GB2379578A

GB2379578A - Message management with priority assigned in dependence on message type

Info

Publication number: GB2379578A
Application number: GB0121842A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nigel Budd; Rufus Damian Philip Grig; Andrew Paul Pridmore
Original assignee: CONVERGENT SYSTEMS Ltd
Current assignee: CONVERGENT SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date: 2001-09-10
Filing date: 2001-09-10
Publication date: 2003-03-12
Also published as: GB0121842D0

Abstract

A message management method and apparatus carrying out the steps of, receiving a number of messages; categorising each received message as being in one of a plurality of groups; recording each message together with a respective associated delay value; periodically changing the delay value associated with each recorded message, the rate of change of delay value being different for messages in different groups; selecting a message to be processed based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with different messages; sending said selected message to be processed, and removing the record of the sent message and the associated delay value.

Description

Message Management Method and Apparatus This invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing messages, particularly for use in a contact centre.

The use of call centres to handle enquiries, complaints and other messages received by telephone is well established. Recently call centre type arrangements have been extended to receive and respond to other forms of message in addition to telephone calls such as email or SMS text messages. A common problem in such systems is controlling the time taken to respond to messages and avoiding excessive delays. In traditional telephone based call centres this generally takes the form of telephone calls waiting in a queue to be answered in turn. Waiting for excessive periods leads to caller dissatisfaction and to some callers abandoning the attempt to contact the call centre and ending their call before it is responded to. Similar problems arise in responding to other forms of messaging using different media.

Obviously this problem can be overcome by employing large numbers of message handling staff but this is costly and in practice there is always a limit to the number of staff which is economically acceptable in any particular operation.

The difficulty is finding an acceptable trade off between numbers of call handlers, and thus cost, and delays in responding to messages and resulting client dissatisfaction.

Resolving this problem is made particularly difficult by the uneven and unpredictable nature of the rate at which calls or other messages are received. The average rate at which calls and other messages are received can be estimated in advance and can usually be predicted with considerable accuracy once a call centre has been operating for a time. However, even if sufficient call handlers are available to deal with this predicted average level of demand

random or unpredictable fluctuations in demand can result in surges which overload the available call handlers resulting in unacceptably slow responses to calls and other messages.

This invention was made in an attempt to overcome this problem, at least in part.

In a first aspect, this invention provides a message management method, comprising the steps of ; receiving a number of messages; categorising each received message as being in one of a plurality of groups; recording each message together with a respective associated delay value; periodically changing the delay value associated with each recorded message, the rate of change of the delay value being different for messages in different groups; selecting a message to be processed based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with different messages; sending said selected message to be processed, and removing the record of the sent message and the associated delay value.

In a second aspect, this invention provides message management apparatus comprising ; receiving means for receiving messages; categorising means for categorising each received message as being in one of a plurality of groups; memory means for recording each message together with a respective associated delay value; delay value changing means for periodically changing the delay value associated with each recorded message at a different rate for messages in different groups;

comparing means for selecting a message to be processed based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with different messages; sending means for sending said selected message to be processed; and means for removing the sent message and the associated delay value from the memory means.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic figures, in which: Figure 1 shows a message handling system according to a first embodiment of the invention ; Figure 2 shows a further message handling system according to a second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 3 shows a further message handling system according to a third embodiment of the invention.

A first embodiment of a message handling method and system according to the invention for use in a multimedia contact centre is shown in Figure 1.

The multimedia contact centre (MMCC) is essentially a call centre able to handle messages requiring a response which are received through a number of different media and not just conventional telephone calls.

The MMCC has a number of different media links 1 through which calls or messages from clients can be received.

In this example the media links 1 include conventional telephone calls I A, telephone calls over data networks 1 B, emails 1 C, fax messages 1 D, interactive text messaging 1 E and SMS text messages IF.

It will be understood that each of the media links 1 represents a number of possible connections of the same type.

