Dialog reorder

• US 8,964,962 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2013
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Skiba, David, Erhart, George, Matula, Valentine C., Becker, Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US14/043,266
• Time in Patent Office: 511 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265.09
• US Class Current: 379/265.09
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/252 where a voice mode is enhanced with visual information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/552 Call annotations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/556 Statistical analysis and interpretation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements

Abstract

An automatic timeline and topic normalization mechanism is described along with various methods and systems for administering the same. The temporal correction system proposed herein creates fully interpreted and reordered representations of events within and external to a dialog, reducing the amount of time and expensive resources typically required for reading, comprehension, and response to written communications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a single message containing a plurality of message elements in a first order, wherein the plurality of message elements are descriptive of a plurality of events that occurred prior to creation of the single message;

determining, from the content of the plurality of message elements, that the plurality of message elements are not in a proper temporal order when in the first order;

in response to determining that the message elements are not in a proper temporal order, identifying a second order for the plurality of message elements; and

presenting at least some of the plurality of message elements in the second order via a user interface of a communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first order corresponds to an order in which a customer presented the plurality of message elements in the single message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second order corresponds to the proper temporal order.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second order comprises fewer message elements than the first order.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the plurality of message elements are presented in the second order.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

referencing at least one event external to the single message; and

utilizing information about the at least one event and a time at which the at least one event occurred to identify the second order.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one event external to the single message comprises at least one of an agent service note, a weather occurrence, a power outage, a power interruption, a flight time, and a message event from a second message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the plurality of message elements comprise at least one element corresponding to a beginning and end of an interaction between a customer and a contact center agent;

analyzing an amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction; and

based on the analysis of the amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction, generating a performance metric for the contact center agent.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions, the instruction comprising:

instructions configured to receive a single message containing a plurality of message elements in a first order, wherein the plurality of message elements are descriptive of a plurality of events that occurred prior to creation of the single message;

instructions configured to determine, from the content of the plurality of message elements, that the plurality of message elements are not in a proper temporal order when in the first order;

in response to determining that the message elements are not in a proper temporal order, instructions configured to identify a second order for the plurality of message elements; and

instructions configured to present at least some of the plurality of message elements in the second order via a user interface of a communication device.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first order corresponds to an order in which a customer presented the plurality of message elements in the single message.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the second order corresponds to the proper temporal order.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the second order comprises fewer message elements than the first order.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein all of the plurality of message elements are presented in the second order.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

instructions configured to reference at least one event external to the single message; and

instructions configured to utilize information about the at least one event and a time at which the at least one event occurred to identify the second order.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the at least one event external to the single message comprises at least one of an agent service note, a weather occurrence, a power outage, a power interruption, a flight time, and a message event from a second message.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

instructions configured to determine that the plurality of message elements comprise at least one element corresponding to a beginning and end of an interaction between a customer and a contact center agent;

instructions configured to analyze an amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction; and

instructions configured to generate a performance metric for the contact center agent based on the analysis of the amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction.

17. A communication system, comprising:

a temporal correction module configured to receive a single message containing a plurality of message elements in a first order, wherein the plurality of message elements are descriptive of a plurality of events that occurred prior to creation of the single message, and perform the following operations;

determine, from the content of the plurality of message elements, that the plurality of message elements are not in a proper temporal order when in the first order;

in response to determining that the message elements are not in a proper temporal order, identify a second order for the plurality of message elements; and

present at least some of the plurality of message elements in the second order via a user interface of a communication device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first order corresponds to an order in which a customer presented the plurality of message elements in the single message, wherein the second order corresponds to the proper temporal order, and wherein the second order comprises fewer message elements than the first order.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a temporal correction module configured to perform the following operations;

reference at least one event external to the single message;

utilize information about the at least one event and a time at which the at least one event occurred to identify the second order;

determine that the plurality of message elements comprise at least one element corresponding to a beginning and end of an interaction between a customer and a contact center agent;

analyze an amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction; and

based on the analysis of the amount of time between the beginning and end of the interaction, generate a performance metric for the contact center agent.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one event external to the single message comprises at least one of an agent service note, a weather occurrence, a power outage, a power interruption, a flight time, and a message event from a second message.