System and method for automated call distribution

• US 8,249,245 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2008
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jay, Jon R., Dashe, Jeremy A., Lin, Yung-Chun, Macfarlane, Kenneth C., Stone, Eric S., Glissmeyer, Nathan Brent, Sharpe, Raymond P. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): ADDY, THJUAN KNOWLIN
• Application Number:
  US12/192,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20090122973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,468 Days
• Field of Search: 379/266.01, 379/265.09, 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/265.11, 379/265.12, 379/265.05
• US Class Current: 379/266.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/405 Competitive bidding for work items
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6018 Subscriber or terminal logon/logoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5125 with remote located operators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5237 Interconnection arrangements between ACD systems

Abstract

Aspects of systems and methods for maintaining and operating agent nodes are provided. In some embodiments, calls, contacts, and other work units may be routed to individual customer service agents via a centralized queue based on a variety of factors. Some embodiments may provide market-based call pricing and customer service agent compensation.

Claims

1. A system for automatically distributing calls, the system comprising:

a connectivity controller that receives incoming calls;

a call controller in communication with the connectivity controller, wherein the call controller stores the incoming calls received by the connectivity controller in a centralized queue and directs the connectivity controller to route an incoming call stored in the centralized queue directly to an agent in an agent node;

wherein the agent node comprises a group of agents qualified to process the incoming call, wherein the group of agents is selected based upon at least one of first information regarding metrics related to the operation of the system and information regarding capabilities of respective agents;

a relationship manager in communication with the call controller, wherein the customer relationship manager identifies the agent to the call controller from the group of agents qualified to process the incoming call, wherein the identification is based at least in part on second information related to at least one of a user initiating the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent, and the incoming call; and

a metrics service in communication with the call controller, wherein the metrics service maintains metrics based on one or more of said first and second information.

2. The system of claim 1:

wherein the second information related to the user comprises at least one of user history information and user identity information;

wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises at least one of agent history information and agent skills information; and

wherein the second information related to the incoming call comprises at least one of call history information and call identity information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the agent history information comprises a previous history between the user and the agent.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the agent history information comprises feedback associated with the agent.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following:

a media service in communication with the connectivity controller, wherein the media service provides media for the incoming call;

an interactive voice response in communication with the connectivity controller, wherein the interactive voice response processes voice responses from the user; and

a call recorder in communication with the connectivity controller, wherein the call recorder records the incoming call.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized queue is associated with one or more routing queues maintained by the connectivity controller, wherein each routing queue is assigned incoming calls, wherein each routing queue is assigned to an agent, and wherein the agent processes incoming calls assigned to one or more routing queues.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the connectivity controller dynamically reassigns an incoming call from one of the routing queues to another of the routing queues based at least in part information related to at least one of the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent and the user.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized queue is a priority queue.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the metrics comprise information related to processing of incoming calls.

10. A method for automatically distributing calls in an automated call distribution system, the method comprising:

receiving incoming calls from one or more users;

storing the incoming calls in a centralized queue;

selecting an agent in an agent node to process an incoming call from a user that is stored in the centralized queue, wherein the agent node comprises a group of agents qualified to process the incoming calls based upon at least one of first information related to operation of the automated call distribution system and information regarding capabilities of respective agents and wherein the agent is selected from the group of agents qualified to process the incoming call based at least in part on second information related to at least one of the user, the capabilities of the agent and the incoming call; and

directly routing the incoming call to the selected agent.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein agents are grouped into the agent node physically.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein agents are grouped into the agent node logically.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises a profile for the agent.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises utilization information for the agent node.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the utilization information for the agent node is determined based on at least one of agent node availability, agent node capacity, and an agent node utilization target.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the second information related to the user comprises a type of user initiating the incoming call.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the second information related to the incoming call comprises a skill associated with the incoming call.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising gathering metrics related to the incoming calls and the agent node.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising assigning incoming calls to a routing queue associated with the centralized queue, wherein the routing queue is assigned to an agent.

