SYSTEM FOR MANAGING WAIT QUEUES IN A HIGH VOLUME SYSTEM

• US 20090285380A1
• Filed: 05/14/2008
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Ying, Lieu, Dong K., Eberwein, James P., Duquene, Joel
• Granted Patent: US 9,635,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/210.10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5231 with call back arrangements

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to call center wait queue management and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for call-back reservation services in a remote call center computing environment. In an embodiment of the invention, a call-back reservation method can be provided. The method can include receiving a telephone call to a remote call center from a caller, informing the caller of a reservation options menu, calculating multiple reservation time-slots to accommodate the caller'"'"'s schedule, such that the reservation time is based on caller'"'"'s personal preference, assigning a call-back reservation token to the caller, disconnecting the caller from the remote call center, and providing the caller with access to a remote call center agent at the reservation time when the caller reconnects to the remote call center.

Claims

1. A call-back reservation method comprising:

receiving a reservation request from a caller on-hold through an IVR system;

prompting the caller to select from a set of reservation time-slots based on the caller'"'"'s personal preference,

assigning a reservation time-slot to the caller; and

establishing a call between the caller and the call center agent at the time of the assigned reservation time-slot.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a reservation request from a caller to a call center comprises receiving a telephone call to a remote call center through an IVR system, identifying the caller through the IVR system, audibly playing back to the caller a reservation options menu, allowing the caller to input caller'"'"'s personal preference for a reservation time-slot, wherein the caller'"'"'s personal preference comprises the caller'"'"'s calendar information and a set of time-slots the caller is available to call-back the call center.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein prompting the caller to select from set of reservation time-slots comprises incorporating the caller'"'"'s personal preference for assigning a call-back reservation time-slot to the caller, wherein the caller'"'"'s personal preference comprises the caller'"'"'s calendar information and a set of time-slots the caller is available to call-back the call center.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the caller'"'"'s calendar information is sent to the call center through a data communications network linkage coupled to at least one reservation subscriber database disposed in a switch in a public switched telephone network (PSTN), wherein the caller'"'"'s calendar information is identified by a username associated with the caller.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein incorporating the caller'"'"'s personal preference comprises extracting the caller'"'"'s calendar information from a reservations database and calculating a set of reservation time-slots that do not conflict with the caller'"'"'s existing appointments in the caller'"'"'s calendar information extracted from the reservations database.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising assigning a reservation token to the caller, disconnecting the caller from the remote call center, and providing the caller with access to a remote call center agent at the reservation time when the caller reconnects to the remote call center.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prompting the caller to select from set of reservation time-slots comprises receiving a requested specific time period from the caller and calculating multiple reservation time-slots based on the requested specific time period.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein audibly playing back to the caller a reservation options menu further comprises a re-scheduling reservation option, wherein the caller replaces the given reservation time-slot with a new reservation-time slot.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising inserting into the caller'"'"'s calendar information the reservation time-slot.

10. A data processing system for call-back reservation services of a remote call center, the data processing system comprising:

a telephone network for establishing a call between a caller and a remote call center;

a reservation subscriber database containing caller calendar information and assigned caller reservation time-slots;

a processor that calculates an available time-slot incorporating caller'"'"'s calendar information; and

a call-back reservation service logic enabled to receive a reservation request from a caller on-hold through an IVR system, prompt the caller to select from a set of reservation time-slots based on the caller'"'"'s personal preference, assign a reservation time-slot to the caller, and establish a call between the caller and the call center agent at the time of the assigned reservation time-slot.