Remote media call center

• US 20090067586A1
• Filed: 09/15/2003
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Fano, Andrew E., Chung, Christopher K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,792,273 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/49
• 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 3/5116 for emergency applications

Abstract

The call center processing system disclosed enhances the capabilities of traditional call centers. In particular, the processing system allows a call center to receive, aggregate, and index many different types of media obtained from a wide variety of sources and that relate to many different types of incidents. Thus, for example, the processing system provides a third party with the option of submitting call phone camera pictures, audio input, video camera footage, and other types of media when reporting an incident to the call center. The call center may be an emergency number (e.g., 911) call center, a service center (e.g., for a home appliance), a news reporting call center, or any other type of interactive information exchange.

Claims

1. A call center processing system comprising:

a network infrastructure interface for receiving an incident report from an external network;

a media database;

a memory coupled to the media database and the network infrastructure interface, the memory comprising;

a media aggregation program comprising instructions for;

accepting third party media associated with the incident report and obtaining third party classification information;

selecting incident information from the incident report;

building a media record based on the incident information and the third party classification information; and

storing the media record and the third party media in the media database; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the media aggregation program.

2. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the instructions for accepting comprise:

instructions for accepting the third party media from a third party submitter of the incident report.

3. The call center processing system of claim 2, where the media aggregation program further comprises instructions for:

accepting supplemental sensor media from a supplemental sensor;

storing the supplemental sensor media in the media database in association with at least a portion of the incident information.

4. The call center processing system of claim 3, where the media aggregation program further comprises instructions for obtaining supplemental incident information associated with the supplemental sensor, and where the instructions for storing further comprise storing the supplemental sensor media in the media database in association with the supplemental incident information.

5. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the network infrastructure interface comprises a telephone network infrastructure interface.

6. The call center processing system of claim 5, where the third party media comprises a cell phone camera image.

7. The call center processing system of claim 3, where the supplemental sensor media comprises security camera video.

8. The call center processing system of claim 3, where the supplemental sensor media comprises security microphone audio.

9. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the third party classification information comprises a third party submitter name.

10. The call center processing system of claim 9, where the third party classification information further comprises a third party telephone number.

11. The call center processing system of claim 1 where the media database is an emergency telephone number media database.

12. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the media database is a service center media database.

13. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the media database is a news center media database.

14. The call center processing system of claim 1, where the media database is a law enforcement media database.

15. A call center processing system comprising:

a network infrastructure interface for receiving an incident report from an external network;

a media database;

a memory coupled to the media database and the network infrastructure interface, the memory comprising;

a media aggregation program comprising instructions for;

accepting third party media associated with the incident report and third party classification information from the external network;

deriving incident information from the incident report;

building a media record from the incident information and the third party classification information; and

storing the media record and the third party media in the media database; and

a dispatch program comprising instructions for;

analyzing the incident information to determine an incident location;

preparing an incident alert for transmission; and

initiating transmission of the incident alert to a subscriber entity; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the media aggregation program and the dispatch program.

16. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for selecting the subscriber entity based on pre-determined incidents of interest to the subscriber entities.

17. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for selecting the subscriber entity based on incident proximity.

18. The call center processing system of claim 17, where the incident proximity is with respect to the subscriber entity.

19. The call center processing system of claim 17, where the incident proximity is with respect to a location other than that of the subscriber entity.

20. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for selecting the subscriber entity based on an incident party.

21. The call center processing system of claim 20, where the incident party has a familial relationship to the subscriber entity.

22. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information.

23. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information and the third party media.

24. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information, the third party media, and an incident location map.

25. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for:

determining an incident coverage area around the incident location; and

where the instructions for transmitting comprise;

instructions for initiating transmission of the incident alert to the subscriber entity within the incident coverage area of the incident location.

26. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for initiating retrieval of media of interest to the subscriber entity from the media database, and where the incident alert includes the media of interest.

27. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the subscriber entity is a mobile communication device holder.

28. The call center processing system of claim 27, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information.

29. The call center processing system of claim 21, where the incident alert further comprises supplemental incident information associated with an additional incident proximate to the incident location.

30. The call center processing system of claim 28, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information and the third party media.

31. The call center processing system of claim 28, where the incident alert comprises at least a portion of the incident information, the third party media, and an incident location map.

32. The call center processing system of claim 15, further comprising a subscriber entity database, and where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for:

querying the subscriber entity database to select the subscriber entity.

33. The call center processing system of claim 15, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for:

querying a subscriber location provider to determine an entity location for the subscriber entity.

34. The call center processing system of claim 33, where the subscriber location provider is a subscriber location database.

35. A call center processing system comprising:

a network infrastructure interface for receiving an incident report from an external network;

a media database;

a memory coupled to the media database and the network infrastructure interface, the memory comprising;

a media aggregation program comprising instructions for;

accepting third party media associated with the incident report and third party classification information from the external network;

deriving incident information from the incident report;

building a media record from the incident information and the third party classification information;

storing the media record and the third party media in the media database; and

a media collection program comprising instructions for;

analyzing the incident information to determine an incident location;

initiating transmission of a sensor activation instruction to sensors near the incident location;

receiving supplemental sensor media from the sensors; and

aggregating the supplemental sensor media in the media database in association with at least a portion of the incident information; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the media aggregation program and the media collection program.

