Method of Providing Routing Information to Contact Center

• US 20090190741A1
• Filed: 01/24/2008
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: O'Connor, Neil
• Application Number:
  US11/962,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20090190741A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.09
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A contact center receives an image and processes the image to identify useful information. From this information, a routing parameter is obtained for use in routing a contact relating to that image to an agent or other resource of the contact center. In this way a received image can be employed to route a contact.

Claims

1. A method of routing a contact within a contact center, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving an image at a contact center;

(b) deriving from said image a contact routing parameter;

(c) determining an appropriate resource of the contact center to handle a contact relating to said image based at least in part on said routing parameter; and

(d) routing said contact to said resource of the contact center.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image is a still image.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image is a moving image.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step (b) of deriving a contact routing parameter from said image comprises subjecting said image to an image analysis process in order to identify a characteristic feature of said image.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising the step of comparing said characteristic feature with a database to match and identify said feature.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said characteristic feature of said image is selected from:

a location identifiable from said image;

a person identifiable from said image;

a product identifiable from said image;

a medical condition identifiable from said image;

a process occurring in a system which is identifiable from said image; and

an error condition identifiable from said image.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image is received in step (a) as an attachment to a communication received from a user or customer of said contact center.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image is received in step (a) as part of a communications session with a user or customer of said contact center, said communications session being of a type which includes image transmission.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of determining an appropriate resource of the contact center to handle a contact relating to said image is also based in part on information not derivable from said image.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when said contact is routed to said contact center resource, said image is made available to said resource.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when said contact routing parameter is derived from said image, confirmation of the routing parameter is requested from a customer or user of the contact center.

12. A contact center comprising:

(a) a communications server with the ability to receive an image from a network;

(b) an image processing system configured to derive from said image a contact routing parameter;

(c) a plurality of resources for handling contacts; and

(d) a contact routing system configured to determine an appropriate resource from said plurality of resources to handle a contact relating to said image based at least in part on said routing parameter.

13. A contact center as claimed in claim 12, wherein said image processing system comprises a processor programmed to determine from said image a characteristic feature of the image, and a database against which said characteristic feature may be mapped.

14. A computer program product comprising a data carrier encoding machine-readable instructions which, when executed in a computing system of a contact center, are adapted to cause said computing system to:

(a) on receiving an image, derive from said image a contact routing parameter;

(b) determine an appropriate resource of the contact center to handle a contact relating to said image based at least in part on said routing parameter; and

(c) route said contact to said resource of the contact center.

15. A computing system of a contact center having instructions stored thereon which when executed cause said computing system to:

(a) on receiving an image, derive from said image a contact routing parameter;

(b) determine an appropriate resource of the contact center to handle a contact relating to said image based at least in part on said routing parameter; and

(c) route said contact to said resource of the contact center.