Using business rules for determining presence
First Claim
1. A method for interacting with a customer in an interaction center, comprising:
- maintaining, by a gateway, a list of blocked instant message handles of different customers such that, when a blocked instant message handle is received as part of an instant message by the gateway, the instant message is dropped by the gateway without being routed to an interaction center resource;
receiving, by the gateway, an instant message notification from an instant messaging service associated with a customer that the customer is available to receive instant messages at a customer communication device before the customer attempts contacting the interaction center;
in response to the instant message notification, forwarding, by the gateway, to the customer communication device an instant message containing an invitation to the customer to interact with the interaction center before the customer attempts contacting the interaction center; and
providing, by a server, selected presence information to the customer communication device, wherein the selected presence information is determined by applying business rules that require different presence information to be provided to a selected customer for different interaction center states.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides various contact center embodiments for interacting with customers using instant messaging. In one embodiment, the contact center is configured to receive instant message notifications from a customer when the customer is available for contact by instant messaging. In another embodiment, the contact center is configured to route sessionless instant messages only to a selected agent for a specified period of time. In another embodiment, the contact center is configured to provide to customers presence information for administered instant message addresses before the customers contact the contact center. In another embodiment, the contact center is configured to perform an outbound instant messaging campaign or alert with customers.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A method for interacting with a customer in an interaction center, comprising:
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maintaining, by a gateway, a list of blocked instant message handles of different customers such that, when a blocked instant message handle is received as part of an instant message by the gateway, the instant message is dropped by the gateway without being routed to an interaction center resource; receiving, by the gateway, an instant message notification from an instant messaging service associated with a customer that the customer is available to receive instant messages at a customer communication device before the customer attempts contacting the interaction center; in response to the instant message notification, forwarding, by the gateway, to the customer communication device an instant message containing an invitation to the customer to interact with the interaction center before the customer attempts contacting the interaction center; and providing, by a server, selected presence information to the customer communication device, wherein the selected presence information is determined by applying business rules that require different presence information to be provided to a selected customer for different interaction center states.
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2. An interaction center, comprising:
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a gateway, and an interaction server comprising memory and a processor, where instructions are stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, enable the interaction center to; maintain a list of blocked instant message handles of different customers such that, when a blocked instant message handle is received as part of an instant message by the gateway, the instant message is dropped by the interaction center without being routed to an interaction center resource; receive, an instant message notification from an instant messaging service associated with a customer that the customer is available to receive instant messages at a customer communication device; and in response to receiving the instant message notification, forward to the customer communication device an instant message containing an invitation to the customer to interact with the interaction center, wherein the instant message containing the invitation comprises presence information associated with an interaction center agent that is different from actual presence information for the agent, wherein the difference between presence information provided in the instant message and the actual presence information for the agent is based on at least one of an agent skill and a customer value, and wherein the invitation is sent in the absence of an attempt by the customer to contact the interaction center using an instant message.
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3. A method, comprising:
- maintaining, by an interaction center gateway, a list of blocked instant message handles of different customers such that, when a blocked instant message handle is received as part of an instant message by the gateway, the instant message is dropped by the interaction center without being routed to an interaction center resource;
receiving, by the gateway, an instant message comprising an instant message handle;
determining whether the instant message is on the list of blocked instant message handles; andwhen the instant message is on the list of blocked instant message handles, not servicing the instant message by an interaction center resource. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
- maintaining, by an interaction center gateway, a list of blocked instant message handles of different customers such that, when a blocked instant message handle is received as part of an instant message by the gateway, the instant message is dropped by the interaction center without being routed to an interaction center resource;
Specification