Agent-level network call routing

• US 5,946,387 A
• Filed: 02/19/1997
• Issued: 08/31/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Miloslavsky, Alec
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TIEU, BENNY QUOC
• Application Number:
  US08/802,660
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265, 379/266, 379/309, 379/201, 379/207, 379/220, 379/222, 379/210, 379/219, 379/242, 370/412, 370/352
• US Class Current: 379/265.12
• 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 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/12 intelligent networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/12 Marking faulty circuits "busy"; Enabling equipment to disengage itself from faulty circuits ; Using redundant circuits; Response of a circuit, apparatus or system to an error
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/36 Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/367 Traffic or load control
• 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 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5236 Sequential or circular distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5237 Interconnection arrangements between ACD systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5238 with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/00 : Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 : for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 : A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13072 : Sequence circuits for call signaling, ACD systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13091 : CLI, identification of calling line
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13093 : Personal computer, PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 : Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13106 : Microprocessor, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13141 : Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13145 : Rerouting upon failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13164 : Traffic (registration, measurement,...)
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13174 : Data transmission, file transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13204 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1322 : PBX
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13282 : Call forward, follow-me, call diversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13299 : Bus
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 : Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 : Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1336 : Synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 : LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 : Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0045 : involving hybrid, i.e. a mixture of public and private, or multi-vendor systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/64 : Distributing or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/66 : Traffic distributors

Abstract

A computerized telephony call center for serving a customer base has a central switch connected to a plurality of telephones at operator workstations and adapted to route calls to individual ones of the telephones, and also connected to a public switched telephone network, and a first processor connected to the central switch by a high-speed data link and to the telephone network by a digital network connection. The first processor is adapted to monitor transactional activity of the central switch, to process the activity information according to selected routines in the processor, and to communicate processed information to a second processor over the digital network connection. The digital network connection may be a TCP\IP connection. In a preferred embodiment first processor is connected by a local area network (LAN) to network interfaces including a video display unit (VDU) and input apparatus proximate individual ones of the plurality of telephones connected to the central switch. In some embodiments the LAN is also connected to a data server running an instance of a database. In other embodiments the call center, and other similar call centers are all part of a call routing system wherein calls are routed from Service Control Points to call centers over telephone lines, and data is routed to the call centers over a separate digital network connection between processors coupled to the Service Control Points and to the call center central switches.

Claims

1. A network-level call-routing system, comprising

a network service control point (SCP) adapted for receiving and forwarding incoming telephone calls;

a network information server accessible by the SCP; and

at least one call center linked to the SCP by a telephony trunk, the at least one call center having at least one telephony switching apparatus connected to the telephony trunk, ports for switching incoming calls to connected agents, and a computer-telephony integration (CTI) sever connected to the telephony switching apparatus by a first data link and to the information server at network level by a second data link;

wherein the CTI server monitors, on a transaction by transaction basis, activity of the telephony switching apparatus and switches the telephony switching apparatus via the first data link, and provides switch and agent status and agent skill sets to the information server by the second data link, and the SCP routes calls, by accessing information in the information server, to best-fit agents at the at least one call center based on availability and best fit to skill required.

2. The call-routing system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of call centers, each having a CTI server connected to a telephony switching apparatus and to the network-level information server, and wherein the SCP, by accessing information from the information server is adapted to route calls to agents at any one of the plurality of call centers.

3. The call-routing system of claim 1 further comprising a call-center router at the at least one call center and a routing point within the telephony switching apparatus, wherein a call routed by the SCP to an agent at the at least one call center is routed to the routing point, and wherein the call-center router at the at least one call center checks the status of the originally-selected agent, forwarding the call to the agent if no status change has occurred, and selecting an alternate agent if the originally-selected agent is no longer available.

4. The call-routing system of claim 2 further comprising call-center routers and routing points within the telephony switching apparatus at individual ones of the plurality of call centers, and wherein the call-center routers, upon receiving a routed call destined for a selected agent checks availability of the selected agent, forwards the call to the selected agent if that agent is still available, and selects an alternate agent if the originally-selected agent is no longer available.

5. A method for accomplishing network-based agent-level call routing, comprising steps of:

(a) monitoring transactions on a transaction-by-transaction basis of a telephony switch in a call center by a computer-telephony integration (CTI) server connected by a data link with the telephony switch;

(b) providing to the network, by the CTI server via a digital link to an information server at network level, transaction status of the telephony switch and agent skill sets;

(c) receiving an incoming call at a network-level service control point (SCP);

(d) accessing information from the network-level information server; and

(e) routing the incoming call to an agent at a remote call center based on the information provided by the network-level information server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, in step (a) transactions of a plurality of switches at a plurality of call centers is monitored, in step (b) transaction status of all the switches is reported to the network-level information server by CTI-servers connected to the plurality of switches, and, in step (c) calls are routed to agents at any one of the plurality of call centers.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising a step (f) for checking status of a selected agent at a call center to which a call is routed, and selecting an alternative agent for the call at the call center if status has changed.