The separation of the different types of media connections 1 is intended to separate the received messages into types requiring different levels of response by the MMCC or technically allowing different forms of handling by the message handling method and system of the invention. It will be appreciated that fax messages may be received along conventional telephone lines or through data networks such as the Internet so that the facsimile link 1 D could be divided to separate links based on the communications medium used to transmit the fax. However, since fax messages will normally be handled identically regardless of the media through which they are received it is convenient to regard all fax messages as being received through a single link 1.

Similarly, conventional telephone calls received through link la and voice calls carried over data networks, for example the Internet, received through link 1 b could be regarded as voice calls and lumped together as a single link. However, as will be explained below, in many MMCC's the use of legacy telephone systems will limit the ways in which conventional telephone calls can be handled compared to voice calls received across data networks and accordingly in this example telephone or voice calls received through these two different media will be regarded as separate links.

Each of the message links I is connected through a corresponding device driver 2 or connector 2 to the message handling system 3. Suitable connectors or device drivers 2 for linking different communications media to data processing systems are well known and suitable device drivers 2 can be selected in practice as required by the precise hardware and software used in the message handling system 3. The device drivers 2 will not be described in detail herein.

The message handling system 3 allows messages received through each of the message links 1 to be connected to one of a number of message handlers 4.

The function of the call handling system 3 is to connect the messages from clients received through the various links I to appropriate ones of the message handlers 4 in such a way as to maximise client satisfaction and minimise client dissatisfaction.

This is carried out by the message handling system 3 maintaining a list 5 of received messages which have not yet been forwarded to a message handler 4 to be dealt with. This hstmg associates a numerical delay value with each unallocated message and periodically increments the delay value associated with each unassigned message. The rate at which the delay value associated with each unassigned message is incremented is based upon the link I through which the message was received.

In the simple arrangement of the first embodiment where each of the message handlers 4 is able to deal with all forms of message received through all of the links 1, the message handling system 3 passes the unassigned messages to the message handlers 4 In highest assigned delay value order. That is, the messages having the highest assigned delay value are passed to the message handlers 4 first.

As explained above, the message handling system 3 increments the numerical delay value associated with each unassigned message at a rate which is dependent upon the link 1 through which the message was received. This incrementation at different rates can be carried out by incrementing the delay value associated with each unassigned message at the same interval, or even simultaneously, with the incrementing amount being different for messages received through different links 1. Alternatively, the incrementing amount can be the same for all unassigned messages and the interval between the incrementation or rate of incrementation be different for messages received through different links 1. It would even be possible to combine the two techniques and employ incrementation by different amounts at different intervals. Provided the rate at which the delay value associated with unassigned messages received through different links is different any convenient incrementing methodology can be employed.

In the MMCC of the first embodiment, voice calls are regarded as requiring the quickest response because the client is waiting at the other end of the connection for the call to be answered regardless of whether the voice call is received over the conventional telephone link I a or the data network link lb. Accordingly, the delay values associated with voice calls received over links la and 1 bare incremented at the same, highest, rate which is higher than the rate at which the delay values associated with messages over any other link are incremented.

This is also desirable because voice calls are the only form of message which is subject to being cut off by the client when their patience runs out and because waiting for a

voice call to be answered will cause clients to become impatient and dissatisfied more quickly than waiting for responses to other forms of message.

The next highest rate of incrementing is applied to the delay values associated with instant messaging or Internet chat messages received along link Ie.

The next highest rate of incrementing is applied to the delay values associated with text messages received along SMS link 1 f.

Finally, the lowest rate of incrementing is applied to the delay value associated with email and fax messages received along links Ic and Id.

It will be understood that the relative rate of incrementing applied to the delay values associated with unassigned messages received through the different links I is related to the speed with which clients sending the messages would normally expect a response.

In the simplest arrangement where each of the message handlers 4 is able to deal with messages received from any one of the data links 1, each data handler 4 reports to the message handling system 3 when they are free and can be assigned a new message. The unassigned messages and their associated delay values held in the list 5 are compared by the message handling system 3 and the unassigned message having the highest associated delay value is then assigned to the message handler 4 for action by the message handling system 3. The assigned message is then deleted from the database or list 5 of unassigned messages held by the message handling system 3 and its associated delay value deleted.

