Systems and methods for lead routing

• US 9,930,175 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2017
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: YP Holdings LLC (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Inventors: Jain, Mehul, Raman, Karthik, Shah, Chitiksha, Laux, Kent William, Thakral, Deepak Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US15/666,043
• Publication Number:
  US 20170331953A1
• Time in Patent Office: 238 Days
• Field of Search: 37922114, 37926501-26502, 37926511-26513, 37926602, 705 1443, 705 723
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/01 Customer relationship services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1058 Shopping and product ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4365 based on information specified by the calling party, e.g. priority or subject
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for managing and evaluating leads from incoming calls are provided. A first inbound call from a first caller may be received. A first set of information identifying characteristics of the first inbound call may be processed. A second set of information identifying characteristics of the first inbound call may be determined based on the first set of information. A first category may be matched to the first inbound call. A first receiver may be determined. A second inbound call from a second caller may be received. A third set of information identifying characteristics of the second inbound call may be processed. A fourth set of information identifying characteristics of the second inbound call may be determined based on the third set of information. A second category may be matched to the second inbound call. A second receiver may be determined.

Claims

1. A system for centrally managing inbound calls, the system comprising:

a network interface that facilitates communication with a set of callers and a set of receivers;

a datastore storing information relating to a set of categories and the set of receivers;

a telephony switch in communication with the datastore and the network interface, the telephony switch configured to;

receive an inbound call from a caller;

process a first set of information about the inbound call, the first set of information identifying characteristics corresponding to the inbound call based in part on analyzing one or more detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call;

determine a second set of information about the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information, the second set of information identifying characteristics corresponding to the caller;

match a first category of the set of categories to the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information identifying the characteristics based in part on the analyzing of the detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call, and the second set of information;

determine a first receiver of the inbound call based at least in part on the first category, the first receiver selected from a first set of receivers associated with the first category; and

determine a numerical lead quality score of the inbound call based at least in part on call characteristics in which a subset of the call characteristics are detected during the first inbound call.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the categories are categories from a telephone directory.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the characteristics corresponding to the inbound call comprise an incoming telephone number and a telephone number called.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the characteristics corresponding to the caller comprise demographic information.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein:

the demographic information indicates one or more of a language spoken, an estimated income, an estimated age group and/or an estimated family size.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a quality management system configured to measure success of a set of receivers.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the quality management system comprises:

a call timer configured to measure call duration.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein prior to determine the numerical lead quality score, the telephony switch is further configured to:

route, via the inbound call, the caller to the first receiver in response to determining the first receiver of the inbound call.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the numerical lead quality score denotes an estimate of the caller to do business with the receiver.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the telephony switch is further configured to:

determine the numerical lead quality score by detecting at least one keyword of the detected spoken words during the inbound call.

11. A method for managing inbound calls in which a network interface, in communication with a telephony switch, facilitates communication with callers and a set of receivers and in which a datastore, in communication with the telephony switch, stores information relating to a set of categories and the set of receivers, the method comprising:

receiving, via the telephony switch, an inbound call from a caller;

processing a first set of information about the inbound call, the first set of information identifying one or more characteristics of the inbound call based in part on analyzing one or more detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call;

determining a second set of information about the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information, the second set of information identifying one or more characteristics of the caller;

matching a first category to the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information identifying the characteristics based in part on the analyzing of the detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call, and the second set of information;

determining a first receiver of the inbound call based at least in part on the first category, the first receiver selected from a first set of receivers associated with the first category; and

determining a lead quality score of the inbound call based at least in part on call characteristics in which a subset of the call characteristics are detected during the inbound call.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the numerical lead quality score denotes an estimate of the caller to do business with the first receiver.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining a pricing of the first inbound call lead based at least in part on the lead quality score.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein:

determining the numerical lead quality score further comprises detecting at least one keyword of the detected spoken words during the inbound call.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a pricing of a lead generated by the inbound call based at least in part on determined lead needs from the spoken words of the inbound call.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the one or more characteristics of the inbound call comprise an incoming telephone number and a telephone number called.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the first receiver of the inbound call comprises:

weighting the characteristics of the inbound call and the characteristics of the caller differently based at least in part on the first category; and

matching characteristics of the first receiver to the weighted characteristics.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining a receiver quality score of the first receiver based at least in part on an outcome of the inbound call.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the determining the first receiver of the inbound call further comprises:

using the receiver quality score in determining which receiver receives the inbound call.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein prior to determining the lead quality score, the method further comprises:

routing, via the inbound call, the caller to the first receiver in response to determining the first receiver of the inbound call.

21. A non-transitory, machine-readable medium comprising a datastore, in communication with a telephony switch, storing information relating to a set of categories and a set of receivers, the machine-readable medium comprising instructions thereon for managing inbound calls, which instructions, when executed by one or more computers or other processing devices, comprising a network interface, in communication with the telephony switch, that facilitates communication with callers and the set of receivers, cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

receive, via the telephony switch, an inbound call from a caller;

process a first set of information about the inbound call, the first set of information identifying one or more characteristics of the inbound call based in part on analyzing one or more detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call;

determine a second set of information about the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information, the second set of information identifying one or more characteristics of the caller;

match a first category to the inbound call based at least in part on the first set of information identifying the characteristics based in part on the analyzing of the detected spoken words of the caller captured during the inbound call, and the second set of information;

determine a first receiver of the inbound call based at least in part on the first category, the first receiver selected from a first set of receivers associated with the first category; and

determine a numerical lead quality score of the inbound call based at least in part on call characteristics in which a subset of the call characteristics are detected during the inbound call.

22. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the determining the first receiver of the inbound call further comprises:

weight the one or more characteristics of the caller based at least in part on the first category to generate one or more weighted characteristics; and

match the one or more weighted characteristics of the caller to characteristics of the first set of receivers associated with the first category.

23. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computers or other processing devices, further cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

determine the numerical lead quality score of the inbound call based at least in part on an outcome of the inbound call.

24. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computers or other processing devices, further cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

dynamically price a lead generated from the inbound call based at least in part on an outcome of the inbound call.

25. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein prior to retain the first association information, the instructions, when executed by the one or more computers or other processing devices, further cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

route, via the inbound call, the caller to the first receiver in response to determining the first receiver of the inbound call.

26. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein:

the numerical lead quality score denotes an estimate of the caller to do business with the first receiver.

27. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein:

determine the numerical lead quality score further comprises detecting at least one keyword of the detected spoken words during the first inbound call.