Telephony system for conducting multimedia telephonic conferences over a packet-based network

• US 6,731,609 B1
• Filed: 08/31/1999
• Issued: 05/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aspect Communications Corporation (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Aspect Communications Corporation (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ely, Michael, DʼAngelo, Robert, Hirni, James, Gindel, Christopher, Cottle, Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): VANDERPUYE, KENNETH N
• Application Number:
  US09/387,322
• Time in Patent Office: 1,708 Days
• Field of Search: 370/260, 370/261, 370/262, 370/263, 370/266, 379/158, 379/202, 379/205
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5018 Initiating a conference during a two-party conversation, i.e. three-party service or three-way call
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/569 using the instant speaker's algorithm speech detection per se G10L25/78
• 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

Abstract

A telephony system for conducting multimedia telephonic communications across a packet-based network is described between a caller system and an agent system through a software switch. The software switch receives from the caller system a packet representing a request to conduct a multimedia telephonic conference with an agent system. The switch exchanges packets with the caller system to establish a call with the caller system. The switch provides an application program interface to a telephony application program through which the telephony application program can control multimedia telephonic conferences between the caller and agent systems. The switch then processes the call according to the commands received through the application program interface from the telephony application program. In one embodiment, the application is an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD), which routes calls through the software switch. In another embodiment, a CTI subsystem provides an interface to a CTI server so that the ACD can work together with standard PSTN call centers.

Claims

1. In a packet-based network having a caller system transmitting a request to conduct a multimedia telephonic conference, a multimedia telephonic communication system, comprising:

a server system coupled to a plurality of agent systems, and the server system in communication with the caller system via the packet-based network for receiving the request, the server system having software installed thereon and a processor executing the software, the software including;

an automatic call distributor (ACD) for controlling multimedia telephonic conferences by selecting at least one agent system among the plurality of agent systems for communication with the caller system;

a call processing system responsive to the selection by the ACD of the at least one agent system to establish the multimedia telephonic conference between the caller system and the at least one agent system; and

a computer technology integration (CTI) subsystem in communication with a CTI server for conducting conferences through the CTI server.

4. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 1, wherein the ACD further comprises:

tables for selecting the at least one agent system among the plurality of agent systems based on at least one of a call type and a time of day.

5. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 4, wherein the tables further comprise:

lists of actions to perform for a call, based on at least one of the call type and the time of day.

6. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 5, wherein the actions include:

at least one of a greeting and a predetermined media to transmit to the caller system.

7. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 1, wherein the ACD further comprises:

an agent manager for managing the plurality of agent systems including;

login, logout and tracking changes in an availability of each of the plurality of agent systems.

8. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 1, wherein the ACD further comprises:

a media player for transmitting at least one of audio and video media to the caller system.

2. In a packet-based network having a caller systems transmitting requests to conduct multimedia telephonic conferences, a multimedia telephonic communication system, comprising:

a server system configured to coupled to the caller systems via the packet-based network and to a plurality of agent systems, and the server system having software installed thereon and a processor executing the software, the software including;

an automatic call distributor (ACD) for controlling multimedia telephonic conferences;

and the ACD including;

a call context mapper responsive to call context mapper requests to determine on the basis of call context a sequence of actions specific to each group of agent systems to perform for each telephonic conference; and

an agent manager for managing both call queues associated with each corresponding group of agent systems among the plurality of agent systems as well as the multimedia telephonic conferences, and the agent manager responsive throughout each telephonic conference to requests from both agent systems and callers to generate corresponding call context mapper requests, including responsiveness to a request to conduct a telephonic conference from a caller system to generate the corresponding call context mapper request identifying the call context and to execute the sequence of actions determined by the call context mapper in response thereto.

3. The multimedia telephonic communication system of claim 2, wherein the sequence of actions include:

at least one greeting action and at least one conditional action based on an availability of an agent system in the corresponding call queue.

9. In a packet-based network, a call center for handling multimedia telephonic calls from caller systems over the network, comprising:

a plurality of agent systems each including;

a multimedia computer having software installed thereon and a processor executing the software, the software including;

an agent application providing a graphical user interface (GUI) with icons for manipulating calls including at least one of;

a call hold, a call mute, a call transfer to another one of the plurality of agent systems, a call conference with another one of the plurality of agent systems; and

a server system coupled to the plurality of agent systems and the server system in communication with at least one of the caller systems to receive a request over the packet-based network to conduct a telephonic conference, and the server system having software installed thereon and a processor executing the software, the software including;

an automatic call distributor (ACD) for controlling multimedia telephonic conferences including selecting at least one agent system among the plurality of agent systems for communication with the caller system and communicating with the agent application on the at least one selected agent system to manipulate each call; and

a call processing system responsive to the selection by the ACD of the at least one agent system to establish a telephonic conference between the caller and the at least one agent system in response to the request.