Method and apparatus for optimizing response time to events in queue

• US 7,929,562 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2003
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2000
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Petrovykh, Yevgeniy
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah; Melur
• Assistant Examiner(s): Laekemariam; Yosef K
• Application Number:
  US10/440,348
• Publication Number:
  US 20030231647A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,895 Days
• Field of Search: 379/112.05, 379/221.07, 379/265, 379/266, 379/266.03, 379/266.06, 370/235, 370/412, 370/429
• US Class Current: 370/429
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/18 Delegation of network management function, e.g. customer network management [CNM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/201 Multicast operation; Broadcast operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1045 Proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/36 : Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42093 : Notifying the calling party of information on the called or connected party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 : Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• 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 3/5231 : with call back arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 : Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5238 : with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/003 : Click to dial services
• 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 2213/1305 : Software aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13072 : Sequence circuits for call signaling, ACD systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 : Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13164 : Traffic (registration, measurement,...)
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13335 : Simulation, emulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 : Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/64 : Distributing or queueing

Abstract

A system for optimizing response time to events or representations thereof waiting in a queue has a first server having access to the queue; a software application running on the first server; and a second server accessible from the first server, the second server containing rules governing the optimization. In a preferred embodiment, the software application at least periodically accesses the queue and parses certain ones of events or tokens in the queue and compares the parsed results against rules accessed from the second server in order to determine a measure of disposal time for each parsed event wherein if the determined measure is sufficiently low for one or more of the parsed events, those one or more events are modified to a reflect a higher priority state than originally assigned enabling faster treatment of those events resulting in relief from those events to the queue system load.

Claims

1. A system for increasing transaction queue efficiency comprising:

a computerized server having software stored on and executing from a machine-readable medium, the software comprising;

a first portion implementing a queue for governing order of processing transactions;

a second portion reordering and/or removing transactions from the queue;

wherein the second portion periodically accesses stored information concerning individual ones of the transactions, using rules separately stored determines an estimated disposal time (EDT) for the transactions considered, and for transactions having a determined disposal time lower than a pre-stored time, either moves those transactions ahead of other transactions in the queue or removes those transactions from the queue.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the computerized server is a work force management and planning server enhanced with the addition of the software application.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the queue is a virtual message queue for a communication center.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the queue is a telephony queue.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the software application includes at least one parsing engine for parsing transaction information.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the software application includes an interface to a historical data repository.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the information parsed includes one or more of event type, event status in queue, event routing information, and event origination information.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the disposal time determined is an estimate based on known procedure for handling the event.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the disposal time determined is an estimate based on historical averaging of previous measurements for the same originator of an event of a same type.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein some events are immediately promoted from the queue to an appropriate final destination queue.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein events that are modified to reflect a higher priority state are immediately routed to their final destinations.

12. A method for increasing transaction queue efficiency comprising the steps of:

(a) implementing a queue for governing order of processing transactions on a computerized server having software stored on and executing from a machine-readable medium;

(b) periodically accessing stored information concerning individual ones of the transactions;

(c) using rules separately stored determining an estimated disposal time (EDT) for the transactions considered; and

(d) for transactions having a determined disposal time lower than a pre-stored time, either moving those transactions ahead of other transactions in the queue or removing those transactions from the queue.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the computerized server is a work force management and planning server enhanced with the addition of the software application.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the queue is a virtual message queue for a communication center.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the queue is a telephony queue.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the software application includes at least one parsing engine for parsing transaction information.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the software application includes an interface to a historical data repository.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the information parsed includes one or more of event type, event status in queue, event routing information, and event origination information.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein the disposal time determined is an estimate based on known procedure for handling the event.

20. The method of claim 12 wherein the disposal time determined is an estimate based on historical averaging of previous measurements for the same originator of an event of a same type.

21. The method of claim 12 wherein some events are immediately promoted from the queue to an appropriate final destination queue.

22. The system of claim 12 wherein events that are modified to reflect a higher priority state are immediately routed to their final destinations.