System and method for enforcing a recording preference

• US 8,644,457 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2012
• Issued: 02/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Vasquez, Juan, Alagheband, Nazli, McCarthy, Mel Patrick, Regenbrecht, Claus
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Teshale, Akelaw
• Application Number:
  US13/632,794
• Time in Patent Office: 491 Days
• Field of Search: 379/41, 379/51, 379/68, 379/71, 379/73, 379/85, 379/88.01, 379/88.23, 379/142.07, 379/196, 379/211.01, 379/21, 379/5.01, 379/266.01, 379/266.1, 370/270
• US Class Current: 379/88.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/404 Collaboration among agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4217 Managing service interactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

A system and method are provided for allowing a user to consent to call recording. A user is prompted to make a recording preference. The recording preference is stored in a table indexed by UCID (universal call ID) or as part of a UUI (user-to-user information) field of the call. A recording module and/or a compliance manager, both associated with a call center, are configured to record or not record the call based on the recording preference. The recording preference can be enforced on incoming and outgoing calls to and from the call center. Advantageously, the user'"'"'s recording preference is enforced throughout the call, regardless of how the call is routed/transferred within the call center.

Claims

1. A method for imposing a recording preference of a telephony call placed to a call center, the method comprising:

prompting a user device to consent to recording the telephony call;

receiving a preference response to the prompt;

transmitting the preference response to a table indexed by UCID (universal call ID) and storing the preference response in the table, wherein the UCID is an identifier that corresponds to the telephony call and identifies the telephony call when the telephony call is routed from a first agent device to a second agent device;

routing the telephony call to the first agent device of the call center via a PBX (private branch exchange);

determining whether to record the call with the first agent device based on the preference response stored in the table indexed by UCID;

routing the telephony call from the first agent device to the second agent device via the PBX; and

determining whether to record the call with the second agent device based on the preference response stored in the table indexed by UCID.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising querying the table by UCID to determine whether the telephony call should be recorded.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising recording the telephony call until being instructed by a compliance manager module to stop recording.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising periodically checking the telephony calls being recorded against the preference responses stored in the table.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising instructing a recording module to stop recording the call and to purge recorded data when the telephony call is being recorded but the preference response in the table indicates that the user device has denied consent to recording.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein preference response is stored in the table as a single bit.

7. A system for imposing a recording preference, the system comprising:

an IVR (interactive voice response) system at the call center configured to;

prompt user equipment configured to initiate and receive calls for a recording preference regarding recording of the call, and

receive the recording preference from the user equipment;

a switching network at the call center for routing the call;

a compliance manager computing system configured to enforce the recording preference throughout the call regardless of how the call is routed based on an identifier corresponding to the call that remains associated with the call after the call is transferred between two agent devices at the call center;

a recording vendor computing system in communication with the compliance manager computing system to record the call based on the recording preference; and

wherein the recording preference is maintained in a table indexed by UCID (universal call ID).

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the recording preference is stored in a UUI (user-to-user information) field associated with the call.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the recording vendor computing system inspects the UUI field associated with the call to determine whether to record the call.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the recording vendor computing system begins recording the call after the call is routed to a first agent device via the switching network until the recording vendor computing system is instructed to stop recording by the compliance manager computing system.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the switching network is configured to route the call from the first agent device to a second agent device, wherein the recording vendor computing system begins recording the call after the call is routed to the second agent device until the recording vendor computing system is instructed to stop recording by the compliance manager computing system.

12. The system according to claim 7, wherein the recording vendor computing system does not begin recording the call until after the recording vendor computing system has inquired with the compliance manager computing system and received a response from the compliance manager computing system that the call is allowed to be recorded.

13. The system according to claim 7, wherein the recording preference is stored as a single bit.

14. The system according to claim 7, wherein the IVR system, the compliance manager computing system, and the recording vendor computing system are operated on one or more computing devices associated with the call center.