System and method for predictive outdialing
First Claim
1. A method for controlling the number of communications in a setup phase to target entities, wherein the communications in a setup phase are unanswered communications initiated by a communication system to target entities ahead of the availability of one of a plurality of agents, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) determining a current value n that is representative of the number of agents that are available;
(b) based upon said current value n, determining a minimum number of communications to be in a setup phase;
(c) based upon said current value n, determining a maximum number of communications permitted to be in a setup phase;
(d) determining the number of communications that are in a setup phase;
(e) initiating an additional communication if the number of communications that are in a setup phase is less than said determined minimum number of communications, and repeating said initiating until the number of communications that are in a setup phase is at least equal to said determined minimum number of communications; and
(f) disconnecting one communication that is in a setup phase if the number of communications that are in a setup phase is greater than said determined maximum number of communications, and repeating said disconnecting until the number of communications that are in a setup phase is at most equal to said determined maximum number of communications;
(g) repeating said steps (a) through (f).
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Accused Products
Abstract
System and method for outdialing telephone calls on a basis which takes into account the availability of agents who are assigned to process telephone calls placed. In accordance with the invention, telephone calls are placed ahead of the availability of agents so that the overall productivity of the agents is increased. The number of telephone calls that should be placed is determined in light of the actual measurements of system performance and in light of performance objectives. The determinations are dynamically refined based on measurements of actual agent and telephone call activity provided by the telephone system.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for controlling the number of communications in a setup phase to target entities, wherein the communications in a setup phase are unanswered communications initiated by a communication system to target entities ahead of the availability of one of a plurality of agents, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining a current value n that is representative of the number of agents that are available; (b) based upon said current value n, determining a minimum number of communications to be in a setup phase; (c) based upon said current value n, determining a maximum number of communications permitted to be in a setup phase; (d) determining the number of communications that are in a setup phase; (e) initiating an additional communication if the number of communications that are in a setup phase is less than said determined minimum number of communications, and repeating said initiating until the number of communications that are in a setup phase is at least equal to said determined minimum number of communications; and (f) disconnecting one communication that is in a setup phase if the number of communications that are in a setup phase is greater than said determined maximum number of communications, and repeating said disconnecting until the number of communications that are in a setup phase is at most equal to said determined maximum number of communications; (g) repeating said steps (a) through (f). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for providing a communication path between each of a plurality of agents and a target entity by predicting the availability of said plurality of agents and initiating a plurality of communications between a communications network and a plurality of target entities ahead of the availability of said plurality of agents, comprising:
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availability means for monitoring the number of available agents; minimum determination means, responsive to said availability means, for determining a minimum number of calls which must be placed in a setup state, thereby establishing a minimum number of required initiated communications; maximum determination means, responsive to said availability means, for determining a maximum number of calls permitted to be in a setup state, thereby establishing a maximum number of permitted initiated communications; call monitoring means coupled to said communication network for determining the current number of calls that are in a setup state; connection determination means for determining, in response to said minimum and said maximum determination means and to said call monitoring means, a number of additional communications to be initiated, thereby having at least said minimum number of required initiated communications, and for determining a number of already initiated but unanswered communications to be disconnected, thereby having at most said maximum number of permitted initiated communications; and means, coupled to said communications network and to said connection determination means, for initiating said number of additional communications and for disconnecting said number of already initiated but unanswered communications; whereby the number of communications in a setup state is at least equal to said minimum number of required initiated communications and is at most equal to said maximum number of permitted initiated communications. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A telephone system for allowing a plurality of agents to contact a plurality of target entities, wherein the availability of the agents is predicted and wherein telephone calls to target entities are initiated ahead of the availability of the agents, comprising:
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database means for storing the telephone numbers of the plurality of target entities; monitoring means, for monitoring the status of each initiated telephone call; prediction means, responsive to said monitoring means and to parameters relating to the agents, for predicting when additional telephone calls should be initiated, and when initiated but unanswered telephone calls should be disconnected, including means for determining, based upon the availability of the agents, a minimum limit representing the minimum number of calls which must be placed in a setup state, thereby establishing a minimum number of required initiated calls and further including means for determining, based upon the availability of the agents, a maximum limit representing the maximum number of calls permitted to be in a setup state, thereby establishing a maximum number of permitted initiated calls; telephone switching means, responsive to said prediction means, for initiating additional telephone calls using said telephone numbers from said database means, for disconnecting initiated unanswered telephone calls, and for connecting one of the agents with a telephone call answered by a target entity. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification