Method and apparatus for processing customer contacts using a state machine
First Claim
1. A method of processing a call with a client within an automatic contact distributor system, such method comprising the step of:
- providing a user agent application within a terminal of an agent of the automatic contact distributor system that functions as an interface for exchanging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) commands;
providing an agent state machine within the terminal of the agent that controls a plurality of call states of a connection of the call between the client and the agent where the agent state machine is different than the user agent application and assigning a server state machine within an automatic contact distributor of the contact distributor system to the call to control the agent terminal by tracking states of the agent state machine such that the server state machine assumes a state that corresponds to a current state of the agent state machine and by serving as a connection link between the client and the agent while retaining control of the call;
receiving a SIP INVITE by the user agent application, the SIP INVITE composed and initiated from the server state machine of the automatic contact distributor of the automatic contact distribution system, requesting set-up of a communication link between the agent state machine and the server state machine;
transferring the call from the automatic contact distributor to the agent in response to a return SIP message initiated by the agent to the server state machine of the automatic contact distributor, the server state machine readdressing and forwarding messages between the client and the agent; and
depicting a state of the plurality of states of the call on a display of the terminal based upon a logical state of the state machine.
23 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for processing a call with a client within an automatic contact distributor system. The method includes the step of providing a user agent application within a terminal of an agent of the automatic contact distributor system that functions as an interface for exchanging SIP commands and providing an agent state machine within the terminal of the agent that controls a plurality of call states of a connection of the call between the client and the agent where the agent state machine is different than the user agent application. The method further includes the steps of receiving a SIP INVITE by the user agent application from an automatic contact distributor of the automatic contact distribution system transferring the call from the automatic contact distributor to the agent and depicting a state of the plurality of states of the call on a display of the terminal based upon a logical state of the state machine.
41 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A method of processing a call with a client within an automatic contact distributor system, such method comprising the step of:
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providing a user agent application within a terminal of an agent of the automatic contact distributor system that functions as an interface for exchanging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) commands; providing an agent state machine within the terminal of the agent that controls a plurality of call states of a connection of the call between the client and the agent where the agent state machine is different than the user agent application and assigning a server state machine within an automatic contact distributor of the contact distributor system to the call to control the agent terminal by tracking states of the agent state machine such that the server state machine assumes a state that corresponds to a current state of the agent state machine and by serving as a connection link between the client and the agent while retaining control of the call; receiving a SIP INVITE by the user agent application, the SIP INVITE composed and initiated from the server state machine of the automatic contact distributor of the automatic contact distribution system, requesting set-up of a communication link between the agent state machine and the server state machine; transferring the call from the automatic contact distributor to the agent in response to a return SIP message initiated by the agent to the server state machine of the automatic contact distributor, the server state machine readdressing and forwarding messages between the client and the agent; and depicting a state of the plurality of states of the call on a display of the terminal based upon a logical state of the state machine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An apparatus for processing a call with a client within an automatic contact distributor system, such apparatus comprising:
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a user agent application within a terminal of a selected agent of the automatic contact distributor system that functions as an interface for exchanging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) commands; an agent state machine that controls a plurality of call states of a connection of the call between the client and the selected agent where the agent state machine is different than the user agent application and a server state machine within an automatic contact distributor of the automatic contact distributor system which tracks the agent state machine by assuming a state that corresponds to a current state of the agent state machine; a user agent application that receives a SIP INVITE composed and initiated from an automatic contact distributor of the automatic contact distribution system requesting set-up of a communication link between the agent state machine and the server state machine, the server state machine transferring the call from the automatic contact distributor to the selected agent in response to a return SIP OK message initiated by the selected agent and readdressing messages between the client and the agent; and a user interface that depicts a state of the plurality of states of the call on a display of the terminal based upon a logical state of the state machine. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. The method of interfacing a selected agent of an automatic call distributor with the automatic call distributor and clients of the automatic call distributor, such method comprising the step of:
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providing a user agent within a terminal of the agent for exchanging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) commands with the automatic call distributor and clients of the automatic call distributor; receiving a SIP INVITE composed and initiated from a server state machine within the automatic call distributor assigned to control the call and track an agent state machine in the agent'"'"'s terminal by assuming a state that corresponds to a state of the agent state machine and transferring a call from a client of the automatic call distributor to the selected agent in response to a return SIP OK message initiated by the agent to the server state machine of automatic contact distributor, the server state machine readdressing and forwarding messages between the client and the agent; and providing a graphical user interface for use by the agent in controlling the call under SIP.
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Specification