Dialed string matching and call cost minimization in dial plan

• US 9,357,072 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2014
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Rais, Philippe, Sayko, Vyacheslav, Tikin, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S
• Application Number:
  US14/447,593
• Publication Number:
  US 20140341365A1
• Time in Patent Office: 671 Days
• Field of Search: 379/188, 379/196, 379/197, 379/201.01, 379/207.14, 379/221.01, 379/221.02, 379/221.06, 379/221.07, 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/266.07, 379/220.01, 379/198, 379/199, 379/200, 379/210.02, 379/210.03, 37926503-26514
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/04 Network management architectures or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/26 Route discovery packet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1045 Proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/402 Agent or workforce management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42306 Number translation services, e.g. premium-rate, freephone or vanity number services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms

Abstract

A method for processing dialed outgoing calls in a contact center includes a method for matching a dialed string and a method for translating the dialed string. A method for matching includes identifying a set of available number categories based on a calling profile with which the dialing agent device is configured, matching the dialed string against each of a set of patterns in each of the categories, and translating the dialed string according to the category, if any category matches and if no blocked category matches the dialed string. The number may then be translated to a translated number including a PSTN telephone number and routing characters specifying how the call is to be routed from an IP network to the PSTN. The routing may be selected to minimize the cost of the call.

Claims

1. A method for generating a translated number from a dialed string corresponding to a call dialed at an agent device, the method comprising:

identifying, by a processor, one or more available categories associated with the agent device, each available category being either an available blocked category or an available unblocked category, each of the one or more available categories containing one or more patterns;

translating, by the processor, the dialed string in response to the dialed string matching at least one pattern in the available unblocked category and matching no patterns in the available blocked category; and

denying, by the processor, the call in response to the dialed string not matching a pattern in the available unblocked category or matching at least one pattern in the available blocked category,

wherein the translating of the dialed string comprises;

calculating, by the processor, a cost of routing the call through each of one or more gateways; and

transmitting, by the processor, a signal to a switch to route the call according to the calculated cost.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating of the dialed string comprises:

identifying, by the processor, one of the one or more gateways with the lowest cost as a preferred gateway.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the calculating of the cost of routing the call through each of the gateways comprises executing, for each of the one or more gateways, an algorithm accepting as input a quantity selected from the group consisting of:

a time of day, a day of the week, the location of the gateway, the location of the destination, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the calculating of the cost of routing the call through each of the gateways comprises executing, for each of the one or more gateways, an algorithm accepting as input a quantity selected from the group consisting of:

a load on the gateway, an ability to add voice to the call, an ability to add video to the call, a level of security for the call, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the translating of the dialed string further comprises:

identifying, by the processor, the one or more gateways for routing the call from an origin on an Internet Protocol (IP) network to a destination, identified by the dialed string, on a public switched telephone network (PSTN); and

forming, by the processor, the translated number by combining an identifier for the preferred gateway with the dialed string.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating of the dialed string in response to the dialed string matching at least one pattern in the available unblocked category and matching no patterns in the available blocked category comprises:

identifying, by the processor, a particular category and pattern in response to the dialed string matching a plurality of patterns in a plurality of available unblocked categories.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifying of the particular category and pattern comprises:

identifying, by the processor, a weight associated with each pattern of the plurality of patterns in the plurality of available unblocked categories; and

selecting, by the processor, one of the plurality of available unblocked categories with the highest weight.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

calculating, by the processor, the weight associated with each pattern of the plurality of patterns.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the calculating comprises:

selecting a maximum dialed string length; and

setting the weight to the maximum dialed string length multiplied by a preset value.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising for each digit element in the pattern, decreasing the weight by a number of digits matching the digit element.

11. A system for generating a translated number from a dialed string corresponding to a call dialed at an agent device, the system comprising:

a switch configured to receive a plurality of communications for routing to one or more communication devices;

a processor coupled to the switch; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

identify one or more available categories associated with the agent device, each available category being either an available blocked category or an available unblocked category, each of the one or more available categories containing one or more patterns;

translate the dialed string in response to the dialed string matching at least one pattern in the available unblocked category and matching no patterns in the available blocked category; and

deny the call in response to the dialed string not matching a pattern in the available unblocked category or matching at least one pattern in the available blocked category,

wherein in translating the dialed string, the instructions further cause the processor to;

calculating a cost of routing the call through each of one or more gateways; and

transmit a signal to the switch to route the call according to the calculated cost.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

identify one of the one or more gateways with the lowest cost as a preferred gateway.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

identify the one or more gateways for routing the call from an origin on an Internet Protocol (IP) network to a destination, identified by the dialed string, on a public switched telephone network (PSTN); and

form the translated number by combining an identifier for the preferred gateway with the dialed string.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute, for each of the one or more gateways, an algorithm accepting as input a quantity selected from the group consisting of:

a time of day, a day of the week, the location of the gateway, the location of the destination, and combinations thereof to calculate the cost of routing the call through each of the gateways.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute, for each of the one or more gateways, an algorithm accepting as input a quantity selected from the group consisting of:

a load on the gateway, an ability to add voice to the call, an ability to add video to the call, a level of security for the call, and combinations thereof to calculate the cost of routing the call through each of the gateways.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to identify a particular category and pattern in response to the dialed string matching a plurality of patterns in a plurality of available unblocked categories to translate the dialed string in response to the dialed string matching at least one pattern in the available unblocked category and matching no patterns in the available blocked category.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

identify a weight associated with each pattern of the plurality of patterns in the plurality of available unblocked categories; and

select one of the plurality of available unblocked categories with the highest weight.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to calculate the weight associated with each pattern of the plurality of patterns.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

select a maximum dialed string length; and

set the weight to the maximum dialed string length multiplied by a preset value.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to, for each digit element in the pattern, decrease the weight by a number of digits matching the digit element.