36. The call center processing system of claim 35, where the sensors are cameras near the incident location, and where the sensor activation instruction is a video capture activation instruction.

37. The call center processing system of claim 35, where the sensors are microphones near the incident location, and where the sensor activation instruction is an audio capture activation instruction.

38. The call center processing system of claim 35, where the sensors are motion detectors near the incident location, and where the sensor activation instruction is a motion capture activation instruction.

39. The call center processing system of claim 35, where the dispatch program further comprises instructions for:

determining an incident coverage area around the incident location; and

where the instructions for transmitting comprise;

instructions for transmitting the sensor activation instruction to sensors within the incident coverage area of the incident location.

40. The call center processing system of claim 39, where the sensors are security cameras.

41. The call center processing system of claim 39, where the sensors are microphones.

42. The call center processing system of claim 35, further comprising a sensor database, and where the media collection program further comprises instructions for:

querying the sensor database to select the sensors.

43. The investigation tool of claim 35, where the instructions for initiating transmission comprise instructions for initiating transmission to the sensors through an ad-hoc sensor network.

44. The investigation tool of claim 43, where the ad-hoc sensor network comprises intermediate nodes and a principal node in communication with the network infrastructure interface.

45. The investigation tool of claim 35, where the instructions for receiving supplemental media comprise instructions for receiving from an ad-hoc sensor network.

46. The investigation tool of claim 45, where the ad-hoc sensor network comprises intermediate nodes and a principal node in communication with the network infrastructure interface.

47. The call center processing system of claim 35, where the media collection program further comprises instructions for:

querying a sensor location provider to determine a sensor location for each of the sensors.

48. The call center processing system of claim 47, where the sensor location provider is a sensor location database.

49. A call center processing system comprising:

a network infrastructure interface for receiving an incident report from an external network;

a media database;

a memory coupled to the media database and the network infrastructure interface, the memory comprising;

a media aggregation program comprising instructions for;

accepting third party media associated with the incident report and third party classification information from the external network;

deriving incident information from the incident report;

building a media record from the incident information and the third party classification information;

storing the media record and the third party media in the media database; and

a media preservation program comprising instructions for;

analyzing the incident information to determine an incident location and an incidence occurrence time; and

initiating transmission of a media preservation instruction based on the incidence occurrence time to a sensor near the incident location; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the media aggregation program and the media preservation program.

50. The call center processing system of claim 49, where the media preservation instruction comprises a post-incident media retention specifier.

51. The call center processing system of claim 50, where the post-incident media retention specifier comprises a retention duration for media captured by the sensor after the incident occurrence time.

52. The call center processing system of claim 51, where the sensor is a video camera and where the retention duration specifies a retention duration for video footage captured by the video camera.

53. The call center processing system of claim 51, where the sensor is a microphone and where the retention duration specifies a retention duration for audio information captured by the microphone.

54. The call center processing system of claim 50, where the post-incident media retention specifier comprises a retention extent for media captured by the sensor after the incident occurrence time.

55. The call center processing system of claim 54, where the sensor is a video camera and where the retention extent specifies a time span of video footage captured by the video camera.

56. The call center processing system of claim 54, where the sensor is a microphone and where the retention extent specifies a time span for audio information captured by the microphone.

57. The call center processing system of claim 49, where the media preservation instruction comprises a pre-incident media retention specifier.

58. The call center processing system of claim 57, where the pre-incident media retention specifier comprises a retention duration for media captured by the sensor prior to the incident occurrence time.

59. The call center processing system of claim 57, where the sensor is a video camera and where the retention duration specifies a retention duration for video footage captured by the video camera.

60. The call center processing system of claim 57, where the sensor is a microphone and where the retention duration specifies a retention duration for audio information captured by the microphone.

61. The call center processing system of claim 57, where the pre-incident media retention specifier comprises a retention extent for media captured by the sensor prior to incident occurrence time.

62. The call center processing system of claim 51, where the sensor is a video camera and where the retention extent specifies a time span of video footage captured by the video camera.

63. The call center processing system of claim 51, where the sensor is a microphone and where the retention extent specifies a time span of audio information captured by the microphone.

64. The call center processing system of claim 49, where the media preservation program further comprises instructions for:

determining an incident coverage area around the incident location; and

where the instructions for transmitting comprise;

instructions for transmitting the media preservation instruction to sensors within the incident coverage area of the incident location.

65. The call center processing system of claim 64, further comprising a sensor database, and where the media preservation program further comprises instructions for:

querying the sensor database to select the sensors.

66. The call center processing system of claim 65, where the media preservation program further comprises instructions for:

querying a sensor location provider to determine a sensor location for each of the sensors.

