Method and system for automatically routing a telephonic communication

• US 9,699,307 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2015
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mattersight Corporation (Nice Ltd)
• Original Assignee: Mattersight Corporation (Nice Ltd)
• Inventors: Conway, Kelly, Danson, Christopher, Brown, Douglas, Gustafson, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Hashem, Lisa
• Application Number:
  US14/974,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20160105565A1
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/407 Call center operated for multiple customers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/408 Customer-specific call routing plans
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5235 Dependent on call type or called number [DNIS]

Abstract

A method for automatically routing a telephonic communication is provided, and includes receiving a customer identifier and communicating with a customer history database storing historic data and determining whether the received customer identifier corresponds to a stored customer identifier in the customer history database, wherein the customer profile included in the stored historic data is based on a portion of a customer'"'"'s demographic identity. Historic data corresponding to the stored customer number is identified based on the comparison of the received customer identifier and the stored customer identifier. The telephonic communication is associated with a predetermined communication destination based on the identified historic data. The method and systems additionally generate a customer routing record for the customer that includes the analyzed historic data, and associate the customer routing record with each customer identifier and store the customer routing record in the customer history database to facilitate future customer call routing.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium adapted to control a computer and comprising a plurality of code segments for automatically routing a telephonic communication to at least one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising the plurality of code segments that, when executed by a processor:

receive a customer identifier, wherein the customer identifier is generated from at least one of;

automatic number identification (ANI), a customer voice portal prompted variable, or an IP address;

determine whether the received customer identifier corresponds to a stored customer identifier in a customer history database, the customer history database being configured to store historic data associated with at least one recorded telephonic communication having a corresponding stored customer identifier, the stored historic data comprising call type data, distress assessment data, call preference data and customer profile;

record a telephonic communication from a caller to a customer service representative to obtain caller voice data and to generate phone event data;

separate the telephonic communication into the caller voice data and customer service representative voice data;

identify a communication protocol associated with the telephonic communication;

record the telephonic communication to a first electronic data file comprising a first and second audio track, the caller voice data being automatically recorded on the first audio track based on the identified communication protocol, and the customer service representative voice data being automatically recorded on the second audio track based on the identified communication protocol;

mine historic data associated with the received customer identifier in the caller voice data;

analyze the historic data corresponding to the received customer identifier and the stored customer identifier, wherein the customer profile included in the historic data is based on one or more components of a customer'"'"'s demographic identity;

compare a stored customer profile with a customer service representative profile;

associate the telephonic communication with one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the association of the telephonic communication with one of the plurality of communication destination addresses being based on the analyzing of the historic data and the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile;

provide routing instructions which comprise identifying the associated communication destination address;

generate a customer routing record for the customer that comprises the analyzed historic data and the phone event data; and

associate the customer routing record with each customer identifier and store the customer routing record in the customer history database to facilitate future customer call routing.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein (i) the stored customer profile includes the customer'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or (ii) the customer representative profile includes the customer representative'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or both (i) and (ii).

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, generates a score based upon the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, transmits an audible message based on the association of the telephonic communication with one of the plurality of communication destination addresses.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the customer routing record comprises information related to the customer'"'"'s interaction with a customer service representative agent or call center, and a plurality of call frequency, call type, the customer profile, behavioral assessment data, and distress assessment data, each related to the customer.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, determines a number of previously completed transactions in interactive voice response (IVR) corresponding to the received customer identifier.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the customer identifier is generated by automatic number identification.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the customer identifier is generated from at least one customer voice portal prompted variable.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the stored historic data is comprised of stored behavioral data generated by mining historic data associated with the customer identifier.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, which further comprises generating an audible message for the customer during a subsequent interaction based on the customer routing record.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the customer routing record further comprises gender and personality type of a customer.

12. A system for automatically routing a telephonic communication to one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the system comprising:

a customer history database storing historic data comprising call type data, distress assessment data, call preference data, and customer profile, and the historic data being associated with a stored customer identifier;

a first server configured to receive a customer identifier input signal from a communication system, wherein the customer identifier input signal is generated from at least one of;

automatic number identification (ANI), a customer voice portal prompted variable, or an IP address, the server comprising logic that, when executed by a processor;

communicates with the customer history database;

determines whether the received customer identifier input signal corresponds to the stored customer identifier in the customer history database;

record a telephonic communication from a caller to a customer service representative to obtain caller voice data and to generate phone event data;

mines historic data associated with the received customer identifier in the caller voice data;

analyzes the historic data corresponding to the received customer identifier and the mined historic data when the received customer identifier input signal corresponds to the stored customer identifier in the customer history database, wherein the customer profile included in the historic data is based on one or more components of a customer'"'"'s demographic identity;

compares a stored customer profile with a customer service representative profile;

associates the telephonic communication with one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the association being based on the analysis of the historic data corresponding to the received customer identifier, the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile, and the customer'"'"'s demographic identity;

communicates the associated communication destination to a switch, wherein the switch is configured to route the telephonic communication to the associated communication destination address;

generates a customer routing record for the customer that comprises the analyzed historic data and the phone event data; and

associates the customer routing record with each customer identifier and stores the customer routing record in the customer history database to facilitate future customer call routing; and

a second server in operable communication with the first server and the customer history database, the second server configured to record the telephonic communication from the caller to the customer service representative and comprising logic that, when executed, is adapted to;

separate the telephonic communication into at least the caller voice data and customer service representative voice data; and

analyze at least the separated caller voice data by mining the separated caller voice data for the customer identifier.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein (i) the stored customer profile includes the customer'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or (ii) the customer representative profile includes the customer representative'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or both (i) and (ii).

14. The system of claim 12, the first server further comprising logic that, when executed by a processor, generates a score based upon the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising logic that, when executed by a processor, transmits the separated caller voice data to the customer history database.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the logic for separating the telephonic communication into the caller voice data and the customer service representative voice data comprises logic adapted to identify a communication protocol associated with the telephonic communication and to record the telephonic communication to a first electronic data file comprising a first and second audio track, the caller voice data being automatically recorded on the first audio track based on the identified communication protocol, and the customer service representative voice data being automatically recorded on the second audio track based on the identified communication protocol.

17. A system for automatically routing a telephonic communication to one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the system comprising:

an interactive voice response system configured to receive telephonic communications and caller commands, the interactive voice response system further being configured to communicate with a telephone switch and a routing server;

a telephone switch configured to route at least one of the received telephonic communications to one of a plurality of communication destination addresses;

a recording server in operable communication with the routing server, the recording server configured to record a telephonic communication between a caller and a customer service representative to obtain caller voice data, to generate phone event data, and separate the telephonic communication into the caller voice data and customer service representative voice data and comprising logic that, when executed by a processor;

mines caller voice data associated with a customer identifier associated with the telephonic communication, wherein the customer identifier is generated from at least one of;

automatic number identification (ANI), a customer voice portal prompted variable, or an IP address;

generates distress assessment data associated with the caller voice data;

generates call preference data associated with the telephonic communication;

transmits the mined customer identifier, distress assessment data and call preference data to a customer history database;

identify a communication protocol associated with the telephonic communication; and

record the telephonic communication to a first electronic data file comprising a first and second audio track, the caller voice data being automatically recorded on the first audio track based on the identified communication protocol, and the customer service representative voice data being automatically recorded on the second audio track based on the identified communication protocol; and

a routing server configured to receive a transmitted customer identifier from the interactive voice response system, the routing server comprising logic that, when executed by a processor;

receives the customer identifier;

determines whether the received customer identifier corresponds to a stored customer identifier in the customer history database, wherein the customer history database is configured to store historic data associated with at least one recorded telephonic communication having a corresponding stored customer identifier, the stored historic data comprising call type data, distress assessment data, call preference data and customer profile;

analyzes the historic data corresponding to the received customer identifier and the stored customer identifier;

compares a stored customer profile with a customer service representative profile;

associates the at least one of the received telephonic communication communications with one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, wherein the association of the at least one of the received telephonic data communications with one of the communication destination addresses is based on the analysis of the stored historic data and the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile, wherein the stored customer profile included in the stored historic data is based on one or more components of a customer'"'"'s demographic identity;

transmits a signal identifying the associated communication destination address;

generates a customer routing record for the customer that comprises the analyzed historic data and the phone event data; and

associates the customer routing record with each customer identifier and stores the customer routing record in the customer history database to facilitate future customer call routing.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the logic is embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executed by a processor, controls a computer.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein (i) the stored customer profile includes the customer'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or (ii) the customer representative profile includes the customer representative'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or both (i) and (ii).

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium adapted to control a computer and comprising a plurality of code segments to automatically routing an electronic voice communication to at least one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising the code segments that, when executed by a processor:

receive a customer identifier, wherein the customer identifier is generated from at least one of;

automatic number identification (ANI), a customer voice portal prompted variable, or an IP address;

determine whether the received customer identifier corresponds to a stored customer identifier in a customer history database, the customer history database being configured to store historic data associated with at least one recorded electronic voice communication having a corresponding stored customer identifier, the stored historic data comprising call type data, distress assessment data, call preference data and customer profile;

record an electronic voice communication from a caller to a customer service representative to obtain caller voice data and to generate phone event data;

separate the electronic voice communication into the caller voice data and customer service representative voice data;

identify a communication protocol associated with the electronic voice communication;

record the electronic voice communication to a first electronic data file comprising a first and second audio track, the caller voice data being automatically recorded on the first audio track based on the identified communication protocol, and the customer service representative voice data being automatically recorded on the second audio track based on the identified communication protocol;

mine historic data associated with the received customer identifier in the caller voice data;

analyze the historic data corresponding to the received customer identifier and the stored customer identifier, wherein the customer profile included in the historic data is based on one or more components of a customer'"'"'s demographic identity;

compare a stored customer profile with a customer service representative profile;

associate the electronic voice communication with one of a plurality of communication destination addresses, the association of the electronic voice communication with one of the plurality of communication destination addresses being based on the analyzing of the historic data and the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile;

provide routing instructions which comprise identifying the associated communication destination address;

generate a customer routing record for the customer that comprises the analyzed historic data and the phone event data; and

associate the customer routing record with each customer identifier and store the customer routing record in the customer history database to facilitate future customer call routing.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein (i) the stored customer profile includes the customer'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or (ii) the customer representative profile includes the customer representative'"'"'s demographic identity selected from one or more of gender, race, age, income, and education, or both (i) and (ii).

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, generates a score based upon the comparing of the stored customer profile with the customer service representative profile.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, transmits an audible message based on the association of the electronic voice communication with one of the plurality of communication destination addresses.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the customer routing record comprises information related to the customer'"'"'s interaction with a customer service representative agent or call center, and a plurality of call frequency, call type, the customer profile, behavioral assessment data, and distress assessment data, each related to the customer.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising a code segment that, when executed by a processor, determines a number of previously completed transactions in interactive voice response (IVR) corresponding to the received customer identifier.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the customer identifier is generated by automatic number identification.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the customer identifier is generated from at least one customer voice portal prompted variable.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the electronic voice communication comprises a telephonic communication, a voice-over IP communication, or a voice component of a video communication.