20. A system for automatically distributing calls, the system comprising:

a connectivity controller that receives incoming calls from one or more users; and

a call controller in communication with the connectivity controller, wherein the call controller stores the incoming calls received by the connectivity controller in a centralized queue and directs the connectivity controller to connect an incoming call stored in the centralized queue directly to an agent in an agent node;

wherein the agent node comprises a group of agents qualified to process the incoming call, wherein the group of agents is selected based upon at least one of first information regarding metrics related to the operation of the system and information regarding capabilities of respective agents;

wherein the agent to be connected to the incoming call is selected from the group of agents qualified to process the incoming call based at least in part on second information related to at least one of a user initiating the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent and the incoming call.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the connectivity controller maintains an open connection to the agent for a period of time prior to receiving the direction to connect the agent to the incoming call.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the centralized queue is a priority queue.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the incoming calls are received by the connectivity controller from disparate communications networks.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the incoming call may be is connected to the agent without requiring a private telephone exchange.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the agents in the group of agents are ranked in a preferred selection order.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the call comprises previous interactions between the agent and the user.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the user comprises a geographic location of the user.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the user comprises behavior of the user.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the user comprises voice analysis of the user.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the user comprises purchase history of the user.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein agents are grouped into the agent node physically.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein agents are grouped into the agent node logically.

33. The system of claim 20, further comprising a relationship manager in communication with the call controller that identifies when the agent is available.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the call comprises a skill associated with the incoming call.

35. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises utilization information for the agent node.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the utilization information for the agent node is determined based on at least one of agent node availability, agent node capacity, and an agent node utilization target.

37. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises a profile associated with the agent.

38. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the incoming call comprises a type of the user initiating the incoming call.

39. The system of claim 20, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises a type of the agent.

40. The system of claim 20, wherein the connectivity controller utilizes a Session Initiation Protocol to connect the incoming call to the agent node.

41. The system of claim 20, further comprising a metrics service in communication with the call controller, wherein the metrics service maintains metrics related to at least one of the incoming calls and the agent node.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the metrics are generated based on at least one of historical data and real-time data.

43. The system of claim 20, wherein the centralized queue may is associated with one or more routing queues, wherein each routing queue is assigned incoming calls, and wherein each routing queue is assigned to an agent.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the connectivity controller dynamically reassigns an incoming call from one of the routing queues to another of the routing queues based at least in part on the second information related to at least one of the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent, and the user.

45. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable components for automatically distributing calls directly to agents capable of processing the calls, the computer-executable components comprising:

a connectivity controller component that receives incoming calls from one or more users and connects the incoming calls to the agents capable of processing the calls;

a call controller component that stores the incoming calls received by the connectivity controller component in a centralized queue and directs the connectivity controller component to connect an incoming call stored in the centralized queue directly to an agent in an agent node;

wherein the agent node comprises a group of agents qualified to process the incoming call, wherein the group of agents is selected based upon at least one of first information regarding state metrics related to distribution of the incoming calls and information regarding capabilities of respective agents

wherein the agent is selected from the group of agents qualified to process the incoming call based at least in part on second information related to at least one of the user initiating the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent, and the incoming call; and

a user interface component that enables the agent to indicate the agent'"'"'s availability to process the incoming call.

46. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the second information related to the capabilities of the agent comprises at least one of an allocation of the agent'"'"'s agent node, a profile associated with the agent, and a type of the agent.

47. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the second information related to the incoming call comprises at least one of a skill associated with the incoming call and a duration the incoming call has been in the centralized queue.

48. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the second information related to the user comprises a type of the user.

49. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein connectivity controller component maintains one or more routing queues associated with the centralized queue, wherein each routing queue is assigned incoming calls, and wherein each routing queue is assigned to an agent.

50. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 49, wherein the connectivity controller dynamically reassigns an incoming call from one of the routing queues to another of the routing queues based at least in part on information related to at least one of the incoming call, the capabilities of the agent, and the user.

51. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 49, wherein the connectivity controller component connects the agent to incoming calls from one or more routing queues.

52. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45, further comprising a relationship management component that identifies to the controller component when the agent is available to process the incoming call.

53. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 45 further comprising a metric component that gathers metrics related to the incoming calls and the agent node.