Universal queuing for inbound communications
First Claim
1. A method for queuing a type of inbound communication, the method comprising:
- receiving the type of inbound communication at a communication server associated with the type of inbound communication;
determining availability of one or more agents associated with the type of inbound communication;
reviewing one or more profiles of the one or more agents to assess applicability of each of the one or more agents to handle the type of inbound communication, at least one of the profiles comprising a guideline for one or more combinations of maximum inbound communication types and number of inbound communications that at least one of the agents may handle concurrently;
selecting an appropriate agent of the one or more agents based on the availability of the appropriate agent to accept the type of inbound communication and applicability of the appropriate agent to concurrently handle one or more inbound communications;
forwarding the type of inbound communication to the appropriate agent; and
suggesting to a customer to use another type of inbound communication when the customer is attempting the type of inbound communication and no appropriate agent is available for the type of inbound communication.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Exemplary systems and methods for queuing an inbound communication are provided. In exemplary embodiments, the inbound communication is received by a communication server associated with a communication type of the inbound communication. Communication statuses of one or more agents over a plurality of communication types are reviewed to determine available agents. One or more profiles are reviewed to assess applicability of one or more agents to receive the inbound communication, whereby an agent may be applicable to handle more than one inbound communication concurrently as determined by their profile. An appropriate agent is then selected based on the availability and applicability of the one or more agents to which the inbound communication is forwarded.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for queuing a type of inbound communication, the method comprising:
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receiving the type of inbound communication at a communication server associated with the type of inbound communication; determining availability of one or more agents associated with the type of inbound communication; reviewing one or more profiles of the one or more agents to assess applicability of each of the one or more agents to handle the type of inbound communication, at least one of the profiles comprising a guideline for one or more combinations of maximum inbound communication types and number of inbound communications that at least one of the agents may handle concurrently; selecting an appropriate agent of the one or more agents based on the availability of the appropriate agent to accept the type of inbound communication and applicability of the appropriate agent to concurrently handle one or more inbound communications; forwarding the type of inbound communication to the appropriate agent; and suggesting to a customer to use another type of inbound communication when the customer is attempting the type of inbound communication and no appropriate agent is available for the type of inbound communication. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for queuing a type of inbound communication, the system comprising:
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a status module configured to maintain communication statuses of a plurality of agents; a profile module configured to maintain profiles of the plurality of agents across a plurality of communication types, each profile providing guidelines for allowing the agent to concurrently handle one or more types of inbound communications; a match module configured to select an appropriate agent associated with the type of inbound communication to direct the type of inbound communication based on the availability of the agent to concurrently handle multiple communications of the same type, the match module further configured to suggest to a customer to use another type of inbound communication when the customer is attempting the type of inbound communication and no appropriate agent is available for the type of inbound communication; and a profile database configured to store the profiles of the one or more agents, at least one of the profiles comprising a guideline for one or more combinations of maximum inbound communication types and number of inbound communications that at least one of the agents may handle concurrently. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program comprising instructions for a method for queuing an inbound communication, the method comprising:
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determining availability of one or more agents associated with a type of inbound communication; reviewing one or more profiles of the one or more agents to assess applicability of each of the one or more agents to handle the type of inbound communication, at least one of the profiles comprising a guideline for one or more combinations of maximum inbound communication types and number of inbound communications that at least one of the agents may handle concurrently; selecting an appropriate agent of the one or more agents based on the availability of the appropriate agent to accept the type of inbound communication and applicability of the appropriate agent to concurrently handle one or more inbound communications; forwarding the type of inbound communication to the appropriate agent; and suggesting to a customer to use another type of inbound communication when the customer is attempting the type of inbound communication and no appropriate agent is available for the type of inbound communication.
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Specification