This process is repeated for each message handler 4 becoming free or starting work so long as there are unassigned messages and associated delay values held in the list 5 by the message handling system 3.

While this process of message handlers 4 becoming free and being assigned messages takes place the delay values associated with all of the unassigned messages held in the list 5 are incremented based on the link 1 through which they were received. Any new messages received are added to the list 5 of unassigned messages.

If there are no unassigned messages listed by the message handling system 3 and one or more message handlers 4 are free, any newly received message will be immediately transferred to one of the message handlers 4. Where multiple message handlers 4 are free and a message is received the message may be assigned to one of the message handlers randomly or on a fixed preference basis where the message handlers 4 are ranked in order of preference.

Alternatively, the message handling system 3 could maintain a further list of free message handlers 4 arranged in the order in which they have become free and assign newly received messages to the message handler 4 who has been free longest. However, the necessary arrangements in this case will not be discussed in detail because assigning messages to message handlers 4 where there is no backlog and corresponding list 5 of unassigned messages awaiting handling is very simple and is not normally regarded as presenting a problem.

The association of numerical delay values to each unassigned message and incrementing of the delay values associated with the messages at a different rate for messages received through different links 1 allows received messages to be more efficiently assigned to the message handlers 4 by allowing the degree of delay experienced by different forms of message or messages received through different media to be efficiently balanced. If the delays associated with all of the unassigned messages were incremented at the same rate, the system

would simply deal with messages in order of receipt. Although such simple queuing systems have been used in conventional telephone based call centres in the past such an approach is not effective in a multimedia contact centre because of the very different client perception of delay to messages received through different media or links.

The first embodiment of the invention described with reference to Figure 1 is a simple system where all of the message handlers 4 are able to deal with messages received through all of the links 1.

In practice this is often not the case. Generally, the skills and equipment required by each message handler 4 will increase as the number of different links 1 which the message handler 4 is required to deal with messages from increases. It would be preferred for all message handlers 4 in an MMCC to have the necessary skills, training and equipment required for handling messages through all the links 1. However, it will often be the case that some call handlers 4 are only able to deal with messages received through some of the links 1.

A second embodiment for use in a more complex MMCC able to deal with this situation is shown in Figure 2.

The system according to the second embodiment of the invention of Figure 2 comprises a message handling system 3 to which messages received through data links 1 are sent by respective drivers 2.

As in the first embodiment, the message handling system 3 maintains a list 7 of all unassigned messages together with associated delay values which are incremented at different rates depending upon the link 1 through which the message was received.

In the second embodiment the message handling system 3 also includes a database 6 identifying the types of message which can be handled by each of the message handlers 4.

In this embodiment, the message handling system 3 passes unassigned messages to the message handlers 4 in highest assigned delay value order of the messages which each message handler 4 is able to handle. Thus, each message handler 4 will be assigned the highest delay value message which they are capable of handling.

As before, each message handler 4 reports to the message handling system 3 when they are free and can be assigned a new message. In response the message handling system 3 checks the entry for that message handler 4 in the database 6 and identifies the types of message which that data handler 4 can handle.

The message handling system 3 then checks the delay values associated with the unassigned messages stored in the list 7 of the type or types which the message handler 4 can deal with and forwards the such unassigned message having the highest associated delay value to the message handler 4. The assigned message is then deleted from the list 7 of unassigned messages and the associated delay value is also deleted from the message handling system 3.

The list 7 of unassigned messages and associated delay values held by the message handling system 3 in the second embodiment can be envisaged as a series of queues 7a to 7f, with each of the links la to If having a corresponding queue 7a to 7f respectively.

