ENTERPRISE CONTACT SERVER WITH ENHANCED ROUTING FEATURES

• US 20100128720A1
• Filed: 11/13/2009
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Business Global LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: GOSS, Raymond G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,565,222 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5231 with call back arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5237 Interconnection arrangements between ACD systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0027 Collaboration services where a computer is used for data transfer and the telephone is used for telephonic communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 Click to dial services

Abstract

A server may include logic configured to receive a call-back request from a customer, where the call-back request includes an identifier associated with the customer. The server may further include logic configured to identify, based on the identifier, a call center from a group of call centers having a group of agents qualified to handle the call-back request; and logic configured to forward the call-back request to the identified call center, where the call-back request causes the identified call center to select one of the group of agents to handle the call-back request.

Claims

1-35. -35. (canceled)

36. A network comprising:

a plurality of first call centers, each of the plurality of first call centers to;

manage a plurality of call center agents,

store second information identifying a qualification of each of the plurality of call center agents that the plurality of first call center manages, and

transmit the second information identifying the qualification of each of the plurality of call center agents; and

a second call center to;

manage the plurality of first call centers,

receive the transmitted second information identifying the qualification of each of the plurality of call center agents, and

store the transmitted second information identifying the qualification of each of the plurality of call center agents.

37. The network of claim 36, where each of the plurality of first call centers is to store first information identifying an availability of each of the plurality of call center agents that the first call center manages.

38. The network of claim 37, where each of the plurality of first call centers is to:

transmit the first information to the second call center.

39. The network of claim 38, where each of the plurality of first call centers is further to:

transmit updates to the first information to the second call center.

40. The network of claim 36, where each of the plurality of first call centers is further to:

transmit updates to the second information to the second call center.

41. The network of claim 36, where a particular one of the plurality of first call centers is to receive from the second call center a message regarding an availability of particular one or more, of the plurality of call center agents, that the particular one, of the plurality of first call centers, manages.

42. The network of claim 41, where the particular one of the plurality of first call centers is to transmit a response, to the second caller center, indicating that at least one of the particular one or more, of the plurality of call center agents, is available.

43. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server, a call-back request from a customer;

identifying, by the server, a plurality of call centers having one or more agents available to handle the call-back request, the plurality of call centers being identified based on a respective qualification of the one or more agents;

sending, by the server, a message, to one or more of the plurality of call centers, to query a status of the one or more agents available to handle the call-back request;

identifying, by the server, a particular call center of the one or more of the plurality of call centers to first respond to the message; and

forwarding, by the server, the call-back request to the identified particular call center of the one or more of the plurality of call centers based on a response of the identified particular call center of the one or more of the plurality of call centers.

44. The method of claim 43, where a response of the identified particular call center to the message indicates that an agent, managed by the identified particular call center, is available to handle the call-back request.

45. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

identifying the qualification of the one or more agents based on customer identification information of the customer from which the call-back request was received.

46. The method of claim 43, where at least one agent, of the one or more agents available to handle the call-back request, is managed by the identified particular call center, and where forwarding the call-back request to the identified particular call center comprises forwarding the call-back request to a terminal of the at least one agent.

47. The method of claim 43, further comprises:

receiving an update to information identifying a qualification of at least one the one or more agents available to handle the call-back request from at least one of the plurality of call centers.

48. The method of claim 43, where identifying the plurality of call centers having the one or more agents available to handle the call-back request comprises:

identifying one or more needed agent skills; and

identifying the plurality of call centers as having agents with the one or more needed agent skills.

49. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

identifying another, different one of the plurality of call centers when the response of the identified particular call center indicates that no agent, managed by the identified particular call center, is available to handle the call-back request.

50. A device comprising:

means for receiving a call-back request from a customer;

means for identifying a plurality of call centers managing one or more agents available to handle the call-back request, the plurality of call centers being identified based on one or more skills of the one or more agents;

means for identifying a particular one of the plurality of call centers based on a quantity of the one or more agents managed by the particular one of the plurality of call centers;

means for sending a message, to the identified particular one of the plurality of call centers to query a status of particular ones, of the one or more agents, managed by the particular one of the plurality of call centers, available to handle the call-back request; and

means for forwarding the call-back request to the identified particular one of the plurality of call centers based on a response, from the identified particular one of the plurality of call centers, to the message.

51. The device of claim 50, where the response comprises an indication that at least one of the particular ones, of the one or more agents, is available.

52. The device of claim 50, where the call-back request includes customer identification information associated with the customer, the device further comprising:

means for identifying the one or more skills based on the customer identification information.

53. The device of claim 50, further comprising:

means for identifying a particular agent, of the one or more agents, with a highest skill level of a needed skill to handle the call-back request.

54. The device of claim 50, where the identified particular one of the plurality of call centers manages a highest quantity of the one or more agents.

55. The device of claim 50, where the response comprises an indication that the particular ones, of the one or more agents, are not available,

the device further comprising:

means for identifying another, different particular one of the plurality of call centers based on the response comprising the indication that the particular ones, of the one or more agents, are not available.