Method and system for delivery of individualized training to call center agents

• US 6,775,377 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2002
• Issued: 08/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intradiem Inc.
• Original Assignee: Knowlagent Incorporated
• Inventors: McConnell, Matthew G. A., McIllwaine, John C. C.
• Primary Examiner(s): TIEU, BENNY QUOC
• Application Number:
  US10/198,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20030048893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 754 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265.06, 379/266.01, 379/266.1, 379/309, 705/2-3, 705/11, 434/319-323
• US Class Current: 379/265.06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

The tailored assignment and delivery of training or other information to an agent in a call center or other constituent contact environment. Agent interactions are recorded by a quality monitoring component of the call center to produce an agent performance record. The agent performance record is scored against predetermined performance criteria to produce an agent score. Training materials are assigned to agents based on the agent score in skill areas corresponding to the subject matter of the particular training materials. The agent score is coded and the training materials are categorized according to the associated subject matter. If an agent score is below a predetermined threshold, then a database record is populated with the agent score and a training material identifier. The database may then be polled to determine whether the agent needs the training materials to address the associated subject matter. The assigned training materials can then be delivered to the agent over the communications network.

Claims

1. A method for providing information to a contact agent in a constituent contact system comprising the steps of:

receiving evaluation data indicating a deficient interaction skill for an interaction between the contact agent and a constituent;

associating the deficient interaction skill with a category of information; and

assigning information from the category of information to the contact agent without manual intervention.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of delivering the information to the contact agent using the constituent contact system.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of conducting a follow-up evaluation after delivering the information to the contact agent.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of delivering the information to the contact agent in segments.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of delivering the information to the contact agent when it does not interfere with the workload of the constituent contact system.

6. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1.

7. A method for providing information to a contact agent in a constituent contact system comprising the steps of:

receiving evaluation data indicating a deficient skill for the contact agent, wherein the evaluation data is derived from an interaction between a contact agent and a customer;

associating the deficient skill with a category of information;

selecting information from the category of information; and

assigning the selected information to the contact agent.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of delivering the selected information to the contact agent using the constituent contact system.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of conducting a follow-up evaluation after delivering the selected information to the contact agent.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of selecting information is performed by the contact agent.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of selecting information is performed by an administrator.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of delivering the selected information to the contact agent when it does not interfere with the workload of the constituent contact system.

13. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 7.

14. A computer-implemented system for managing communications between an organization and its constituents, the system comprising:

a communications network that supports communication between one of the constituents and an agent of the organization;

a monitoring component adapted to produce evaluation data from a monitored communication between the agent and the constituent, the evaluation data indicating a deficient skill for an agent; and

an assignment component adapted to

associate the deficient skill with a category of information; and

assign information from the category of information to the agent.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a delivery component adapted to deliver the assigned information to the agent.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the monitoring component is further adapted to perform a follow-up evaluation after delivery of the assigned information.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the assignment component is further adapted to support selection of information from the category of information.

18. A method for training a representative of an organization comprising the steps of:

receiving an evaluation of the representative;

mapping the evaluation to a skill without manual intervention;

comparing the evaluation to a predetermined threshold; and

if the evaluation is below the predetermined threshold,

associating the skill of the evaluation with training material related to the skill; and

assigning the training material to the representative.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of delivering the training material to the representative.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of performing a follow-up evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the training material.

21. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 18.

22. In association with a computer system for managing a constituent contact system, a method for training a contact agent to perform interaction duties, the method comprising the steps of:

monitoring an interaction between the contact agent and a constituent of the constituent contact system;

scoring the performance of the contact agent during the monitored interaction; and

assigning training to the contact agent, without manual intervention, based on the scoring of the performance of the contact agent.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of delivering the assigned training by providing training content to the contact agent, said training content directed to an aspect of constituent interaction in which the contact agent requires performance improvement.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of recording the delivery of the assigned training with a reporting tool.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of using the reporting tool to track training previously delivered to the contact agent and assign additional training to the contact agent.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of

retrieving training content for the assigned training from a training content acquisition tool; and

delivering the training content to the contact agent.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising the steps of