When a message handler 4 is free the message handler 4 reports this to the message handling system 3. Usually the report that the message handler 4 is free will be made when an earlier assigned message has been dealt with. However, a message handler 4 may also report that they are free when first becoming available to handle messages, for example when they

begin work or when they are transferred from carrying out some other task. The message handling system 3 then checks the database 6 and identifies which of the links 1 the message handler 4 is able to handle messages from. The message handling system 3 then checks unassigned messages held in the list 7 and their associated delay values only for those unassigned messages received through the identified links I which the message handler 4 is able to deal with. In Figure 2 the message handling system 3 only reviews unassigned messages held in the queues 7a to 7f which hold messages received through the identified ones of links 1 a to 1 f which the message handler 4 is able to deal with.

The message handling system 3 takes the unassigned message having the highest assigned delay value from the reviewed ones of queues 7a to 7f and passes this message to the message handler 4 for action. The assigned message and its assigned delay value are then deleted from the appropriate queue 7a to 7f The process is then repeated for the next message handler 4 reporting that they are free.

Any new messages received are added to the appropriate one of queues 7a to 7f depending on which of the links 1 the message is received through.

It should be understood that the described arrangement of the list 7 of unassigned messages and associated delay values into a number of queues 7A to 7F is only one possible way of storing and subsequently assigning unassigned messages. The described arrangement of the list 7 is useful for illustrative purposes to allow the operation of the message handling system 3 according to the invention to be understood.

The logical arrangement of unassigned messages received through each link 1 a to If into a corresponding queue 7A to 7F is convenient and simplifies the task of reviewing the delay values associated with the unassigned messages to identify the highest delay value.

This is because all of the unassigned messages which have been received through the same link 1 will have their delay values incremented at the same rate. Accordingly, the unassigned messages received through a single link 1 A to F can be formed into a corresponding queue 7a to 7f. Because the delay values of all the unassigned messages in each of the queues 7a to 7f are incremented at the same rate, the oldest, that is the earliest received, unassigned message in each individual queue 7a to 7f will always have the highest assigned delay value of any message in that queue 7A to 7F.

Accordingly, if the list 7 of unassigned messages is arranged as a plurality of separate queues 7A to 7F each listing unassigned messages and their associated delay values received through a corresponding one of the links 1, it is only necessary for the message handling system 3 to compare the delay values associated with the oldest message in each of the queues 7A to 7F in order to find the message having the highest associated delay value.

Accordingly, the queues 7a to 7f can be first in first out (FIFO) queues since only the oldest message in each queue will ever be assigned to a message handler 4. Such a structuring of the list 7 into separate FIFO queues 7A and 7F with only the delay value associated with the oldest unassigned message in each queue 7A to 7F being compared may simplify operation of the message handling system 3.

It will be appreciated that there are many other logical and physical arrangements in which the unassigned messages and their associated delay values can be stored and compared

in the list 7. The present invention is not limited to any particular list arrangement but can be used with any suitable arrangement.

In the second embodiment the message handling system 3 includes a database 6 which identifies the types of messages which each message handler 4 can handle. The types of messages which each message handler 4 can handle depends upon the skills and training of the message handler themselves and also the equipment available to the message handler.

In many MMCC operations, there is the possibility that different message handler personnel with different skills and training may operate from the same physical work location at different times or that the same message handling personnel may operate from a different physical work locations having different message handling and communication equipment available at different times. In order to deal with this the database 6 preferably contains a first database identifying the message types which each of the message handling personnel is able to deal with and a second database identifying the message types which each physical work location in the MMCC is able to deal with. When each of the message handling personnel first connects to the message handling system 3 they identify themselves and their location.

The message System 3 then checks the personnel and location databases and combines their contents to produce a third database identifying the types of message which each currently available message handler 4 is able to deal with. In this context the message handler 4 is a specific member of the message handling personnel at a specific physical work location. This third database is then used when checking what types of messages can be dealt with by each message handler.

It may not be necessary for the message handling personnel to take any positive action to identify their location, this may be indicated to the message handling system 3 by the routing data of their identification message.

