Routing calls to preferred agents

• US 9,692,897 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2014
• Issued: 06/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Hanson, Carrie Anne, Jones-McFadden, Alicia C., Sobol, Craig, Shelkey, Brent Alan, Chang, Kimberly Ya-chin, Gottfried, Sarah Beth, Liang, Wang, Rathi, Neha Rani, Wong, Anthony Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): MANOHARAN, MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY
• Application Number:
  US14/530,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 455415, 455417
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/50 Telephonic communication in combination with video communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/408 Customer-specific call routing plans
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6009 Personal information, e.g. profiles or personal directories being only provided to authorised persons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/6045 Identity confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5238 with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/54 Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; to voice mail H04M3/53308
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to routing customer calls to preferred agents. Embodiments receive a call from a customer using a user device; determine an identity of the customer; retrieve information associated with the matching entry; based at least in part on the retrieved information, select one or more agents; and route the call to one of the selected agents. Some embodiments determine a telephone number from which the call was received; comparing the telephone number with a plurality of entries in a customer information database; and determining that the telephone number matches an entry in the database. Other embodiments receive a communication from the user device indicating that the customer has placed the call; determine that the customer is currently authenticated through an online banking session or a mobile application on the user device; and receive a communication from the user device indicating the customer'"'"'s identity.

Claims

1. An apparatus for routing customer calls to preferred agents, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a processor; and

a computing module stored in the memory, executable by the processor, and to cause the processor to;

receive a telephone call from a customer using a user device;

determine an identity of the customer;

retrieve information associated with a matching entry;

based at least in part on the retrieved information, select one or more agents;

determine a purpose of the telephone call, the determining comprising;

accessing an online banking history corresponding to the customer,

determining recent customer financial activity based on the accessed online banking history, and

determining the purpose of the telephone call based on the recent customer financial activity;

route the telephone call to one of the selected agents based at least in part on the determined purpose for the telephone call;

receive customer input indicating the customer would like to conduct a video call;

in response to receiving the customer input, forward the telephone call to a video desktop computer, thereby resulting in the telephone call becoming the video call;

determine an interaction rating associated with the video call based at least in part on analysis of audio characteristics associated with the video call, wherein the audio characteristics comprise language, tone, and inflection associated with a call; and

based on determining the interaction rating, update a list of one or more preferred agents associated with the customer.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the identity of the customer comprises:

determining a telephone number from which the telephone call was received;

comparing the telephone number with a plurality of entries in a customer information database; and

determining that the telephone number matches an entry in the database.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the identity of the customer comprises:

receiving a communication from the user device indicating that the customer has placed the telephone call.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein determining the identity of the customer further comprises:

determining that the customer is currently authenticated through an online banking session or a mobile application on the user device.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

receive a communication from the user device indicating the customer'"'"'s identity.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

retrieve information indicating the one or more preferred agents associated with the customer; and

wherein selecting an agent is based on the one or more preferred agents.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

determine a wait time for each of the selected one or more agents;

initiate communication of the wait times to the customer;

receive input from the customer indicating which of the one or more agents to route the telephone call; and

wherein routing the telephone call to one of the selected agents comprises routing the telephone call to the agent indicated by the customer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

determine a wait time for each of the selected one or more agents;

determine a wait time for a next available non-selected agent;

initiate communication of wait times for the selected agents and the next available non-selected agent to the customer;

receive input from the customer indicating which of the one or more agents or next available agent to route the telephone call; and

wherein routing the telephone call to one of the selected agents comprises routing the telephone call to the agent indicated by the customer.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

determine the purpose of the telephone call at least in part by requesting and receiving customer input indicating the purpose of the telephone call.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the computing module further causes the processor to:

receive customer input indicating the customer would like to conduct a mobile call; and

in response, forward the video call to a mobile phone, thereby resulting in the video call becoming the mobile call.

11. A method for routing customer calls to preferred agents, the method comprising:

receiving a telephone call from a customer using a user device;

determining an identity of the customer;

retrieving information associated with a matching entry;

based at least in part on the retrieved information, selecting one or more agents;

determine a purpose of the telephone call, the determining comprising;

accessing an online banking history corresponding to the customer,

determining recent customer financial activity based on the accessed online banking history, and

determining the purpose of the telephone call based on the recent customer financial activity;

receiving customer input indicating the customer would like to conduct a video call;

routing the telephone call to one of the selected agents based at least in part on the determined purpose for the telephone call;

receiving customer input indicating the customer would like to conduct a video call;

in response to receiving the customer input, forwarding the telephone call to a video desktop computer, thereby resulting in the telephone call becoming the video call;

determining an interaction rating associated with the video call based at least in part on analysis of audio characteristics associated with the video call, wherein the audio characteristics comprise language, tone, and inflection associated with a call; and

based on determining the interaction rating, updating a list of one or more preferred agents associated with the customer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the identity of the customer comprises:

determining a telephone number from which the telephone call was received;

comparing the telephone number with a plurality of entries in a customer information database; and

determining that the telephone number matches an entry in the database.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the identity of the customer comprises:

receiving a communication from the user device indicating that the customer has placed the telephone call.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the identity of the customer further comprises:

determining that the customer is currently authenticated through an online banking session or a mobile application on the user device.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a communication from the user device indicating the customer'"'"'s identity.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

retrieving information indicating the one or more preferred agents associated with the customer; and

wherein selecting an agent is based on the one or more preferred agents.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining a wait time for each of the selected one or more agents;

initiating communication of wait times to the customer;

receiving input from the customer indicating which of the one or more agents to route the telephone call; and

wherein routing the telephone call to one of the selected agents comprises routing the telephone call to the agent indicated by the customer.

18. A computer program product for routing customer calls to preferred agents, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of codes for causing a computer to;

receive a telephone call from a customer using a user device;

determine an identity of the customer;

retrieve information associated with a matching entry;

based at least in part on the retrieved information, select one or more agents;

determine a purpose of the telephone call, the determining comprising;

accessing an online banking history corresponding to the customer,

determining recent customer financial activity based on the accessed online banking history, and

determining the purpose of the call based on the recent customer financial activity;

route the call to one of the selected agents based at least in part on the determined purpose for the call;

receive customer input indicating the customer would like to conduct a video call;

in response to receiving the customer input, forward the telephone call to a video desktop computer, thereby resulting in the telephone call becoming the video call;

determine an interaction rating associated with the video call based at least in part on analysis of audio characteristics associated with the video call, wherein the audio characteristics comprise language, tone, and inflection associated with a call; and

based on determining the interaction rating, update a list of one or more preferred agents associated with the customer.