creating the training content to improve the contact agent'"'"'s performance;

storing the training content with the training content acquisition tool; and

indexing the training content for use in assigning training to the contact agent.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of delivering the assigned training to the contact agent during a time period that does not interfere with the contact agent'"'"'s interaction with constituents of the constituent contact system.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of assigning training comprises

assigning the contact agent'"'"'s score to a category associated with an interaction performance skill;

and

matching the assigned training to training content for the category.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of assigning training comprises:

coding the contact agent'"'"'s score to identify subject matter associated with the agent performance score;

coding training materials to identify subject matter associated with the assigned training;

comparing the contact agent'"'"'s score to a predetermined threshold; and

if the contact agent'"'"'s score is below the predetermined threshold, associating the coding of the contact agent'"'"'s score with the coding of the training materials.

31. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 22.

32. A method for training an agent to perform interaction duties, the method comprising the steps of:

recording an interaction between the agent and a constituent to produce an agent performance record;

categorizing the agent performance record according to a skill associated with the agent performance record;

categorizing training content according to subject matter associated with the training content;

comparing the agent performance record to a criterion;

if the agent performance record does not satisfy the criterion, matching the categorized agent performance record and the categorized training content; and

assigning the training content to the agent based on the matching of the categorized agent performance record and the categorized training content.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the steps of

retrieving the assigned training content from a training content acquisition tool; and

delivering the assigned training content to the agent.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of recording the delivery of the assigned training content with a reporting tool.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising the step of using the reporting tool to track training previously delivered to the contact agent and assign additional training to the contact agent.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising the steps of

storing the agent performance record;

storing the training content assignment; and

delivering the training content assignment to the agent.

37. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 32.

38. A method for training a representative to conduct communications activities, the method comprising:

monitoring a live communication activity involving the representative and a another party;

assigning a score to the representative based on the monitored communication;

determining whether the score meets a predetermined threshold;

if the score does not meet the predetermined threshold,

coding the score assigned to the representative according to subject matter associated with the score;

coding information according to subject matter associated with the information;

associating the coding of the score with the coding of the information; and

assigning the information to the agent based on the association of the coding of the score with the coding of the information.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of

retrieving the assigned information from a training content acquisition tool; and

delivering the assigned information to the representative.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of delivering the assigned information to the representative during a time period that does not interfere with the communication activity of the agent.

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of

storing the representative'"'"'s score;

storing the information assignment; and

delivering the assigned information.

42. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 38.

43. A system for managing communications between an organization and its constituents, the system comprising:

a communications network that supports communication between one of the constituents and a representative of the organization;

a monitoring component adapted to

produce an evaluation of the representative from a monitored communication between the representative and the constituent; and

map the evaluation to a skill;

an assignment component adapted to

compare the evaluation to a predetermined threshold, and

if the evaluation does not meet the predetermined threshold,

match the mapped evaluation skill to a training material and assign the training material to the representative to address an issue identified by the evaluation.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the assignment component is further adapted to

generate a measure of the correlation between the mapped evaluation skill and the training material, and

assign the training material to the representative based on the correlation measure.

45. The system of claim 43, further comprising a delivery component adapted to deliver the training material to the representative.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the delivery component is further adapted to deliver the training material in discrete segments.

47. The system of claim 43, further comprising a training content component adapted to code the training material according to a skill associated with the training material.

48. The system of claim 43, wherein the monitoring component is further adapted to produce a follow-up evaluation.

49. A method for training a customer service agent to perform interaction duties, the method comprising the steps of:

recording a live communication between the customer service agent and a customer to produce a performance record;

evaluating the communication by comparing the performance record to a performance threshold;

if the performance record does not satisfy the performance threshold, then identifying training content that addresses a performance issue raised by the performance record; and

assigning the identified training content to the agent.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising the steps of

retrieving the assigned training content from a training content acquisition tool; and

delivering the assigned training content to the agent.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising the step of recording the delivery of the assigned training content with a reporting tool.

52. The method of claim 49, further comprising the steps of

storing the agent performance record;

storing the training content assignment; and

delivering the training content assignment to the agent.

53. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 49.