This arrangement will be unnecessarily complex if all the message handling personnel are able to handle all forms of message or all of the work locations are able to handle all forms of message. In either of these circumstances only one of the first and second databases will be required and this can be used directly to identify the types of messages which each message handler 4 can deal with.

In known telephone call centres and multimedia contact centres it is normally required that each call handler or agent completes dealing with one message before commencing the next message and the first and second embodiments above have been described as operating in this way.

In known telephone call centres handling only telephone messages it is normally unacceptable for calls being handled to be interrupted because such interruption of telephone calls will cause great dissatisfaction to clients. However, in a multimedia call centre employing the invention it is usually acceptable for the call handlers 4 to interrupt handling of some messages. That is, it is acceptable for a call handler 4 dealing with a received message to stop working on that message, receive and deal with another message and then return to the original message to continue or complete processing it.

A third embodiment of the. invention is shown in Figure 3.

In the MMCC employing the message handling system 3 according to the third embodiment the messages received through different links 1 are categorised as being interruptable or non-interruptable.

In the third embodiment, telephone messages received through link 1 A, voice data messages received along link 1 B and instant messaging or Internet Chat messages received along link IE are categorised as being non-interruptable while e-mail messages received along link 1 C, Fax messages received along link ID and text messages received along link IF are categonsed as interruptable.

When the message handling system 3 is operating, when each message is assigned to one of the caller handler's 4 to be dealt with, the message and its assigned delay value are deleted from the unassigned message list 7 similarly to the first and second embodiments.

The message handling system 3 according to the third embodiment includes a current message database 8. The current message database 8 records for each of the message

handlers 4 the delay value associated with the message currently being handled by the I, e currently being handled by the message handler 4 and whether that message is categorised as being interruptable or noninterruptable.

When the message is passed to a message handler 4 to be dealt with, the delay value associated with the message and its status as an interruptable or non-interruptible message is recorded for that message handler 4 in the current message database 8. When the message handler 4 completes handling the message and reports that they are now free to accept a further message the entry for that message handler 4 in the current message database 8 is deleted.

If the message handler 4 completes dealing with one message but is not then available to deal with further messages, the message handler 4 must notify the message handling system 3 that they are no longer available. The entry relatmg to the message handler 4 will be deleted as the message handler 4 is no longer handling a current message and is no longer available to carry out message processing.

In this embodiment the call handling system 3 periodically compares the highest delay value associated with unallocated telephone messages received through links 1 A and 18 and stored in queues 7A and 7B. These are unallocated telephone call messages If the queues 7A to 7F are formed by FIFO queues, it is only necessary for the message handling system 3 to compare the delay value associated with the oldest unallocated message in each of the queues 7A and 7B with the threshold. As explained above regarding the second embodiment, these messages will always have the highest associated delay values in their respective queues.

So long as the highest delay values associated with any messages in the queues 7A and 7B are below the threshold the message handling system 3 takes no action. If the delay values associated with one or more of the unassigned messages held in queues 7A and 7B are above the threshold, the message handling system 3 checks the current message handling information stored in the current message database 8 for each of the message handlers 4. If it is determined that one of the message handlers 4 is currently dealing with an interruptable message, that is an e-mail, fax or SMS message received through one of links I C, I D or IF an interrupt request is sent to the message handler 4 asking them to interrupt handling of the

current message and to deal with the identified unassigned message having the highest associated delay value instead.

If the message handler 4 accepts interruption, the message handling system 3 passes the identified message having the highest associated delay value above the threshold to the message handler 4, updates the entries in the current message database 8 for that message handler 4 to indicate that the message handler 4 is currently carrying out interruption processing of a message and removes the message and its associated delay value from the queue 7A or 7B and the list 7.

If the message handler 4 does not accept the interrupt processing request within a pre-set time the message handling system 3 rechecks the information stored in the current message database 8 and identifies whether any further message handler 4 is indicated in data base 8 as currently handling an interruptable message. If so the message handling system 3 sends an interruption processing request to the further message handler 4. If no further message handler 4 currently handling an interruptable message can be identified, or all such message handlers 4 have been sent the interruption processing request and have not responded, the message handling system 3 waits for a short period before repeating the process. If the message which the message handling system 3 is attempting to forward for interruption processing is allocated to a free message handler 4 for processing before a message handler 4 able to carry out interruption processing is identified, the message and its associated delay value is deleted from the list 7 and the appropriate queue 7A or 7B and the attempt to forward it for interruption processing is stopped.

When a message handler 4 accepts a message for handling through the interruption processing procedure the message handling system 3 updates the database 8 to indicate that the message handler 4 is handling a non-interrupt able message so that further interruption processing requests will not be sent to the message handler 4 until processing of the message is completed.

When a message handler 4 finishes dealing with a message assigned using the interruption processing procedure the message handler 4 then returns to continue processing of the message they have previously processing. In this case the call handler 4 notifies the message handling system 3 that they have completed handling the message assigned by the interruption processing procedure but not that they are free and the information relating to that message handler 4 in the database 8 reverts to the information they have held before the interruption processing started.

The use of this interruption processing in which the telephone messages proceed along the links way and IB having an associated delay value over a threshold are processed in preference to e-mail, fax or text messages received through links 1 C, 1 D and IF attempts to set a maximum delay before telephone messages are responded to regardless of how long the interrupted messages having being waiting for processing.

Allowing the call handlers 4 to refuse to accept interruption process messages is desirable to allow call handlers 4 to judge situations where the message content of the message they are currently handling or its complexity and the resulting of loss of time as they recover their train of thought after stopping and processing a different message is such that interrupting the message they are currently processing is inappropriate. However, this is not

essential and acceptance of messages referred for interruption processing could be made mandatory. Alternatively, two separate thresholds for interruption processing could be set, with acceptance of the interruption processing messages having them assigned to delay value above a first threshold subject to the acceptance by the message handler 4 and acceptance of messages having an associated delay value above a second higher threshold being mandatory.

Usually an MMCC will only have a proportion of its total personnel operating as call handlers at any time. Call Centres and Contact Centres usually allow personnel operating as call handlers to take regular breaks. Further, personnel acting as call handlers often spend part of the day on non call handling duties such as administration or training. Finally, most call or contact centres will have at least some personnel who are able to act as call handlers but are usually carrying out other duties such as managerial or technical support functions.

A fourth embodiment of the call handling system 3 can take advantage of this by altering personnel assignments and duties in response to the delay values assigned to messages to allow excessive delays to be avoided.

In the fourth embodiment, which is not illustrated, the call handling system 3 compares the highest delay value associated with unassigned messages received through at least one of the links 1 with a number of thresholds.

Similarly to the message handling system 3 of the third embodiment no action is taken so long as the highest delay values associated with an unassigned message stored in the list 7 is below the or all thresholds.

When the highest delay value associated with an unassigned message is identified as being above the threshold the message handling system 3 generates an alert indicating to

MMCC personnel that excessive delays are occurring and requesting that remedial action be taken.

The precise form of the alert issued to the personnel and the resulting remedial action they should take will depend on the precise organisation of the MMCC. However, typical remedial action to increase the number of unavailable call handlers 4 and reduce delays they include call handler personnel on breaks, off duty or engaged in other activities being called back to operation as call handlers. Further remedial action could extend to personnel normally having other duties in the MMCC but able to act as call handlers acting temporary as call handlers.

If desired a series of escalating thresholds and corresponding alerts and remedial actions could be arranged to iron out escalating response to excessive delay times by the MMCC personnel.

When the highest value delay times draw back below the threshold the message handling system 3 can cancel the alert and personnel can return to their normal activities Where a threshold based system according to the fourth embodiment is used to alter working patterns or personnel allocations within an MMCC, it is preferred that either the thresholds for cancelling an alert be significantly below the thresholds at which the alert is established or that there is a minimum time between setting and cancelling or vice versa of the alert in order to avoid"hunting"resulting in the rapid or successive setting and cancelling of an alert or warning. This could occur where the maximum delay value associated with the unassigned messages kept going slightly above and slightly below the threshold as messages

are processed. This would result in personnel being assigned and re-assigned repeatedly to different tasks, resulting in their doing nothing.

