Call center queue administration
First Claim
1. A packet switched call center communications system for delivering voice over Internet Protocol telephone calls to any of a plurality of attendant positions serving a subscriber, comprising:
- feature server means operable incident to an incoming call arriving to said subscriber for submitting a respective subscriber-defined questionnaire to a caller, said means including a data base administrable by said subscriber, said means permitting formulation of said questionnaire and access to said data base by any of said attendant positions;
said feature server processing a questionnaire returned by said caller including indexing the questionnaire according to the directory number of said caller to ascertain the nature or purpose of said call and conducting text spotting searches of said questionnaire to ascertain the name of a party associated with said subscriber and searching said data base to locate a directory number corresponding to said name; and
, said feature server being responsive to said processing of said questionnaire for displaying to said attendant positions a queue of calls incoming to said subscriber, said display including the nature or purpose and priority of each incoming call.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A feature server, e.g., a stored program controller, processes calls to a subscriber'"'"'s main directory number in a packet network by submitting a subscriber-administered questionnaire to callers. The information in the questionnaire, when completed by the calling party, can be used to automatically route the call or to reposition the call in the incoming call queue. Alternatively, the completed, or even partially completed questionnaire may be displayed in a “pop up” window to a subscriber'"'"'s operator who can then use the information to assist the caller or, without need of answering the call, to reposition the call within the queue or to divert the call to another directory number. In addition, information previously provided in a questionnaire completed by a caller is stored so that when the caller calls again, the stored information may be employed to more efficiently process the call.
160 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A packet switched call center communications system for delivering voice over Internet Protocol telephone calls to any of a plurality of attendant positions serving a subscriber, comprising:
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feature server means operable incident to an incoming call arriving to said subscriber for submitting a respective subscriber-defined questionnaire to a caller, said means including a data base administrable by said subscriber, said means permitting formulation of said questionnaire and access to said data base by any of said attendant positions;
said feature server processing a questionnaire returned by said caller including indexing the questionnaire according to the directory number of said caller to ascertain the nature or purpose of said call and conducting text spotting searches of said questionnaire to ascertain the name of a party associated with said subscriber and searching said data base to locate a directory number corresponding to said name; and
,said feature server being responsive to said processing of said questionnaire for displaying to said attendant positions a queue of calls incoming to said subscriber, said display including the nature or purpose and priority of each incoming call.
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2. A packet switched call center communications system for delivering voice over Internet Protocol telephone calls to any of a plurality of attendant positions serving a subscriber, comprising:
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feature server means operable incident to an incoming call arriving to said subscriber for submitting a respective subscriber-defined Questionnaire to a caller, said means including a data base administrable by said subscriber, said means permitting formulation of said questionnaire and access to said data base by any of said attendant positions;
said feature server processing a questionnaire returned by said caller including indexing the questionnaire according to the directory number of said caller to ascertain the nature or purpose of said call; and
said feature server being responsive to said processing of said questionnaire for displaying to said attendant positions a queue of calls incoming to said subscriber, said display including the nature or purpose and priority of each incoming call and said means controllable by any of said attendants for altering a priority accorded to any of the calls in said queue. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification