Skills-based automatic call distribution system
First Claim
1. A method for distributing a telephone call to an agent in a skills-based call system, said method comprising the steps of:
- determining the informational needs of a caller associated with the telephone call;
defining a skill set an agent must possess in order to serve the caller based upon the determined informational needs thereof;
searching for an available agent possessing the defined skill set;
estimating a time during which the caller is expected to wait before the available agent possessing the defined skill set is found, in response to an available agent not being found during the step of searching;
comparing the estimated waiting time for the caller with a predetermined maximum waiting time;
redefining the defined skill set an agent must possess in order to serve the caller, in response to the estimated waiting time being greater than the maximum waiting time during the step of comparing;
searching for any available agent possessing the redefined skill set; and
connecting the caller to an available agent in response to an available agent possessing the redefined skill set being identified.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A skills based telephone call distribution system is disclosed. The system determines the informational needs of an incoming caller and defines a set of skills an agent should possess to serve the caller. A search is performed for an available agent possessing the skill set. Upon the search failing to locate an available agent possessing the skill set, the amount of time the caller may expect to wait therefor is estimated. The estimated time is compared to a maximum waiting time. If the estimated time is greater than the maximum waiting time, then the skill set is redefined to include a greater number of agents who may serve the caller. A new search is performed for an available agent possessing the redefined skill set.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for distributing a telephone call to an agent in a skills-based call system, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining the informational needs of a caller associated with the telephone call; defining a skill set an agent must possess in order to serve the caller based upon the determined informational needs thereof; searching for an available agent possessing the defined skill set; estimating a time during which the caller is expected to wait before the available agent possessing the defined skill set is found, in response to an available agent not being found during the step of searching; comparing the estimated waiting time for the caller with a predetermined maximum waiting time; redefining the defined skill set an agent must possess in order to serve the caller, in response to the estimated waiting time being greater than the maximum waiting time during the step of comparing; searching for any available agent possessing the redefined skill set; and connecting the caller to an available agent in response to an available agent possessing the redefined skill set being identified. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for distributing a telephone call in a telephone call distribution system, comprising:
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defining means for defining a set of skills an agent must possess in order to serve a caller associated with the telephone call; a means for searching for an available agent in the system possessing the defined skill set; a means for estimating a time during which the caller is expected to wait before an agent possessing the defined skill set is available, in response to an available agent not being found by the means for searching; a means for comparing the estimated waiting time for the caller with a predefined maximum waiting time; a means for redefining the defined skill set an agent must possess in order to serve the caller, in response to the estimated waiting time being greater than the maximum waiting time; a means for searching for any available agent in the system possessing the redefined skill set; and a means for connecting the caller to an available agent possessing the redefined skill set in response to an agent being identified by the means for searching for any agent possessing the redefined skill set. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In an automatic call distribution system, a method of handling an incoming telephone call, comprising the steps of:
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initially defining a skill set for an agent qualified to serve a caller; determining an average time delay for the caller associated with the incoming telephone call to be connected to a qualified agent based upon a position of the caller in a queue of callers waiting for one of a number of qualified agents; determining the number of qualified agents who serve callers in the queue and are presently serving other callers; calculating the percentage of callers in the queue served by the qualified agents relative to the total number of callers served by the qualified agents over a predetermined period of time; calculating a first time delay based upon the number of qualified agents and upon the percentage of callers served thereby; subtracting the first time delay from the average time delay to obtain an estimated waiting time delay; comparing the estimated waiting time delay to a predetermined maximum caller waiting time delay; and redefining the skill set for the agent qualified to serve the caller based upon an affirmative determination that the estimated waiting time delay is greater than the maximum caller waiting time delay; and placing the caller in the queue of callers based upon the estimated waiting time delay value. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer program product including a computer readable medium having computer readable program code means embodied thereon, for an automatic call distribution system, the computer program product comprising:
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first computer readable program code means for defining a skill set an agent must possess in order to serve a caller, based upon the particular needs of the caller; second computer readable program code means for searching the automatic call distribution system for an available agent possessing the defined skill set; third computer readable program code means, responsive to the second computer readable program code means, for estimating a time period during which the caller is expected to wait before being served by an agent having the defined skill set; fourth computer readable program code means for comparing the estimated waiting time period to a maximum caller waiting time period; and fifth computer readable program code means for placing the caller in a queue of callers to be served by at least one agent having the defined skill set, in response to the estimated waiting time period being less than the maximum caller waiting time period; and sixth computer readable program code means for redefining the skill set based upon a determination that the estimated waiting period is greater than the maximum caller waiting time period. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification