Automatic call distributor telephone service
First Claim
1. A method of balancing call loads between a plurality of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system further comprisinga plurality of switching offices, anda data base,the method comprising the steps ofrepetitively accumulating data at the data base from each of the ACDs describing the present call congestion state of the ACD,repetitively analyzing the data from all of the ACDs,responsive to the step of analyzing, generating call routing information for the ACDs as a group, said call routing information containing representations of the percentage of calls to the ACD'"'"'s as a group that are to be routed to each individual ACD,querying the present state of the call routing information in response to each call at the offices directed to the ACDs, anddynamically balancing the calls between the ACD'"'"'s by routing individual ones of the calls in accordance with the percentage representations contained in the call routing information.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of balancing traffic loads to a plurality of customer automatic l distributors (ACDs). Each ACD periodically transmits call congestion data to a central data base. Periodically, the data is automatically analyzed and resulting call routing information stored at the data base. The call routing information is queried in response to each call directed to the customer to select and ACD for routing of the call. Other signals are independently sent from the ACDs to the data base to indicate the present availability of trunks. A given call may or may not be routed to the selected ACD depending upon the status of these signals. In this case, the ACD selection process is repeated at the data base.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of balancing call loads between a plurality of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system further comprising
a plurality of switching offices, and a data base, the method comprising the steps of repetitively accumulating data at the data base from each of the ACDs describing the present call congestion state of the ACD, repetitively analyzing the data from all of the ACDs, responsive to the step of analyzing, generating call routing information for the ACDs as a group, said call routing information containing representations of the percentage of calls to the ACD'"'"'s as a group that are to be routed to each individual ACD, querying the present state of the call routing information in response to each call at the offices directed to the ACDs, and dynamically balancing the calls between the ACD'"'"'s by routing individual ones of the calls in accordance with the percentage representations contained in the call routing information.
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6. A method of balancing call loads between a group of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system comprising
a plurality of switching offices, a data base, first data links linking the offices and the data base, second data links linking each of the ACDs to the data base, the method comprising the steps of, at each ACD, repetitively accumulating data representative of the present ACD congestion level, and transmitting the accumulated data to the data base, at a switching office, transmitting a query message containing a number identifying the ACD group to the data base in response to receipt of a call directed to the ACD group, at the data base, in response to the query message, determining from the present state of the congestion data from each of the ACDs a preferred ACD to which to route the call, and transmitting a telephone number identifying the preferred ACD to the office, wherein the step of determining a preferred ACD comprises updating a call routing table at the data base in accordance with the congestion data from each of the ACDs, the call routing table containing sequential entries each identifying one of the ACDs and in which the number of entries identifying each individual ACD in relation to the overall number of entries defines the percentage of customer calls to be directed to that ACD, maintaining a pointer into the call routing table, selecting the preferred ACD from the call routing table entry pointed to by the pointer in response to the query message from the switching office, and advancing the pointer.
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7. A method of balancing call loads between a plurality of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system further comprising
a plurality of switching offices, and a data base, the method comprising the steps of repetitively accumulating data at the data base from each of the ACDs describing the present call congestion state of the ACD, repetitively analyzing the data from all of the ACDs, responsive to the step of analyzing, generating call routing information for the ACDs as a group in which the call routing information comprises indications of the relative percentages of calls to the group of ACDs that are to be routed to each of the individual ACDs, said call routing information further comprising a plurality of data records, each record identifying one of the ACDs and the total number of the records identifying the same ACD reflecting the relative percentage of calls to the group of ACDs that are to be routed to that ACD, and, in response to a call at one of the switching offices, querying the present state of the call routing information to select a preferred ACD to which to route this call.
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8. A method of balancing call loads between a group of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system comprising
a plurality of switching offices, a data base, first data links linking the offices and the data base, second data links linking each of the ACDs to the data base, the method comprising the steps of, at each ACD, repetitively accumulating data representative of the present ACD congestion level, and transmitting the accumulated data to the data base, at a switching office, transmitting a query message containing a number identifying the ACD group to the data base in response to receipt of a call directed to the ACD group, at the data base, in response to the query message, determining from the present state of the congestion data from each of the ACDs a preferred ACD to which to route the call, and transmitting a telephone number identifying the preferred ACD to the office, wherein the data base includes an update processor for receiving the congestion data from each of the ACDs and for generating a call routing table by repetitively computing from the congestion data for each ACD a value representing a level of call congestion at the ACD, and building the call routing table by rank ordering the congestion values in a prescribed manner.
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13. A method of balancing call loads between a plurality of automatic call distributors (ACDs) in a system comprising
a plurality of switching offices, a data base, first data links linking the offices and the data base, second data links linking each of the ACDs to the data base, the method comprising the steps of, at each ACD, repetitively accumulating data representative of the present ACD congestion level, transmitting the accumulated data to the data base, at the database, repetitively analyzing the congestion data from each ACD and, in response thereto, generating a call routing table containing indications of the relative percentage of calls that are to be routed to each ACD, at a switching office, transmitting a query message to the data base in response to receipt of a call directed to the ACDs. at the data base, in response to the query message, determining from the call routing table a preferred ACD to which to route the call, and transmitting a telephone number identifying the preferred ACD to the switching office.
Specification