Facilitating a contact center agent to select a contact in a contact center queue

• US 9,106,750 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2013
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Klemm, Reinhard P., Seligmann, Doree D., Singh, Navjot, Krishnan, Parameshwaran
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S
• Application Number:
  US13/971,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20150055772A1
• Time in Patent Office: 721 Days
• Field of Search: 37926503-26509, 37926511-26603
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

The system and method enable an agent to be able to select a contact (e.g., a voice call or email from a customer) from a contact queue in a contact center. As contacts come into a contact center, the contacts are placed in the contact queue. An agent in the contact center is presented with the contacts along with a profile that is associated with each of the contacts. The profile may contain information about the contacts such as an attitude of the contact, a conversation style of the contact, a sentiment of the contact, and the like. The agent selects one of the contacts in the contact queue. The selected contact is then sent to the agent for handling.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

enabling, by one or more processors, an agent to be able to select a contact from a contact queue in a contact center, wherein enabling the agent to be able to select the contact from the contact queue is based on a performance level of the agent;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a plurality of contacts that are placed in the contact queue, wherein the plurality of contacts are electronic communications comprising at least two of a voice call, an email, a text message, an Instant Message (IM), and a video call;

presenting, by the one or more processors, to the agent, an individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a selection from the agent of one of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue; and

routing, by the one or more processors, the selected contact, from the contact queue, to the agent.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the individual profile is determined by querying a social media network of the contact in the contact queue.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the individual profile is based on a previous interaction of the contact with the contact center.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the individual profile associated with each of the contacts in the contact queue further comprises an option to give the agent free time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts comprises at least one of:

an attitude of the contact, a conversation style of the contact, an age of the contact, a location of the contact, a sentiment of the contact, a language of the contact, and a social media network of the contact.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts comprises the attitude of the contact, the conversation style of the contact, and the sentiment of the contact.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent selects a plurality of contacts from the contact queue and further comprising:

determining a pattern of the selected plurality of contacts; and

in response to determining the pattern of the selected plurality of contacts, changing at least one of;

a volume of contacts automatically sent to the agent, a type of contact automatically sent to the agent, and a media type of a contact that is automatically sent to the agent.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring a performance level of the agent in regard to the selected one of the plurality of contacts;

in response to the monitoring of the performance level of the agent in regard to the selected one of the plurality of contacts, modifying at least one of;

a number of contacts presented to the agent for selection;

a type of contact presented to the agent for selection; and

a type of individual profile presented to the agent for selection.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent selects a plurality of contacts from the contact queue and further comprising:

determining a pattern of the selected plurality of contacts;

in response to determining the pattern of the selected plurality of contacts, modifying at least one of;

a number of contacts presented to the agent for selection;

a type of contact presented to the agent for selection; and

a type of individual profile presented to the agent for selection.

10. A system comprising:

a management module, executed by one or more processors, configured to enable an agent to be able to select a contact from a contact queue in a contact center, wherein enabling the agent to be able to select the contact from the contact queue is based on a performance level of the agent;

the contact queue configured to receive a plurality of contacts, wherein the plurality of contacts are electronic communications comprising at least two of a voice call, an email, a text message, an Instant Message (IM), and a video call;

a presentation module configured to present to the agent, via a communication device, an individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue and receive a selection from the agent of one of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue; and

a routing module, executed by the one or more processors, configured to route the selected contact, from the contact queue, to the agent.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a search engine configured to determine the individual profile by querying a social media network of the contact in the contact queue.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the individual profile is based on a previous interaction of the contact with the contact center.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the presentation module is further configured to present an option to give the agent free time.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts comprises at least one of:

an attitude of the contact, a conversation style of the contact, an age of the contact, a location of the contact, a sentiment of the contact, a language of the contact, and a social media network of the contact.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the agent selects a plurality of contacts from the contact queue and further comprising a pattern recognition module configured to determine a pattern of the selected plurality of contacts and in response to determining the pattern of the selected plurality of contacts, changing a volume of contacts automatically sent to the agent, a type of contact automatically sent to the agent, and a media type of a contact that is automatically sent to the agent.

16. The system of claim 10, further comprising a performance module configured to monitor a performance level of the agent in regard to the selected one of the plurality of contacts, and in response to the monitoring of the performance level of the agent in regard to the selected one of the plurality of contacts, modify at least one of:

a number of contacts presented to the agent for selection, a type of contact presented to the agent for selection, and a type of individual profile presented to the agent for selection.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the agent selects a plurality of contacts from the contact queue and further comprising a pattern detection module configured to determine a pattern of the selected plurality of contacts and in response to determining the pattern of the selected plurality of contacts, modify at least one of:

a number of contacts presented to the agent for selection, a type of contact presented to the agent for selection, and a type of individual profile presented to the agent for selection.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that cause a processor to execute a method, the method comprising:

instructions to enable an agent to be able to select a contact from a contact queue in a contact center, wherein the instructions to enable the agent to be able to select the contact from the contact queue are based on a performance level of the agent;

instructions to receive a plurality of contacts that are placed in the contact queue, wherein the plurality of contacts are electronic communications comprising at least two of a voice call, an email, a text message, an Instant Message (IM), and a video call;

instructions to present to the agent, an individual profile associated with each of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue;

instructions to receive a selection from the agent of one of the plurality of contacts in the contact queue; and

instructions to route the selected contact, from the contact queue, to the agent.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the individual profile is determined by querying a social media network of the contact in the contact queue.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the individual profile is based on a previous interaction of the contact with the contact center.