System and method for providing call-back options

• US 8,781,096 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2013
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Dhir, Nitin, Hogrogian, Richard H., O'Reilly, Robert Thomas Jr., Kappagantu, Ravi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai N
• Application Number:
  US14/028,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20140044251A1
• Time in Patent Office: 301 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/265.03, 379/265.04, 379/265.05, 379/265.06, 379/265.07, 379/265.08, 379/265.09, 379/265.1, 379/265.11, 379/265.12, 379/265.13, 379/265.14, 379/266.01, 379/266.02, 379/266.03, 379/266.04, 379/266.05, 379/266.06, 379/266.07, 379/266.08, 379/266.09, 379/266.1
• US Class Current: 379/265.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/00 Special services or facilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/08 menus for interactive user guidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4211 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42195 Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5231 with call back arrangements

Abstract

A system and method for providing call-back options is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a call in a call routing system, providing at least one call-back option for a caller to receive a call-back, re-allocating resources in the call routing system based at least in part on the at least one call-back option, and calling the caller based on the at least one call-back option. The caller may specify a specific time, a relative time, or a time range when a call-back is preferred. The caller may also specify one or more telephone numbers in combination with the time preferences. The call-back may be initiated by a voice response unit (VRU) and additional call-back options may be presented to the customer who responds to the call-back.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented call routing method implemented by a call routing system for regulating activity of multiple call centers, the call routing system including at least a central server system having a processing unit, the method comprising:

receiving notification of inbound calls at the call routing system;

setting a threshold wait time for determining the maximum amount of time a caller of said inbound calls may wait to be routed to a call target at one of multiple call centers;

generating an automatic number identifier for identifying at least one caller of said inbound calls;

retrieving account information based on said automatic number identification;

selecting, a call target at one of multiple call centers for the at least one caller based on the account information of the caller and qualifications of the call target;

dynamically assessing demands on the call routing system in relation to available resources;

determining, using the processing unit, an estimated wait time for routing the caller to the call target at the selected call center selected based on the demands of the call routing system;

holding the caller for the estimated wait time upon determining that the estimated wait time is less than the threshold wait time;

providing multiple selectable call-back options upon holding the caller longer than the estimated wait time, the call-back options providing for at least one inbound caller to receive a call-back;

receiving a selection of at least one of the multiple call-back options and sending the selection to the processing unit;

scheduling, using the processing unit, a call-back based on the selected call-back option and storing scheduled call-back information in a database;

reallocating resources in the call routing system based at least in part on the selected call-back option;

retrieving, using the processing unit, the scheduled call-back information from the database and forwarding the call-back information to a voice response unit; and

calling, using the voice response unit, the at least one caller from the selected call center based on the selected call-back option.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the estimated wait time for routing the caller based on at least one of length of queue, priority of caller, and availability of system resources.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein priority of the caller is based on information stored in database including at least one of caller identity, caller account status and business relation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing multiple selectable call-back options comprises providing a web site address through the voice response unit and allowing the at least one caller to schedule call-back options through the web site.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically assessing demands on the call routing system in relation to available resources using the processing unit, the demands including a number of live callers and a number of scheduled call-backs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the available resources include a number of agents available to answer calls and a number of agents performing scheduled call-backs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the call routing system is a virtual call center integrating telephony with computers.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing multiple call-back options is triggered at least in part by a priority of the caller.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the priority is measured based on one of caller identity and caller account status.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the multiple call-back options through a voice response unit.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple call-back options comprise at least one of:

calling the caller upon an availability of the resources in the call routing system;

calling the caller at a specific time;

calling the caller during a specific time range; and

calling the caller at a relative time.

12. A computer-implemented call routing system including a processing unit, voice response unit, and a storage device, the system for providing call-back options to callers making inbound calls to a call center, the system comprising:

a receiver module that receives inbound calls at a call routing system;

a central server implementing the processing unit for

setting a threshold wait time for determining the maximum amount of time a caller of said inbound calls may wait to be routed to a call target at one of multiple call centers,

generating an automatic number identifier for identifying at least one caller of said inbound calls,

retrieving account information based on said automatic number identification,

selecting, based on the account information, a call target located at one of multiple call centers for the at least one caller based on the account information of the caller and qualifications of the call target,

dynamically assessing demands on the call routing system in relation to available resources,

determining an estimated wait time for routing the caller to the call target at the selected call center based on based on the demands of the call routing system, and

holding the caller for the estimated wait time upon determining that the estimated wait time is less than the threshold wait time;

an interactive module implementing the processing unit, the voice response unit and the storage device, that provides multiple call-back options upon holding the caller longer than the estimated wait time and receives at least one selected call-back option from the caller;

a resource module implementing the processing unit that reallocates resources in the call routing system based at least in part on the selected call-back option; and

a telephone module that calls the at least one caller from the selected call center based on the at least one selected call-back option.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the central server further implements the processing unit for determining the estimated wait time for routing the call based on at least one of length of queue, priority of caller, and availability of system resources.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein priority of the caller is based on information stored in database including at least one of caller identity, caller account status and business relation.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein providing multiple selectable call-back options comprises providing a web site address through the voice response unit and allowing the at least one caller to schedule call-back options through the web site.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the resource module further dynamically assesses demands on the call routing system in relation to available resources using the processing unit, the demands including a number of live callers and a number of scheduled call-backs.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the available resources include a number of agents available to answer calls and a number of agents performing scheduled call-backs.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the call routing system is a virtual call center integrating telephony with computers.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein providing multiple call-back options is triggered at least in part by a priority of the caller.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the priority is measured based on one of caller identity and caller account status.

21. The system according to claim 12, wherein the interactive module provides the multiple call-back options through a voice response unit.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the multiple call-back options comprise at least one of:

calling the caller upon an availability of the resources in the call routing system;

calling the caller at a specific time;

calling the caller during a specific time range; and

calling the caller at a relative time.