UPD-based soft phone state monitoring for CTI applications

• US 8,300,630 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2008
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jaiswal, Peeyush, Narayan, Naveen
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad M
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, PARTHKUMAR
• Application Number:
  US12/049,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20090232127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,691 Days
• Field of Search: 379/221.15, 379/207.02, 379/265.06, 379/201.07, 379/264.04, 379/210.02, 379/428.03, 709/202, 709/231, 709/224, 709/206, 709/218, 725/87, 725/86, 370/356, 370/313, 370/351, 370/352, 726/13, 705/10, 250/221, 455/404.1, 455/425
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements

Abstract

A supervisor computer directly communicates, via User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, with a call control application software in a soft phone. The UDP packets provide real-time information, from a desktop of the soft phone, describing call activity and usage status of the soft phone. The supervisor computer is able to remotely control usage of the soft phone according to information provided by the UDP packets.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a state of a Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) phone system, in a call center comprising a plurality of CTI phone systems, wherein the CTI phone system comprises an audio telephone for transceiving voice telephone calls, and wherein the CTI phone system further comprises a CTI computer system that comprises a desktop, wherein the desktop displays call information for a call that is received by the audio telephone during a telephone connection, and wherein the call information is processed by a call control application software in the CTI computer, the method comprising, during the telephone connection:

dynamically receiving, by a remote supervisor computer, a plurality of inbound XML-extended User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets comprising data indicating the call information for the call that is received by the audio telephone, wherein the remote supervisor computer displays multiple desktops each corresponding to one of the plurality of CTI phone systems;

remotely monitoring the call information by the remote supervisor computer and a human supervisor using the remote supervisor computer, wherein the remote supervisor computer directly accesses and monitors the call control application software by the plurality of inbound XML-extended UDP packets, wherein each of the multiple desktops represents different desktop information, from different instances of the call control application software, for a different CTI phone system from the plurality of CTI phone systems in the call center, wherein the multiple desktops displayed on the supervisor computer are generated using UDP packets from each CTI phone system, wherein the UDP packets describe call information for calls received by different CTI phone systems;

registering, by the remote supervisor computer, an anomaly in the call information;

in response to registering the anomaly in the call information, remotely controlling, by the remote supervisor computer, a handling of the call according to the call information supplied by the call control application software, wherein remotely controlling comprises;

identifying a solution to the anomaly,

encoding the identified solution in a plurality of outbound XML-extended UDP packets, and

transmitting the outbound XML-extended UDP packets to the CTI phone system; and

in response to registering that the human supervisor observes an unproductive call by an agent using the CTI phone system, transmitting a message to the agent, wherein the message comprises instructions for increasing a call productivity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the desktop further comprises information indicating that the CTI phone system is in a “

ready”

mode to accept the call, the method further comprising;

in response to determining that a user of the CTI phone system has not answered multiple calls over a pre-determined period of time, remotely resetting, by the remote supervisor computer, the CTI phone system to a “

not ready”

mode.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to registering that the human supervisor observes, on one of the multiple desktops, that a desktop from the multiple desktops has frozen up on the corresponding CTI phone, transmitting a reset signal from the supervisor computer to the CTI phone having the frozen desktop, wherein the reset signal unfreezes the frozen desktop.

4. A Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) phone system in a call center comprising a plurality of CTI phone systems, the system comprising:

an audio telephone for transceiving voice telephone calls;

a CTI computer system;

a Call Control Application software in the CTI computer system;

a desktop that is supported by the call control application software, wherein the desktop displays call information for a call that is received by the audio telephone during a telephone connection, and wherein the call information is processed by the call control application software in the CTI computer; and

a transmitter for transmitting the call information in the call control application software to a remote supervisor computer, wherein the remote supervisor computer, during the telephone connection;

dynamically receives a plurality of inbound XML-extended User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets comprising data indicating the call information for the call that is received by the audio telephone, wherein the remote supervisor computer displays multiple desktops each corresponding to one of the plurality of CTI phone systems;

