Determining calling windows for called telephone numbers

• US 9,172,798 B1
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alvaria Cayman
• Original Assignee: Noble Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Ouimette, Jason P., Trinidad, Juderic
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoque, Nafiz E
• Application Number:
  US13/719,879
• Time in Patent Office: 1,042 Days
• Field of Search: 379/207.12, 379/266.07
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server

Abstract

A location determination rule is applied by a dialer when processing a telephone number of a target party in record from a dialing list. The location determination rule indicates how a geo-location of the target party is to be ascertained, so that the time zone of the target party is ascertained. Once the time zone is known, then a local time of the target party is ascertained, and a determination can be made whether a call can be originated to the target party within a prescribed calling window. The calling window indicates the beginning and ending times, local to the target party, when calls can be attempted to the target party. In one embodiment, the location determination rule can be defined for each record in the dialing list or for all records in the dialing list.

Claims

1. A method of determining whether to originate a telephone call to a target party by a predictive dialer processing a dialing list in a call center, the method comprising:

storing a location determination rule in the predictive dialer indicating how to determine a geo-location associated with the target party of a dialing record in the dialing list;

storing a calling window table comprising at least one calling window in the predictive dialer, the calling window indicating a time period having a beginning time and an ending time;

retrieving a dialing record comprising a telephone number (“

TN”

) associated with the target party, wherein the TN comprises an NPA-NXX and the dialing record further comprises at least a portion of a postal address associated with the target party, the postal address further comprising a postal code;

determining based on the location determination rule whether to use the NPA-NXX or the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party wherein the location determination rule comprises querying a local number portability database to determine whether the TN has been ported, and if the TN has been ported, then using the postal code to determine the geo-location, and if the TN has not been ported, then not using the postal code as the geo-location;

if the location determination rule indicates using the NPA-NXX to determine the geo-location of the target party, then using a first geo-location value associated with the NPA-NXX as the geo-location and if the location determination rule indicates using the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party, then using a second geo-location value associated with the postal code as the geo-location;

ascertaining a local time associated with the target party using a current time at the predictive dialer and a time zone associated with the geo-location; and

establishing the telephone call to the target party by the predictive dialer if the local time of the target party is within the time period of the calling window and not establishing the call to the target party if the local time associated with the target party is outside of the time period of the calling window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling window is associated with a geographical area and the geo-location is within the geographical area.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location determination rule is defined to be applicable for the dialing record.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location determination rule is defined to be applicable to all dialing records in the dialing list.

5. A non-transitory computer readable tangible media storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

retrieve a location determination rule in a predictive dialer indicating how to determine a geo-location associated with a target party of a dialing record in a dialing list;

retrieve a calling window table in the predictive dialer comprising at least one calling window, the calling window indicating a time period having a beginning time and an ending time;

retrieve the dialing record comprising a telephone number (“

TN”

) associated with the target party, wherein the TN comprises an NPA-NXX and the dialing record further comprises at least a portion of a postal address associated with the target party, the postal address further comprising a postal code;

determine based on the location determination rule whether to use the NPA-NXX or the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party, wherein the location determination rule comprises querying a local number portability database to determine whether the TN has been ported, and if the TN has been ported, then using the postal code to determine the geo-location, and if the TN has not been ported, then not using the postal code as the geo-location;

if the location determination rule indicates using the NPA-NXX to determine the geo-location of the target party, then use a first geo-location value associated with the NPA-NXX as the geo-location and if the location determination rule indicates using the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party, then use a second geo-location value associated with the postal code as the geo-location;

ascertain a local time associated with the target party using a current time at the predictive dialer and a time zone associated with the geo-location; and

establish the telephone call to the target party by the predictive dialer if the local time of the target party is within the time period of the calling window and not establishing the call to the target party if the local time associated with the target party is outside of the time period of the calling window.

6. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the calling window is associated with a geographical area and the geo-location is within the geographical area.

7. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the location determination rule is defined to be applied to the dialing record.

8. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the location determination rule is defined to be applied to all dialing records in the dialing list.

9. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the processor is a processor in a call handling system comprising a dialer in a contact center.

10. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the location determination rule further comprises determining a first geo-location associated with the NPA-NXX of the TN is different from a second geo-location associated with the postal code before querying the local number portability database.

11. The non-transitory computer readable tangible media of claim 5, wherein the postal code is a zip code.

12. A system for determining whether to originate a telephone call to a target party by a predictive dialer processing a dialing list in a call center, the system comprising a processor configured to:

retrieve a location determination rule indicating how to determine a geo-location associated with the target party of a dialing record in the dialing list;

retrieve a calling window table comprising at least one calling window, the calling window indicating a time period having a beginning time and an ending time;

retrieve the dialing record comprising a telephone number (“

TN”

) associated with the target party, wherein the TN comprises an NPA-NXX and the dialing record further comprises at least a portion of a postal address associated with the target party, the postal address further comprising a postal code;

determine based on the location determination rule whether to use the NPA-NXX or the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party, wherein the location determination rule comprises querying a local number portability database to determine whether the TN has been ported, and if the TN has been ported, then using the postal code to determine the geo-location, and if the TN has not been ported, then not using the postal code as the geo-location;

if the location determination rule indicates using the NPA-NXX to determine the geo-location of the target party, then use a first geo-location value associated with the NPA-NXX as the geo-location and if the location determination rule indicates using the postal code to determine the geo-location of the target party, then use a second geo-location value associated with the postal code as the geo-location;

ascertain a local time associated with the target party using a current time at the predictive dialer and a time zone associated with the geo-location; and

establish the telephone call to the target party by the predictive dialer if the local time of the target party is within the time period of the calling window and not establishing the call to the target party if the local time associated with the target party is outside of the time period of the calling window.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is a call handler system comprising a dialer in a contact center.