Call and data correspondence in a call-in center employing virtual restructuring for computer telephony integrated functionality

• US 6,018,578 A
• Filed: 04/03/1997
• Issued: 01/25/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Karpenko, Paul, Bondarenko, Oleg, Neyman, Igor, Issayev, Valeriy, Petrov, Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Wolinsky, Scott
• Application Number:
  US08/825,665
• Time in Patent Office: 1,027 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265, 379/266, 379/209, 379/210, 379/211, 379/212, 379/201, 379/219, 379/220, 379/225, 379/233, 379/234, 379/231, 379/207, 379/88.12, 379/93.17, 379/93.23, 370/270
• US Class Current: 379/265.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• 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: H04M 3/42323 PBX's with CTI arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• 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 2213/13092 Scanning of subscriber lines, monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13093 Personal computer, PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13106 Microprocessor, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13107 Control equipment for a part of the connection, distributed control, co-processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13141 Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13175 Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1322 PBX
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13378 Speech recognition, speech analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13399 Virtual channel/circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13546 Intelligent Peripheral
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/64 : Distributing or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/72 : Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber

Abstract

An agent station for a call-in center has a telephone for an agent'"'"'s use connected by a communication link with a computer workstation including a video display unit (VDU) adapted for monitoring origination information for calls received on the telephone. In a preferred embodiment the computer workstation is connected on a local area network (LAN) to a processor running and instance of a telephony server (T-Server) application having access to a database storing data pertaining to callers, and the computer workstation reports call-origination data to the T-Server, which uses the data to correlate data to be retrieved from the database and displayed on the VDU.

Claims

1. A telephony call-in center, comprising:

a plurality of agent stations, individual ones of the agent stations having a telephone and a computer workstation including a video display unit (VDU), the telephone and computer workstation connected by a communication link;

a local area network (LAN) connecting at least some of the computer workstations at the agent stations; and

a first computer processor including an instance of a telephony server (T-Server) enabled to service calls from specific Service Control Points (SCPs) and to block display of data at agent station VDUs for any call not identified as originating at one of the specific SCPs, the computer processor connected on the LAN and having access to a database;

wherein the computer workstation is enabled to retrieve origination data for incoming calls at the telephone, and to use the origination data to correlate a caller with further data retrieved from the database for display on the VDU.

2. The telephony call-in center of claim 1 wherein one or more of the computer workstations are personal computers (PCs).

4. The telephony call-in center of claim 1 wherein the computer workstation is adapted to report the origination data to the T-Server, and the T-Server is adapted to correlate the caller with further data retrieved from the database for display on the VDU.

3. The telephony call-in center of claim 3 wherein the communication link is a PC-compatible serial data link.

5. A telephone call-routing system, comprising:

a call-in center comprising a plurality of agent stations, individual ones of the agent stations having a telephone and a computer workstation including a video display unit (VDU) connected by a communication link, with a plurality of the computer workstations connected to one another, to a first processor running an instance of a telephony server (T-Server), and to a database on a local area network (LAN); and

a call-routing center comprising a telephony switch adapted to switch telephone calls to the telephones at the call-in center, the telephony switch coupled to a second processor running an instance of the T-Server;

wherein the T-Server services calls from specific Service Control Points (SCPs) and blocks display of data at agent station VDUs for any call not identified as originating at one of the specific SCPs, and the computer workstation retrieves origination data for incoming calls at the telephone and to report the origination data to the T-Server, and wherein the T-Server uses the origination data to correlate a caller with further data retrieved from the database for display on the VDU.

6. The telephone call-routing system of claim 5 wherein one or more of the computer workstations are personal computers (PCs).

7. The telephone call-routing system of claim 6 wherein the communication link is a PC-compatible serial data link.

8. The telephone call-routing system of claim 5 further comprising a computer telephony integration (CTI) link between the first processor and the telephony switch.

9. A method for correlating displayed data with incoming calls at a call-in center, comprising steps of:

(a) connecting individual telephones at the call-in center by a communication link to individual computer workstations having video display units (VDUs);

(b) connecting each telephone-connected computer workstation on a local area network (LAN) to a Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) processor connected on the LAN and running a telephony server (T-Server) CTI application having access to a database storing data to be displayed, and enabled to service calls from specific Service Control Points (SCPs) and to block display of data at agent station VDUs for any call not identified as originating at one of the specific SCPs;

(c) monitoring origination information of incoming calls by the computer workstations;

(d) providing the origination information over the LAN to the T-Server running on the LAN-connected CTI processor;

(e) using the origination information via the T-Server to correlate data to be displayed at the VDUs with the incoming calls; and

(f) blocking display of data at the individual computer workstation VDUs for any call not identified as originating at the specific SCPs.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein one or more of the computer workstations in step (a) are personal computers (PCs) and the communication link is a PC-compatible serial data link.