Networked contact center

• US 8,804,940 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2013
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 8X8, Inc.
• Original Assignee: 8X8, Inc.
• Inventors: Southwick, Richard, Townsend, Robert, Salame, Mansour
• Primary Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US14/138,871
• Publication Number:
  US 20140119534A1
• Time in Patent Office: 232 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265.02, 379/265.09
• US Class Current: 379/265.02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5141 Details of processing calls and other types of contacts in an unified manner unified messaging in packet-switching networks H04L51/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet

Abstract

This document discusses, among other things, a networked contact center that includes multiple platforms to host multiple tenants. Example embodiments include receiving a message associated with one of the tenants and identifying one or more of the platforms associated with the message. For some example embodiments, the networked contact center may allow the platform to access a data location that is both associated with the tenant and shared by two or more of the multiple tenants.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a networked contact center including a plurality of platforms configured and arranged for hosting a plurality of tenants and including a plurality of data locations associated with the plurality of tenants, each of the plurality of data locations configured and arranged for storing data;

at least one computer circuit configured and arranged to perform operations for hosting at least one tenant of the plurality of tenants on a first of the plurality of platforms and having another computer circuit configured and arranged to replicate said operations for hosting on at least a second of the plurality of platforms, wherein one of the computer circuits is arranged as an active platform while the other of the computer circuits is arranged as an inactive platform with the inactive platform being arranged to relieve the active platform for hosting said at least one tenant when the active platform is nonresponsive; and

wherein said at least one computer circuit is further configured and arranged for identifying an association of at least one of the plurality of data locations with the at least one tenant, for performing operations for uploading tenant configuration data on the associated at least one of the plurality of data locations, and for receiving a message associated with a communication from the at least one tenant, wherein in response to and based on an indication that the first of the plurality of platforms is not fully responsive, at least one platform from the at least second of the plurality of platforms provides services for hosting.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message corresponds to an interaction between a customer of the at least one tenant and an agent of the at least one tenant.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message corresponds to an interaction between an agent of the at least one tenant and the networked contact center.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one tenant is associated with a set of instructions to be executed by a machine within the first of the plurality of platforms, and the at least second of the plurality of platforms, and the at least one computer circuit is further configured and arranged to perform operations comprising:

routing the message to the set of instructions; and

receiving a request for data based on executing the set of instructions.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer circuit is configured and arranged to update a database to vary a classification for the at least one tenant of the at least second of the plurality of platforms, from an inactive platform to an active platform.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tenant configuration data includes a list of agents and skills of the agents.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of platforms includes call distribution software, skills based routing software, and an agent web interface.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a networked contact center including a plurality of platforms configured and arranged for hosting a plurality of tenants and including a plurality of data locations associated with the plurality of tenants, each of the plurality of data locations configured and arranged for storing data;

at least one computer circuit configured and arranged to perform operations for hosting at least one tenant of the plurality of tenants on a first of the plurality of platforms and having another computer circuit configured and arranged to replicate said operations for hosting on at least a second of the plurality of platforms, wherein one of the computer circuits is arranged as an active platform while the other of the computer circuits is arranged as an inactive platform with the inactive platform being arranged to relieve the active platform for hosting said at least one tenant when the active platform is nonresponsive;

wherein said at least one computer circuit is further configured and arranged for identifying an association of at least one of the plurality of data locations with the at least one tenant, for performing operations for uploading tenant configuration data on the associated at least one of the plurality of data locations, and for receiving a message associated with a communication from the at least one tenant, wherein in response to and based on an indication that the first of the plurality of platforms is not fully responsive, at least one platform from the at least second of the plurality of platforms provides services for hosting;

wherein the message corresponds to an interaction between a customer of the at least one tenant and an agent of the at least one tenant or the message corresponds to an interaction between an agent of the at least one tenant and the networked contact center; and

wherein the at least one tenant is associated with a set of instructions to be executed by a machine within the first of the plurality of platforms, and the at least second of the plurality of platforms, and the at least one computer circuit is further configured and arranged to perform operations comprising;

routing the message to the set of instructions; and

receiving a request for data based on executing the set of instructions.

9. A method comprising:

at a networked contact center that includes a plurality of computer-based platforms, each being configured and arranged to host a plurality of tenants, the networked contact center further including a plurality of data locations associated with the plurality of tenants;

hosting at least one tenant of the plurality of tenants on a first of the plurality of platforms;

replicating the hosting of the at least one tenant on at least a second of the plurality of platforms;

determining an association between at least one of the plurality of data locations and the at least one tenant;

uploading tenant configuration data on the associated at least one of the plurality of data locations;

receiving a message associated with the at least one tenant from a public data-communication network and, in response, providing data for further communications corresponding with the message; and

based on an indication that the first of the plurality of platforms is unavailable or not fully responsive, selecting at least one platform from the at least second of the plurality of platforms upon which the hosting of the at least one tenant was replicated.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the message corresponds to an interaction between a customer of the at least one tenant and an agent of the at least one tenant.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one tenant corresponds to a set of instructions to be executed by a machine within the first of the plurality of platforms and the at least second of the plurality of platforms, the method further comprising:

routing the message to the set of instructions; and

receiving a request for data based on executing the set of instructions.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the message corresponds to an interaction between an agent of the at least one tenant and the networked contact center.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one tenant corresponds to a set of instructions to be executed by a machine within the first of the plurality of platforms and the at least second of the plurality of platforms, the method further comprising:

routing the message to the set of instructions; and

receiving a request for data based on executing the set of instructions.