call, or both, (f) a customer satisfaction parameter indicative of a customer satisfaction level relative to other customers, (g) a business level parameter indicative of a customer importance level to a business providing service support relative to customer importance levels of other customers, (h) available help desk agent capacity at each of a plurality of call centers, (i) execution of a remote diagnostics program for diagnosing customer premises equipment 115, (j) a call center data map that identifies center-specific information, (k) past performance of specific help desk agents or call centers in solving specific problems, (l) current active calls at each of a plurality of call centers, (m) geographic location or time zone for each of a plurality of call centers, (n) areas of expertise for each of a plurality of help desk agents or call centers, (o) one or more rules that are defined by a customer service provider, or (p) various combinations thereof.