A fifth embodiment of the invention allowing the core handling system 3 to be more reactive to changes in the delay in dealing with unallocated messages is based on the second and third embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 3 but is not separately illustrated.

In the fifth embodiment the database 6 identifying which of the links 1 each message handler 4 is able to handle message 4 includes indications which are dependent upon the delay values associated with the unassigned messages.

In this embodiment the database 6 can indicate for each message handler 4 which ones of the data links 1 they are able to deal with messages through normally or unconditionally and also indicate further ones of the data links 1 which the call handler 4 can deal with messages from if a delay value associated with the message or a message received through that link 1 is above a threshold.

This allows message handlers 4 with specialist skills or training to be normally assigned messages through links 1 which they are best able to deal with but they could be assigned messages received through other links 1 if the delay values associated with these messages exceed the threshold.

For example, in general in an MMCC, the equipment required to handle e-mail, Internet chat or text messages is more expensive, and it is harder to train personnel to deal with them, than telephone messages. Accordingly, an MMCC will commonly have a large number of message handlers 4 able to deal with telephone messages along links 1 A and 1 B but only a relative small number of message handlers 4 able to deal with fax, internet Chat or

text messages through links 1C, IE and IF. Accordingly, in a message handling system according to the fifth embodiment the message handlers 4 able to deal with messages through links I C, IE and IF can be usually only assigned messages received through those links but could be assigned telephone messages received through links 1 A and 1 B if the delay \ alues associated with these messages exceed a threshold in order to avoid the delay in dealing with received telephone messages becoming too great.

In the descriptions above there are references to message handlers 4 notifying or informing the message handling system 3 when they are available or when tasks have been completed. This notification or informing may require deliberate action by the message handlers 4. However, it is preferred for the notification or informing to be sent automatically to the message handling system 3 by the equipment being used by the message handler 4 in response to completion of handling the message or other acts requiring notification.

One point which can arise in assigning conventional telephone messages to call handlers 4 in an MMCC is that legacy telephone systems, that is pre-existing telephone systems, may have a limited capability to connect received messages with message handlers 4 For example the legacy telephone system may only be able to connect telephone messages to a small number of message handlers 4. Where multiple conventional telephone lines are used the system may only be able to connect calls from each line to a small number of message handlers 4 or may only be able to connect messages received on each line to a single message handler 4.

A message handling system for the present invention can deal with such limited connectivity legacy telephone systems by treating each incoming telephone line which can

only forward calls to a different group of message handlers 4 as a separate link 1. The database 6 can then identify which of these links 1 each message handler 4 can handle messages from, taking into account the limited connectivity.

In some legacy telephone systems, received telephone calls, or telephone calls received along each line, can only be connected to message handlers 4 in order of receipt.

Such a system is fully compatible with the present invention, in which the delay values associated with messages received along a single link will always be highest for the"oldest" message. In this case the legacy telephone systems will assign received telephone messages to the available message handlers 4 to whom the calls can be connected in order. The message handling system will determine whether free message handlers are made available to be routed calls by the legacy telephone systems or are instead assigned messages through other links.

In the examples described above the use of a numerical delay value which is incremented has been described. It would of course be possible to decrement delay values from an initial value instead. Further, there is no requirement that the delay values be numerical. Non-numerical values could correspond to different degrees of urgency, with the speed at which the delay values assigned to messages change from one degree of urgency to the next being different for different messages.

The use of separate lists for messages received through each link and use of FIFO queues is convenient, but not essential.

In the embodiments the received messages are grouped and assigned different rates of change of delay value based upon the link I through which they are received. Alternative arrangements are possible.

Different contact numbers or addresses, for example different telephone numbers or e-mail addresses, could be designated to be used for messages about particular topics.