monitor the call information by remote supervisor computer and a human supervisor using the remote supervisor computer, using the plurality of inbound XML-extended UDP packets, wherein each of the multiple desktops represents different desktop information, from different instances of the call control application software, for a different CTI phone system from the plurality of CTI phone systems in the call center, wherein the multiple desktops displayed on the supervisor computer are generated using UDP packets from each CTI phone system, wherein the UDP packets describe call information for calls received by different CTI phone systems;

register an anomaly in the call information;

in response to registering the anomaly in the call information, remotely control the call by the CIT phone system according to the call information for the call, wherein remotely controlling comprises;

identifying a solution to the anomaly,

encoding the identified solution in a plurality of outbound XML-extended UDP packets, and

transmitting the outbound XML-extended UDP packets to the CTI phone system; and

in response to registering that the human supervisor observes an unproductive call by an agent using the CTI phone system, transmit a message to the agent, wherein the message comprises instructions for increasing a call productivity.

5. The CTI phone system of claim 4, wherein the desktop further comprises information indicating that the CTI phone system is in a ready mode to accept the call, and wherein the transmitter is further enabled to transmit an inactivity message to the supervisor computer, wherein the inactivity message indicates that a user of the CTI phone system has not answered multiple calls over a pre-determined period of time.

6. A computer-readable tangible storage device on which is stored a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions configured execution by a processor to:

monitor a state of a Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) phone system in a call center comprising a plurality of CTI phone systems, wherein the CTI phone system comprises an audio telephone for transceiving voice telephone calls, and wherein the CTI phone system further comprises a CTI computer system that comprises a desktop, wherein the desktop displays call information for a call that is received by the audio telephone during a telephone connection, and wherein the call information is processed by a call control application software in the CTI computer, wherein monitoring comprises;

dynamically receiving a plurality of inbound XML-extended User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets comprising data indicating the call information for the call that is received by the audio telephone, wherein the remote supervisor computer displays multiple desktops each corresponding to one of the plurality of CTI phone systems;

remotely monitoring the call information by the remote supervisor computer and a human supervisor using the remote supervisor computer, wherein the remote supervisor computer directly accesses and monitors the call control application software by the plurality of inbound XML-extended UDP packets, wherein each of the multiple desktops represents different desktop information, from different instances of the call control application software, for a different CTI phone system from the plurality of CTI phone systems in the call center, wherein the multiple desktops displayed on the supervisor computer are generated using UDP packets from each CTI phone system, wherein the UDP packets describe call information for calls received by different CTI phone systems;

registering, by the remote supervisor computer, an anomaly in the call information;

in response to registering the anomaly in the call information, remotely controlling, by the remote supervisor computer, a handling of the call according to the call information for the call, wherein remotely controlling comprises;

identifying a solution to the anomaly,

encoding the identified solution in a plurality of outbound XML-extended UDP packets, and

transmitting the outbound XML-extended UDP packets to the CTI phone system; and

in response to registering that the human supervisor observes an unproductive call by an agent using the CTI phone system, transmitting a message to the agent, wherein the message comprises instructions for increasing a call productivity.

7. The computer-readable tangible storage device of claim 6, wherein the desktop further comprises information indicating that the CTI phone system is in a ready mode to accept the call, and wherein the executable instructions are further configured for:

in response to determining that a user of the CTI phone system has not answered multiple calls over a pre-determined period of time, resetting the CTI phone system to a not ready mode.

8. The computer-readable tangible storage device of claim 6, wherein the executable instructions are further configured for:

in response to registering that the human supervisor observes, on one of the multiple desktops, that a desktop from the multiple desktops has frozen up on the corresponding CTI phone, transmitting a reset signal from the supervisor computer to the CTI phone having the frozen desktop, wherein the reset signal unfreezes the frozen desktop.

9. The computer-readable tangible storage device of claim 6, wherein the computer-readable tangible storage device is a component of a remote server, and wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to the supervisory computer from the remote server.

10. The computer-readable tangible storage device of claim 6, wherein the computer executable instructions are capable of being provided by a service provider to a customer on an on demand basis.