Enabling caller controlled hold queue position adjustment

• US 20030103619A1
• Filed: 12/03/2001
• Published: 06/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Winters, Scott Lee, Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, Cheng, David R., Okunseinde, Folu, Sheth-Voss, Seema, Leung, Wing-Ying Stephanie
• Granted Patent: US 7,095,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/266.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2011 Service processing based on information specified by a party before or during a call, e.g. information, tone or routing selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing

Abstract

A method, system, and program for allowing callers to adjust in position within a call hold queue are provided. An advancement token earned by a caller is detected at a calling queue. The position of the caller within the calling queue is adjusted, in response to redemption of the advancement token, such that the caller is allowed control over the position within the calling queue by earning advancement tokens. In particular, a caller may earn advancement tokens by participation in competitions or surveys or by redemption of membership points.

Claims

1. A method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue comprising:

detecting an advancement token earned by a caller at a calling queue; and

responsive to a redemption value of said advancement token, adjusting a position of said caller within said calling queue, such that said caller is allowed control over said position within said calling queue.

2. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, wherein detecting an advancement token further comprises:

detecting said advancement token earned by a caller by participating in at least one from among a competition, a survey, and a redemption of membership points.

3. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, wherein detecting an advancement token further comprises:

detecting said advancement token from a token advancement system communicatively connected to said calling queue.

4. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a call from a telephone switching system, wherein said call is waiting until a representative is available;

adding said call to said calling queue, wherein said calling queue controls an order in which said call is transferred to said representative;

enabling said caller associated with said call to select from a plurality of services available to said caller while waiting for said representative; and

connecting said call to a particular service selected by said caller from among said plurality of services.

5. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 4, wherein enabling a caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to select from a plurality of position adjustment services available to said caller while waiting for said representative, wherein said caller is given an opportunity to earn a position adjustment during participation in said plurality of position adjustment services.

6. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, wherein adjusting said position further comprises:

adjusting said position of a call within said calling queue while said call is located at a token advancement system.

7. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, further comprising:

detecting when said caller is next in line to be answered within said calling queue; and

transferring a next in line notification to said caller at a token advancement system.

8. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, further comprising:

returning an unused portion of said advancement token to a promotion system for storage in association with said caller.

9. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, wherein adjusting said position further comprises:

advancing said call a particular number of positions within said calling queue.

10. The method for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 1, wherein adjusting said position further comprises:

advancing said call a particular amount of wait time within said calling queue.

11. A system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue comprising:

a calling queue for holding a call from a caller;

means for detecting an advancement token at said calling queue, wherein said advancement token is earned by said caller; and

means responsive to a redemption value of said advancement token, for adjusting a position of said caller within said calling queue.

12. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, wherein said means for detecting an advancement token further comprises:

means for detecting said advancement token earned by a caller by participating in at least one from among a competition, a survey, and a redemption of membership points.

13. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, wherein said means for detecting an advancement token further comprises:

means for detecting said advancement token from a token advancement system communicatively connected to said calling queue.

14. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for receiving a call from a telephone switching system, wherein said call is waiting until a representative is available;

means for adding said call to said calling queue, wherein said calling queue controls an order in which said call is transferred to said representative;

means for enabling said caller associated with said call to select from a plurality of services available to said caller while waiting for said representative; and

means for connecting said call to a particular service selected by said caller from among said plurality of services.

15. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 14, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to select from a plurality of position adjustment services available to said caller while waiting for said representative, wherein said caller is given an opportunity to earn a position adjustment during participation in said plurality of position adjustment services.

16. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means for adjusting said position of a call within said calling queue while said call is located at a token advancement system.

17. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for detecting when said caller is next in line to be answered within said calling queue; and

means for transferring a next in line notification to said caller at a token advancement system.

18. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for returning an unused portion of said advancement token to a promotion system for storage in association with said caller.

19. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means for advancing said call a particular number of positions within said calling queue.

20. The system for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 11, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means for advancing said call a particular amount of wait time within said calling queue.

21. A computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue comprising:

a recording medium;

means, recorded on said recording medium, for detecting an advancement token at a calling queue, wherein said advancement token is earned by said caller; and

means, recorded on said recording medium, for adjusting a position of said caller within said calling queue according to a redemption value of said advancement token.

22. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, wherein said means for detecting an advancement token further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for detecting said advancement token earned by a caller by participating in at least one from among a competition, a survey, and a redemption of membership points.

23. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, wherein said means for detecting an advancement token further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for detecting said advancement token from a token advancement system communicatively connected to said calling queue.

24. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for adjusting said position of a call within said calling queue while said call is located at a token advancement system.

25. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, further comprising:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for detecting when said caller is next in line to be answered within said calling queue; and

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling transfer of a next in line notification to said caller at a token advancement system.

26. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, further comprising:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for returning an unused portion of said advancement token to a promotion system for storage in association with said caller.

27. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for advancing said call a particular number of positions within said calling queue.

28. The computer program product for caller position adjustment within a calling queue according to claim 21, wherein said means for adjusting said position further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for advancing said call a particular amount of wait time within said calling queue.