67. A call center processing system comprising:

a network infrastructure interface for receiving an incident report from an external network;

a media database;

a memory coupled to the media database and the network infrastructure interface, the memory comprising;

a media aggregation program comprising instructions for;

accepting third party media associated with the incident report and third party classification information from the external network;

building a media record from the third party classification information; and

storing the media record and the third party media in the media database; and

a media indexing program comprising instructions for;

accepting incident characteristic information for the third party media from the network infrastructure interface; and

adding the incident characteristic information to the media record; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the media aggregation program and the media indexing program.

68. The call center processing system of claim 67, where incident report is associated with an incident, and where the incident characteristic information comprises at least one of time, date, subject matter, and location information of the incident.

69. The call center processing system of claim 67, where the instructions for accepting incident characteristic information comprise instructions for:

presenting an incident characteristic information menu; and

accepting network infrastructure interface inputs corresponding to the incident characteristic information menu that specify the incident characteristic information.

70. The call center processing system of claim 69, where the network infrastructure interface inputs comprise touchtone inputs.

71. The call center processing system of claim 69, where the network infrastructure interface inputs comprise voice inputs.

72. The call center processing system of claim 67, where the instructions for accepting incident characteristic information comprise instructions for:

presenting a incident characteristic information menu tree; and

accepting network infrastructure interface inputs corresponding to the incident characteristic information menu tree that specify the incident characteristic information.

73. The call center processing system of claim 72, where the network infrastructure interface inputs comprise touchtone inputs.

74. The call center processing system of claim 72, where the network infrastructure interface inputs comprise voice inputs.

75. The call center processing system of claim 67, where the incident characteristic information comprises incident characteristic information that originates with a third party operating a sensor.

76. A call center investigation tool comprising:

a media database comprising;

media incident records aggregated over time, each media record indexed according to incident information associated with an incident report; and

supplemental media records aggregated over time, each supplemental media record indexed according to at least one of geographic area, incident type, time, and date;

a memory coupled to the media database, the memory comprising an investigation program comprising instructions for;

accepting incident search parameters;

initiating execution of an incident search in the media database based on the search parameters;

displaying a selection interface comprising media record indicia associated with matching media records returned from the incident search;

displaying an investigation report interface; and

accepting report components for building an investigation report in the report interface, the report components comprising at least a portion of the incident information and selected media records; and

a processor coupled to the memory for executing the investigation program.

77. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the media record indicia comprise thumbnail images representing the media records.

78. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise a location parameter.

79. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise a location parameter and an incident coverage area parameter.

80. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise an incident type parameter.

81. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise an incident type parameter and a location parameter.

82. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise an incident type parameter and a subject parameter.

83. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise an incident type parameter, a temporal parameter, and a location parameter.

84. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the incident search parameters comprise an incident type parameter, a temporal parameter, a location parameter, and an incident coverage area parameter.

85. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, further comprising a report database for storing the investigation report.

86. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the investigation program further comprises instructions for:

displaying an area map; and

displaying an incident indicia on the area map responsive to a media record indicia selection.

87. The call center investigation tool of claim 76, where the investigation program further comprises instructions for:

displaying an area map;

displaying a sensor location icon; and

in response to selection of the sensor location icon, displaying sensor indicia on the area map in locations from which external sensors have provided supplemental media stored in the media database.

88. The call center of claim 87, where the sensor indicia further represent external sensors associated with at least one of the matching media records.

89. The investigation tool of claim 76, where the investigation program further comprises instructions for chronologically presenting selected media incident records.

90. The investigation tool of claim 76, where the selected media incident records match the incident search parameters.

91. The investigation tool of claim 76, where at least one of the report components is an automatic update report component.

92. The investigation tool of claim 91, further comprising an automatic update filter associated with the automatic update report component.

93. The investigation tool of claim 92, where the automatic update filter comprises match criteria for determining matching submitted media.

94. The investigation tool of claim 93, where the investigation program further comprises instructions for associating the matching submitted media with the investigation report.

95. The investigation tool of claim 76, where the investigation program further comprises instructions for routing the investigation report to a selected reviewer.

96. The investigation tool of claim 95, where the selected reviewer is at least one of a law enforcement agency, claim processing center, or technical service center.

97. A method for processing incident information in a call center, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining incident information and media associated with an incident of interest from a third party;

building a media record based on the incident information;

storing the media record and the media in a media database;

ascertaining the subject matter of the incident of interest based on the incident information and media;

determining a processing entity for processing the incident of interest; and

routing incident data derived from the incident information and media to the processing entity.

98. The method of claim 97, further comprising the step of:

obtaining supplemental media for the incident of interest from external sensors, and routing the supplemental media to the processing entity.

99. The method of claim 97, further comprising the step of:

initiating a business process in response to the incident of interest by the business entity.

100. The method of claim 99, further comprising the steps of:

preparing an incident report comprising explanatory information associated with the business process; and

initiating transmission of the responsive incident report to the third party.

101. The method of claim 97, where the step of routing comprises the step of routing to a technical support center.

102. The method of claim 97, where the step of routing comprises the step of routing to an insurance agent.

103. The method of claim 97, where the step of routing comprises the step of routing to a law enforcement agency.

104. The method of claim 97, where the step of routing comprises the step of routing to a sales agent.

105. The method of claim 97, where the step of routing comprises the step of routing to a product design department.