Method and system for monitoring call center service representatives

• US 5,946,375 A
• Filed: 05/12/1997
• Issued: 08/31/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: E-Talk Corporation
• Original Assignee: Teknekron Infoswitch Corp. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Maloney, Michael J., McCalmont, David T., Vizard, Paul A., Pattison, Jon A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): Foster, Roland G.
• Application Number:
  US08/854,819
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 379/34, 379/35, 379/88.22, 379/88.27, 379/265, 379/266, 379/309, 379/85, 379/88.09, 379/88.1, 379/88.25, 379/112, 379/133, 379/135
• US Class Current: 379/112.01
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/10 together with the recording, indicating or registering of other data, e.g. of signs of identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/402 Agent or workforce management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6018 Subscriber or terminal logon/logoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2281 Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/36 Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

A method and system permit monitoring of a call center agent or similar service representative in servicing calls in a call center by logging sessions. The logged sessions may be selectively played back based on a number of scheduling criteria, including time interval, a scheduling rule, a number of calls, a monitoring length, a random indicator, call type information, agent performance level information, call traffic information, and others. The method and system plays back those portions of the logged sessions that meet the scheduling criteria.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a plurality of service representatives in handling customer calls, comprising:

a switching device operable to receive customer calls;

a plurality of agent workstations coupled to the switching device, the agent workstations operable to receive customer calls from the switching device; and

a platform coupled to the switching device, the platform operable to record customer calls as a plurality of logged sessions, the platform operable to determine service representative monitoring periods having scheduling criteria, the platform operable to select portions of the logged sessions that meet the scheduling criteria of the monitoring periods.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the platform records customer calls irrespective of the scheduling criteria.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the logged sessions comprise recordings of all customer calls received at the agent workstations.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the platform comprises:

a first memory operable to stored logged sessions;

a second memory operable to store scheduling criteria; and

a third memory operable to store play back information associated with the logged sessions, wherein the platform selects portions of the logged sessions stored in the first memory using scheduling criteria stored in the second memory and play back information stored in the third memory.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the platform selects portions of the logged sessions while generating the logged sessions, the platform further operable to insert play back indicators into the logged sessions at the time of recording to specify the selected portions of the logged sessions.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of voice/data channels coupled to the platform and the switching device, the voice/data channels operable to communicate voice/data associated with the customer calls to the platform for recording.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the platform is further operable to play back selected portions of the logged sessions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a monitoring interval, a number of calls, and a monitoring length.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a random indicator.

10. A method for monitoring a plurality of service representatives in handling customer calls, comprising:

recording customer calls as a plurality of logged sessions;

determining monitoring periods for the service representatives, the monitoring periods having scheduling criteria; and

selecting portions of the logged sessions that meet the scheduling criteria of the monitoring periods.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of recording customer calls comprises recording customer calls irrespective of the scheduling criteria.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

storing play back information associated with the logged sessions; and

selecting portions of the logged sessions using play back information and scheduling criteria.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of selecting is performed while generating the logged sessions, and further comprising the step of inserting play back indicators into the logged sessions at the time of recording to specify the selected portions of the logged sessions.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of playing back selected portions of the logged sessions.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a monitoring interval, a number of calls, and a monitoring length.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a random indicator.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of determining monitoring periods for the service representatives comprises:

selecting a service representative;

selecting a day of the week; and

associating a monitoring period with the selected service representative on the selected day of the week.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of determining monitoring periods for the service representatives comprises:

selecting a service representative;

selecting a day of the week; and

associating a plurality of monitoring periods with the selected service representative on the selected day of the week.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of recording customer calls comprises:

detecting the connection of a customer call;

opening a voice/data file associated with a service representative handling the customer call; and

storing voice/data associated with the customer call in the voice/data file.

20. A platform for monitoring a plurality of service representatives in handling customer calls, comprising:

a plurality of voice/data channels operable to receive voice/data associated with customer calls;

a first memory operable to store voice/data associated with customer calls as logged sessions;

a second memory operable to store monitoring schedules for the service representatives, the monitoring schedules based on monitoring periods having scheduling criteria; and

a processor coupled to the memory and operable to select portions of the logged sessions that meet the scheduling criteria of the monitoring periods.

21. The platform of claim 20, wherein the logged sessions comprise recordings of all customer calls received at the platform.

22. The platform of claim 20, further comprising a third memory coupled to the processor, the third memory operable to store play back information associated with the logged sessions, wherein the processor selects portions of the logged sessions stored in the first memory using scheduling criteria stored in the second memory and play back information stored in the third memory.

23. The platform of claim 20, wherein the processor selects portions of the logged sessions while generating the logged sessions, the processor further operable to cause the first memory to store play back indicators into the logged sessions at the time of recording to specify the selected portions of the logged sessions.

24. The platform of claim 20, further comprising a plurality of voice/data channels operable to communicate voice/data associated with the customer calls to the platform for recording.

25. The platform of claim 20, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a monitoring interval, a number of calls, and a monitoring length.

26. The platform of claim 20, wherein the scheduling criteria comprises a random indicator.