Dynamic re-routing

• US 5,991,391 A
• Filed: 06/20/1997
• Issued: 11/23/1999
• 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): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): TIEU, BENNY QUOC
• Application Number:
  US08/879,554
• Time in Patent Office: 886 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265, 379/266, 379/309, 379/201, 379/207, 379/209, 379/210, 379/211, 379/219, 379/220
• US Class Current: 379/265.11
• 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
• 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 method for rerouting calls in a call-routing system having a routing processor storing information about the status of remote telephone stations involves setting a semaphore for station busy at the time a call is routed to the station, and timing the semaphore for a pre-programmed period of time known to be the latency period for returning a real-time signal that the routed call was actually completed. If the signal for call completion is not received in the pre-programmed time, the call is canceled and re-routed by reinserting the call in a routing queue. When the call is canceled the semaphore is reset to indicate the station is not busy. In a preferred embodiment the call is rerouted to the same destination as originally routed.

Claims

1. A telephone call routing system queuing and routing incoming calls to individual ones of remote telephone stations, comprising:

a first telephone line for receiving incoming calls; and

a routing system including a processor system coupled to the first telephone line and to the remote telephone stations, the processor system receiving and using information about availability of the remote telephone stations in routing incoming calls, queing and routing said calls to selected ones of the remote telephone stations based on stored information that said remote telephone stations are available and not busy, and setting semaphores at the time of routing for a pre-programmed period of time indicating that the selected remote telephone stations are busy, thereby preventing further calls being routed while the semaphores are set;

wherein the processor system, upon routing a selected call to a selected one of the remote telephone stations, in the event a confirmation of completion of the call is not made within a pre-programmed time, cancels and reques the routed call and sets a busy semaphore to free.

2. The telephone call-routing system of claim 1 wherein the processor system re-routes the canceled call to the same remote telephone station to which it originally routed the call.

3. The telephone call-routing system of claim 1 wherein the processor system, on originally routing the selected call sets a busy semaphore for the call destination, and upon re-routing the selected call in the event the expected confirmation of completion is not received, resets the busy semaphore to free.

4. The telephone call routing system of claim 1 wherein the remote telephone stations are part of a call-in center comprising a computerized telephony switch connected to a plurality of telephones at operator workstations, routing calls to individual ones of the telephones, and connected by a telephony line to the initial call processing system, a telephony server connected to the telephony switch by a first high-speed data link and having a digital communication link to the processor system, and a network connected to a display terminal proximate each of the plurality of telephones and to the telephony server.

5. The telephone call-routing system of claim 4 wherein the digital communication link to the processor system operates in TCP/IP protocol.

6. The telephone call-routing system of claim 4 further comprising a customer information database connected to the network, and wherein the telephony server matches received information with the database, and retrieves information related to the incoming call.

7. In a call-routing system having a routing processor storing information about the status of remote telephone stations, a method for queuing and routing calls to individual ones of the remote telephone stations, comprising steps of:

(a) receiving an incoming call;

(b) queuing and routing the incoming call to a selected one of the remote telephone stations, based on stored information that the selected remote telephone station is available and not busy;

(c) setting a semaphore for a pre-programmed period of time in the routing processor that the remote station is busy at the time the incoming call is routed, thereby preventing further calls being routed to the selected one of the remote telephone stations while the semaphore is set; and

(d) canceling and requeing the call in the absence of a confirmation of call completion in the pre-programmed period of time.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising a step (e) for setting the semaphore to free when the call is requeued, allowing further calls to be routed to the telephone station.