Dynamic requeing to avoid latency in call-routing systems

• US 5,995,614 A
• Filed: 02/10/1997
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• 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:
  US08/797,406
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265, 379/266, 379/309, 379/210, 379/211, 379/212, 379/214, 379/219, 379/222, 379/209, 379/220
• US Class Current: 379/265.11
• 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 7/00 Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres

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 agents at remote telephone stations, comprising:

a first telephone line adapted 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 adapted to receive and use information about availability of agents at the remote telephone stations in routing incoming calls, queing and routing said calls to selected ones of the remote agents based on stored information that said remote agents 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 agents 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 agents at 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 agent at 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 agents at 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, adapted to route calls to agents at 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 individual agents at remote telephone stations, a method for routing and queuing calls to individual agents at remote telephone stations, comprising steps of:

(a) receiving an incoming call;

(b) routing the incoming call to a selected agent at one of the remote telephone stations, based on stored information that the agent at 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 agent at the remote station is busy at the time the incoming call is routed, thereby preventing further calls being routed to the selected agent at the remote telephone stations while the semaphore is set;

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

(e) setting the semaphore to free.

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 agent at the telephone station.