29. A method for earning an adjustment in a position within a call hold queue, comprising:

receiving at least one call transferred from a call hold queue;

enabling a caller of said at least one call to participate in at least one position adjustment service; and

responsive to a result of said caller participation in said at least one position adjustment service, transferring a token for directing adjustment of a position of said at least one call within said call hold queue.

30. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, wherein receiving at least one call further comprises:

receiving said at least one call transferred from said call hold queue from among a plurality of independent call hold queues each representative of one from among a plurality of vendors.

31. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, wherein enabling a caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to participate in a competition for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

monitoring said result of said competition, wherein said result comprises whether said caller wins said competition.

32. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 31, wherein enabling said caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to participate in said competition, wherein options for competitors of said competition comprise at least one from among a general audience of callers, a selected set of callers, a single other caller, and a computer system.

33. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 31, wherein enabling said caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to participate in said competition, wherein options for types of said competition comprise at least one from among a trivia game, a card game, a random luck game, logic game, and a word game.

34. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, wherein enabling a caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to participate in a survey for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

monitoring said result of said survey, wherein said result comprises whether said caller completes said survey.

35. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 34, wherein enabling said caller further comprises:

transferring said call to a survey interaction system, wherein said call is answered by a survey representative at said survey interaction system.

36. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 34, wherein enabling said caller further comprises:

transferring said survey to said caller via an output interface accessible to said caller.

37. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, wherein enabling a caller further comprises:

enabling said caller to designate a portion of a membership account value to be applied to an adjustment of said position of said call;

monitoring said result of said designation, wherein said result comprises an adjustment redemption for said portion of said membership account value.

38. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 37, further comprising:

enabling said caller to add to said membership account value by participating in promotional activities at a time at least one from among before said call is placed and after said call is placed.

39. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, wherein transferring a token further comprises:

transferring said token to said call hold queue while maintaining said call at a token advancement system.

40. The method for earning an adjustment according to claim 29, further comprising:

receiving an indicator that said call is next to be answered; and

alerting said caller of said indicator.

41. A system for earning an adjustment in a position within a call hold queue, comprising:

a token advancement system for receiving a call transferred from a call hold queue;

means for enabling a caller of said at least one call to participate in at least one position adjustment service; and

means responsive to a result of said caller participation in said at least one position adjustment service, for transferring a token for directing adjustment of a position of said at least one call within said call hold queue.

42. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, wherein said token advancement system receives said at least one call transferred from said call hold queue from among a plurality of independent call hold queues each representative of one from among a plurality of vendors.

43. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to participate in a competition for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

means for monitoring said result of said competition, wherein said result comprises whether said caller wins said competition.

44. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 43, wherein said means for enabling said caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to participate in said competition, wherein options for competitors of said competition comprise at least one from among a general audience of callers, a selected set of callers, a single other caller, and a computer system.

45. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 43, wherein said means for enabling said caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to participate in said competition, wherein options for types of said competition comprise at least one from among a trivia game, a card game, a random luck game, logic game, and a word game.

46. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to participate in a survey for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

means for monitoring said result of said survey, wherein said result comprises whether said caller completes said survey.

47. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 46, wherein said means for enabling said caller further comprises:

means for transferring said call to a survey interaction system, wherein said call is answered by a survey representative at said survey interaction system.

48. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 46, wherein said means for enabling said caller further comprises:

means for transferring said survey to said caller via an output interface accessible to said caller.

49. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means for enabling said caller to designate a portion of a membership account value to be applied to an adjustment of said position of said call;

means for monitoring said result of said designation, wherein said result comprises an adjustment redemption for said portion of said membership account value.

50. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 49, further comprising:

means for enabling said caller to add to said membership account value by participating in promotional activities at a time at least one from among before said call is placed and after said call is placed.

51. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, wherein said means for transferring a token further comprises:

means for transferring said token to said call hold queue while maintaining said call at a token advancement system.

52. The system for earning an adjustment according to claim 41, further comprising:

means for receiving an indicator that said call is next to be answered; and

means for alerting said caller of said indicator, wherein said caller is provided with an option to return to said call hold queue.

53. A computer program product for earning an adjustment in a position within a call hold queue, said computer program product comprising:

a recording medium;

means, recorded on said recording medium, for receiving at least one call;

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling a caller of said at least one call to participate in at least one position adjustment service; and

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling transfer of a token reflective of said caller participation for directing adjustment of a position of said at least one call within a call hold queue.

54. The computer program product for earning an adjustment according to claim 53, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling said caller to participate in a competition for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

means, recorded on said recording medium, for monitoring said result of said competition, wherein said result comprises whether said caller wins said competition.

55. The computer program product for earning an adjustment according to claim 53, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling said caller to participate in a survey for adjustment of a position within said call hold queue; and

means, recorded on said recording medium, for monitoring said result of said survey, wherein said result comprises whether said caller completes said survey.

56. The computer program product for earning an adjustment according to claim 53, wherein said means for enabling a caller further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling said caller to designate a portion of a membership account value to be applied to an adjustment of said position of said call;

means, recorded on said recording medium, for monitoring said result of said designation, wherein said result comprises an adjustment redemption for said portion of said membership account value.

57. The computer program product for earning an adjustment according to claim 53, wherein said means for enabling transfer of a token further comprises:

means, recorded on said recording medium, for enabling transfer of said token to said call hold queue while maintaining said call at a token advancement system.