System and method of determining call treatment of repeat calls

• US 8,295,469 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2009
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bushey, Robert R., Knott, Benjamin Anthony, Korth, Sarah
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US12/616,248
• Publication Number:
  US 20100054449A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 340/7.39, 340/7.46, 340/7.61, 340/7.43, 370/352, 370/356, 379/67.1, 379/221.01, 379/265.02, 379/265.09, 379/265.13, 379/133, 379/201.02, 379/40, 379/88.16, 379/88.22, 379/209.01, 379/265.01, 379/374.02, 455/414.1, 358/1.15, 725/107, 705/7.18, 707/738, 709/217, 709/220, 717/120
• US Class Current: 379/265.02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5235 Dependent on call type or called number [DNIS]

Abstract

A method and system of handling a call received at a call center is disclosed. The method includes determining that the call is a repeat call. The method also includes determining whether the repeat call is to receive a first treatment type. The method further includes servicing the repeat call with the first treatment type when the repeat call is determined to receive the first treatment type. The method includes servicing the repeat call with a second treatment type when the repeat call is determined to not receive the first treatment type. The second treatment type includes providing access to a self-service automated system.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

determining that a call received at a call center is a repeat call;

determining whether the repeat call is to receive a first call treatment;

in response to determining that the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment, servicing the repeat call with the first call treatment; and

in response to determining that the repeat call is not to receive the first call treatment, servicing the repeat call with a second call treatment that includes routing the call to a self-service automated system.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second call treatment includes a standard treatment.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first call treatment includes a special treatment.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein the special treatment includes providing access to a live agent.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the call received is the repeat call is based on data retrieved from a repeat call table.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein an action-object pair associated with the call is retrieved from an action-object table, the action- object pair used to determine that the call is a repeat call.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment is based at least in part on data retrieved from an action-object table.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7, wherein the data retrieved from the action-object table includes a first action-object pair associated with the call and a second action-object pair associated with a prior call received at the call center, and wherein the first action-object pair is compared to the second action-object pair to determine whether the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment is based at least in part on second data that is retrieved from a resolution table based on the first action-object pair.

10. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory accessible to the processor, the memory including operational instructions that,

when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising;

determining whether a call received at a call center is a repeat call,

determining whether the repeat call is to receive a first call treatment,

servicing the repeat call with the first call treatment in response to determining that the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment, and

servicing the repeat call with a second call treatment when the repeat call is determined to not receive the first call treatment, wherein the second call treatment includes providing access to a self-service automated system.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an action-object pair from an action-object table; and

accessing an entry of a special treatment resolution table based on the action-object pair before determining whether the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the special treatment resolution table includes a plurality of action-object pair entries.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein a first action-object pair entry of the plurality of action-object pair entries corresponds to the repeat call and a second action-object pair entry of the plurality of action-object pair entries corresponds to a prior call.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein a third action-object pair entry of the plurality of action-object pair entries corresponds to the second action-object pair entry that is related to the prior call.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises comparing the first action-object pair entry to the second action-object pair entry.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises identifying that the prior call and the repeat call are initiated by a caller.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises determining whether the repeat call is associated with an unresolved issue of the caller.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

providing an automated prompt to a caller who initiated the call; and

receiving task-identification information from the caller in response to providing the automated prompt.

19. A computer-readable storage medium comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

determining that a call received at a call center is a repeat call;

determining whether the repeat call is to receive a first call treatment;

in response to determining that the repeat call is to receive the first call treatment, servicing the repeat call with the first call treatment; and

in response to determining that the repeat call is not to receive the first call treatment, servicing the repeat call with a second call treatment that includes providing access to a self-service automated system.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the repeat call is associated with an action-object pair retrieved from an action-object table, wherein the first call treatment is based at least in part on the action-object pair chosen from the action-object table based on a task associated with the repeat call.