Received messages received addressed to these contact addresses could then be regarded as coming through different links so that the assignment of messages to links is based upon the expected message content or topic.

Further, where messages of a type allowing automatic review of the message contents, for example text messages or e-mails, are received, messages could be automatically reviewed to identify key words, in the message text or headings and be assigned to different links I based upon the presence or absence of such key words or other content analysis.

Such content or expected content or topic based assignment to links I can be used to for an MMCC that is expecting to receive messages on some topics which are to be treated more urgently then other messages. For example, where the MMCC is receiving messages for a financial institution messages to a telephone number or a e-mail address for reporting credit card theft will normally be more urgent than other enquiries.

The described embodiments assume that all messages received by the MMCC are passed through the message handling system of the invention. This is not essential. It may be preferred to treat some messages as having an absolute priority so they are always dealt with first and to use the message handling system of the invention to control handling of other messages when message handlers are available. Such an arrangement may be useful for

example where the MMCC is handling messages for a gas company where messages received through a telephone number for reporting gas leaks may be treated as an absolute priority to be dealt with immediately for safety reasons regardless of the delay imposed on other messages.

In the examples numerical delay values associated with different messages are compared and the highest value selected. It is possible that two different messages may have the same delay value so some mechanism for selecting between messages having equal delay values will be required. Suitable tie breaking mechanisms are well known in communications systems and a suitable tie breaking methodology may be used. Typically where two different messages have the same highest associated delay value one of them can be selected randomly or based upon which of the links the message was received through by assigning the different links different priorities for tie breaking purposes.

The described embodiments are examples only and changes can be made within the scope of the invention. For example elements of different ones of the embodiments can be recombined in different combinations.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A message management method, comprising the steps of, receiving a number of messages ;

categorising each received message as being in one of a plurality of groups ; recording each message together with a respective associated delay value ; periodically changing the delay value associated with each recorded message, the rate of change of delay value being different for messages in different groups; selecting a message to be processed based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with different messages; sending said selected message to be processed, and removing the record of the sent message and the associated delay value.
2. A method according to claim 1, in which the messages are recorded as a list.
3. A method according to claim 2, in which the messages in each group are recorded as a separate list.

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4. A method according to claim 3, in which the messages in each group are recorded in a separate FIFO queue and a message to be processed is selected based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with the oldest message in each of the queues.
5. A method according to any preceding claim, in which messages are sent to be processed by a message handler and a message to be processed is selected in response to a notification from the message handler that they are ready to process a message.
6. A method according to claim 5, in which messages may be sent to be processed b) one of a plurality of message handlers, a record is kept identifying which groups each message handler can process messages from and a message to be processed by a message handler is selected based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with messages in the groups identified for said message handler only.
7. A method according to claim 5 or claim 6 in which messages are further categonsed as being interruptable or non-interruptable; the delay values associated with the recorded messages are reviewed and if a delay value fulfills a pre-set criterion the associated recorded message is sent to a message handler currently processing an interruputable message for processing.

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8. A method according to any preceding claim, in which the delay values are numerical values.
9. A method according to claims 8, in which the delay values are periodically incremented, with the rate of incrementation being different for messages in different groups.
10. A method according to claim 9, in which the selected message to be processed is the message having the highest associated delay value.
11. A method according to any preceding claim, in which the delay values associated with recorded messages are received and if a delay value fulfills a pre set criterion a notification that action should be taken is issued.
12. A method according to any preceding claim, in which the categorising of the messages into groups is based on the communications medium through which the message was received.
13. Message management apparatus comprising; receiving means for receiving messages;

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categorising means for categorising each received message as being in one of a plurality of groups; memory means for recording each message together with a respective associated delay value ; delay value changing means for periodically changing the delay value associated with each recorded message at a different rate for messages in different groups; comparing means for selecting a message to be processed based upon a comparison of the delay values associated with different messages; sending means for sending said selected message to be processed; and means for removing the sent message and the associated delay value from the memory means.
14. A message management apparatus substantially as shown or as described with reference to any one of the accompanying figures.