Intelligent presence management in a communication routing system

• US 8,976,952 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2011
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sangoma US, Inc. (Sangoma Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fonality Incorporated (Sangoma Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Lyman, Christopher M.
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, CREIGHTON H
• Application Number:
  US13/213,020
• Publication Number:
  US 20110306298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,300 Days
• Field of Search: 379/211.02, 379/88.17, 379/265.04
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0045 where the text-based messaging service is an instant messaging service

Abstract

Systems and methods for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system are provided. In exemplary embodiments, an inbound communication may be received for a user. The user'"'"'s presence status is determined and a profile associated with the user is reviewed. Based on rules contained within the profile, appropriate instructions may be generated for routing the inbound communication in accordance with some embodiments. In other embodiments, instructions may be generated to log the user in or out with the communication routing system.

Claims

1. A method for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, comprising:

receiving an inbound communication for a user;

determining a presence status for the user;

reviewing a profile associated with the user to determine where to route the inbound communication based on the presence status;

generating and forwarding instructions for routing the inbound communication based on the profile; and

routing the inbound communication to a predetermined communication device associated with the user based on the profile and a mode of the inbound communication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a presence status comprises receiving presence information from a presence detection module.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the presence information comprises a unique identifier associated with the user, the unique identifier being at least one of a serial number, a MAC address, and a mobile phone number.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the presence information is based on mouse and keyboard movement.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the presence information is based on a presence indication signal.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the presence indication signal comprises a Bluetooth signal from a Bluetooth enabled device.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing and updating the profile associated with the user, the updating of the profile occurring in real-time.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining if the user should be logged in or out with the communication routing system based on the presence status, and generating and forwarding instructions to log the user in or out with the communication routing system, wherein logging the user in or out with the communication system comprises logging the user into or out of a call queue of a call center, wherein the presence status is determined to be absent after a predetermined period of inactivity.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising routing the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.

9. A system for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, comprising:

a presence status module configured to determine a presence status based on presence information received for a user;

a profile lookup module configured to review a profile associated with the user to determine where to route an inbound communication based on the presence status; and

a communication routing module configured to generate instructions for forwarding an inbound communication to a communication device based on the profile, and routing the inbound communication to the communication device associated with the user based on the profile and a mode of the inbound communication.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising at least one communication server device configured to receive the inbound communication and to route the inbound communication based on the instructions received from the communication routing module.

11. The system of claim 9 further comprising a profile setup module configured to establish and update the profile for the user, the updating of the profile occurring in real-time.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein determining a presence status comprises receiving presence information from a presence detection module.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the presence information comprises a unique identifier associated with the user, the unique identifier being at least one of a serial number, a MAC address, and a mobile phone number.

23. The system of claim 9 wherein the communication routing module is further configured to generate instructions for routing the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, the method comprising:

receiving an inbound communication for a user;

determining presence status for the user;

reviewing a profile associated with the user to determine where to route the inbound communication based on the presence status;

generating and forwarding instructions for routing the inbound communication based on the profile; and

routing the inbound communication to a predetermined communication device associated with the user based on the profile and a mode of the inbound communication.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12 wherein determining a presence status comprises receiving presence information from a presence detection module.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the presence information comprises a unique identifier associated with the user, the unique identifier being at least one of a serial number, a MAC address, and a mobile phone number.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the presence information is based on mouse and keyboard movement.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the presence information is based on a presence indication signal.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12 wherein the method further comprises routing the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.

19. A method for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, comprising:

receiving an inbound communication for a user;

determining a presence status for the user;

establishing and updating a profile associated with the user, the updating of the profile occurring in real-time, the profile associated with the user comprising different routing and login options based on an amount of time the user is one of present and not present;

reviewing the profile associated with the user to determine where to route the inbound communication based on the presence status;

generating and forwarding instructions for routing the inbound communication based on the profile; and

routing the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.

20. A system for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, comprising:

a presence status module configured to determine a presence status based on presence information received for a user;

a profile setup module configured to establish and update a profile for the user, the updating of the profile occurring in real-time, the profile associated with the user comprising different routing and login options based on an amount of time the user is one of present and not present;

a profile lookup module configured to review the profile associated with the user to determine where to route an inbound communication based on the presence status; and

a communication routing module configured to generate instructions for forwarding an inbound communication to a communication device based on the profile, and route the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for intelligent presence management in a communication routing system, the method comprising:

receiving an inbound communication for a user;

determining presence status for the user;

establishing and updating a profile associated with the user, the updating of the profile occurring in real-time, the profile associated with the user comprising different routing and login options based on an amount of time the user is one of present and not present;

reviewing the profile associated with the user to determine where to route the inbound communication based on the presence status;

generating and forwarding instructions for routing the inbound communication based on the profile; and

routing the inbound communication to an alternative person based on the profile of the user.